Contribute
Register

OpenCore locks out BIOS

Status
Not open for further replies.
Thank you again, but to be clear, I can't boot anything at all, even without disks. With an Live USB Linux same. I just get a black screen...
I ordered an CH341A SPI Programmer to flash the Bios, it seems to be the only solution with replacing the chip
 
Disable Bootstrap in opencore --> Misc --> BootProtect None and your problems should be history.
Bootstrap is meant to protect your bios from being modified by operating systems directly, without you ever knowing, unfortunately it also causes one to be locked out from accessing ones own bios settings and manifests itself particularly severely when used in conjunction with a Z97 based mobo.
Greetings Henties
With opencore 0.6.4 released on 7 December 2020 the OC developers latched onto this as well and provided additional information, in a very interesting readme file, which accompanies this latest OC release. Really worth reading it to glean some background information as well as a new way to achieve the same result that the earlier bootstrap setup was aiming at.

Greetings Henties
 
Disable Bootstrap in opencore --> Misc --> BootProtect None and your problems should be history.
Bootstrap is meant to protect your bios from being modified by operating systems directly, without you ever knowing, unfortunately it also causes one to be locked out from accessing ones own bios settings and manifests itself particularly severely when used in conjunction with a Z97 based mobo.
Greetings Henties
So far I don't know if Opencore was the culprit or if my motherboard actually burned. I was already thinking about buying another motherboard and ended up doing it. It was a Z370n-Wifi. It looked like the BIOS was corrupted - the motherboard turned on and then turned off. This never happened to me.
 
Disable Bootstrap in opencore --> Misc --> BootProtect None and your problems should be history.
Bootstrap is meant to protect your bios from being modified by operating systems directly, without you ever knowing, unfortunately it also causes one to be locked out from accessing ones own bios settings and manifests itself particularly severely when used in conjunction with a Z97 based mobo.

It is by sheer chance that I came across this critical posting. Last weekend I updated by OC on mhy Z97 build to 0.6.6, using the same methodology of sanity checking the config.plist, and updating the 3 new OC .efi files.

My Z97 bios disappeared, just as described by others. I thought I had fried my system. Luckily in frustration I stepped away from it and happened to read this thread later.

This thread should be highlighted by a moderator and frozen for all to see!

I trusted OC. No longer. What a mess! 0.6.6 destroyed my Z97 and my Z390 Hackintoshes.

UPDATE:

Wait Opencore Configurator - as far as I can tell - does NOT have an option Misc->BootProtect -> None.

Neither does the Sample.plist that comes in the 0.6.6. release download.

So is this an EXTRA hidden option that's undocumented?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
The following two approaches have worked for me in the past to recover my BIOS on Gigabyte boards.
  1. Boot into Windows (if possible) and use the windows BIOS flashing utility.
  2. If your motherboard supports DualBIOS or Backup BIOS, power cycle, wait a few seconds and restart holding the power button to restore your main BIOS from the backup BIOS.
 
It is by sheer chance that I came across this critical posting. Last weekend I updated by OC on mhy Z97 build to 0.6.6, using the same methodology of sanity checking the config.plist, and updating the 3 new OC .efi files.

My Z97 bios disappeared, just as described by others. I thought I had fried my system. Luckily in frustration I stepped away from it and happened to read this thread later.

This thread should be highlighted by a moderator and frozen for all to see!

I trusted OC. No longer. What a mess! 0.6.6 destroyed my Z97 and my Z390 Hackintoshes.

UPDATE:

Wait Opencore Configurator - as far as I can tell - does NOT have an option Misc->BootProtect -> None.

Neither does the Sample.plist that comes in the 0.6.6. release download.

So is this an EXTRA hidden option that's undocumented?
The options changed in 0.6.6, it's LauncherOptions now iirc
Read the configuration.pdf about it.

The NVRAM entry for OC should now directly lead to OpenCore.efi, not Bootstrap.efi
 
The options changed in 0.6.6, it's LauncherOptions now iirc
Read the configuration.pdf about it.

Thanks for that, saved me a lot of time. I did have to reflash the BIOS. Just used the builtin QFlash of the original BIOS by holding down the END key when the system came out of reset.

@milmber :
@jzrodriguez98 : Do either or both of you have a USBMaps.kext USB map for the Z97X-Gaming 7 Gigabyte motherboard that your willing to share?
 
Do either or both of you have a USBMaps.kext USB map for the Z97X-Gaming 7 Gigabyte motherboard that your willing to share?

I do, however I would recommend you create your own instead using the Dortana Intel USB mapping guide and the USBMap utility as I have mapped the internal USB ports to allow my water cooler and power supply metrics to be exposed.

The app and guide makes this very straightforward.
 
I installed OC latest and got the BIOS brick.
Tried everything...
What worked was shorting pins 1 and 6 on the BIOS Chip (main), and starting up.
Then I Re-Flashed the BIOS just to be sure.
All good!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top