question please: my BIOS is already at version 3.96..

[ghost]

1. I tried downgrading to 3.85 as listed in the guide but I got a "system rom image is invalid" error in dosflash.
2. Because of no.1, does it mean my "update .bin" (as mentioned in page 26 of the guide) is the download copy of the 3.96 BIOS?
3. Is it possible to use a Xeon V1 with ME version 8.x?

Thanks a lot!

[SuperThunder]

1. At a certain point (possibly the whole time?) HP introduced downgrade prevention code. However, I did find one post that says the boot block BIOS recovery method allows downgrades. And of course HP can't stop you from flashing the old BIOS version by SPI programmer.

2. The 2013 boot block is to my knowledge the same for all BIOS versions that have it. You can use 3.96. Make a backup of your current BIOS first no matter what!

3. Yes, you can use Xeon v1 with ME v8.

Here are my test results for ME v7 / v8 and Xeon v1 / v2

You can actually use v2 with ME v7 if you use the BIOS header to disable AMT. However that was tested on 3.85 so I'm not sure if later versions "fix" that.

[fbzto]

1. I tried downgrading to 3.85 as listed in the guide but I got a "system rom image is invalid" error in dosflash.
2. Because of no.1, does it mean my "update .bin" (as mentioned in page 26 of the guide) is the download copy of the 3.96 BIOS?
3. Is it possible to use a Xeon V1 with ME version 8.x?

Thanks a lot!

myjay any luck with method 2. Scored a free z420 however i updated bios to 3.96. :(

[rnizametdinov]

1. I tried downgrading to 3.85 as listed in the guide but I got a "system rom image is invalid" error in dosflash.
2. Because of no.1, does it mean my "update .bin" (as mentioned in page 26 of the guide) is the download copy of the 3.96 BIOS?
3. Is it possible to use a Xeon V1 with ME version 8.x?

Thanks a lot!

https://github.com/SuperThunder/HP_Z420_Z620_Z820_BootBlock_Upgrade/issues/11 - see here downgrade instructions