(A7) Me FW - Downgrade - Request MeSpiLock Failed

[PracticalWho]

Greetings,

I am having a current issue and for the life of me have been unable to resolve it. I'll start from the very beginning.

I am currently working on a new build that contains an Asus Maximus VIII Hero. I was trying to figure out a way to get windows 7 on a Samsung m.2 ssd and it hasn't been working out. I made some bios changes hoping it would resolve the issue and nothing. I changed all of the bios settings back to default, installed a regular Samsung 850 pro, and installed Windows. Ever since then it takes ages to boot. Between the Asus splash screen and the Windows start screen I get the error message "(A7) Me FW - Downgrade - Request MeSpiLock Failed" it also makes a loud click sound before the windows splash screen.

I've found a few posts online but nothing has helped yet, I have also switched all hardware except for the MOBO and CPU since I do not have any spares lying around. If it comes to replacing the main hardware (Which i suspect is the issue I will in time)

Any information would be greatly appreciated.

 

[drtweak]

From what I have read (No exact solution though) is that it has to do with Secure Boot and uEFI. Try turning of uEFI and switching to Legacy only or try just turning off Secure Boot if your motherboard has that option. Everywhere I have read they mainly happened to OEM PC's and it was always after a BIOS update and they were so new they just got them replaced so no solution but found this here.

http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Desktop-Boot-and-Lockup/A7-Me-FW-Downgrade-Request-Me-Spilock-Failed/td-p/5396196

Even though these are for HP's at the bottom of the first page a few guys posted something.

Also you can flash the BIOS on this machine even when it is off. Might want to look up the manual for that one. Maybe try flashing the lastest BIOS or reflash it

 

[drtweak]

Also for the windows 7 install issue you can read here

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2817439/install-windows-x64-sm951-drive.html

One other way I have heard of people doing it is installing windows 7 on a normal SSD and then installing all the drives then clone it to the M.2 and then boot and they are good after that.

 

[PracticalWho]

I have looked at the HP forums and attempted to do what they say to no avail. I have a new Mobo coming in today or tomorrow. I'll install it and see if it makes any difference. I'll update later and mark it as closed if that turns out to be the issue.

 

[Cooeee]

I had the same problem on my ASUS H170-PLUS D3. I'm posting this answer here as it is one of the top results for this problem on Google.

In my case a faulty stick of RAM was causing this problem. I found this using MemTest86+ on the Avira Rescue Image (another site suggested the MeFWDowngrade problem might be caused by a virus, so I was going down that path).

I think setting CSM (Compatibility Support Module) in my BIOS to AUTO helped me to identify this issue, or at least reduce the time the POST screen was open. I probably would have ended up identifying my problem without this, though. I'm not sure if this setting was compounding my problem or not.

 

[wreckanoid]

Greetings,

error message "(A7) Me FW - Downgrade - Request MeSpiLock Failed"

Any information would be greatly appreciated.

I just got the same error on a Dell 7040. I 'resolved' it by using the 'last known good...' optoion, and all is now working well (Win 7, 64 bit)
I'm still trying to find the cause of the message. Sorry.

 

[briciola31]

I had the same problem on my ASUS H170-PLUS D3. I'm posting this answer here as it is one of the top results for this problem on Google.

In my case a faulty stick of RAM was causing this problem. I found this using MemTest86+ on the Avira Rescue Image (another site suggested the MeFWDowngrade problem might be caused by a virus, so I was going down that path).

I think setting CSM (Compatibility Support Module) in my BIOS to AUTO helped me to identify this issue, or at least reduce the time the POST screen was open. I probably would have ended up identifying my problem without this, though. I'm not sure if this setting was compounding my problem or not.

I had this problem on a lenovo m900 tiny
Was with 1 stick of ram and normal HDD
Upgraded to m.2 ssd and another.stick of ram....then no boot from USB tryed everything..in bios setup or bios upgrade...clear CMOS and other settings..with no luck
Just readed the cooler post..removed the extra ram stick..and boot started
So is a hardware combination in my opinion