Acer Laptop with Phoenix BIOS: BIOS MOD Request

Mmm, I've tried it and I thought I got it to flash, but it didn't. It reads from the flash drive for a while, then stops and does nothing more. Mmm maybe dd'ing the flash drive to hdd? I'll try it (i'll have to backup my partition table).

I've taken the risk and i've tested the modified BIOS. First, thank you very much for your work .

I've noticed the following with the BIOS (it basically works):

- The VT menu doesn't appear in settings. Instead, there is an empty line.

- The IDE/AHCI option has only two possible values: "IDE" or "AHCI".

- When booting, after splashscreen but before any bootloader or f12 boot menu shows up, it beeps and complains about bad cmos checksum, "cmos updated" and "strongROM is not installed or non functional". Then I have to press F1 to resume the booting process, or F2 to enter setup. This happens every time.

As AMD-V menu option didn't appear in setup, I changed it's default value to enabled in BIOS editor and reflashed; then I had AMD-V correctly working, but still the annoying complaint about bad CMOS checksum and strongROM, which I suspect to be caused because of something enabled which was previously (in other BIOSes) disabled and which isn't implemented on this mainboard (again, it's just a guess).

I also got a newer BIOS file, from a guy who complained to Gateway about AMD-V being disabled and they sent him a BIOS with AMD-V enabled by default (here's the link: )http://alanng.com/BIOS%20v3303t.zip). It's version number is higher than the only one available for download (from packard-bell, 0.3302, and this one is 0.3303t). I tried it in my dot m/a and it works as expected, enabling AMD-V. It even shows the packard-bell splashscreen at boot.

The link I posted has the file as sent by gateway, that means in a bundeld exe which has also winphlash (a newer version too). I attach the BIOS file alone in this post(yeas, it's a .rar inside a .zip. The forum won't let me upload a .rar...).

I'm now struggling to extract the "phlash16.exe" or whatever is in the "DOS flash" file from BIOS update archive; maybe wth that the recovery works.

 

Thank you for posting this, along with your findings with kizwan's BIOS. I'll give it a try soon.

That's what I tried, and it still didn't work. I'm planning on experimenting with it again later. The "DOS flash" archive uses a file named BIOS1.WPH, even though the included Phlash16 states that BIOS.WPH is the default file name used for flashing, and I can't find a reference to BIOS1.WPH anywhere else (see CUSTOMER.TXT). I'm at a loss.

 

Both update files, from packard-bell and from gateway, are named starting with ZA8*. I seems that our lappies are all the same as this one.

I tried running the DOS update file in dosbox, and it generates a PHLASH16.EXE... but it never ends (I killed dosbox when PHLASH16.exe was 300Mb!.).

Also, PHLASH16 can also accept command line arguments overriding the defaults "BIOS.WPH" file flash, see here: PHLASH16.exe command line parameter | panticz.de

 

I just flashed your BIOS image. I'm having the same problems as ssorgatem, although I do have a VT menu. It might have something to do with flashing v1.3303t before flashing your image, but I doubt it. The StrongROM error is pretty annoying though. I didn't get it until I saved some BIOS changes and rebooted.

 

Also, I'm not entirely sure that the AHCI/IDE setting does do what it is supposed to do. Any reliable way to test it?

In linux I can see at some point "AHCI enabled", but in windows it uses IDE drivers for the hdd (idk a better way to look for it under windows).

Mmm, I'll try to flash 0.3303t clearing cmos, and then the medded BIOS and see if I get still the strongROM error.

 

It does work.

In Linux, if the ahci driver is built into the kernel, AHCI will be force enabled on SB600 southbridges regardless of the BIOS setting. If you set "SATA Class ID" to "IDE" in BIOS, you will see a line like this in your kernel log:

Code:

[    0.124355] pci 0000:00:12.0: set SATA to AHCI mode

If you set "SATA Class ID" to "AHCI", you will not such a line.

As for Windows, I don't use it on this machine, so I don't know what happens there.

 

Ah, now it makes sense. If linux overrides the BIOS setting, then a thing less to worry about.

I also mailed the acerhdf guys to add support for BIOSes 1.3302 and 1.3303t for both Packard-Bell dot ma and Gateway LT31 (they only have to be included in a list of models + BIOS versions).

At the moment I'm using 1.3303t + fixed dsdt, and it seems to work well o far: AMD-v and cpu freqüency scaling.

 

Glad to hear it flashed successfully.

I didn't change any setting in BIOS image. I just unlocked the two menus; "Processor Assisted Virtualization" & "SATA Class ID". All settings are default settings in the original BIOS image. Can you try flash with the original BIOS image? See if the same issue occurs. PBE produce a warning "DBCS (Japanese) strings are not editable!" while opening your BIOS images but I don't think it is a problem.

It is normal for such unlocked menu doesn't appear in BIOS if the hardware is not supported. In your case, I don't know why it doesn't appear. However, as you already did, you can turn VT ON by modifying the default value from Disabled to Enabled. Does VT menu visible in BIOS ver 1.3303t? As for the "SATA Class ID", it only listed IDE & AHCI as an option in BIOS image.

@ Turmlos, what is your processor spec?

 

Hi chiwi, there is a latest version which is v1.16 available at Acer website. If you want the latest version, please provide me RW-Everything report. If you decided to stick with v1.15, I'll proceed with it. Its all up to you. I'll wait for your answer.

 

All required files already collected. It will be available soon.

 

the 115 please thanks have a nice day

 

####################################################
( Update 4 May 2011)
This is modified BIOS for TravelMate 2490. It's based on BIOS v3.02.
TravelMate 2490 BIOS v3.02 VT MOD.rar
( MD5: 5AEE493F22604B9A33442B53AB8E9E28)

( Update 10 April 2011)
This is modified BIOS for TravelMate 2490. It's based on BIOS v3.01.
TravelMate 2490 BIOS v3.01 VT MOD.rar
( MD5: 9CAF50582A368C6470AF307DAA88FE7C)
Use at your own risk!

####################################################

This is modified BIOS image with SLIC 2.1 for Acer Aspire 5652. It is based on BIOS v3.60.

Compatible with these models:-

Make sure you know how to recover corrupted BIOS before proceeding. Test the CRISIS disk on your computer first OR use CRISIS disk to flash your BIOS. This way you will know either your computer can recover from corrupted BIOS or not. I will not responsible for any problem. Good luck.

 

I can see too more extra menus, not just the IDE/AHCI one: keyclick, summary screen, numlock, etc. (all the ones visible in the emulation, except the virtualization one). Are they explicitly unlocked or a side effect of unlocking the interesting ones?

That warning about japanese strings also appeared when I replaced the DSDT (both in 1.3302 and 1.3303t), but I haven't had any problems with those BIOSes.

Also, I noticed that I can't re-modify BIOSes built with BIOS Editor, but I've been able to modify and rebuild you modified version, so it turns out that either I'm doing something wrong when rebuilding, or it's a fault specific to my setup.

Turmlos replaced the default Athlon L110 processor with a more powerful one. If I find one of those I'll probably do it too

Also, thank you for giving us your time

 

The extra menus automatically unhidden when I unlock the VT & AHCI menus. This is original BIOS Main menu in hex editor:-

Location 026C (red) is where I put the VT menu while location 0280 (blue) is where I put AHCI menu. This is the BIOS Main menu after modification:-

Pay attention to the first part (dark green) & second part (indigo) are actually not "connected" (00 00) with each other in original BIOS Main menu. But after modification both section connected with each other. This is the reason why you see extra menus in the modified BIOS.

BTW, location 0288 (bold) is actually "Quiet Boot" menu. This means you will have two "Quiet Boot" menu in Main section. I removed the second one by replacing it with "blank function" (C5 0F) - that is why you see blank space after "Summary Screen" menu & before "QuickBoot Mode" menu.

(P/S: Location also known as offset. Maybe I should write offset instead. )

 

UPDATE (3 August 2010): Modified BIOS ver1.15 R2
UPDATE (13 August 2010): Modified BIOS ver1.16
This is modified BIOS image for Aspire 8920g. It based on BIOS ver1.15.
- SLIC 2.1
- Virtualization menu

Aspire 8920g BIOSv1.15 SLIC2.1 VT MOD.rar

Make sure you know how to recover corrupted BIOS before proceeding. Test the CRISIS disk on your computer first OR use CRISIS disk to flash your BIOS. This way you will know either your computer can recover from corrupted BIOS or not. I will not responsible for any problem. Good luck.

 

thank you very much greetings

 

Thanks for your effort!
However I noticed the bios starts with lots of FF code while the original has normal code there. Last time I flashed a bios like that, it fully bricked my 5652 (no power at all, not recoverable). Could you please double-check that this bios is valid and that the first bytes (kilobytes) are correct?
Cheers, Zak

Update: its about 150Kb of FF's
Which tools did you use?

 

I have put notes at post #191 where the download link is located about the known issue you & Turmlos encounter with it.

I want to fix it but can you or Turmlos confirm that the original BIOS image is behaving the same or not? Does BIOS v1.3303t also have menu to set SATA to AHCI mode?

 

I'll look into it later. The image is properly build without any error or warning. You said your notebook can recover corrupted BIOS. AFAIK, normal flash will not touch BootBlock section in the BIOS, which will be needed for CRISIS disk to works.
EDIT: Indeed the file look suspicious. It doesn't happen after upgrading SLIC 2.0 to 2.1 but it happen after unlocking the VT menu. I'll look into it right away.

I use Phoenix BIOS SLIC Tool v1.27, Phoenix BIOS Editor Pro v2.2.1.3 & hex editor (HxD).

 

Well I previously flashed a supposed SLIC bios from MDL, made by a renowned bios modder. It showed similar abnormalities.
After flash, the laptop was dead. And I mean really dead, you push the power button and nothing happens at all. No lights, no fan, nothing.
I ended up sending the board to a company that desoldered and flashed the bios chip. After that, it worked again.

In conclusion: not every bios mod is recoverable, I learned that the hard way. Even since I flashed all kinds of ed up bios files (like the 3.66 mod mentioned above) but was always able to recover. However those bios files did not have the weird missing bytes.

I found some moe infos:

Source: http://forum.notebookreview.com/ace...machine-acer-aspire-9420-a-2.html#post6119422

Edit: I followed those instructions but I'll wait with flashing until I hear back from you.

 

Original BIOS behaves as it's expected. v1.3303t doesn't have any additional menu items, it only has the AMD-V set to enabled by default (maybe that account fro the trailing "t" in the version number?).

 

Is this mean original BIOS is behave normally? Or similar with my modified BIOS image?

 

Yeah, sorry I didn't put it clear .

It doesn't stop & beep & complain about "strongROM is not functional or is not installed" at every boot.

Also, no extra menu options, disk set to IDE and AMD-V disabled.

1.3303t is the same, but with AMD-V enabled.

 

I see. I have disabled the download link for now.

Have you able to get CRISIS disk working on your notebook? I see you use flash drive. Try it with floppy disk, using USB floppy drive. My attempt to extract phlash16.exe from the 1.3303t package failed.

 

I attach phlash16.exe from the 1.3303t package (extracted via freedos inside virtualbox).

It doesn't seem to work from a flash drive, though. I don't have a usb floppy drive, and I don't have any floppy disk either, and they seem to be a bit expensive just for this. Of course, I would change my mind if my lappie bricked...

When I have time I'll try to dd the floppy recovery image to the hdd. Or even creating a floppy image of a crisis disk and then dd'ing it to the hdd, but I have to backup first the recovery partition and the partition table.

 

This issue seems only happen with HBL50/HBL51. Your conclusion based only on one computer model. It hardly to be overall conclusion. From the look of it, it kinda a "header" or "signature" implemented to BIOS image by manufacturer. I have seen it before but not like this. I doubt this kind of implementation will be use on other models. I appreciate the info you give regarding the HBL50/HBL51 issue with modified BIOS image. I'll put it in my notebook.

Second build also produced identical BIOS image file. So this eliminate build problem. I can't guarantee you but by following the procedure (you posted earlier) it should correct the missing bytes. Be careful not to increase the BIOS image file size. Remember, it "replace", not "add". Let me know the result.

 

I doubt it will work with HDD though. I recommended you to prepare before it happen. Not all computer can recover from corrupted BIOS with CRISIS disk.

 

The modified version of your bios works. Please remove the original download link.
The VT option is visible and I set it to "Enabled" but Securable still says "Locked on". Any ideas? Do I need to reset the bios to its defaults?

EDIT: Reset to defaults did not help either.

 

In the worst of the cases, there's warranty . And although Packard-Bell might be able to tell wether it boots or not because a bad BIOS flash, here (Spain) is the seller, and not the manufacturer, who is obliged to meet the warranty of the products they sell (although they themselves have a minimum 1-year warranty from manufacturers). So I would probably have a replacement netbook before they notice. It's not a good situation for sellers, and my plan is evil, I know...

"Locked on" means it's enabled and locked.

Try to install a 64-bit guest under virtualbox, or find a test app by MS which tells you if you can run Hyper-V.

Securable said for me always "yes", regardless of virtualization being enabled or disabled in BIOS.

 

I already disabled the download link (at mediafire) when you report the missing bytes earlier. So, you just:-
- open original BIOS image, copy first 80kb, from offset 0x00 to 0x14000 (length 0x14000)
- open modified BIOS image, replaced first 80kb, from offset 0x00 to 0x14000 (length 0x14000)
right?
I will update the download link once I got the confirmation from you. Thank you for taking the risk to test the modified BIOS image. I appreciate it.

When you enabled the VT, did you turn OFF & ON your notebook? You are required to do so for the VT to be enabled. If you already did, try install 64bit OS using VMware or you can try running XP Mode in windows 7. As ssorgatem said earlier, Securable always say "Yes" or "Locked ON" either VT is disbaled or not. It just notify you that your CPU have VT capability.

 

Yes, that is exactly what I did.
The working result is here:
Multiupload.com - upload your files to multiple file hosting sites!

XP Mode works (only installed 2 of the 3 suggested files from MS) but I'm pretty sure it also works for non-VT systems by now.
VMWare, when loading OSX 64-Bit, fails with the same message as before ("This host does not support all of the hardware virtualization features required by VMWare workstation"). Any other good ways to check?

Update: its a Core Duo T2300, not a 64-Bit CPU afaik. Maybe that was the reason for the VMWare message all along and the BIOS mod was completely unnecessary (SLIC excluded)

 

Securable says no 64-bit support?

Sometimes you get surprises with some processors. For example, I have an acer aspire 5315 which had a celeron 530 which was emt64-capable... but with a weird bug that didn't turn on the fan when operating under 64 bits. Then I replaced it with a c2d T8300 (following a step by step guide found in these forums)

 

Yes, I knew it is 32bit only but I blamed its inability to run OSX on the lack of VT. On my PC (64bit) OSX would not run due to lack of VT (stupid Q8200) so I figured the same was the case on the laptop.
Intel® Core? Duo Processor T2300 - SL8VR

 

Wow, non-EMT64 but with VT-X?

This is offtopic, but you can still manage to run OSX in a virtual machine if you install a 32-bit only hackintosh, and then having VT enabled will help you.

You cannot run OSX on your other PC because in order to run x86_64 virtual machines you need to have VT enabled. Again, you could still install a 32-bit only hackintosh. You could even install it in a dual boot setting, without virtual machine (I did this just for fun in my aspire 5315, which until I not o much ago hadn't VT enabled in the BIOS).

Or maybe you can upgrade your cpu, as I did with my aspire 5315 (Celeron 530 @1,7 GHz -> Core 2 duo T8300 @ 2.4 GHz )

 

I have updated the download link at post #213.

Yeah, XP Mode now can run on computer without VT capable.

I see. You should be able to use VT-x with 32bit guest OS. Just set it manually to VT-x at processor section. It should improve the performance a little bit. You will get warning message (at VMware window - below-right corner) if VT is disabled. If no warning message appear, it means VT indeed enabled. Too bad your CPU doesn't support 64bit.

You can use VT.iso to check the virtualization. Direct download link:-
vt.iso

 

8920G bios mod works perfect thank you very much sir

 

I'm glad it works for you.

 

i have an Acer Extensa 5620-4801 with Pentium Dual Core T2390 and onboard Intel X3100,

my current BIOS version is V1.34 Phoenix Technologies LTD 04/15/2008

is there any benefits if i update my bios with the one posted here?
also if i used the BIOS here, will i be able to use SETFSB(which currently i cannot) to overclock my cpu?

btw here is my RW-Everything Report just in case you need it
http://www.mediafire.com/?2kinjnhw3rz

edit: can you please modify my bios so i can overclock my cpu using SETFSB,

btw here is the latest BIOS on my extensa 5620 1.35
ftp://ftp.work.acer-euro.com/notebook/extensa_5620/bios/v1.35.zip

TNX ^^

 

I'm afraid this is not supported. I'm not even know how SETFSB works. Based on quick research it only support certain chipsets.

 

Just a quick follow-up: VT.iso shows that VT is enabled, securable shows "Locked on". XP mode worked without the "No VT" update mentioned above.

So in conclusion I believe the bios works, however IMHO VT was already activated in the original bios.

Would you mind if I share this bios elsewhere (MDL forum)?
Regards, Zak

 

Sure, you can share it elsewhere.

 

Updated the list of Bios files and the people who tested it on post #4.

cheers

 

To overclock with SetFSB, you must know your PLL (theres a chip on the mobo that will tell you your PLL, this number exists on 99% of motherboards, but SetFSB only supports about 80% of them).

So no bios mod would help with that.

 

Hi Everyone!

I've just updated my TM2490 bios with "Aspire 5652 BIOSv3.60 SLIC2.1 VT MOD Fixed" hoping that the AHCI mode could be enabled. Unfortunately the only mod I've noticed so far is that there is an Infrared option under Main which is grayed out and the old one under Advanced, while it's not grayed out, is locked to Disabled...

Any chance that the AHCI mode could be enabled somehow on this laptop?

Thanks!

Robbie

 

Hello Kizwan,

I sa that you've had some discussions with "Audiocore" and after reflashing his bios his laptop didn't turn on anymore. I've flashed one year ago my laptop using a Crysis USB stick and it worked. Some days ago my computer stoped working and I've flashed it again, but after a few tries, my laptop (Aspire 6930G) won't respond at all. Do you know if he was able to fix his laptop? Do you know how cold I get in contact with him or how to fix mine?

Thanks in advance!

Radu

 

Hy there,

i have an aspire 8730G and the bios is locked.
i want to change some stuff but can't find a unclocked bios for my notebook.
so maybe you can help me out there?

my current bios version is 1.13
download: click

hope you can help me out!

greating,
JD.Becks

 

Might be off topic but I will ask anyway...
When I ran Everest ultimate, under motherboard (Aspire 5520G with 9650m gt installed) description it gave me information about 7000m integrated GPU which is disabled/not in use...
Is there any way to enable it so I could use it when not playing games to reduce heat and power consumption when on battery?

Thanx

 

Hi

I have tried both the BIOS_Aspire9420_VT.rar and BIOS_Aspire9420_VT_R5.rar BIOS (as per post #4) on my Acer Aspire 9423 WSMi and in both cases the "Intel Virtualization Technology" menu entry is missing. Does that mean my laptop does not support VT?

Anyway, I came across this forum as I was looking for a BIOS that will allow me to activate "memory remap", or something like that, which apparently is needed in order to get my Debian with kernel 2.6.32-5-686-bigmem to see all 4 Gb of RAM I have installed. Right now it only sees about 3Gb. Would it be possible to get one from you guys with that option available?

Thanks in advance.

Jordi

 

You're looking for PAE.

You won't need it if you use debian amd64, or even and amd64 kernel in your i386 userland.

 

Hi, ssorgatem

Yes, I'm catalan.

Do you mean to say that I can just apt-get install an amd64 kernel on my i386 laptop and Bob's my uncle?

How will the rest of the system, all 32-bit apps, respond to that?

Jordi