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

Okay, thanks. Hopefully it's as simple as you say it.

 

thanks .NetRoller 3D for the advice...I have another question if you dont mind...

I tried the 'oven trick' to see if it fixes any of the problem but my luck didnt favour...Now when I put it the card there is only black screen now....nothing else.

Say I buy the DDR3 Ati HD3650.....what should be my course of action?

will I be needed to flash the modded bios first or should just plug in the card straight away and pray for it to work...

I just can't get my mind straight on this matter because of the overflow of the info here....and the supplier wont take back his card if it wont work with my laptop for this reason :- confused2:

or Should I go for DDR2 only cards like 9600M GS with modded bios? (I really dont want to mod bios coz of my bad previous flash tbh)

I am getting offer of USD $89 for HD 3650 DDR3 256MB
$95 for NVidia 9600m GS DDR2 and
$110 for HD3650 512MB DDR2

Will HD3470 256MB DDR2 or Nvidia 9300mGS work with 5920g without any problem, I am getting one for $80 each.

I just need my laptop to be working again....I dont need it for gaming and stuff....just for work....so I am looking for cheapest and most suitable.....please advice!

thanks

 

ATi cards don't need the modded SBIOS - in fact, they don't even access the MXM structure in any way, so they are completely unaffected by the changes in the modded SBIOS.

DDR2 vs. GDDR3 doesn't mean anything with regards to compatibility. The motherboard is in no way concerned with what kind of video memory is on the card. A DDR2 9600M GS needs exactly the same MXM structure fixes as a DDR3 one.

 

so shall I go with ATI HD3650 256MB DDR3 without hesitation?
what about Vbios? will it be needing change before it'll work?

apologies if I am being irritating

 

Hello I'm Chris from Germany
My Notebook
Acer 5920G
intel core 2 Duo processor T5750 q 2GHZ
Grafik: Nvidia GeForce 8600M GS

I want to install this graphics card
Grafik: NVIDIA 9600M GT = 770M Quadro MXM

have the problem to flash the Bios
phlash16 depends on itself ...Check flash memory type(s)
can you help me?

sorryt'm not the best in English

 

Use a newer Phlash16. 1.6.5.4 doesn't support your BIOS chip. (1.7.0.18 should work.)

 

@ NetRoller 3D
Thanks it worked :thumbsup:
But unfortunately I can not run the card with the Microsoft drivers.
The drivers with the Nvadia the screen after booting Windows (Win7) is dark.
The graphics card switches off completely.
Driver 306.79 quatro-tesla-win8-win7-64-international-winviesta

 

Likely you have the PCI-E link width power management bug. I've posted a patched VBIOS for this earlier in this thread.

 

please where is the download link?

The VBios from the first page, I have on the notbook
But does not work.

 

@ prash.tan

The ATI HD3650 has allways worked without any fix in the 5920. In either DDR2 or GDDR3 it has been used by many 5920 users. It was many peoples' first choice to move away from the downclocking 8600M GT.

The 9600M GS DDR2 will need the system BIOS flash, so if you don't want to flash, don't buy it.
EDIT: Coincidentally, that is the card I am using, in the 5920 for some time now. I like it. 3D '06 = 4468. It has better shader speed and RAM speed than 8600M GT. Ideally the 9600M GT in DDR2 would be marginally better.

The ATI HD3470 I think will work plug and play. I'm sure I remember Triturbo saying the 3470 was an original 5920 card. The 9300M GS, I'm quite sure needs the system BIOS flash, so I'm sure, avoid it.

Look on http://forum.notebookreview.com/acer/396320-acer-mxm-models-cards.html link on this forum, I just thought.


@ .NetRoller 3D,

I wonder if the 9600M GS not giving an image in the 8920, is the same kind of problem that other folk have had. They fixed their issues by flashing the card vBIOS to another version, from TechpowerUp. I remember one user who said they had a 9600M GT in GDDR3, they could not make work. I can't remember the exact fault. They flashed it to the version I said I had, working in the 8920, and it fixed it for them. (It was a while ago now - but it was such a result!)

Sadly there is not a vBIOS version for the 9600M GS DDR2 on the internet, that I can find. TechPowerUp never had one. That's kind of why I put my copy from my card up here for others to access. (You know if something went wrong.) Anyway I realise there no solution for this in sight, but I was just saying

I occaisionally wonder though, would it be safe to flash the 9600M GS 512 DDR2 card to a DDR2 9600M GT 1GB DDR2 vBIOS? (Then lower the clocks.)

 

Sorry, it's in the MXM models & cards thread.

 

I have the Acer 8735G laptop (with GT240M) and have installed a HD 5730 MXM-A card but it displays only to the VGA or HDMI. The internal display is active however it is showing only thin vertical lines.

I don't think the 5730 is damaged (it was bought as working from a Dell MX15).

I have installed the 5730 drivers and it displays perfectly on my external monitor (HDMI and VGA) and games run fine.

The only other issue is regarding HDMI sound. The HDMI sound driver is installed but even with HDMI cable plugged in it says "Not plugged in" in Sound -> Playback -> ATI HDMI Output.

Could SBIOS or VBIOS modding fix these issues?

 

An SBIOS mod could help with true-MXM Nvidia cards. However, all ATI cards I've seen so far were just "MXM-shaped" cards, that didn't use the MXM system call to identify connected displays.

Post your VBIOS here, though, maybe I can do something with it.

 

Thanks for the info and having a look.

 

hello people!

I have an Acer Aspire 5720g, and I upgraded the old nvidia 8400m gs with a 9600m gt (ddr2 1gb)

the card is working only in VGA mode. I have installed the latest driver from l2go, and now the system recognize the card.

but as soon as I turn on an Aero theme, it goes to BSOD and restart.

any suggestion?

PS I flashed both the gpu bios and the modo bios with the 4.0 black edition.

I don't know what to do. please help me

 

I did some searching and it's the same BIOS Meaker used when he had a 5730 in his Acer laptop (maybe the 7738G?) but he didn't mention any issues with it back then. Here is his post with a GPU-Z screenshot:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/acer/396320-acer-mxm-models-cards-142.html#post7277672

 

I searched some more and found out about AtomDis and I managed to patch the VBIOS LVDS_Info (from a HD 4670). I flashed it to my 5730 but it hasn't fixed the internal display issue. I changed only ucLVDS_Misc (0x2d to 0x4d), ucSS_Id (0x06 to 0x01) and ucLCDPanel_specialHandlingCap (0x90 to 0x00). The other noticeable difference is ATOM_DTD_FORMAT_sLCDTiming. For the 5730 it has what looks like 1600x1200 timings and the 4670 has 1400x1050 timings but I didn't think changing it would make any difference.

I have a 1680x945 panel and a 1920x1080 panel and CCC properly detects whatever screen I connect to the laptop:



The laptop's inverter is broken so I am unable to take a picture of the screen to show the lines but I have ordered a new one for the 1920x1080 panel and hopefully it will arrive on Monday or Tuesday.

 

I found an Asus BIOS for the 5730 and after checking it out using AtomDis I decided to flash it resulting in a dead card and now my 8735G laptop doesn't boot. I read about tweezer pin 1 and 4 but the laptop beeps 3 times when I do it and it still doesn't boot my USB drive.

I might be able to recover the 5730 using an old PCI-E graphics card.

 

It worked!

I found an old PCI-E graphics card with a similar flash chip. I booted it in a PC and force flashed the 5730 bios. I used a heatgun to remove the flash chip on both cards and soldered the newly flashed chip onto the 5730 and now it's back in and working. :thumbsup:

 

@danilomarx: Likely the PCI-E power saving bug. Patch your VBIOS using NiBiTor according to my instructions referenced in the MXM Models & Cards thread.

(I wonder, does the PCI-E power save bug also show up on machines that came with a 9600M GT OOB? If so, it should be reported to nVidia. EDIT: Yes, authentic 9600M GT machines are also affected, see http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/showthread.php?t=171905)

 

I already did it. I installed the modded driver from laptop2go (version 250, because I can not find the latest one with modded inf.).

The video works, GTA and Fallout work, but sometimes I get a BSOD.

Maybe it is just unstable.

Any tips how to install the latest drivers?

 

If you have the 5720G, you should be able to install drivers straight from Nvidia without modding. Use Nvidia's driver finder tool.

By "already did it", you mean the NiBiTor mod?

 

yes, I modded my v-bios (following your instructions) and flashed it.

I tried to install the official drivers (from Nvidia website) but it give an error (no compatible hardware found, something like that)

 

I bricked the 5730 again. I was messing around with the encoders used by the LVDS and HDMI connectors and the last change causes the BIOS to hang. I recovered the BIOS but it doesn't work as it 3 beeps then hangs which is what it was doing when I did the tweezer on pins 1 and 4. I think I should still be able to get it working but it's not a priority right now.

NetRolller 3D: Do you have any tips on where to look in the VBIOS to fix the internal screen issue or the audio over HDMI?

 

@danilomarx: Please post the full hardware ID of the card, as reported by Device Manager's Details tab.

@akivlin: The 5730 is apparently very modding-unfriendly - if it fails to set up a video card, it locks up, preventing things like blind-flashing.

One thing to look for in the VBIOS: there is a bit that controls whether the display is single- or dual-link. Make sure this bit actually matches your display.

 

id driver

PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0649&SUBSYS_061C10DE&REV_A1
PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0649&SUBSYS_061C10DE
PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0649&CC_030000
PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0649&CC_0300

 

@.NetRolller 3D

Hi. I own an Acer 5920G and I recently discovered and read this thread for which I thank you. Nonetheless I was not able to figure out if for instance I can upgrade my videocard with a Nvidia 9600m coming from ASUS laptop like this one. I'm referring to those posts in which are mentioned romless videocards (ASUS in particular) compatibility issues. Few words of clarification would be much appreciated. Thanks again.

 

@danilomarx: Edit your VBIOS again with NiBiTor, change the Sub Vendor ID to "1025" and the Subsystem ID to "011E" (these are on the Adv. Info tab). You should then be able to use unmodded drivers.

@luca.anceschi: The ROM is the small chip in the upper left corner. On the card you linked to, it's clearly visible, so it's not a ROM-less card.

 

It Works!!!

Thank you man

 

Hi, just ordered my 9600M GT 512MB DDR3 graphic adapter and should arrived in 4-5 days. Can't wait for it to go into my 6920G notebook. Too bad it's just the A1 version not the C1 because I can only afford the A1 version for now. Will update once I've done the upgrade.

 

Thanks I will look into that when I get the 5730 bios flashed again. Waiting on some parts to use a standalone flashing tool.

Can you tell me about 6770M green PCB?

Here is a picture of it and it looks like it has no flash chip:



Do you know if soldering a flash chip is all is needed but also how would I know which flash chip to use?

 

I received a reply from the seller (from China):

Perhaps the picture they are showing in their listing is wrong because how could it work on a 5739 without a BIOS chip?

 

In addition to the flash chip, you will likely need to add the same 4 resistors as when modding a Toshiba 4650. (Because the pad locations are not known on this card, it's recommended to solder directly to the flash chip.)

 

Hey folks,

Years ago I had an Acer Aspire 9920G with the Nvidia 8600M GT problem. I have changed successfully the 8600M with a new one inclusive bios update. Shortly thereafter I sold the 9920G on ebay, for fear it could happen again, because its a known problem with the GPU and there a many owners, who have the problem with the 8600M GT.
Now I have found this forum, were I read it is possible to build in a Nvidia 9600M GT.

Is the problem which I had with the 8600M fixed forever?

I want to buy the 9920G again and would like to install the 9600M GT if there are no problems with it and the GPU lives longer than one year.

When I click on the link with the modded bios file for the 9920g I get still this message file does not exist

Can someone help me to get all files I need to installing the 9600M GT?.

Thanks in advance!

 

Looks like I'll have to reupload the 9920G-specific VBIOSes.

As long as you get a 9600M GT with a core revision of C1 (not A1), it should be a permanent fix. If you can only get an A1 one, make sure that it was made after Week 38 of 2008 - earlier cards may suffer from the same issue as the 8xxx-series.

 

@.NetRolller 3D

Thank you for your reply.I have read the whole thread yesterday. It seems you are a master on this field. I will try to get the one card which have core revision C1.

I'd be grateful for an reupload of the VBIOS file for the 9920g.

One member has written on 15th January 2012
@ .NetRolller 3D

Hi, thanks for this thread, is helping me a lot.I have a 9920g and i have to replace the graphic card , if i get an "9600M GT 512MB DDR2" and i flash it with your bios driver "NEW! Aspire 9920G (Phoenix, with unlocked menus, updated 2011-11-06): http://ifile.it/ej0c3oi/CV120_MXM_V2.WPH"
will work fine¿?
Thanks

And you has answered him with

Likely not. Get this card instead: nVIDIA 9600M GS DDR3 512MB MXM II VGA Card HP 5189-3743 | eBay

This one is designed for the same HP TouchSmart as the 9300M GS that is known to work.

Is the 9600M GS the better choice for the Pheonix VBIOS? When it is so, I will buy this one.
http://www.ebay.de/itm/nVIDIA-9600M-GS-DDR3-512MB-MXM-II-VGA-Card-HP-5189-3743-/180688642076?pt=DE_Computer_Sonstige&hash=item2a11e1e01c

 

.NetRolller 3D Can you upload black edition 4.0 bios please. I can not download it.

 

@Matti87: The HP 9600M GS doesn't need to be VBIOS-modded, you only need the SBIOS mod for it.

If you do get one, please post its VBIOS here - it's really hard to find.

 

Hi! First of all I would like to thank @.NetRolller 3D for developing this modded bioses. I own an Acer Aspire 5315 and I've used your black edition 4.0 bios for 5720G successfully to be able to enable VT-x and so on. I think it's really amazing that you managed to modify this bioses so deeply, good job!

In some page I think I've read that you will be releasing a 4.1 version with ACPI fixing some known problems, (I use linux and I didn't notice any problem with ACPI at all...), is the first page updated or are there any newer versions?

Also, I've just bought an Intel Core 2 Extreme X7800 to replace the T7500 I've been using. After buying it I realized that the spec version is an ES (preproduction) cpu SPEC QZXR ES, production series have SPEC SLA6Z. I don't have it in my hands to try it on the computer, do you know if this bios would support it? if not, does it have a table of CPU IDs that could be updated?

X7800 info: Intel Core 2 Extreme X7800 processor - LF80537GG0644M

Thank you very much.

 

Hi,
it's the first time I post in this forum but I really need your help... My 5920g stopped working without any real reason, but I think that it's a VGA problem (8600 GT), so I'd ask you to reupload the right bios for my notebook because I've only found a 9500 GS to make it work again. If you can please tell me how to make a correct blind flash to install it, thanks

 

@kenjistar: Most likely the card itself died - cards don't just "forget" their VBIOS, so reflashing won't help.

 

Yeah, I know, but actually my 5920g has a 8600GT mounted and, to substitute it, I've found a "new" 9500 GS. Now I'd like to change the card instead of trying the "oven trick" on my actual 8600 GT even if many users on the web did it and said that it works...

This is the reason I kindly asked to reupload the modded BIOS for my notebook, because the link in this topic doesn't work.

 

Yesterday I have got my 9920g from ebay. Defective 8600M GT, The seller wrote from yesterday to today black screen when turned on. I have connected it via VGA an external LCD. When I turned on the 9920g, there's following message on screen:

ERROR: MXM Structure not found or invalid.
Reflash MXM ROM or add MXM structure and associated callbacks to SBIOS! Post will be halted to 30 seconds and performance will be limited to balanced performance mode until this is resolved.

Than the 9920g boot up normal. I have started GPU Z and there are no details of the GPU. I have tested a vBIOS update and used the BIOS for the 9500m GS, the update was successfully. When I have tried to flash with the 8600M GT BIOS I have got following error:



I have tried to fix the Graphics Card by baking in oven, but unfortunately without success. It would have been nice.

Can you upload the SBIOS mod for the 9600m GS please?
I will buy the 9600M GS and I will make a dump of the VBIOS, but I have no plan where I should upload the file. Is there a way that I can send you it anyway?

 

I've received the x7800 today and works as expected (just to let you know ).

 

The SBIOS mod for the 9920G is generic, independent of the MXM card used. It can be found on the first page.

For VBIOS flashing, add "-4 -5 -6" to the nvflash command line to override the mismatch.

The 30 second countdown should be fixed by the SBIOS mod.

 

If you mean this from the first page: NEW! Aspire 9920G (Phoenix, with unlocked menus, updated 2011-11-06, use with driver v275.33 and these VBIOSes): download - filecloud.io

When I'm clicking on "request download ticket", I can only read : The file does not exist

 

@.NetRolller 3D: I finally got the BIOS soldered back on to the Dell HD 5730. I have it flashed with an unmodified version of the BIOS and the internal LCD display is switched on but it shows a diagnostic display. It starts off black then shows a full screen of white, then full screen of red, and next is green, and blue, and grey, and darker grey, and a vertical grey gradient, and last a horizontal grey gradient and it cycles like that over and over. The HDMI output to my external monitor is working perfectly like before and the card still functions perfectly as I can play the new Need for Speed Most Wanted on the external display without any issues. I have no idea why this diagnostic display occurs now. Maybe I made a fault when removing the BIOS chips with the heatgun.

Because of the diagnostic display issue with the Dell HD 5730 I bought the HP FirePro M5800 MXM-A card which is almost identical to the Dell HD 5730. The main differences are that the HP card has an AT25F512B BIOS chip and it has Hynix memory chips. My 8735G laptop doesn't post with the new card installed (when using the HP FirePro M5800 BIOS) however I got it working by flashing the Dell HD 5730 BIOS to it after I changed the clocks to 300/300 with 1v. The standard clock settings and voltages it was corrupted display in Windows and the ATI driver kept crashing/blue screening which I suspect is because the HP card uses Hynix memory chips and the Dell uses Samsung memory chips.

Also the Acer 8735G internal display wasn't working initially however after experimenting I found changing the connector's i2cid from 0x94 to 0x96 was the solution so now the internal display is working perfectly!

So I'm thinking I should definitely be able to make this HP FirePro M5800 work as a HD 5730 with full clocks and HDMI audio working however I don't know enough to make it possible.

Perhaps I could copy the VRAM tables from the HP BIOS to the Dell BIOS? I think this will be a lot of work to accomplish.

The HDMI audio doesn't work but I suspect this could be fixed by figuring out how to reconfigure the connectors to provide HDMI audio.

 

I can't get my recently bought 9600m gt to work on my extensa 5620g. It only shows black screen on startup. Can anyone help me with this?

 

Do you have the Extensa 5620G / Travelmate 5720G BIOS mod installed?

 

No, thats just what I'm looking for. I tried to download one from a post earlier in this thead but the link was broken. Do you have one?