The 1704 BIOS leaves the motherboard vulnerable to ME firmware exploit and the Aquantia AQC-107 NIC doesn't function correctly with ME firmware 11.10.0.1287 and Windows driver v2.1.17.

I recently took delivery of an Asus Rampage VI Extreme motherboard which came with the 1704 BIOS already loaded. I checked the BIOS section on the boards support page and noticed there was an ME firmware issue that was around. Looking at the details for the BIOS I discovered:

ROG RAMPAGE VI EXTREME BIOS 1704
- Improve system performance and stability.
- Fixed RAID card issue.
- Updated ME FW to ver. 11.11.60.1561
" Before running the USB BIOS Flashback tool, please rename the BIOS file R6E.CAP

To me it seems that the BIOS contains the updated ME firmware, so I thought there was no need for me to bother with the individual update. I used Easy Flash 3 from inside the BIOS and flashed from a USB dongle. I sorted out my settings and ran CPU and Memory at stock speeds, installed Windows 10 then started to configure my network. I found that when using the Aquantia 10G NIC, I was unable to print anything with the v2.1.17 driver. Switching back to the one which is bundled with windows works fine. So i contact Aquantia about the problem.

I then decided to install a few Asus programs. Dual Intelligent Processors, RAM Disk and RAM Cache. I setup my fans and started using the PC. Once I had the RAM Disk and RAM Cache working, I started having strange crashes and reboots. I quickly re-installed Windows and didn't bother with the Asus programs. Everything ran sweet but the Aquantia still didn't work.

installed a few Asus programs. Dual Intelligent Processors, RAM Disk and RAM Cache. I setup my fans and after setting up the RAM Disk and RAM Cache, I had nothing but seemingly random Windows blue screen crashes.

I had trouble finding MEI Drivers for Windows and discovered a program that would check the system for it's vulnerability to the ME firmware exploit. I ran the program and to my surprise, my system was vulnerable. I then went to the BIOS page for the motherboard, downloaded the ME Update Tool which updated the ME firmware to 11.11.60.1561. Subsequently I have discovered that the Aquantia now allows me to print with the v2.1.17 Windows driver. I wonder if the other Asus programs will work without crashing windows now. I'm not sure if it's worth trying them.

The BIOS notes mention the Flashback tool so I thought that perhaps using EZ Flash 3 was the reason that the ME firmware hadn't been updated with the 1704 BIOS. I had trouble getting the Flashback function to work as my SanDisk 32Gb USB3.0 dongle doesn't seem to be compatible, even with a 100Mb FAT32 Primary partition for the BIOS to sit in. Fortunately I have a USB 2.0 SATA Hard Drive caddy which the Flashback tool was able to support and was happy to flash from that.

As a test, I went into the BIOS and switched to BIOS 2 to use with Flashback. I wanted to upgrade that BIOS also, to one which was free from the known exploit and figure out if EZ Flash 3 was the reason my ME firmware was left unchanged. After all, the Asus website states that the 1704 BIOS has "Updated ME firmware" in the changes notes.

BIOS 2 had BIOS 1004 and also had the ME firmware 11.10.0.1287 if I remember correctly. It wasn't an 11.11.x bios anyway. I used the Flashback USB port and upgraded the BIOS using my USB 2.0 Drive. I remember seeing something about v1.03 generic USB something or other. It's a shame my USB 3.0 dongle doesn't work.

Even this method left me with the old vulnerable ME firmware. I had to let windows load and ran the ME Update Tool to update the ME firmware to a safe version.

Why does Asus state the BIOS contains the ME firmware v11.11.60.1561 when a BIOS update through Flashback or EX Flash 3 leaves the ME firmware unchanged?

The BIOS notes make it seem that the latest BIOS contains all is needed to keep the motherboard free from this well publicized exploit.

In my experience, the ME FM BIOS note is totally untrue and leaves Asus looking negligent in their handling of the situation.