Acer MXM BIOS Mods and discussion (was: x920G vs. 9600M GT)

I uploaded this bios, but the result was the same

 

@sowi: Are you using the beta BIOS is posted a few days ago, or the one in the first post?

 

In the first post, you say the 5720/7720 bios primarily fixes issues with ATI cards... but if they have primarily no MXM structure, isn't it likely most nonstandard cards will not work?

I have an 8400m GS but I am afraid to flash the vBIOS. Also, I recently ordered an gts 360m and a Toshiba card like the one I sent you.

Have you tried to use that Toshiba card without a modded BIOS?

Also, can you upload pics of your solder work on this card?
And, I just want to suggest that you make a signature with your laptop specs considering how unique it is.

 

You misunderstood MXM - it is the system BIOS that is supposed to contain an MXM structure, not the video BIOS. The VBIOS is supposed to use the SBIOS's MXM structure - this is what ATI cards don't do.

One issue that the 5720 BIOS fixes is the inaccessibility of the DVI output with HP Quadro FX 770M cards.

The Toshiba cards don't need the modded SBIOS - they never access the MXM structure. (I tested this myself.) However, some external outputs may not work in Windows without the mod. (Windows Nvidia drivers make use of the MXM structure included in DSDT even if the VBIOS never accesses the MXM structure that is reachable via Int 15h. The 2 structures are not necessarily identical!)

My laptop specs are in the profile data, but a sig is a good idea.

 

I used the latest Bios what you posted a few days ago, not from the one on the first page

 

OK, after many failed attempts I finally managed to flash the updated SBIOS using Winphlash 1.7.

All went OK, and on the first boot after flashing the laptop screen was working 100%.

Then Windows 7 automatically updated the graphics driver and on the next (re-)boot the laptop screen was all messed up (Crazy colours as described before) but the external monitor was working fine.

So I manually downloaded the latest Nvidia driver for the 9300M GS thinking that this might fix the graphics problems with the W7 driver. However, following installation and reboot BOTH the laptop screen and the external monitor are blank.

 

hello, will one 9650gt 1gb work on 9920g with internal lcd and olso external screen?
If not what is the most common mxm board to put in instead 8600 gt, that will make the notebook 100% functional?
many thanks.

 

I have long been trying to replace the 8600M GT on my acer 9920, what is the most economical and fully functional?

 

catalyn21 : i have 9650m gt on 9920g and external ok but internal with bad colour

 

momol51: a 20 "screen does not work ?
I prefer to place the 8600M but eventually died
: (


I have my 8600M "reflow", you know if the BIOS setting that appears early in the post, it works well the 8600M?


sorry for my English

 

OK, Completely disregard everything I said in my last post!!!
I don’t know what happened, but I have just rebooted the computer again and both displays are now working – Albeit the laptop screen still has the crazy colours.

Attached are some pics:


EDIT: I should also add that...
1) The laptop screen remains blank untill the Window LogIn Screen appears &
2) Once the LogIn screen is passed the External display appears 'in a box' in the centre of the screen.

 

Further Update:

OK so I now flashed the VBIOS with the firmware .NetRolller 3D suggested for SOWI here:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/acer/575866-acer-mxm-bios-mods-discussion-x920g-vs-9600m-gt-50.html#post8135139
(It was a .bin file so I had to use Nibitor to convert it to a .rom file first)

Result = Just the same I'm afraid - LAPTOP Screen still messed up, and EXTERNAL Screen still showing in a box!

 

Even Further Update:

In case it provides any useful information:

- The LAPTOP screen works perfectly up to the maximum resolution (1680x1050) when Windows 7 is booted in Safe Mode [Indeed, I am posting this update on it now!].

- Neither ubuntu nor Mint will install using the LAPTOP screen.

 

Hmz, that points to a bad card to be honest.

 

I was starting to wonder myself, but I think I my have found a work-around which appears to work:

1) Boot into safemode
When your computer is starting press the F8 key and then choose to boot into safemode.

2) Then you have to stop Windows 7 from automatically installing the GPU drivers
Go to Control panel > System > Advanced System settings > hardware tab > Device Installation settings.

Then choose " No, let me choose what to do" and " Never install driver software from Windows Update" Then Click " Save Changes" to confirm.

3) Then replace the existing driver.
Click on " Device Manager" and " Display Adaptors" then right-click on the sub category which says NVIDIA drivers and choose " Update driver software" and " Browse my computer for driver software" then " Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer" then choose " Standard VGA Graphics Adaptor" and " Next" then " Close"

You should then be prompted to reboot your computer.

When you restart make sure your external monitor is NOT connected to the back of the laptop.

You should now have a working internal LAPTOP screen in your 9920G

IMPORTANT: I forgot to add, Windows Update will continue the try and install the Nvidia as an Important Update, so just remember to untick it!

 

That suggests that there are further problems with ACPI.

I'll try to get access to a 9920G to find this out. Especially the Linux part (Linux's ACPI implementation is open-source, and hence debuggable).

 

Excellent @.NetRolller 3D - Thanks for all your hard work on this.

 

Guys i have an acer 7730g with 9600m gt 512mb GDDR3 and i reflashed it with a wrong bios.Now i have black screen(wrong bios was from 8600gt).
The only thing i remember from the old bios is the Subvendor ID was from Acer(1025).
I already tried the bioses exist on techpower(using crisis disk), but there is still black screen(bioses there are from nvidia).
Can anyone with a working 9600mg Gdd3 512mb upload his bios?
Please check NOT be a Subvendor Id 10DE.
The one exist over the net with 0567 10DE doesn't work on my card.
Thank you in advance...

 

tested 5920g flashed with new bios with a 9600gt C1 and got a no-go! No dispay at all, not booting. Any thoughts?

 

@konstantin77: There are several possible reasons:
-The card is broken.
-It has a nonstandard VBIOS.
-You may have flashed a wrong BIOS, or the flashing could have failed behind your back. (Can you boot with no MXM card plugged in?)

@avati: Likely the Nvidia flasher is not really reflashing the card. Make sure you add "-4 -5 -6" to the flasher's command line to override ID checks (otherwise nvflash will check against the IDs stored in the current BIOS, and will reject all correct/working VBIOSes).

 

Nop, not booting. But it was not booting with the old card and the old bios aswell.

 

Modified one of the bioses found on techpower(subvendor id board id), now works great. Thanks anyway.
Just a question, i know is Acer related topic, but i also have a 9600mgt on a LG R700 laptop. The vga card works with latest nvidia drivers, but i cant run it on full clocks, with the original bios. I have to modify the vbios to have the throttle mode the same clocks with extra mode. But i dont want that. Also from the moment i installed the 9600m gt on my laptop the external vga monitor and my Hdmi, disabled. I know that all that can be fixed if i modify the SBIOS. Will you guide me how to do that??? Please help me???

 

@konstantin77: If it doesn't boot behind the blank screen with the MXM card removed, then your motherboard is shot; or maybe the BIOS flash went wrong. Try a crisis recovery disk.

@avati: Post your original SBIOS here. I'll take a look at it.

 

.Netroller, can I ask how you determine the location and which way to solder the EEPROM on cards without one? And which pin needs the resistor...

Also could I possibly have links to your gt 230m and gts 360m vBIOS again?

Thanks!

 

Look for an 8-pin SOIC header, where one of the corner pins is shorted to the pin right next to it. That corner pin is Vcc, and the short pin next to it is HOLD#.
On the other side of HOLD#, there is the SCLK pin. The resistor you are looking for should be between SCLK and GND or SCLK and Vcc. Measure the value of this resistor, and add 20kOhm. If the result is around 40kOhm, then add a further 5kOhm to get 45kOhm. This is the value of the resistor you need to use as the replacement.
(If you don't understand the part about the pins - check the MX25L512's datasheet.)

The VBIOSes:
GT 230M
GT 330M
GT 330M alternative, fixes black screen in the Acer 5930G (also usable for the 230M, but will overclock it to 330M speeds)
GTS 360M modded to MXM 2.1

 

Hmmm i dont know what is the Sbios(sbios= rom on the bios chip?), so i backed up my rom on bios chip. If you fix my issue sir, i willing to donate you.
Thank you in advance.

 

SBIOS = System BIOS.

Do not post a backup saved from your ROM chip; link to the official BIOS image on LG's site. A backup may contain serial numbers or otherwise be unusable for other R700 owners.

 

Don't know if its any help at all, but just in case, I tried to install Fedora V16 on my 9920g (with the 9300M GS) and got a fail with the following error message:

 

LG doesnt support bios download. You have to send your laptop to LG service center to update your bios.
If you have a problem with that, just check msi's gx700 megabook bios.
MSI Global ? Notebook - GX700
It is the same laptop(LG r700 is a barebone of msi's gx700 performance edition).I don't have problem if you modify that, because i already flashed it, in the past and works perfectly.
You can use my LG bios for others as well. I know that it can be used for other LG's laptops to(tested with friends LG). I dont have problem with that, because it is a discontinued product and LG doesnt provide support for it anymore. So you can go for it,please...

 

I'll mod the GX700 BIOS later.

The reason why your BIOS is unusable is not warranty - it is that it contains information about your r700's exact hardware configuration. It will likely brick any r700 with an even slightly different hardware setup.

 

Hey @ .NetRolller 3D, are you having any luck with the 9920g & the 9300M GS? Is there anything we can do to help?

 

What I do know, is that in the only 9920G I've had access to, a 9300M GS worked perfectly with the SBIOS & VBIOS I posted (in Windows Vista). Windows 7 could be different.

Since then, I haven't yet managed to get access to another 9920G.

 

I have a few 9920s if you want

 

Hey all,

ive got a 9920g and a 9600m GT. Now i wanted to flash the modified bios file from here, however "Cheela 2.0 winphlash-1665" tells me the Bios Version of my Laptop ist the same or newer...
How can i flash the modified bios then ?

Thanks
greetings

 

You will have to use a bootable flash drive. I wish I had the link to the topic that I used as a guide... but you can find it if you look.


Now, for my question.
You said that the mxm-II card slot claims to be mxm-HE compatible which means that technically if I could mod the voltage I could stick a mxm-III in my machine (if it would fit without a chassis mod, which it wouldn't) then theoretically it should work fine?

 

thank you.
i wasnt able to find it but i will keep looking. ^^

 

@ .NetRolller3D But surely if it was just Windows 7 then Linux would install OK?

@ T1663R does this help?...
GUIDE for Flashing BIOS of NVIDIA GPU - techPowerUp! Forums

 

Sorry bro, I was lazy last night... but here is the link to the thread I was talking about. As far as I know this just goes for the normal bios, so if you want to flash the video card bios you might need to find a different guide.

Just be sure to remember to rename your (whatever bios).rom file to BIOS.wph before you transfer it to your flash drive.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/acer/440088-creating-bios-flashing-boot-disk.html

 

i tried with windows vista and windows 7 but the results was the same

 

This is the weirdest thing !!! Windows 7 has just started recognising the card (Possible the latest updates?) but now the Nvidia drivers are working !!!
Linux still wont install though !

 

Does any of the latest Windows 7 updates talk about ACPI? Because it could be the update to support newer ACPI AML instructions that my ASL compiler uses.

 

Hello, and fist xcuse my bad english

I explain my problem :

i have a 5920g, the 8600 inside is HS, and i bought a 9300 gs...wich does not works :/
I try with last acer bios (3813 i think), it's the same
I try the 5920G_MXM_V3.WPH, but i have an error message and i cant flash
I try the Z013810, flash ok, but it's the same, nothnig on the screen :'(

Can u help me before i throw it by the window ?

thk u for ur help

 

hi guys,
i have a problem too with my aspire 5720g,
i have bought a 9600m gt 1gb ddr2 rev c1 (it was mounted on a 6930g), and i can't use correctly.
the system recognized only a standard vga; when i force the driver with the modded .inf, after reboot, log into windows, and i have only a black screen.
the card is ok, it's not broken.
my pc have a 1.45 bios black edition 4.0, windows 7 64 bit

Someone can help me plz?
sorry for my poor english

 

Install a different VBIOS. And try another driver.

@nobione: What error are you getting with the V3 BIOS?

 

thanks for the reply, i have flashed the card with the asus vbios but i have always the same problem. do you know any other vbios for my card plz?
techpowerup have only nvidia and asus bios (already used), both version: 62.94.4A.00.23.

ps. can i use a vbios 9600m gt 512mb ddr2 on my card @ 1024 ddr2?

 

AFAIK yes. A DDR3 one won't work, though.

 

ok, i have installed the driver 259.47 and i have modded the card @ 9650m gt.
Now work properly

thanks a lot

 

I retry to flash, the flash is ok, but the problem is the same

I start the laptop, all the leds lits on, but the screen stays black, and after 5sec the coolers stops and the leds stay blue

:'(

 

@nobione: Try an external display.

 

It's the same with external display, the screen stay black :/ ... no signal