i5-3450 intel ME firmware update crash

[RBeck9]

New to the forum, but I've spent a couple days searching online and trying various fixes for this problem. ASRock Z77 Extreme4 motherboard running Windows 10 with i5-3450 processor. The hardware and software configuration of this system has been unchanged and stable for over a year, and all Windows Updates since the Spectre/Meltdown vulnerabilities were identified have previously run successfully.

Windows Update prompted for a restart earlier this week, and I let it run without inspecting the details. Apparently it tried pushing an Intel ME firmware update, because the restart led to a UEFI screen showing progress of an Intel ME update. The progress bar ran to completion, and the system immediately restarted - actually, it powered down, then the motherboard powered back up for less than a second, powered back down, then did the same thing twice more; on the third cycle, it reentered the Intel ME update screen. This cycle repeated three more times before the mobo detected a problem and provided a screen with an option to directly enter UEFI.

I downloaded the most recent ASRock UEFI BIOS Instant Flash file and installed successfully. The system restarted and went through the same cycle until detecting the boot failure and allowing me to reenter UEFI. This is how I was able to verify that the BIOS successfully updated.

Other forums I've found include threads from users who have used community-developed tools to fix various BIOS problems, including corrupt IME firmware (see https://www.win-raid.com/t785f16-Discussion-UBU-Tool-related-Questions-Reports-and-Suggestions.html https://www.win-raid.com/t785f16-Discussion-UBU-Tool-related-Questions-Reports-and-Suggestions.html and http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php/728348-How-to-fix-your-BIOS-if-there-is-corrupted-ME-area http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php/728348-How-to-fix-your-BIOS-if-there-is-corrupted-ME-area), but I haven't been able to adapt the information I've found to my particular hardware configuration (especially my motherboard BIOS file and appropriate IME version).

Is there something I'm missing? Since I can't get back into Windows, and the ASRock BIOS update utility apparently doesn't affect IME firmware, how can I fix this?

[idata]

Hello bandarbalu,

Thank you for joining the Intel Community Support.In this case, because you are having boot issues after an update, I recommend you to contact your motherboard manufacturer, ASRock, since they test your motherboard/system implementations and functionality regarding BIOS updates and Intel® Management Interface. Wanner G.