5870-->5850 Vbios flash :-(

Ok so I flash a 5870 with the dell vbios flash utility. Didn't quite work out, screen was all pixiliated and such. Now my question is, ATI Flash won't let me flash back due to a differant SSID, is there a way to force flash this? When I tried the M17x R2 vbios update flash utility it says it can only be used on an M17x R2.

Now my other thing is I can boot with the flashed GPU in the master, but if it's in the secondary, it's a no go. Any one else have ideas? I needed to call dell anyway since the clip to my keyboard LED ribbon is broke, I suppose I can get the GPUs replaced than as well. Was just curious if it would work, and I suppose not. Although flashing back would sae me trouble.

Another question. When they replace GPU's they don't replace heatsinks do they? I don't think they did the last time they replaced my GPUs. Reason I as is because I lost a GPU heatsink c-clip. Well, it broke.

 

DR650 am I reading it correctly that you tried to stick a 5850 Vbios on a 5870? How about the "ATIFLASH -f -p 0 BIOS.rom" command? The -f is a force flash that will sometimes work. And if for some reason they won't let you get a new heatsink let me know as I have a spare M15x heatsink laying around that I think I can spare for ya on the c clips

 

Ahh, thanks, wasn't awair of the force flash command, but I'll give that a shot. As far as clips, I may not be too worried, I might stop in at a local hobby shop, but yea, you read it correctly. I was trying to do it, so I could bench the cards as 5850's, and gain extra points on hwbot.org

Was going for the same thinking as the 280M/285M vbios flashing, where they actually read as what they are flashed at.

 

Did you flash it with an M15x Vbios or what Vbios did you use?

 

You should be able to force it using ATIflash. That is similar to what I had to do to get the R2 4870s vbios onto my R1 4870s

It killed my drivers and I had to reinstall but the cards work fine now (and overclock higher )

 

Hmm, time to pull the card, swap move to slave slot, insert bad 5870, force flash, and then give it another go at flashing

 

You have to have a working card in the master (left) slot. Found that out as well when messing with my 4870s lol. Otherwise the system does not post

 

Wow it was that simple. Force flash worked. Now time for me to give it a round two!

 

Wow took me 9 min, to swap all that, and force flash it and get back on here, not bad. The only card I had in was the 5850vbios card. Nothing in the slave.

When I boot with a working card in the master, bad card in the slave it won't post, well it'd post but the screen remained blank. When I boot off the good card, and nothing in the slave, it worked, when I boot off just the bad flashed card, it worked, just pixilated.

 

Interesting. Glad you got it working. Chasing bot points is fun and all but don't go breaking your system just for a few points haha

 

Haha, true, though i do have a warranty...

 

Hmm are there any other possible cards that would work with a flash? I tried flashing the 5850 though atiflash and that gave me the same result so I've flashe back to 5870 and all is well.

 

Well looks like Dell will be getting a call in the am. I'm gimping around on one card for the time being. I tried modding a 5870 vbios and it didn't work out. Note to all. Don't change device ID in the hex editor Changing it to the same device ID as the 5870 is a big move. Man, curiosity is a killer!

Time to restore the system to stock lol

 

Man you mess with this kind of stuff more than anyone I know on here lol, +1 just for having the "you know what's" to try it

 

Well, the good news is I still have one good GPU, so when I get an appointment, since I bricked one, I'm going to see what I can do with the other as far as editing, maybe changing the name so in GPU-Z so it can read " DR650SE 8970M" Hahaha

 

That is in the driver, not the vbios. Easy edit, I can do it for you if you want lol

And I have gone pretty far just for some points myself....I bought a pair of GTX 280m's for $500 just to bench them and sell lol

 

Yea as I lay in bed thinking about it, I realized it would have been a driver issue. Now I need to give dell a call this morning. Also with those 280Ms, you should have flashed them to 285Ms. That could have been a few more cups.

 

Na, the 285m was offered with the x8100 and Clarksfield cpus, I would have had a hard time beating them as I learned with my 4870s going against TheCodeBreaker lol. And I do not think the R1 would recognize 285's

 

Oh yea, good point there.

 

I also got it handed to me trying for single GTX 280m scores since the D900f had the full desktop i7 cpu in it lol

 

lol yea I wouldn't mind playing around with a Clevo with a 980x in it. That would be on benching machine.

 

DR650, i didn't notice if there is an answer to one of your early question, so here it goes.

The replacement card will come as a complete set with new heat sink, the slave one with the CF cable already attached to it.

 

Ahh thanks for the info, +1

 

i was gonna say because i dont have enough post here i listed me 5870 2ndary card and fan on ebay i'd happyly give you 100 bucks off the set .. but it looks like you fixed your card

 

Well i haven't fixed. After flashing i force flashed it and the tried something else much more risky and bricked it. Going to see if sell will replace it first.

 

Ohh i must have read that wrong .. I've the 2ndary card with the cf cable heatsink and fan listed on ebay.. like i said .. i'll knock a 100 off it if your intersted .. I cant use it on my r1 and not sure if dell was ever going to send me one i bought one off ebay for my r2 .. figured if i sold it i can use that to buy the ssd and 280m i need for my r1

 

Thanks, but Dell is replacing it so it costs me nothing but puts my warranty to good use

 

Guess who has a two new GPUs and a mother board on the way??? This guy.

My only concern is that the new motherboard isn't SetFSB compatible, but since they are all made for the 920XM/940XM and use the PLL to bup the bus speed in the bios, they should all work with SetFSB right? I just use SetFSB a lot when benching. So if I lose that, then things will not be good.

 

hmm i may have to look for the 940 processor.. is it plug and play with the r2? i've got the 720

 

With the extremes TS should make SetFSB unnecessary.

 

I like to use both together for more precision when overclocking to find the sweet spot.

 

Can you check your PM's I sent you one, thanks.