[REQUEST] Metabox Prime-Ai NH58VR Bios Unlock

[dddaaammmooo]

Looking for an unlock with the advanced setup options available (fingers crossed).

Make/Model: Metabox Prime-Ai NH58VR
Bios image: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1x_LdH4S...sp=sharing

[Maxinator500]

Need help?

[dddaaammmooo]

I sure do need some help, this week old laptop is currently about as useful to me as a paperweight.

I had the prior model of the same laptop (exact same specs apart from RTX20xx series GPU instead of RTX30xx and a bigger HDD), and the previous machine worked fine in Linux (my primary OS)... but when I boot this newer model machine into Linux the laptop gets stuck in the lowest idle power (running @ 0.9V/~300-500mhz). Metabox support weren't much help, I was able to video the performance issues and get them to replace the machine with a brand new one, but- the exact same issue is present. There are numerous forum posts about this issue with the 3900x getting stuck in low power mode, and all signs point to c-state issues, so the only thing I can think to try now is disabling C-states in the BIOS (adding the kernel flags to linux made no difference), but of course all the options are hidden.

And so began my journey into the painful world of laptops with InsydeH2O bioses...

I downloaded H2OUVE but whenever I try to use "Load runtime" it fails with an error. After some blundering around I managed to dump the BIOS image to a file using the H2OFFT tools, and was then able to load that file into H2OUVE using "Load image". All the options I could see matched those in my BIOS so I assume the dump was successful. I could see the option to enable advanced setup, so I set it to enabled, saved it out to a new image file. And I was able to use the CLI tool to applying the file (after adding the -forceit flag to ignore checks), but after the reboot when it goes into the BIOS updater I just get a blue text-based window saying the image is invalid, then it reboots again unchanged.

From what I gather the updated image needs to be signed for the flash utility to accept it, I found conflicting reports saying it needs to be signed with some QA.pfx certificate- some seem to suggest u just create a new certificate on the CLI and sign it. So I'm at a loss to know where to take it from here.

So as of this moment I've gone through two brand new laptops with 12 cores/64 GB ram and 30xx series GPUs that take about 5-10 seconds to open a terminal window, about a minute to open slack, struggle to switch between tabs in chrome, run the Superposition benchmark at frame rates of 21FPS on a current generation GPU, and in CPU benchmarks performs somewhere between a Celeron and a Core2 Duo  Any and all advice on getting this BIOS unlocked will be gratefully accepted!

[Maxinator500]

I sure do need some help

Run "GET VARS.bat" from this archive and share the output file "vars.txt".

[dddaaammmooo]

And predictably my luck--- looks like the CLI tool suffers the same fate as the GUI. I've attached screenshots of the failures.

Below I've included a link to the BIOS file that Metabox support sent me during initial troubleshooting. The way I was able to dump the BIOS initially was to extract this EXE file using 7ZIP and use the enclosed H2OFFT-Wx64.exe tool with the -g option.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1oWW2QzV...sp=sharing

Any other ideas?

[dddaaammmooo]

Noticed this log file...

C:\Users\Metabox\Downloads\H2OUVE_200.00.01.00>type uve.log
Command is: -gv
Initialize driver
Search SMI command and function number
Start command process...
Export EFI Variables to TXT file
Now parsing Variable Information.
This platform does not support the GetNetVarName function, so BiosDataInfo cannot be NULL.
Release BIOS data information
Release BIOS variable object.
Fail to get Variable Information.
Command process done.
Release driver

[Maxinator500]

looks like the CLI tool suffers the same fate as the GUI

I understand, but I don't need the BIOS of your device. Firstly, it can be found on the support page, so I already have it. Secondly, we cannot install the modified BIOS in AMD platform with Insyde flash tool or even any known flashtool.
But this is not what we need to do, since the BIOS can be mainly unlocked by means of the variable editor. The problem is in compatibility with certain version of UVE. It remains only to find the right one. And I believe that H20UVE_100.00.16.08.zip will work out.

[dddaaammmooo]

can u check that download link? i think its been mangled- is opening on this end as:

http://it%20remains%20only%20to%20find%20the%20right%20one./

[dddaaammmooo]

Managed to find copy on another post- looks the same

C:\Users\Metabox\Downloads\H20UVE_100.00.16.08>H2OUVE.exe -gv vars.txt
Now parsing Variable Information.
Failed to get bios data!
Fail to get Variable Information.

C:\Users\Metabox\Downloads\H20UVE_100.00.16.08>H2OUVE.exe
Insyde H2OUVE (UEFI Variable Editor) Version 100.00.16.08
Copyright © 2012 - 2015, Insyde Software Corp. All Rights Reserved.

H2OUVE.exe

[Maxinator500]

looks the same

Since both 100 and 200 versions do not work, this feature may have been blocked, which is quite rare.
Luckily there is another method! It requires much more of manual input, but I hope you can figure it out:

You should use the RU.EFI shell to write variables.

Setup Menu Insyde Full Show VarOffset - 0x212
Change 00 to 01
You will find this variable in a store named "SystemConfig". It can also have a name: "Setup".

Here's a useful example of using the program.