Brian1965 wrote:
Unfortunately there is no way to update the boot block date, (except for replacing the motherboard or base unit to a more recent manufactured date). I understand this is effectively a board level revision update so there could also be physical differences between the pre and post 2013 block dates (as well as firmware).
Updating the boot block is only necessary if one wants to run the Xeon v2 CPU's, which also allow the use of 1866mhz memory. Bearing in mind that the price of these CPU's is constantly dropping and since the vast majority of Zx20 workstations are now out of warranty it is IMHO something which is worth contemplating at some point for those seeking to prolong the life of their machine by upgrading rather than stepping up to e.g. the Zx40 line. It will however not impact anything else.
I am not familiar with the bios chip in the Z620 and Z820 but for the Z420 the updating can be done with a cheap $3-4 USB SPI programmer. The challenge is the fact that the chip is soldered to the board, so one can either use a chip clip (usually these work fine, but sometimes they don't and you are left with a partially flashed bios and a bricked PC) or - my preffered method - get the bios professionally desoldered (e.g. mobile phone / PC repair shops) and add in a socket for the bios chip (for the Z420 the SOK-SPI-16W socket is a good match).
Its worth adding that the the latest bios editions contain some annoying check where with AMT enabled even if you have the 2013 boot block date but the older version 7.xxxxx ME firmware the system will fail to boot. For this reason if somebody wants to go down this road, my recommendation would be to use the stock bios image from the HP website (this contains both the newest boot block and the v.8.xxxxx ME) and just add your LAN mac address at offest 00001000 (fields 00 - 05).