Intermittent bug - Request MeSpiLock Failed.

Question

_{Sunday, March 5, 2017 11:11 AM}

Over the last few months, I'm getting an intermittent bug which hangs around for a few days and then goes away. Today it has come back again (or perhaps this is several bugs?).

Symptoms as follows:

• Closing the lid of my laptop suddenly starts shutting it down rather than putting it to sleep.
• During the restart (before reaching the Windows 10 login screen), I see the following message (white text on a black screen) - "FW Downgrade - Request MeSpiLock Failed". This appears for only a split second.
• When I then reach the Windows 10 login screen, the option to login using my 4-digit PIN has disappeared (I can only login using my long password and, underneath the password box, the Login Options icon has disappeared).
• So, once logged in using my password, I go to "Windows Settings / Accounts / Sign-in options", and click on "PIN / Add".
• Bizarrely, a message asks me to enter my PIN (i.e. the damned systems still knows it)
• Anyway, I enter my 4-digit PIN, which is accepted but with no message (confirmation or otherwise)
• I then logout
• When I click on the Windows login screen, the option to login with my 4-digit PIN is still missing.
• When I close the lid, it's Groundhog day (the above just repeats).

After a few days, the above goes away and the laptop behaves as normal - no MeSpilock error and the PIN option reappears for logging in .

I've only had this laptop a few months and have already reinstalled Windows 10 three times to fix other issues (e.g. tiles not working, errors with file associations, Windows Date/Time intermittently (the time is usually right but can occasionally be several hours out - on a few occasions, the date has been showing as several days into the future).

Like all of the numerous Windows 10 bugs, the above is pretty irritating.

Does it ring a bell with anyone?

All replies (6)

_{Saturday, March 11, 2017 3:36 PM ✅Answered}

Further update:

It's just happened again. I closed the lid of my laptop earlier but, when I opened it, the system had shut down instead of going to sleep. Then, during start-up, the "FW Downgrade - Request MeSpiLock Failed" error message appeared (as above) and (as above) the PIN login option had disappeared.

I think I now know why it is happening but NOT what is causing it.

Looking at msconfig, under the General tab, "Startup selection" was set to "Selective startup" instead of "Normal startup". I know for sure that yesterday, it was set to "Normal startup" - so something (not me!) must have changed it.

So,in msconfig, I changed "Startup selection" back to "Normal startup" and restarted. There was no "Mespilock" error and the PIN login option was visible once more.

So, what's mucking around with my "Startup selection", I wonder?

_{Friday, March 17, 2017 10:10 AM ✅Answered}

I updated the BIOS yesterday and, for now, the problem has gone away.

_{Sunday, March 5, 2017 11:39 AM}

Quick update. 

Trail is now cold. I just rebooted in safe mode a couple of times and, when I rebooted normally, the MeSpilock error had disappeared. I could still only login with my password, but after going to "Windows Settings / Accounts / Sign-in options", there was now an option to change my PIN (previously there was only the option to add a new PIN).

After changing my PIN (to itself!),I logged out. When I went to login again, the login options icon was there once more, and I was able to login with my PIN.

And, no, I haven't been drinking:-)

_{Wednesday, March 8, 2017 7:01 AM}

Hi Bertram,

So far, I didn't encounter this kind of issue.

I suspect "FW Downgrade - Request MeSpiLock Failed" break your PIN sign in.

Please keep focus on it to see if the issue occur after "FW Downgrade - Request MeSpiLock Failed" error occurring.

Please remember to mark the replies as answers if they help.
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_{Saturday, March 11, 2017 3:46 PM}

"FW Downgrade - Request MeSpiLock Failed" is a message from the Intel Management Engine, which is part of the Bios. 
Contact your mainboard manufacturer, I guess you need to update the bios.

_{Friday, March 17, 2017 3:25 PM}

what was wrong with my answer, why did you "unpropose" it?