What is the 9-pin header above the top PCIe x16 slot?

**tamasd** · 09-30-2017 12:03 PM

Hi,

Yesterday when I was cleaning my computer, I noticed a 9-pin header above the PCIe x16 slot. I checked my paper manual, and the downloadable online one, but neither of them mentioned it. Searching the web yielded no results either.

Does anyone know what it is?

**Neoony** · 09-30-2017 01:00 PM

This?

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Good question.

**elmor** · 10-01-2017 09:05 AM

It's for factory BIOS flashing.

**tamasd** · 10-01-2017 09:54 AM

Originally Posted by elmor

It's for factory BIOS flashing.

Thanks for the info

**lightknightrr** · 10-15-2017 04:04 AM

Now, someone figure out how it works. Probably better than using a test clip.

**Korth** · 10-15-2017 05:50 AM

Originally Posted by lightknightrr

Now, someone figure out how it works. Probably better than using a test clip.

So that means you're volunteering?

**elmor** · 10-15-2017 11:32 AM

Originally Posted by lightknightrr

Now, someone figure out how it works. Probably better than using a test clip.

Pin#1 - NC
Pin#2 - WP#
Pin#3 - VCC
Pin#4 - GND
Pin#5 - CS#
Pin#6 - CLK
Pin#7 - MISO
Pin#8 - MOSI
Pin#9 - HOLD#

Pin pitch 2.00mm. Note that VCC is 1.8V on AM4. Make sure standby power is off before applying external VCC. I strongly recommend using USB BIOS Flashback over external tools if available.

**Korth** · 10-15-2017 03:57 PM

Originally Posted by elmor

Pin#1 - NC
Pin#2 - WP#
Pin#3 - VCC
Pin#4 - GND
Pin#5 - CS#
Pin#6 - CLK
Pin#7 - MISO
Pin#8 - MOSI
Pin#9 - HOLD#

Pin pitch 2.00mm. Note that VCC is 1.8V on AM4. Make sure standby power is off before applying external VCC. I strongly recommend using USB BIOS Flashback over external tools if available.

Cool info, thanx!

Looks like you could plug a part programmer (something like CH341 or EM100-Pro) directly into motherboard.

Although I agree with preferring software flash, USB Flashback, or swapping in a programmed BIOS chip, in that order. Still, always nice to have another interface and another recovery option when looking at bricked firmware, lol.

**unknownmiscreant** · 10-15-2017 08:49 PM

Originally Posted by elmor

Pin#1 - NC
Pin#2 - WP#
Pin#3 - VCC
Pin#4 - GND
Pin#5 - CS#
Pin#6 - CLK
Pin#7 - MISO
Pin#8 - MOSI
Pin#9 - HOLD#

Pin pitch 2.00mm. Note that VCC is 1.8V on AM4. Make sure standby power is off before applying external VCC. I strongly recommend using USB BIOS Flashback over external tools if available.

Thanks. Will file that away somewhere for when something breaks. Still gonna be a last resort though.

**lightknightrr** · 10-16-2017 05:37 AM

elmor-> You've tested this?

tamasd PC Specs
Laptop (Model)	ThinkPad X270
Motherboard	Crosshair VI Hero
Processor	1800X
Memory (part number)	G.Skill F4-3200C14D-32GTZSK
Graphics Card #1	Strix 1070
Monitor	LG 34UM88C-P
Storage #1	Samsung 960 Pro
CPU Cooler	Noctua NH-D15
Case	Phanteks Enthoo Evolv ATX Tempered Glass Black
Power Supply	Corsair RM650i
Keyboard	Pok3r RGB
Mouse	Logitech G502

Neoony PC Specs
Motherboard	ASUS Crosshair VI Hero
Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 1800X
Memory (part number)	2x 8GB F4-3200C14D-16GFX @ 3200MHz
Graphics Card #1	AMD Radeon VII
Storage #1	Samsung SSD 960 EVO 500GB
Storage #2	2x HDD
CPU Cooler	Arctic Liquid Freezer 360
Case	CoolerMaster MasterCase h500p
Headset	Sharkoon X-Tatic Pro (True 5.1)
OS	Windows 10 64-bit

tamasd PC Specs
Laptop (Model)	ThinkPad X270
Motherboard	Crosshair VI Hero
Processor	1800X
Memory (part number)	G.Skill F4-3200C14D-32GTZSK
Graphics Card #1	Strix 1070
Monitor	LG 34UM88C-P
Storage #1	Samsung 960 Pro
CPU Cooler	Noctua NH-D15
Case	Phanteks Enthoo Evolv ATX Tempered Glass Black
Power Supply	Corsair RM650i
Keyboard	Pok3r RGB
Mouse	Logitech G502

lightknightrr PC Specs
Motherboard	Asus Crosshair VI Hero WiFi
Processor	AMD Ryzen-7 1800X
Memory (part number)	F4-3200C14D-32GTZ
Graphics Card #1	Radeon Vega Frontier Edition
Sound Card	HT Omega eClaro
Monitor	Samsung 4K
Storage #1	Samsung NVMe SSD 960 PRO 1TB
Storage #2	Crucial MX200 1TB SSD
CPU Cooler	Corsair H115i
Case	Thermaltake Chaser Mk-1 (Modified)
Power Supply	Thermaltake Toughpower DPS G RGB 1500W Titanium
Keyboard	Corsair K95 RGB PLATINUM
Mouse	Corsair Scimitar Pro RGB
Mouse Pad	Corsair Gaming MM600 Dual Sided Aluminum Gaming Mouse Pad
OS	Windows 10 Pro 64-bit OEM
Network Router	Cisco ASA 5516-X
Accessory #1	Firewire Expansion Card
Accessory #2	Black Magic Intensity Pro 4K
Accessory #3	Mailiya USB 3.0 5-Port Expansion Card

Korth PC Specs
Motherboard	ASUS X99 R5E (BIOS2101/1902)
Processor	Haswell-EP E5-1680-3 SR20H/R2 (4.4GHz)
Memory (part number)	Vengeance LPX 4x8GB SS DDR4-3000 (CMK32GX4M4C3000C15)
Graphics Card #1	NVIDIA Quadro GP100GL/16GB, 16xPCIe3, NVLink1 (SLI-HB)
Graphics Card #2	NVIDIA Quadro GP100GL/16GB, 16xPCIe3, NVLink1 (SLI-HB)
Sound Card	JDS Labs O2+ODAC (RevB), USB2 UAC1
Monitor	ASUS PG278Q
Storage #1	Samsung 850 PRO 512GB SSDs, 4xSATA3 RAID0
Storage #2	Comay BladeDrive E28 3200GB SSD, 8xPCIe2
CPU Cooler	Raijintek NEMESIS/TISIS, AS5, 2xNH-A14
Case	Obsidian 750D (original), 6xNH-A14
Power Supply	Zalman/FSP ZM1250 Platinum
Headset	Pilot P51 PTT modded
OS	Arch, Gentoo, Win7x64, Win10x64
Network Router	Actiontec T3200M VDSL2 Gateway
Accessory #1	TP-Link AC1900 Archer T9E, 1xPCIe
Accessory #2	ASUS/Infineon SLB9635 TPM (TT1.2/FW3.19)
Accessory #3	ASUS OC Panel I (FW0501)

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unknownmiscreant PC Specs
Laptop (Model)	Dell E430s (i7)
Motherboard	Crosshair VI Hero
Processor	Ryzen 7 1700X
Memory (part number)	F4-3200C14D-16GFX (Currently clocked 3466MHz)
Graphics Card #1	EVGA GTX1070 FTW
Sound Card	Asus Strix Soar
Monitor	2x Dell U2412M
Storage #1	Intel 540s
Storage #2	Intel 520
CPU Cooler	EK Supremacy Evo
Case	Corsair 460x
Power Supply	EVGA 850 G2
Keyboard	Logitech G610 Cherry MX Brown
Mouse	Logitech G502
Mouse Pad	Logitech G640
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OS	Win 10
Network Router	Netgear Nighthawk