5520g with 9300m gs problem

Hello all,

my name is Tom, 25y old from Croatia and this is my first post here. Recently i bought Nvidia 9300m gs for my 5520g since the laptop had faulty 8400m gs and i got sick of repairs. I replaced them and it worked. On boot i had 30 sec delay because of invalid MXM structure but i fixed it with .Netrolller modded bios. Everything else works flawlessly. But now the problem is that my external DVI and s-video ports cant recognize anything. Even in NVIDIA Control panel it only shows internal display and VGA port. My VGA port works without problems. Can anyone tell me what to do?
Do i need to mod BIOS or VBIOS or 9300m doesn't support that ports?

I've tried to search for problem but couldn't find nothing.

Thanks in advance

 

snejk
I have read your post with interest, because I have purchased a 9300M GS card to go in one of my Acer Aspire 7720G. My problem is bigger than yours, I have no display at all, no internal LCD display no VGA and no DVI.

Because your internal display and and VGA port is working I believe that DVI is supported, but I don't know this is only from the study of many of .Netroller 3D posts that I make that guess.

Do you have a copy of the original video BIOS for the 9300 card? If so could you attach a copy of the original vBIOS and the now running vBIOS ? Then I will try and look at the code.


Does your card have labels with:
VG.9MG06.001
MS-V115B0911193128

Despite having no display the laptop seems to work, which I can determine from after a long wait of about 15-20 minutes Windows startup sound music is heard and hard disk activity seen on panel LED.

I am searching this forum and others for 9300M GS related problems I will look out for those for you too.

 

Hey,

Here are the current bioses that i running.

bioses.rar

I also added a vbios from my previous video card, 8600m GS (its 8600m Gs not a 8400m like i stated in my previous post).

labels on my card are:

VG.9MG06.001
ms-v115b0810142291

I think the solution to my problem is to get original 5520g 9300m gs vBios because i've read that if i use different vbios on card it messes up the video outputs. ( Acer 9920G MXM video restriction)

 

snejk
Thank you for the files, just to get it clear in my own mind. The 9300M GS vBIOS file you attached is a modded version? Is that correct? It is not the original one on the card?

The Forum topic you linked to deals with the Acer 5520G and .NetRoller_3D refers specifically to the 9920G. My understanding at present is that the problem is sBIOS is missing some code dealing with MXM structure, which .NetRoller_3D identified and decoded and figured out a fix. I am struggling to understand the many variations of problems one can read about, so at present I do not know if this is applicable to your 5520G system but I will see what I can figure.

...On boot i had 30 sec delay because of invalid MXM structure but i fixed it with .Netrolller modded bios...

Any newcomer reading above will have great trouble working out which BIOS you are referring to, can you explain which one assuming you only have two BIOSes in your system.

 

Hehe, let me explain one more time:

sBIOS - .NetRolller mod, fixes MXM structure error and 30 sec delay
9300m GS vBIOS - not modded, dumped with GPU-Z, dont know if original, card seller said it was taken out of 7530g Acer.
8600m GS vBIOS - not modded, dumped with GPU-Z, original vBIOS from stock card that comes with 5520g.

 

Thanks, I understand.
I have installed Phoenix BIOS Editor Pro v2.2.1.3.exe on a Win7 laptop I have, I can open your system BIOS *.whp file and I can see the BIOS code files but can do nothing with them.

When opening 5 different *.whp files at random the same result to varying degrees. When opening PBE (Phoenix BIOS Editor) I get a number of module errors, like modules H, J, K, Q.

I think I remember reading that module X error could be ignored but not others, so I have a problem at the moment. I will see if I can get this sorted out.

I also tried to install PBE with wine on PCLinuxOS KDE32, installation seems to go fine but when started PBE just evaporates out in thin air after about 5 seconds of trying to start, this is why I then installed on Win 7, here it will open when run as administrator (but not installed as administrator)

 

Ok, I found out more about PBE and I managed to get the BIOS code out of your sBIOS file.

I used a program called MXMPARSE to look at your mxm code.

Code:

F:\DownLoads\130702-mxmparse_here>mxmparse.exe snejk_BIOSCOD00.ROM
Found MXM structure at offset 0x6cc7 (version 2.1).
   Output device #1:
    Device type: LVDS (internal LCD)
    DDC/Aux port: DDC C
    Connector type: Internal LVDS
    Connector location: Internal
    Digital connection format: Dual-link LVDS (18-bit)
    Digital audio connection: No audio support
    Digital drive strength: Normal or not applicable.
    Digital reserved field: Correct (0x3)
    Output selection via GPIO: Disabled
    Output selection via Int 15h/ACPI: Disabled
    DDC selection via GPIO: Disabled
    DDC selection via Int 15h/ACPI: Disabled
    Device detection via GPIO: Disabled
    ACPI hotplug notification: Disabled
    
   Output device #2:
    Device type: Analog RGB
    DDC/Aux port: DDC A
    Connector type: D-Sub
    Connector location: External
    Digital connection format: Not applicable
    TV format: Auto-determined at runtime
    ERROR: TV format set for non-TV output.
    Output selection via GPIO: Disabled
    Output selection via Int 15h/ACPI: Disabled
    DDC selection via GPIO: Disabled
    DDC selection via Int 15h/ACPI: Disabled
    Device detection via GPIO: Disabled
    ACPI hotplug notification: Disabled

   Output device #3:
    Device type: TMDS (DVI or HDMI)
    DDC/Aux port: DDC B
    Connector type: DVI-D
    Connector location: External
    Digital connection format: Dual-link TMDS on DVI_A and DVI_B
    Digital audio connection: No audio support
    Digital drive strength: Normal or not applicable.
    Digital reserved field: Correct (0x3)
    Output selection via GPIO: Disabled
    Output selection via Int 15h/ACPI: Disabled
    DDC selection via GPIO: Disabled
    DDC selection via Int 15h/ACPI: Disabled
    Device detection via GPIO: Disabled
    ACPI hotplug notification: Disabled

   Output device #4:
    Device type: Analog TV
    DDC/Aux port: None or not applicable
    Connector type: Component video connector on HDTV_Y/HDTV_Pb/HDTV_Pr
    Connector location: External
    Digital connection format: Not applicable
    TV format: Auto-determined at runtime
    Output selection via GPIO: Disabled
    Output selection via Int 15h/ACPI: Disabled
    DDC selection via GPIO: Disabled
    DDC selection via Int 15h/ACPI: Disabled
    Device detection via GPIO: Disabled
    ACPI hotplug notification: Disabled

   System cooling capability:
    Type: Maximum cooling capability
    Value: 40.0 W
   Thermal limit:
    Type: Maximum temperature
    Value: 110 C
   Thermal limit:
    Type: MXM_THERM# temperature
    Value: 125 C
   Input power limit:
    Power mode: Battery
    Value for 4-amp connector: 30 W
    No 16-amp connector.
   Input power limit:
    Power mode: AC power
    Value for 4-amp connector: 60 W
    No 16-amp connector.

F:\DownLoads\130702-mxmparse_here>

I was hoping that looking at that there would be an indication of what was going on with the video ports but from this one it seems all is disabled.

You did say this was the modded sBIOS you have picked up. I am very curious to see if above details are the same in the running system.

Do you have the program "RW Everything" ? this will allow you to make a copy of the SMBIOS on your system.

Here is a link to the homepage: RWEverything | Read & Write Everything

When you run the program there is an icon SMBIOS. when you click on that you can save your sBIOS as an *.rw file. If you attach it I will run 'mxmparse.exe' on this and see what happens.

I am quite curious to see if this will work.

 

Hey,
thanks for looking into my problem.

here is the current SMBIOS saved with RW utility v1.6.4.

sBIOS5520g.rw

Also if you need, here is the link for original Acer 5520g 1.33v BIOS found on Acer website.

Acer 5520g v1.33 BIOS

 

Thanks for files.
I made a mistake, I am not familiar with "RWEverything", what I asked for is only part of the total BIOS

Can you download the "Universal BIOS Backup" program.

Download Universal BIOS Backup ToolKit 2.0.zip

Make a backup of your current BIOS. When you have the program can you PM the download link for this. I have sent a PM to you as well. Read that before making your next post.

 

The procedure worked fine, I have received your UBB = Universal BIOS Backup. It was exactly what I was after.

I have found out that this *.ROM file needs to be opened by PBE and then I need to go to c:\Program files\Phoenex Bios...\BIOS\TMP.

When only one BIOS file at a time is opened all the modules/components for that file is found here. To test if an MXM structure is present in sBIOS, the program 'mxmparse.exe' should be run on BIOSCOD00.ROM module.

I have done this and the result is identical to what I have previously posted.

To me it seems that from the MXM structure all display ports are "Disabled" and yet you say you have no trouble with internal display or VGA port.

I am at a loss to understand at the moment but I am also learning about the nVidia card problems so I can try and fix my own Acer Aspire 7720G. One conclusion may be that the MXM structure is not needed but I thought it was needed for at least 9xxx series Nvidia cards.

We need to find .NetRoller 3D posts where he has shown what a working MXM structure looks like when run through 'mxmparse.exe' I have seen a couple but don't remember where.

 

snejk
I think there is a possibility that the MXM structure is also in the first megabyte of memory. I was reading the MXM software specification verion 3.0 but I am now getting out of my area of knowledge.

Can you use "RWEvrything" and and save the first 1 MB of RAM memory as *.bin. I have just looked and it is quite easy.

In hex: 00000 to FFFFF total length 1000 will be shown in the save procedure .

Just attach link to your post.

 

Hey,

here is the *.bin

memory.bin

Start Address 00000
End Address FFFFF
Length 00100000

 

Thanks, got the file.

I have used .NetRoller 3D's file 'mxmparse.exe' on this memory area after I had established MXM characters were found in the file. It turns out that in your case MXM structure is also held in low RAM memory < 1MB range. I think I now understand why .NetRoller 3D on occasions asked for a copy of this memory range.

The bad news is, as you will see in the following, the MXM structure is identical to what I have already established. You have better check too because my eyes are struggling to keep open, it is past midnight where I live.

Code:

F:\DownLoads\130702-mxmparse_here>mxmparse.exe 130705-snejk_RAM_1MB_memory_dump.bin

Found MXM structure at offset 0xffa32 (version 2.1).

   Output device #1:
    Device type: LVDS (internal LCD)
    DDC/Aux port: DDC C
    Connector type: Internal LVDS
    Connector location: Internal
    Digital connection format: Dual-link LVDS (18-bit)
    Digital audio connection: No audio support
    Digital drive strength: Normal or not applicable.
    Digital reserved field: Correct (0x3)
    Output selection via GPIO: Disabled
    Output selection via Int 15h/ACPI: Disabled   <--- ???
    DDC selection via GPIO: Disabled
    DDC selection via Int 15h/ACPI: Disabled  <--- ???
    Device detection via GPIO: Disabled
    ACPI hotplug notification: Disabled


   Output device #2:
    Device type: Analog RGB
    DDC/Aux port: DDC A
    Connector type: D-Sub
    Connector location: External
    Digital connection format: Not applicable
    TV format: Auto-determined at runtime
    ERROR: TV format set for non-TV output.
    Output selection via GPIO: Disabled
    Output selection via Int 15h/ACPI: Disabled
    DDC selection via GPIO: Disabled
    DDC selection via Int 15h/ACPI: Disabled
    Device detection via GPIO: Disabled
    ACPI hotplug notification: Disabled


   Output device #3:
    Device type: TMDS (DVI or HDMI)
    DDC/Aux port: DDC B
    Connector type: DVI-D
    Connector location: External
    Digital connection format: Dual-link TMDS on DVI_A and DVI_B
    Digital audio connection: No audio support
    Digital drive strength: Normal or not applicable.
    Digital reserved field: Correct (0x3)
    Output selection via GPIO: Disabled
    Output selection via Int 15h/ACPI: Disabled
    DDC selection via GPIO: Disabled
    DDC selection via Int 15h/ACPI: Disabled
    Device detection via GPIO: Disabled
    ACPI hotplug notification: Disabled


   Output device #4:
    Device type: Analog TV
    DDC/Aux port: None or not applicable
    Connector type: Component video connector on HDTV_Y/HDTV_Pb/HDTV_Pr
    Connector location: External
    Digital connection format: Not applicable
    TV format: Auto-determined at runtime
    Output selection via GPIO: Disabled
    Output selection via Int 15h/ACPI: Disabled
    DDC selection via GPIO: Disabled
    DDC selection via Int 15h/ACPI: Disabled
    Device detection via GPIO: Disabled
    ACPI hotplug notification: Disabled


   System cooling capability:
    Type: Maximum cooling capability
    Value: 40.0 W
   Thermal limit:
    Type: Maximum temperature
    Value: 110 C
   Thermal limit:
    Type: MXM_THERM# temperature
    Value: 125 C
   Input power limit:
    Power mode: Battery
    Value for 4-amp connector: 30 W
    No 16-amp connector.
   Input power limit:
    Power mode: AC power
    Value for 4-amp connector: 60 W
    No 16-amp connector.

F:\DownLoads\130702-mxmparse_here>

I admit I was really hoping there would have been something 'enabled" in above, assuming that the RAM memory would hold the up to date version of data.

I guess there may be chance that 'mxmparse.exe' is failing, I would like to say not.

My opinion is that the parsing result should not be overlooked. We need to get an explanation why the MXM structure details found still allows proper operation, at least on some ports. I have a nagging feeling I am overlooking something.

I am assuming that you do see some display activity, for example a Logo etc just something, before Windows take over and starts up??

Can you point me to the post where you got the modded BIOS from, which upon installation removed the 30 second delay? I felt there was some modules missing when I looked through the file you sent. I dismissed this initially when I found the MXM structures had been added and they were not in the original BIOS.

I am going to re-check Original BIOS against the current BIOS as I have a better understanding of the BIOS modules that PBE produces.

 

Hey,

i get no display activity via DVI and S-video. Just black screen saying "no digital signal detected". Vga and internal are fine, currently running extended desktop on VGA output.

About modded file, i got it from some russian forum ( Àïãðåéä è ìîäåðíèçàöèÿ íîóòáóêà - 391 còðàíèöà - 391 ñòðàíèöà) since Netrolller original download link isnt working anymore. I just googled "IC50133_MXM.WPH" which is the same filename from Netrolller.

 

I have not found anything new.

I am sorry I don't understand what is happening in sBIOS, I don't know what to do next at the moment.

When I have finished trying to download my own vBIOS I may know something more but this is going to take some time. If I find something new I will post in this thread.

 

Update:
More experimenting with using a USB DOS boot stick (Actually DOS in Win 98) to feel comfortable with the nvflash v 5.95, which I have used.

Now have succeeded dumping the vBIOS for my GF 9300M GS card. I have dumped it twice. I seem to have unreliable boot sensing process. Up to now I had assumed that booting from Optical drive would always work if the hard drive was removed. This is however not the case the optical drive may not work, appear to seek but then just stops, on another occasion it will partly finish the process and stop. Estimated less than 5% of the time the boot process fails.

Having my own vBIOS for the 9300 card I have done a comparison using kdiff3 using Linux and it shows there a lots of differences. Similar I compared with another vBIOS I downloaded from Forum and that is also different.

To confuse me I have over the last 2 weeks seen my laptop boot normally with the Acer Boot logo but it has disappeared before I get my camera ready. Tonight was the second time and I got my camera but batteries flat. I would love to catch the lines, something about Broadcom ..

For me there has been a major progress on my PCLinuxOS work to find a tool to extract vBIOS via command line. I am going to leave a record here:

http://smackerelofopinion.blogspot.com.au/2011/07/using-pci-sysfs-interface-to-dump-video.html

Above link, that got my interest.

Now a copy of vBIOS is found in the file vbios.rom

Check this has something to do with VGA

Look at the first 3 lines in the saved (now renamed vBIOS file):

 

I also need new modified bios for a Geforce 9300M GS working on an Acer Aspire 5520 .... that message with MXM on start-up makes me crazy , thanks in advance. I will attach my bios files too on here

http://www.filedropper.com/ic50133

http://www.filedropper.com/biosorig9300

I think it should be better to put somewhere on a fixed server and to put a link from there, so anyone could take the files.

Thank you.