So I have the first gen M715Q. I found out the second gen is the exact thing to the first gen but with a bigger SPI Flash ROM. The first gen uses a 8MB chip and the second gen uses a 16MB chip.
I ordered a SOIC8 flashing kit and and some questionable W25Q128FWSIG ICs. the socket for the programmer was damaged from shipping so I had to order another one. As the the ICs I ordered five and they sent ten of them.
I tried to solder one onto a PCB to use the clamp jig and IMSProg says it’s a much smaller ATMEL flash chip. I forced the settings to what the IC should be and I can write the image to it but reading back the chip is empty. Don’t know if it’s my crummy soldering or the chips I got are fake.
I’m gonna to wait for the replacement socket to come in and try again. If I get the same results then I ended up with some fake chips.
Besides the BIOS upgrade I scored a Ryzen 5 PRO 2400GE. I also have a M.2 to PCI-E adapter so I can toss in a better GPU. Even printed a extended case for it.
This system is going to replace the server desktop build I did. Reason being the server desktop was putting a huge damper on the light bill.