Motherboard Group Buy/Crowdfunded Modded BIOS for the Asrock A300m (Deskmini A300)

[gustav]

Well, Linux does not have Hyper-V, right? The virtualization on Linux seems to keep up fine.
I am able to emulate on hardware, since Android Studio can emulate Pixel-Phones, etc. but requires VTx.
On Windows I can not emulate any device because it's built on top of Hyper-V - and there is the boot-loop issue.

Exactly! It's a nice system for light / medium workloads. Like a small business server, you could do - you just should not (redundancy, etc.)

 

[Hammerfest]

I had the issue with Docker and not Hyper-V on windows (as a test outside of JUST Hyper-V, VirtualBox default settings didnt seem to cause issue), I would be interested to find out if issue exists on Linux with Docker as well, it seems to be a PCIe issue with Virt which match's the patch notes (limited as they are) that AMD put out for the AGESA updates

 

[Hammerfest]

GOOD NEWS EVERYONE! (nothing regarding 4x00G support)

BIOS 3.60H Beta! (will look at it later to compare to 3.53)

1. Update AMD AGESA Combo-AM4 1.0.0.4 Patch B
2. Follow AMD guide to support shared memory adjustment when Hyper-V is enabled

So, AGESA update should fix PCIe issues (NVMe/WiFi+BT), and "supposedly" it was GPU shared memory causing the Virtulization (not just Hyper-V) issues (i only tested Auto and 2GB and it happened both ways so who knows if this "guide" really applies).

As a CRITICAL note, if you continue to have issues, I found that after a time, my boot loader partition had become corrupt thanks to AGESA 1.0.0.1 on my NVMe drives, you MIGHT need to reinstall windows (I couldnt get it to repair or reappear as a boot option in the BIOS, reinstall from cleaned disk worked fine)

 

[GLSRacer]

I go away for a month and come back to find that there is hope for my A300W and 4700G after all. This makes me very happy since I'm starting to reach the limit of my 2400G with my current workload. BTW, I'm on an early BIOS but I have never had any issues with Hyper-V in Server 2012...

 

[Hammerfest]

I go away for a month and come back to find that there is hope for my A300W and 4700G after all. This makes me very happy since I'm starting to reach the limit of my 2400G with my current workload. BTW, I'm on an early BIOS but I have never had any issues with Hyper-V in Server 2012...

Like I had seen on the forum's, it didnt seem like an issue with 2x00G series, but then at the arse end one person reported it so dunno, all I know is that PCIe and Virt issues with 3x00G, hopefully this resolves, im doing mine tonight and testing through the week-end then updating my clients system's, BETA or not, I am done with corrupt boot partitions and the damn thing disappearing from the boot menu.

 

[GLSRacer]

Oh, that could be. I did see more issues reported with 3400Gs.

 

[gustav]

it didnt seem like an issue with 2x00G series

Well, I'm on 2400G with that issue. So I don't know about the
exclusivity only for 3xxx Series

GOOD NEWS EVERYONE!

Indeed, thank you very much for sharing!
Maybe @micky1067 passthrough will work with this one, I wonder.
GPU shared memory.... interesting used with 1GB and 2GB -> troubles.

Flashed successfully.
No bootloop so far.
NIC section updated (maybe WOL enabled)

 

[m4758406]

Why Asrock made Beta BIOS List ?
All are Beta Versions or ?!

 

[gustav]

Well, it may just stay beta just kidding. Nice to see some update on that topic @ASRock System thank you

 

[limsandy]

Hello everyone! I'm a proud owner of a A300 with AMD 2200G. I've been a silent reader for several months now but I took the plunge to register and post today!

Has anyone tested the following modded custom BIOS with AGESA 1.0.0.4B? I think it was based on official BIOS 3.5.

I don't own a DeskMini so one of you guys has to test it, but here's the latest bios with the 1.0.0.4B AGESA. Not sure if it will do anything useful as it might require other tweaks but it's worth a shot. Note that the PBS firmware version might still report the 1.0.0.1 AGESA as that's just a plaintext string I couldn't replace.

MEGA Link

 

[Hammerfest]

Hello everyone! I'm a proud owner of a A300 with AMD 2200G. I've been a silent reader for several months now but I took the plunge to register and post today!

Has anyone tested the following modded custom BIOS with AGESA 1.0.0.4B? I think it was based on official BIOS 3.5.

I will admit, that passed me up, and since ASRock released a beta with it in already, might not actually try it outside of seeing if custom roms can now be flashed, i know the UEFI flash mod team was working on ASRock, hopefully its fixed.

Will be interested in seeing a package v package comparison however, 3.50/3.53/3.60/3.60H/3.50modded

 

[limsandy]

I will admit, that passed me up, and since ASRock released a beta with it in already, might not actually try it outside of seeing if custom roms can now be flashed, i know the UEFI flash mod team was working on ASRock, hopefully its fixed.

Will be interested in seeing a package v package comparison however, 3.50/3.53/3.60/3.60H/3.50modded

Yea, I asked because ExecutableFix has posted his custom modded BIOS for quite some time and nobody has posted any feedback.

I'd be extremely happy if I get a confirmation that one of these BIOSes will work with AMD 4xxx series APU, and I'm sure many people are anxiously waiting too.

 

[Hammerfest]

Yea, I asked because ExecutableFix has posted his custom modded BIOS for quite some time and nobody has posted any feedback.

I'd be extremely happy if I get a confirmation that one of these BIOSes will work with AMD 4xxx series APU, and I'm sure many people are anxiously waiting too.

I doubt that will work with his custom mod.

That said, when they release 4x00G AGESA/Modules/microcode, its a possible test.
Honestly, I would purchase an X300 or 2 if they kept updating the BIOS for the A300 and gave it 4x00G support (limited to the TDP OFC of the PSU), after-all, overclocking looks to be the biggest advantage of the X300 (yes yes, bigger PSU/board due to 8 core monster still).

 

[limsandy]

I doubt that will work with his custom mod.

That said, when they release 4x00G AGESA/Modules/microcode, its a possible test.
Honestly, I would purchase an X300 or 2 if they kept updating the BIOS for the A300 and gave it 4x00G support (limited to the TDP OFC of the PSU), after-all, overclocking looks to be the biggest advantage of the X300 (yes yes, bigger PSU/board due to 8 core monster still).

What's the earliest AGESA version that is known to work with AMD 4xxx APUs? Is it 1.0.0.4B ?

Given that Asrock is releasing X300, I don't think they're stupid enough to release another BIOS that is compatible with 4xxx APUs for the A300. If they do that, they would hurt sales of the X300. Which is why all owners of the A300 should hope for aftermarket/modded BIOS for 4xxx APU support.

 

[gazpl]

What's the earliest AGESA version that is known to work with AMD 4xxx APUs? Is it 1.0.0.4B ?

Given that Asrock is releasing X300, I don't think they're stupid enough to release another BIOS that is compatible with 4xxx APUs for the A300. If they do that, they would hurt sales of the X300. Which is why all owners of the A300 should hope for aftermarket/modded BIOS for 4xxx APU support.

throwing existing a300 owners under the bus doesn't really encourage them to go buy an x300. Showing long term support on the other hand might be an additional marketing argument for a300 and x300. x300 should have enough extra features to keep both products on market - at a reasonable price difference

 

[Valantar]

What's the earliest AGESA version that is known to work with AMD 4xxx APUs? Is it 1.0.0.4B ?

Given that Asrock is releasing X300, I don't think they're stupid enough to release another BIOS that is compatible with 4xxx APUs for the A300. If they do that, they would hurt sales of the X300. Which is why all owners of the A300 should hope for aftermarket/modded BIOS for 4xxx APU support.

I would assume the point(s) of the X300 is to deliver something more than the A300: likely a better VRM (the A300 one would seriously struggle with an 8-core!), HDMI 2.1, likely some other added features. 2.5GbE would be amazing, though given the lack of board space for a controller that is likely a stretch. It might also have improved DRAM traces for higher speeds.

 

[TomHC81]

Hi all, just installed BIOS 3.60H, running 3400G fine, but need to reinstall Windows anyway, because running W10 LTSB x64 (v1607 based) for some years already, and was initially installed on Intel NUC So it could be worth of reinstall with W10 LTSC x64 (v1809).

 

[gustav]

Hi all, just installed BIOS 3.60H, running 3400G fine, ...

Glad to hear that!
Me running the 3.60H since 01.07 (DD.MM) but with previous settings.
Today I've again enabled Hyper-V und Windows Sandbox and I did not run into a boot loop! Very good @ASRock System. Because of that I am now able to use Android Studio, Hyper-V and Windows Sandbox. VirtualBox does not work (known Hyper-V/VirtualBox issue). Everything works as expected.

 

[micky1067]

Well, I'm on 2400G with that issue. So I don't know about the
exclusivity only for 3xxx Series

Indeed, thank you very much for sharing!
Maybe @micky1067 passthrough will work with this one, I wonder.
GPU shared memory.... interesting used with 1GB and 2GB -> troubles.

Flashed successfully.
No bootloop so far.
NIC section updated (maybe WOL enabled)

Do you think it will run ? Maybe if i have time I will test it. But I don't like a new crash of my system.

 

[gustav]

@micky1067 Well, I cannot guarantee that. I'm trying to passthrough the GPU on Ubuntu 20.04 but they've changed the vfio behavior must switch back to 18.04 or find a workaround for 20.04 had no time yet.

It's worth a try I would say.