Acer Laptop with Phoenix BIOS: BIOS MOD Request

Yeah, this is the only way. I'm going to test on my old notebook tonight.

 

Just checked, unfortunately it's AMI BIOS. Any idea in witch direction i should orient my searches?

 

Please go to bios-mods.com. There are many BIOS guru there which familiar with AWARD & AMI BIOS for this sort of mods.

 

If all you need to do is replace a module, you can use MMtool I think:
The New Rebels Haven Forum!!: Using MMTool(AMI BIOS)

 

Tested on my notebook with Phoenix BIOS. I tried search for the 13-byte of PLL control register in all BIOS modules but I can't find it anywhere. Also tried to search for subset of the 13-byte PLL control register but unsuccessful. I wonder where the PLL control registers came from...

 

I would like to request a BIOS mod for my 4743ZG. Any hidden menus etc. BIOS link is here

I like to ask whether GPU overclock limit is BIOS dependent? Because no matter how high I set my GPU memory it only stuck at 999MHz. Can it be enabled for higher overclock?

 

I'll look into it. For the meantime, make sure your notebook can recover corrupted BIOS with CRISIS disk.

GPU overclock usually depend on the GPU itself. What you experienced probably because of the software limitation.

 

Thank you, how to tell whether it can be recovered by CRISIS disk? Just do as instructed even though the BIOS is fine? I already made a CRISIS disk because I just flashed to the BIOS mentioned above and thankfully it fix the GPU memory read error (supposed to be 800MHz but somehow it reads 666MHz).

I have tried several, mostly are limited to under 1GHz (eVGA Precision, MSI Afterburner) but there is one that can be unlocked further (nVidia Inspector) but no matter how high I try it stuck at 999MHz

 

You need to test on your notebook to know whether BIOS recovery is possible or not on it. You can test it even though BIOS is fine. Remember to wait at least 10-15 minutes before interrupting the process.

 

Could be possible to add voltages info into BIOS in order to get a new CPU to work properly? I tried Core 2 Duo P9600 on my PB TJ65 and voltages were wrong resulting in a overheat. Thanks.

 

You could use RMClock to reduce voltage, check out the thread here in case you missed it

 

Yes I know but I don't want to be software-dependent

 

Works perfectly for me - now my Acer Aspire is able to work with larg HDD (250 gb) without any issue

 

"Voltage info" or to be exact "VID" already exist in BIOS. It is part of Speedstep code in ACPI. RMClock or ThrottleStop are the best tool to undervolt/overvolt your CPU. This is because you can change the voltage whenever you want. Changing VID in BIOS is not recommended. Such request also not supported here. If you still want to do it, open new thread for your notebook & invite me there. We can discuss more there.

 

Thank you for the feedback. Enjoy!

 

Hiya everyone, I am trying to run a vmware workstation on my windows 7 64bit system, it is a ACER Aspire 8735G , but I am having trouble with virtualization, I have looked in the BIOS and yes Its the very basic options, I am trying to figure out how to unlock/unhide all the options, Im pretty good with computers, but I am really struggling with this.
Can anyone help me unhide the options, or even better edit the bios for this machine for me, so all I need to do is update the bios.

The machine is a ACER Aspire 8735G
Intel Core 2 Duo x 2 (P7450) @ 2.13GHz

I hope this information helps and if you need anything else from me please ask, or if someone can talk me through slowly and step by step on what to do, I really will be grateful.

Thank you very much in advance, and I look forward to hearing from someone soon. x

 

According to Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor P7450 specification at Intel website, this processor doesn't support Virtualization.

 

Thank you very much for the quick reply kizwan, oh well I take it I cannot run os x in vmware then, do you have any other ideas that can help me run osx? Can I run it as a dual boot system on my windows 7 machine ? Also would you still be able to unhide all the bios features for me.

Thank you again x

 

Do you have an Apple macbook? I thought you have Aspire 8735G. Installing OS X in Apple macbook should be easy. You'll need to call Apple if you have problem with it OR go ahead to Apple thread & ask help there.

I'll look into it later. For the meantime, make sure your notebook can recover corrupted BIOS with CRISIS disk.

 

Nice answer.

 

Hi, there. I have an Acer 5570z laptop that I have been trying to get hardware virtualization enabled on but I am having no luck at all. I downloaded and updated to the modified bios v1.3588 but I am still not getting any options in bios to enable hardware virtualization. VM workstation is still telling me that it needs hardware virtualization. The bios version in my laptop now is this updated version.

Any suggestions? Ideas?

 

Does the CPU support VT?

 

yes it does support VT. It is the Intel Pentium T2060 dual core. I have checked on intel's web site.

Do I need to provide any hardware info or specs to help sort this issue out? I find it strange that even after flashing the new modded bios nothing is different in bios other than the bios version #'s.

 

Guys,

I'm very busy lately. For those who waiting their modified BIOS, it will be available soon. I'll try to get it done in this week. Thank you for understanding.

 

Hello,kizwan.
1. I have have an Travelmate 8204 WLMI with last BIOS version 3521, also Dell inspiron 6400 with BIOS Phoenix A17. I want to add SSD and switch on AHCI with NCQ. In BIOS 3521 for Acer and BIOS Phoenix A17 for Dell there is no option. May I request a bios mod for these notebooks with unlocked option?

2. I read also there are versions and options in BIOS that can make the battery work better. On Travelmate 8204 WLMI is new battery. it was charged fully twice. than I discharged it till “0%”. Now it shows 9% of charge, the charging is going on, but nothing changes. Could you help to solve this problem with battery or is it impossible?

Thank you.

 

Take your time, no rush

 

Here are the Pics i promised sorry it tok so long
Advance chipset control Pics of full meny






Here the Overclock menu



Here is the Overclock CPU menu




Here is the Overclock MEM menu



Here is the Advance CPU Option menu





Thanks for all your help m8
By the way it might be a new Bios on the way for the x7200 that should help us with our litle high idle and work temps on the i7 CPUs

 

Hiya Kizwan,

Can you mod a Bios that unlocks my Video Memory up to 512 megs or more on an Acer Aspire 6530?

My original Bios 3217 didn't lock the Video Memory but when I upgraded the Bios with 3223 it locked it to 256 megs. I was trying to see if I could overclock the CPU and Ram but instead lost half my graphics!
[email protected]

 

kizwan, is there any way to set CMOS values from windows? I mean a command line program or a C library? Just to enable/disable the Intel menu and select graphics card after restart?

Is CMOS a standard, or its different from brand to brand? I mean is SYMCMOS.EXE something which only works on Acers, or its for all computers with a BIOS?

 

Why go through all the hassle when you can use SYMCMOS.EXE? Or even better, flash to the unlocked BIOS to have the menu permanently unlocked. Is it worth looking for a complicated and risky solution when there is an existing "safe" one?

As for commandline from Windows, someone was trying to figure it out here What do you know about BIOS NVRAM hacking? : In-depth High-tech BIOS section - Page 2 - Wim's BIOS Page but I think it was never completed.

 

I was just thinking about writing an app or at least two icons on the desktop, which would select that what GFX card would be used on next boot. And writing one value into a CMOS isn't that dangerous.

Update: if there exist any windows based solution for enabling VT (virtualization on the disabled notebooks) option from windows, it must mean that it has access to the CMOS. Is it possible to enable VT from windows?

 

Can do this a lot easier without even needing to reboot the system:

1. Use 'devcon disable [device ID]' to disable the x16 root port and the HD5650/HD6650

2. create a r/w everything script with the following entry to enable/disable the x16 port on the PCI-E bus itself. This is controlled by 0:0.0 byte 54, bit 1 (0=off, 1=on).

enable_ATI.rw

Code:

:: Enable ATI graphics by enabling 0:1.0 pci-e x16 port
>local0=rpcie 0 0 0 0x54
>local0=or(local0, 0x2)
>wpcie 0 0 0 0x54 local0
>rwexit 

disable_ATI.rw

Code:

:: Disable discrete graphics by disabling 0:1.0 pci-e x16 port
>local0=rpcie 0 0 0 0x54
>local0=and(local0, 0xFD)
>wpcie 0 0 0 0x54 local0
>rwexit 

run script with "Rw /Command=disable_ATI.rw". Put a "/MIN" if want no r-w everything window to appear if running in a batch file.

3. Now do a 'devcon rescan' and 'devcon enable' of appropriate devices.

 

I already modified TravelMate 8210's BIOS. Both TravelMate 8200 & TravelMate 8210 are using identical BIOS. I found your notebook doesn't support AHCI capability. The chipset implemented in this notebook's motherboard in a way AHCI is not available/possible.

Dell Inspiron 6400 is using Dell BIOS. Dell BIOS maybe based/wrote using Phoenix's tool but it is completely different than Phoenix BIOS. Sorry, Dell BIOS is not supported.

You broke the battery when you discharged it to 0%. With Li-On battery, you can't discharge it like that. Always recharge the battery whenever it down to 10% at least. I read someone claimed there is a trick to return the battery to working condition. Wrap the battery with plastic & put it in refrigerator. I haven't tested it myself (probably will not, ever). Don't blame me if your notebook explode if you follow this trick.

 

Thank you very much. I really appreciated it.

Did you try look in the Advanced NB Options \ Internal Graphics Configuration?

 

Yes you can write a program in windows to set CMOS values from windows. I don't know how to write one, so I can't help you on this. I only can write simple program (not related to hardware at all).

You can write a program based on the Nando's method at post #1833.

As for the CMOS, I don't know/not sure (not really understand your question). SYMCMOS is working perfectly with any notebook which use Phoenix BIOS since it is Phoenix tool. I don't know whether it will work or not on notebook which have different BIOS such as Insyde BIOS.

You can't enable VT without power cycle (off & on the computer) after setting the VT bit.

 

Hi kizwan,

Say you wanted to do a bios mod to enable an "FSB BSEL override" option, if there was no string that had anything to do with changing the FSB, would that mean you couldn't do anything to add that option?

Are some people just lucky with thier bios and others get stuck with a not so great bios?

 

Yes, I can't add new option to the BIOS. My mod depend on the original BIOS. My knowledge on the registers also limited unless I know which register to set & where it is located in BIOS (for example the EIST Locked bit). I can't re-write BIOS. The tools available for BIOS mods also limited & it's function not so great. I'm using HEX editor for BIOS mods. PBE & Phoenix tool are only responsible in taking care of the checksums.

Yeah, you can say like that. For example Clevo x7200's BIOS & Alienware M17x-R2's BIOS which both have many hidden options for overclocking (which proven to work). Not all hidden options will work. It depend on the hardware too.

 

Is there a register that could change my power button into a restart button?

 

You can change it in windows at least.

 

Yeah but that's not really the same thing. I remember when I had a notebook with a restart/reset button, when I pressed it the notebook turned off immediately and turned back on (no proper shutdown, just turned straight off and back on). That would be useful for me because then I could set the PLL registers that I want, the system will lockup, but then I would hit the restart button and have the notebook restart without losing the pll registers that I set, giving me my overclock.

But now that I think about it, how would I turn the netbook on with just a restart button?

Seems like this isn't a great idea. Not sure why they don't include a restart button on a netbook.

This netbook just doesn't want to be overclocked

 

have it plugged into the mains only and remove/insert the power cord?

 

I checked in the ACPI specification & I didn't find this feature (for power button). So, at least on BIOS not possible.

 

Try the Grub method to set the PLL values. But if it crash there, your communication with the PLL is wrong.

 

Sorry, I said too soon. I still can't find a way to change the power button behavior but there is a " Reset Register".
(Source Advanced Configuration and Power Interface Specification Revision 4.0a)

But it also stated " Upon gaining control after a reset, OSPM will perform actions in like manner to a cold boot". The PLL register settings probably reset too. Even you write a program to set the register, it won't be useful because system already hang when you set the PLL register.

 

That would cause the PLL registers to go back to default (I think, will try it anyway just in case this works).

Good idea, I will try it

That's too bad, but thanks for checking anyway.

 

nando, here is what I found out:

On Intel:
Bus: 00, Device: 02, Function: 00 Intel VGA controller

On ATI:
Bus: 00, Device: 02, Function: 00 disappeared

Bus: 02, Device: 00, Function: 00 ATI VGA
Bus: 02, Device: 00, Function: 01 ATI HDMI Audio


But I don't know how to find out the device ID of the PCI bus. I have two PCI bus in Device Manager, but they are always present, no matter what videocard I'm on. And a slight problem the screen stays off if I want to boot into switchable mode now (I have two nonswitchable drivers installed now).

UPDATE: I've done a diff on the PCI devices between AMD only and Intel only mode:
http://pastehtml.com/view/1dpfqkv.html

Nando, if you feel we are off topic here, you can answer me in the 3820TG tweaks thread:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/acer/562576-acer-aspire-timelinex-3820tg-mods-tweaks-only-3.html

 

Drivers en Downloads

Dell Studio 1558 - BIOS A11

Can you add these things:
- Option to disable Hyper Threading
- Option to disable Turbo Boost
- I want to change 3d voltages in my GPU to 0.90v or maybe another value recommended by you. Increasing voltages is also ok, but don't go too high.

Add whatever you think I need, but Hyper threading is a priority. I would love tot see this work from you.

Just make my BIOS menu complete please Everything overclocking related is welcome. My goal is to disable HT and Turbo Boost hoping to get some overclocking if that is possible. Just do whatever is necessary please.

If you succeed I will pay 10 Euros by paypal

 

The modified BIOS image for Dell Studio 1558 can be found at post #1474.

Sorry, GPU's voltage mod is not supported. For GPU's VBIOS mods, please contact seeker_moc at BIOS modding for GPU OC fun and profit!!.

 

Which settings do I need to change to get my CPU Overclocked?

I have the BIOS. The way it is organized is little different I am used to.

CPU Control Sub-menu
Clarksfield MRC/QPI
And then maybe Thermal Configuration

I am looking for a stable way to use my virtual machines for school. So my best bet would be to disable Hyper Threading.
But then I would need extra speed from the processor.

 

There are no overclock options available in the BIOS. You'll need to use tools like SetFSB to overclock the CPU in this notebook.