MSI MS-7707 V1.1

Flash chip (Winbond 25Q32BV)

The standard method is to only flash the 2MiB BIOS region. In that case it’s not needed to extract blobs from vendor firmware and internal flashing is sufficient.
To flash the whole chip (e.g. to disable ME) blobs are needed to build coreboot. Blobs can be extracted with util/ifdtool from 4MiB full dump image (see below). Its recommended to include the VGA BIOS as well (4MiB write only). Kconfig is prepared already if it gets enabled (path and 8086,0102).

coreboot/3rdparty/blobs/mainboard/msi/ms7707
├── descriptor.bin
├── gbe.bin
├── me.bin
└── vgabios.bin

Never write a full 4MiB image if blobs are not included. The generated coreboot.rom file is always 4MiB but the 2MiB flash command below will only flash the last 2MiB (BIOS) block.
The J1-Jumper sets the ‘Flash Descriptor Override Strap-Pin’ and enables full 4MiB access for internal flasher (read and write).
Write BIOS-range (2MiB) with J1-Jumper=off (as on picture/default position):

flashrom -p internal:ich_spi_force=yes --noverify-all --ifd -i bios -w coreboot.rom

flashrom -p internal -r original.rom

flashrom -p internal -w coreboot.rom

After successful flashing turn main power off, wait some seconds to drain the capacitors, pull the battery and set the JBAT (clrcmos) jumper for some seconds. Setting the jumper alone is not enough (the Fintek is VBAT backed). Put all back in place and restart the board. It might need 1-2 AC power cycles to reinitialize (running at full fan speed - don’t panic).
External flashing has been tested with RPi2 without main power connected. 3.3V provided by RPi2. Read more about flashing methods.
In case of going back to proprietary BIOS create/save CMOS settings as early as possible (do not leave BIOS on first start without saving settings). The BIOS might corrupt nvram (not cmos!) and leave the system in a dead state that needs an external flasher to revive. If stuck, reset the Fintek (see above) and restart the system several times and/or try setting J1 to temporarily disable ME.

The JSPI1 header (5×2 2.0mm pitch pin header) for external flashing is directly connected to the flash chip. Additional 3.3V to /HOLD and /WP is not needed (internally re-routed already).