[Detailed] Interesting Undervolting Lock(?) Situation on HP Victus 16 r1x

[Fadel_Hel]

The interesting and weird thing is that Throttlestop undervolting is completely locked as shown in the screenshot, BUT there is an HP Omen Gaming Hub Utility that has an undervolt feature which allows me to undervolt the CPU Core only.

Although Throttlestop shows voltage controls as locked, it shows that the undervolt which is applied through the HP Omen Utility is real and functional in the FIVR page.

   
   

I have had experiences with locked undervolting before, so far I was able to unlock it in every case, except my current HP Victus 16-r1057nt Laptop with an i7-14700HX on the latest BIOS version from HP (version f.12).

Simple fixes:

• Disabling Core Isolation
  
• Disabling VBS (Virtualization-Based Security)
  
• Disabling Virtualization from BIOS
  

Advanced fixes:

Modding BIOS using setup_var or RU.efi, to change both CFG Lock and Overclocking Lock variables, done it successfully 5 times so far on different machines from different manufacturers. (Lenovo, Dell, and Asus)
But when it comes to this HP BIOS (Insyde f.12), I am unable to.

I was not able to backup my current BIOS using the Universal BIOS Backup Toolkit, I get the error "Driver install failed!" which as far as I understand means that there is some kind of protection on the BIOS.
I was able to bypass the backup issue by using the UEFITool on the official BIOS from HP's website (since it is the BIOS that I currently have installed) then using IFRExtractor to turn it into a readable text file.
  BIOS.txt (Size: 217.18 KB / Downloads: 2)
From the text file I was able to learn the Offset Values of CFG Lock (0x43) and Overclocking Lock (0x10E), but I couldn't make sure in which EFI variable they are stored, usually it is CpuSetup or Setup
Nevertheless, I still booted into RU.efi and tried changing the Offset Value 0x43 inside CpuSetup from 1 to 0. When I try to save the new value (ctrl+w) I get WRITE ERROR 0x00000008 EFI_WRITE_PROTECTED.

As far as I understood from other guides and threads, if there is EFI write protection then the only thing which only has a low chance of working is flashing an already modded BIOS with an external programmer.

If anyone reading this with some experience or knowledge could answer some of my questions I would appreciate it a lot.
Questions:

• In which EFI Variable are the CFG Lock and Overclocking Lock actually located? If you know how to read BIOS dumps please check the attached text file.
    BIOS.txt (Size: 217.18 KB / Downloads: 2)
  
• Do you think that both of these Lock variables are currently set to 1, if not, which variable is responsible for what? The fact that the Omen Utility is able to undervolt CPU Core makes me think that only one of the variables is actually locked not both.
  
• Why can't Throttlestop change voltages but the Omen Utility can? What special permissions or drivers does the Omen Utility have that makes it able to somehow bypass the undervolting lock that Throttlestop is experiencing?
  

Possible Solutions?

• Do you think it is possible to locally modify the HP Omen Gaming Hub Utility to add "sliders" just like the CPU Core one but for CPU Cache as well? This solution might be very difficult since the utility is not open-source
  
• What about modifying Throttlestop in such a way to make it "pipeline through" the HP Omen Utility? Maybe if we somehow connect it to one of the HP drivers we could at least obtain control over CPU Core (which is definitely adjustable) from Throttlestop as well rather than only from the utility.
  

Thank you for spending the time and reading. Any help or discussion is appreciated.