Intel ME update breaks PowerDVD 17?

bear_in_mind

Newbie Joined: Nov 24, 2017 13:31 Messages: 14 Offline

Solved by

Nov 24, 2017 13:43

<div class="jive-rendered-content">Hi. I recently installed a fix for INTEL-SA-00086, a critical issue with the Intel ME code. (ME is required as part of Ultra HD Blu-Ray playback.) After installing the update supplied by my motherboard manufacturer, rebooting my PC, and confirming that the correct ME version was listed in the UEFI, I tried to watch an Ultra HD Blu-Ray disc. Playback failed. I saw an odd error message from PowerDVD and used the playback advisor make sure everything was in line. Much to my surprise, it said that HDCP 2.2 was "not available." There's no reason I know of why this should be the case. To be safe, I reinstalled the latest Intel display driver, in case the driver needed a specific ME hook when installing. No dice. HDCP 2.2 is still marked as not being available, meaning I can't watch UHD discs.

I'm writing to seek further advisement. To be honest, my gut suspicion is that this is an ME issue, or possibly a Cyberlink issue. Before installing the ME fix, there had been some playback issues under certain circumstances. For example, when trying to watch UHD discs (and Netflix using various apps and browsers), the video would drop out every few seconds, like a handshake had failed and needed to be done again. Something about the ME fix might have been the fatal blow. To be clear, before the ME fix was installed, the new display driver had dropouts but I was able to play back UHD discs, even if the end result was essentially unwatchable. I suppose it's also possible Cyberlink's software is missing something subtle that changed.

As a troubleshooting step, I reinstalled my older display drivers. No luck. HDCP 2.2 was still broken. So, it's almost certainly an ME issue, unless some software elsewhere needs to be updated. I'm checking with the Intel forums and figured I should check here too.

Here's what I consider to be the relevant portion of my setup. There's other stuff but I don't think it's relevant.

ASRock Fatal1ty Z370 Gaming-ITX/ac motherboard (1.11 beta BIOS)
Coffee Lake i7-8700 CPU
LG WH16NS60 Ultra HD Blu-Ray drive
Windows 10 (1709 - fully up-to-date)
PowerDVD 17 Ultra (fully up-to-date)
Intel UHD 630 driver version 15.60.0.4849
Intel ME consumer driver version 11.8.50.3425
No discrete graphics cards

Thanks!</div>

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at Nov 28. 2017 12:19

Hicham_B

Senior Contributor Joined: Jun 09, 2015 04:02 Messages: 1347 Offline

Nov 27, 2017 04:18

Hi bear_in_mind,

It sounds like an ME issue. Please let us know the results of your investigations.

Greetings,
Hicham

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Nov 27. 2017 04:19

Technical support:
EN: https://www.cyberlink.com/support/contact-support.jsp
DE: https://de.cyberlink.com/support/contact-support.jsp
FR: https://fr.cyberlink.com/support/contact-support.jsp
ES: https://es.cyberlink.com/support/contact-support.jsp

bear_in_mind

Newbie Joined: Nov 24, 2017 13:31 Messages: 14 Offline

Nov 27, 2017 14:09

Quote Hi bear_in_mind,

It sounds like an ME issue. Please let us know the results of your investigations.

Greetings,
Hicham

Thanks for replying, Hicham. With all due respect, I am looking into this, and I'd appreciate it if Cyberlink looked into the problem too. Obviously, I have no access to the source code, or even any particular understanding as to how exactly the advisor (and PowerDVD) could come to the conclusion that my system doesn't support HDCP 2.2. I'm assuming Cyberlink had to work closely with Intel in order to get everything running properly. I'd appreciate it if somebody from the engineering department could get in touch with Intel and look into this. I've already posted on the Intel forum and am waiting for an official reply other than "We'll get back to you."

QC2.0

Senior Contributor Joined: Apr 27, 2016 04:02 Messages: 610 Offline

Nov 27, 2017 21:50

Quote

Quote Hi bear_in_mind,

It sounds like an ME issue. Please let us know the results of your investigations.

Greetings,
Hicham

Thanks for replying, Hicham. With all due respect, I am looking into this, and I'd appreciate it if Cyberlink looked into the problem too. Obviously, I have no access to the source code, or even any particular understanding as to how exactly the advisor (and PowerDVD) could come to the conclusion that my system doesn't support HDCP 2.2. I'm assuming Cyberlink had to work closely with Intel in order to get everything running properly. I'd appreciate it if somebody from the engineering department could get in touch with Intel and look into this. I've already posted on the Intel forum and am waiting for an official reply other than "We'll get back to you."

I found that your ME driver version is much newer than the version from ASRock support page:

https://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/Fatal1ty%20Z370%20Gaming-ITXac/#Download

Did you get the newer version from ASRock update utility?

If you apply the version from their support page, do you still encounter the same problem?

bear_in_mind

Newbie Joined: Nov 24, 2017 13:31 Messages: 14 Offline

Nov 28, 2017 12:16

Quote I found that your ME driver version is much newer than the version from ASRock support page:

https://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/Fatal1ty%20Z370%20Gaming-ITXac/#Download

Did you get the newer version from ASRock update utility?

If you apply the version from their support page, do you still encounter the same problem?

Hi. As mentioned in my original post, I did get my update direct from ASRock. Also, the driver thing is weird. There are two layers to ME: The firmware and the drivers. The firmware is in the motherboard but you need the drivers in order for software to actually use ME (i.e., in order for PowerDVD to be able to play UHD discs). The ME update I downloaded is only for the firmware. I'm not aware of any updated drivers, and I've looked high and low.

In any event, I'm going to look into rolling back the firmware if I don't get any answers in a couple of days. Hollywood has effectively ensured that the number of people who'd notice this kind of bug are few in number, and can be passed around like a hot potato by all the potential players (Cyberlink, Intel, ASRock, and maybe others???). It's embarrassing for all involved.

bear_in_mind

Newbie Joined: Nov 24, 2017 13:31 Messages: 14 Offline

Nov 29, 2017 21:38

Hello. Just FYI, I wasn't able to roll back the ME firmware. In case it's useful to anyone, here's the info I got when running MEInfo on my PC. Since the Protected Audio Video Path (PAVP) is listed as active and functional, I'm guessing this is a PowerDVD bug, but who knows. (Before anybody asks, I am in touch with Cyberlink tech support and have passed along this info.)

Thanks.

------------

Intel(R) MEInfo Version: 11.6.25.1229

Copyright(C) 2005 - 2017, Intel Corporation. All rights reserved.

<p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">

Intel(R) ME code versions:

<p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">

BIOS Version L1.11

MEBx Version 0.0.0.0000

GbE Version 0.2

Vendor ID 8086

PCH Version 0

FW Version 11.8.50.3425 H

LMS Version 11.7.0.1037

MEI Driver Version 11.7.0.1032

Wireless Hardware Version 2.1.77

Wireless Driver Version 20.10.2.2

<p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">

FW Capabilities 0x31101140

<p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">

Intel(R) Capability Licensing Service - PRESENT/ENABLED

Protect Audio Video Path - PRESENT/ENABLED

Intel(R) Dynamic Application Loader - PRESENT/ENABLED

Intel(R) Platform Trust Technology - PRESENT/DISABLED

<p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">

TLS Disabled

Last ME reset reason Firmware reset

Local FWUpdate Enabled

BIOS Config Lock Enabled

GbE Config Lock Enabled

Host Read Access to ME Enabled

Host Write Access to ME Disabled

Host Read Access to EC Disabled

Host Write Access to EC Disabled

SPI Flash ID 1 C22018

SPI Flash ID 2 Unknown

BIOS boot State Post Boot

OEM ID 00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000

Capability Licensing Service Enabled

OEM Tag 0x00000000

Slot 1 Board Manufacturer 0x00000000

Slot 2 System Assembler 0x00000000

Slot 3 Reserved 0x00000000

M3 Autotest Disabled

C-link Status Disabled

Independent Firmware Recovery Disabled

EPID Group ID 0xFFB

LSPCON Ports None

5K Ports None

OEM Public Key Hash FPF 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

OEM Public Key Hash ME 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

ACM SVN FPF 0x0

KM SVN FPF 0x0

BSMM SVN FPF 0x0

GuC Encryption Key FPF 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

GuC Encryption Key ME 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

<p style="min-height: 8pt; padding: 0px;">

FPF ME

--- --

Force Boot Guard ACM Disabled Disabled

Protect BIOS Environment Disabled Disabled

CPU Debugging Enabled Enabled

BSP Initialization Enabled Enabled

Measured Boot Disabled Disabled

Verified Boot Disabled Disabled

Key Manifest ID 0x0 0x0

Enforcement Policy 0x0 0x0

PTT Enabled Enabled

PTT Lockout Override Counter 0x0

EK Revoke State Not Revoked

PTT RTC Clear Detection FPF 0x0

bear_in_mind

Newbie Joined: Nov 24, 2017 13:31 Messages: 14 Offline

Dec 05, 2017 13:05

Hey everyone. Just FYI, the final solution ended up being a BIOS update from ASRock. It looks like the ME firmware might have some board-specific information in it that wasn't included in the version rushed out to all ASRock customers. That makes sense. HDCP is licensed, and the security parameters seem to be quite strict. So, people who care about content that uses HDCP 2.2 on the PC (UHD Blus and maybe 4K Netflix is all I can think of offhand) have no choice but to wait for their motherboard maufacturer to send them custom firmware.

Good luck!

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Dec 05. 2017 13:11

QC2.0

Senior Contributor Joined: Apr 27, 2016 04:02 Messages: 610 Offline

Dec 07, 2017 22:03

Quote Hey everyone. Just FYI, the final solution ended up being a BIOS update from ASRock. It looks like the ME firmware might have some board-specific information in it that wasn't included in the version rushed out to all ASRock customers. That makes sense. HDCP is licensed, and the security parameters seem to be quite strict. So, people who care about content that uses HDCP 2.2 on the PC (UHD Blus and maybe 4K Netflix is all I can think of offhand) have no choice but to wait for their motherboard maufacturer to send them custom firmware.

Good luck!

Thanks for the useful information.

I think there will be more software/firmware updates preparing to roll out after Windows 10 2017 oct version released.
New change causes new bugs, and requires new fix.
Sometimes, for security purpose, we cannot just ignore those updates.

Duggyhow656

Newbie Joined: Mar 18, 2017 03:51 Messages: 31 Offline

Aug 11, 2018 20:26

Quote Hey everyone. Just FYI, the final solution ended up being a BIOS update from ASRock. It looks like the ME firmware might have some board-specific information in it that wasn't included in the version rushed out to all ASRock customers. That makes sense. HDCP is licensed, and the security parameters seem to be quite strict. So, people who care about content that uses HDCP 2.2 on the PC (UHD Blus and maybe 4K Netflix is all I can think of offhand) have no choice but to wait for their motherboard maufacturer to send them custom firmware.

Good luck!

.

Hi, does anybody know of a fix for the asrock Fatal1ty z220 gaming itx/ac board?Mine is doing the same thing. I thing mine was doing a Bios update that messed mine up. Thanks.

Duggyhow656

Newbie Joined: Mar 18, 2017 03:51 Messages: 31 Offline

Aug 25, 2018 11:51

Quote
.

Hi, does anybody know of a fix for the asrock Fatal1ty z220 gaming itx/ac board?Mine is doing the same thing. I thing mine was doing a Bios update that messed mine up. Thanks.

.

Update: I was able to fix my issue. I ended up downgrading to an earlier BIOS but the trick was resetting the CMOS instead of just doing default settings. I was told by Asrock that a resetting of CMOS wasn’t required but it did the trick. I didn’t know of anything else that helped. Just install whatever drivers they send you and Reset CMOS afterwards. Hope this helps.