M9036A BIOS Downloads

This BIOS release:

 1. Rebranded the M9036A to Keysight from Keysight.

• changed the BIOS splash screen logo to Keysight.
• changed OEM to Keysight Technologies.
• changed SYSTEM_MANUFACTURER to Keysight Technologies.
• changed SYSTEM_FAMILY to Keysight M9036 PXIe Embedded Family.

2. Update MCU to 0x7 to improve security (INTEL-SA-00115).

3. Added mitigation for unsafe opcodes exposed in Intel SPI based products.

This BIOS release adds a configuration option to the BIOS that allows you to enable/disable update of the Intel Management Engine firmware. The new option is on the Advanced screen and called "ME Local FW Update Policy". The default setting is disabled. All pervious BIOS have the default set to disabled. When disabled, you can't update the Intel Management Engine firmware. All pervious BIOS don't have this configuration option. If you want to update the Intel Management Engine firmware, you must first upgrade to BIOS AG23, then change the setting to enabled.

If you are upgrading your M9036A Operating System, Keysight recommends that you first install the latest BIOS.

 If you are upgrading your M9036A Operating System, Keysight recommends that you first install the latest BIOS.

Select BIOS version:

• AG21 for use with one or two PXIe chassis or for use with one PXIe chassis and one AXIe chassis.
• AG21-M for use with three or four PXIe/AXIe chassis.

As described in the BIOS upgrade instructions, if updating from AG19 or AG19-M, be sure to install the Microsoft fix prior to upgrading the BIOS.

The AG21 and AG21-M BIOS corrects or improves the following problems found with the previous version:

• On rare occasions, the BIOS flash sector becomes corrupt and the M9036A can’t boot. The AG21 and AG21-M BIOS contain protections to help prevent the BIOS flash sector from being accidently changed.
   

Select BIOS version:

• AG20 for use with one or two PXIe chassis or one PXIe chassis and one AXIe chassis.
• AG20-M for use with three or four PXIe/AXIe chassis.

As described in the BIOS upgrade instructions, be sure to install the Microsoft fix prior to upgrading the BIOS.

The AG20 BIOS corrects or improves the following problems found with the previous version:

• On rare occasions, the AG19 BIOS boot order can change to boot from preferentially LAN rather than the SSD (requiring a BIOS setup reconfiguration to correct).
• Some non-compliant PXIe chassis can cause the M9036A’s ExpressCard Adapter to improperly initialize connected subordinate chassis.
• AG20 changes the default SSD SATA mode from IDE to AHCI for improved disk performance and to correct issues relating to multi-chassis operation.
• The AG19 BIOS incorrectly indicated that the PCIe Spread Spectrum Clocking is disabled. The AG20 BIOS now properly disables it by default.
• AG20 BIOS adds text along the bottom of the M9036A splash screen indicating how to enter Setup and Boot menu.
• AG20 fixes the BIOS holdoff timer behavior to holdoff final PCI enumeration until after de-assertion of PCI reset.

The AG20-M BIOS contains all the improvements of the AG20 plus the following:

• Configures BIOS to enumerate systems with up to four PXIe/AXIe chassis.