[SUCCESS] Gigabyte Designare Z390 (Thunderbolt 3) + i7-9700K + AMD RX 580

[CaseySJ]

Absolutely fantastic!!!

So, in light of the massive achievement I've finally disassembled my Z390 Gigabyte Aorus Xtreme from the case, removed the back plastic cover, proceed with trying to read my onboard THB3 chip using my CH341A reader:

View attachment 454827View attachment 454828View attachment 454829View attachment 454830View attachment 454831View attachment 454832

But, I was quite unsuccessful in all attempts...

Even had one attempt with a different message:

View attachment 454833

What am I doing wrong ?

The yellow jumper on the CH341A has to be on these pins, otherwise the USB port created by the CH341A reader doesn't get created in my MBP...

Also, when clipping the reading probe onto the TB3 It seems that I have to align the red "wire" on the cable with the blue pin on the chip, other wise the CH341A does't work again...

Surprisingly the reading probe clips very well on to the pins of the chip, even though there's a copper pipe dissipator very near...

I'm going to read your ** Mini-Guide for Flashing SPI ROM Chips using CH341A Programmer ** again!!

FYI: I'm in UK, where it seems that COVID-19 is not being tackled as per my country Portugal, or any other one in the UE...

This is a good chance for me to see if the procedure is "teachable"!

• You are doing nearly everything correctly:
  • Flip power switch on PSU to OFF or unplug power cable from computer.
  • Gently squeeze and place the SOIC8 clip on the Winbond chip.
  • Red wire aligned to blue dot.
  • Connect other end to CH341a reader and connect to USB port on computer.
• Does the motherboard have an array of small LEDs?
  • If so, do any of these LEDs turn on?
• If motherboard LEDs do not turn on, then the clip is not properly connected.
  • Gently squeeze and realign the clip until LEDs turn on.
• If LEDs are on, then:
  • Notice how bright they are.
    • They should be fairly bright.
  • Notice the color of the LEDs.
    • On Designare, the LEDs are yellow.
• Now very very gently move the SOIC8 clip slightly away from the chip contact pins.
  • Just wiggle the clip gently until it moves a tiny bit away from the contact pins, but still touching the pins.
  • The LEDs should still be on.
  • As you keep wiggling the clip, at some point the LEDs on motherboard should turn off.
  • Now wiggle the clip gently towards the contact pins until the LEDs just barely power on.
  • Now the LEDs will be dimmer.
  • Now the LEDs should be red instead of yellow.
• If you can achieve this state and the dim red LEDs are not blinking (if they are blinking, it means power is fluctuating too much), then run flashrom and see if you can read the chip!

 

[galisrule]

@CaseySJ,@Elias64Fr you guys are warriors just flash with TitanRidgeNVM23-Elias64Fr-Mod it works beautiful hot plug finally work sleep work like a charm
Thanks to you 2 great warriors

 

[Elias64Fr]

@S1lla @CaseySJ

Here is the patched NVM43 to be tested

Just flashed the GC-Titan Ridge to modified NVM 23 and this one works very well. Maybe @Elias64Fr can have a look at GC-Titan Ridge NVM 43...

And with the following simplified SSDT

On my case, using an SSDT is cosmetic .. I have all operating features with nothing of SSDT method except for UPSB _DSM method for adding Pci-Thunderbolt to number 1 ..all other NHI0 properties might be added by Clover.

 

[galisrule]

we all in the Hackintosh world should make sure these two great warriors are taken care of for life

 

[gandem]

Please try this SSDT for GC-Titan Ridge. It's using RP05 so just make the necessary change for your PCI path. This one uses correct ThunderboltDROM.

EDIT: Also attached is the modified GC-Titan Ridge firmware for NVM43.

EDIT 2: If your System Information --> Thunderbolt page shows two Thunderbolt buses with the same Bus Number, please use the newly uploaded SSDT instead: SSDT-TBOLT3-RP21-GC-TITAN-RIDGE-APPLE-DROM.aml

Hi CaseySJ. Is this usable for non-designare users?

 

[manfriday]

@CaseySJ where did you land on the 10k resistor? My understanding was it didn't help you and you ended up not using it?

I cant seem to get the clip attached to the motherboard lights are 'dim' they are either on or off.
also, whenever I attach and reattach, the respberry pi locks up and I have to reboot it.
Not sure thats a good thing. Didnt do that when I was flashing my GC-Titan Ridge or my Alpine ridge cards

 

[CaseySJ]

Hi CaseySJ. Is this usable for non-designare users?

Two different firmwares are being discussed:

• Modified firmware for on-board Titan Ridge controller on Designare Z390.
• Modified firmware for Gigabyte GC-Titan Ridge add-in-card.
  • You can flash this card and use it in other systems.

 

[CaseySJ]

@CaseySJ where did you land on the 10k resistor? My understanding was it didn't help you and you ended up not using it?

I cant seem to get the clip attached to the motherboard lights are 'dim' they are either on or off.
also, whenever I attach and reattach, the respberry pi locks up and I have to reboot it.
Not sure thats a good thing. Didnt do that when I was flashing my GC-Titan Ridge or my Alpine ridge cards

• I'm not using any pull-up resistors now.
• Have you seen my reply to @augustopaulo above? Post #15826.
• I attach the clip to Winbond chip before powering on the Raspberry Pi. But after that I can wiggle the clip without crashing the Pi.

This is tricky, but please have a look at post #15826. Would be good to visualize that procedure before attempting it.

 

[augustopaulo]

This is a good chance for me to see if the procedure is "teachable"!

• You are doing nearly everything correctly:
  • Flip power switch on PSU to OFF or unplug power cable from computer.
  • Gently squeeze and place the SOIC8 clip on the Winbond chip.
  • Red wire aligned to blue dot.
  • Connect other end to CH341a reader and connect to USB port on computer.
• Does the motherboard have an array of small LEDs?
  • If so, do any of these LEDs turn on?
• If motherboard LEDs do notturn on, then the clip is not properly connected.
  • Gently squeeze and realign the clip until LEDs turn on.
• If LEDs are on, then:
  • Notice how bright they are.
    • They should be fairly bright.
  • Notice the color of the LEDs.
    • On Designare, the LEDs are yellow.
• Now very very gently move the SOIC8 clip slightly away from the chip contact pins.
  • Just wiggle the clip gently until it moves a tiny bit away from the contact pins, but still touching the pins.
  • The LEDs should still be on.
  • As you keep wiggling the clip, at some point the LEDs on motherboard should turn off.
  • Now wiggle the clip gently towards the contact pins until the LEDs just barely power on.
  • Now the LEDs will be dimmer.
  • Now the LEDs should be red instead of yellow.
• If you can achieve this state and the dim red LEDs are not blinking (if they are blinking, it means power is fluctuating too much), then run flashrom and see if you can read the chip!

Thanks!

Unfortunately, they are blinking RED in all my connection attempts...

Also, I've measured 5Vdc on the CH341a pins, so that could also be the problem....

It's almost 01h00 here in the UK, and I do have a RaspberryPi 4B, so I'll try to use that instead for reading this onboard TB3 chip tomorrow morning.

Good night all!

 

[manfriday]

Have you seen my reply to @augustopaulo above? Post #15826

I did see that. and Ill try again, but like I said, im not getting 'dim' lights. they are either on or they are off. :/
I had my Raspberry pi set up for flashing the TitanRidge and Alpine Ridge cards. Should be the same pin-out for flashing the winbond on the motherboard right?