M17x R1/R2 - Dell 8.763 Driver (4870/5870 GPUs) + 5870 VBIOS Discussion (non-beta)

********UPDATE 12/16/2011********

Please see this post:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...vbios-discussion-non-beta-66.html#post8161766

which covers installing the current AMD Reference Driver

Note: Be sure you are on the current (listed below) VBIOS
This is important as the VBIOS Dell pushed out back in 9/2010
did resolve issues with the 5870 GPUs - see notes below for what
was changed with the v13B96101.104 release

********************************



Yesterday, Dell posted the 8.763 AMD Display driver (non-beta) to the support.dell.com site. The 5870 VBIOS update was also posted.

BEFORE DOING ANY UPDATING OR FLASHING - READ THIS ENTIRE POST. IF YOU DO NOT, YOU have only yourself to blame for any complications.

Here are the details:


ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4870 Driver
v 8.763-100810a-104118C-Dell

(NOTE: The VBIOS update listed below does NOT apply to the 4870 GPU. It is only to be used with the 5870)

Fixes and Enhancements
1. Displays configuration becomes incorrect when Crossfire is disabled
2. A non existent 2nd monitor appears in CCC and Display Manager after resume from S3/S4 with CrossFire disabled
3. System hangs when crossfire is disabled and re-enabled
4. Driver updates
5. Support for new game titles

Direct link:
Drivers and Downloads

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AMD Mobility Radeon HD5870 Driver
v 8.763-100810a-104118C-Dell, A01

(Note: For 5870 GPU owners, install the driver FIRST and the VBIOS update after installing the display driver)

Important Information
Dell recommends to use VBIOS v13B96101.104 (A01 R281544) which fixes issues on battery (BSOD, S3, S4, system lockups and black screen). This VBIOS also includes other enhancements and provides proper system functionality.

Fixes and Enhancements
1. Displays configuration becomes incorrect when Crossfire is disabled.
2. A non existent 2nd monitor appears in CCC and Display Manager after resume from S3/S4 with CrossFire disabled.
3. Dual 5870 internal LCD gets no display after disable CF and un-plug external monitor.
4. System hangs when crossfire is disabled and re-enabled.
5. Driver updates.
6. Support for new game titles.

Direct Link:
Drivers and Downloads

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AMD Mobility Radeon HD5870 VBIOS Update
v 13B96101.104, A01

IMPORTANT INFORMATION:
ATI Radeon Mobility HD5870 A01 VBIOS (13B96101.104) Win7 64b. Dell REQUIRES using this VBIOS with 8.763 (A01 R281215) Dell approved driver in order to have proper system functionality.

Install video driver first prior to flashing the VBIOS.

**This VBIOS is meant ONLY for the ATI Mobility Radeon HD5870 video card offered in the M17x-R2. Flashing any other model cards will result in a no boot/POST and cards will need to be replaced. Please see important information section for more details.

Fixes and Enhancements
1. Fixes display corruption issues found on some 5870 video cards.
2. Fixes issues on battery (BSOD, S3, S4, and black screen) with older VBIOS and 8.7xx drivers.

Additional Information
This is an Alienware VBIOS flash tool. This tool will enable you to either create an ISO disk or a bootable USB drive. Upon creation of the media, you will need to reboot and boot into the chosen media by selecting F12 on Alienware logo BIOS screen in order to select the booting device.

Direct Link:
Drivers and Downloads

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NOTE: For an overview/guide to updating, see Grim's post here:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...70-september-2010-incl-vbios-flash-guide.html

Nice job Grim!

Please see post#2 for comments directly from Brian (AW Rep).

 

Additional information from AW Rep Brian in response to forum posts:

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A note concerning modification of GPU HWIDs (taken from the beta thread):

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

i've just installed both vBIOS and new non beta driver from ftp site. so far everything went on smooth, straigh forward and easy enough. Many thanks to Brian and his dedicated engineering team.

one quick question. is ati app profile 10.8a still required/recommended for this official driver?

 

i've flashed the official vbios and so far i cant see any difference from the beta vbios. they have the same release date, just different method of flashing.

 

So whats the method of flashing the non beta vbios then?

 

does. just plug in a usb thumb drive and let the software do the rest. it will create a bootable dos and u just need to boot from it, press "B" when prompted. that's it.

 

will it work from disc as opposed to usb drive?

 

im not sure. it does give u the option to burn disc, but that is too much hassle and less reliable if u ask me.

 

both installed. so far so good. Anyway late at night here. New Bios, new vbios, new ati driver, tiring M17X day.

 

Installed all three and seems to be running pretty good. Will run some benchies later and see what BC2 does

 

Is there a "proper" order for the install? I was thinking the driver, A09 and then the Vbios - but don't know...

I see on the Dell's site the A09 Bios and the new "non beta" driver but I don't see the vBios so I will download from the link provided here (thanks by the way.)

Just want to make sure I do it in the right order - and Dell's website does not say...

Thanks,
Sandy

 

Proper order: 8.763 driver-->vbios-->bios a09 or you can do bios a09-->8.763driver-->vbios. Just make sure the vbios doesn't come before the driver.

 

Thanks for your response.... I have read the warning about doing the video driver before the vBios but wasn't sure where the A09 fit in.

I have done all three and am posting from my Alienware computer - thus so far so good!

 

I think you should be good now then, glad you made it on the other side. If you have further issues it's much easier to compare to now, cheers

 

Me too! Now for the fun stuff...

Thanks for your input

(as for my sleep issue - it has gone down once and came out of it fine - keeping my fingers crossed.)

Sandy

 

Well, updated to the new VBIOS, the new drivers, and BIOS A09... running smoother than ever... infact... I am pretty sure I just heard my m17x purring... hehe

 

Welp, everything installed awesome. Started playing BC2 and the bad lag I had just happens once and a while but not as bad. Bad thing though is that the game crashed three times in less then an hour. Benchmarks are around the same.

 

Okey so Iam waiting for mine to be delivered today. And I would be doing this this first. As the drivers are installed within windows and before vbios what will I have to do in case I format? I believe vbios still remains but driver will have to installed after that. Confused!!

 

Hi theres,

Yeh just get the system bios. Version A09 and flash that. Then if you want you can format your system. Install all the drivers. Then lastly install the new video driver that came out yesterday.

Once that is installed restart, then download the vbios update and you can create the bootable flash disk or cd for the vbios update.

Restart and then select the usb bootable drive to boot by hitting F12 to bring up the boot menu when you power up the machine. Just keep hitting F12 to bring it up. Flash to the new vbios and your done. Good to go.

Cheers.

 

Cheers m8. But that would mean I will have to flash the vbios each and every time I decide to format my comp? (after I have installed the driver of course.)

 

No worries chiefs

Nopes the system bios and the vbios you won't have to touch after you flash update them. Its only a one time thing that you will ever have to do once complete once. Unless of course Dell decide to release a newer one in the future.

After any format of your system or installing the OS again you will just have to make sure that you install and update all drivers respectively. Lastly just make sure you are running the Dell ATi drivers or any newer drivers that may come out in the future.

So yeh you only have to worry about reinstalling the GPU ATi drivers and not the bios or vbios again.

Cheers.

 

Just a quick question here,

Have just checked installation notes for the vbios on dell support....says to download and save to desktop and run .exe

So, does this work without having to put the vbios on a usb drive or cd? - that was my understanding of it from a few posts back....

 

Nice. Thanks m8.

 

Hi theres Stevie,

Once you have downloaded the Vbios update from the support dell site. You can double click it to run it extract it. It will then load you up with a Alien Splash screen that will give you 2 options. Whether you want to make a bootable usb vbios flash disk or make a cd flash disk.

Either option will work. Its quite simple as it will just burn or put the files that are needed to flash the new vbios on the usb or cd option if you chose that one.

Then you just need to reboot with the cd or usb plugged in then hit F12 to load up the boot menu.
Select either to boot from your usb or the dvd rom drive and it will load the vbios flash installer. Hit B and it will flash the vbios for both your GPUs. Then your done restart and your good to go.

Oh yeh if you want to use the USB option you will need to use a USB flashdrive that is no bigger than 2gbs. I tried to use my 16gb flash drive at 1st and it wasn't able to wipe it in order to place the required files that I would need to flash the vbios with. So I had to dig up my 1gb flash drive in order to flash it.

Cheers.

 

Any reason to flash with the non-beta vbios if you already flashed with the beta?

 

I asked Brian about this very issue and question earlier and his response was we can if we wanted to. It was basically up to us. It is the same thing though.

You can install the driver though.

I did all 3 anyway. The system bios A09 WHQL dell driver and vbios.
I thought heck i might as well. LOL

Cheers.

 

Ah. OK. If I were back in the US, I might do it, otherwise if there is no or marginal performance improvements, I'll pass.

Thanks.

 

I wonder if there is any possibility of the flasher failing like some people reported with Brians emailed vbios? - ya know, when people have had to run it over and over till both cards are flashed?

Is this the same scenario with the official vbios? - if it shows as failed, just keep on doing it? - does it show the same screens as grim listed on p33 of the other thread?

 

Hey theres Stevie. No need to worry about the flashing and re flashing. This official vbios installation method is all done in DOS mode. It is much safer and almost guaranteed to have no trouble. Just make sure like with any other update or bios flashing to have your battery charged and ac adapter plugged in when performing the flash.

However rest assured you will be all good to go in a mater of no time. choose one of the 2 methods and then flash away.

Cheers.

 

Cheers Reborn, Im sure I will be doing it pretty soon....

 

yeah, I noticed the same thing last night didn't have a chance to play more maps but it did happen to me twice and the fps lag lasted around 20 to 30 seconds.

 

Anyone else got a problem trying to install the release vbios?
After it extracts, trying to run the setup.exe file i get a message saying this:

This VBIOS update is intended only for the following card
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5870
The update cannot be performed on this system.

I do have 2xATi 5870s. I have previously installed the beta vbios using the DOS method which has been working fine for the last few weeks.

Im guessing it might be related to the fact that gpu-z/ccc all report my cards as ATI 5800 series, not specifically 5870s? Maybe the setup also cant detect them as 5870s?

See attachment for screenshot

-------------------------------

Spec:

M17xR2, I7 920xm, 8gig ram, 2x5870CF (beta vbios), 1x OCZ vertex1 turbo, 1x500gig HDD, RGB LED, Win7 Ultimate, System Bios A07

 

Yup I had exactly the same problem you described up above. You are exactly correct with it not recognising your gpu cards.
You will have to resintall the new Dell drivers fresh and then run the vbios exe again. It will work after that.

Cheers.

 

Ok, so what if I'm reloading my sytem from scratch after the vbios update at some point. The drivers obviously won't already be on the system after windows initially finishes installing. Am I going to be met with a black screen or something? Or is this just a one time thing in order to get a correct vbios flash?

 

Awesome, thanks for the response. ill see how it goes.
Still downloading the new drivers now. Damn slow ftp lol 10k/sec = hours of waiting hehe.

 

Its just a one time vbios flash thing chiefs. Ur all good to go after doing it once. Next time if your reformating or plan on reinstalling the OS from scratch just make sure that you install the gpu drivers like last and then yeh you'll be fine. You will just be on VGA generic drivers until you install the dell ati drivers. You can adjust the resolution during the setup and updating of drivers just to make life more easier and easier to look at on the screen. VGA can be set to some ridiculously low resolutions sometimes so just watch out for them.

Just need to make sure to use the dell driver just this once to flash the vbios. Otherwise the vbios update exe won't recognise that you have the correct gpu cards. There will be newer drivers in the future so its all good. We can use them down the track as well so your not driver bound or anything.

Cheers.

 

Yeah my lag lasts about five seconds then back to normal then about two minutes later more lag and usually that's when it kicks me off. I thought about doing a whole reformat of my harddrive and see how that goes. I have no idea what can be causing the lag but it seems like it started after the first v-flash late last month

 

Well I tried to play BC2 without the ATI Profiles(10.9) but there was no difference for me so I reinstalled it again, there was still quite a bit of lag/fps drop mostly when the action heated up a little but it lagged or fps dropped at those moments that it was unplayable, so i logged off I haven't tried SC2 since the server has been down as soon as its up ill post my findings.

 

I thought that once Dell released the WHQL version of the drivers it would be compatible with drivers before 8.763...I thought that was the whole reason for waiting for an offical release.

Is that true Brian?

 

You MUST load the new video drivers (or the ATI 10.7 stack) BEFORE flashing the VBIOS.

 

Everyone who sets up a new system now, has to use the new A01 Dell Driver for HD5870's now if you previously flashed your VBIOS. You will load on VGA Mode when you finished installing windows, then you add all the other corresponding drivers first and then the display driver (i think it's also only possible after chipset drivers have been installed anyway).

So once you have the new VBIOS, the older drivers are all Taboo (10.8+ are okay), i'm sure you would get a BSOD upon booting up with the A00 drivers.

No worries for those that use the latest combo after fresh windows install.

Summary: You have a wrong interpretation on this, either you use old vbios with old drivers A00 or you use A01 on old vbios and then update vbios. The sleep fixes and the driver compatibility is within the vbios, so the driver will obviously not cure the issues, because you would have to install it anyway to use an older driver, understood? I hope it's not that complicated

 

The new VBIOS requires the new drivers. It will boot OK with a VGA driver (on a fresh install for example), but if you attempt to use the new VBIOS with the old A00 video drivers, you will get a BSOD or lock up during boot.

 

I tested 10.5+10.6+10.7 once with the BETA VBIOS, same BSOD as with all other drivers prior to 10.8... I assume it's still the same. Also since the A00 driver on support page has been updated with the A01 driver, people will download that anyway from now on.

 

Disregard, commented on an old post as I didn't read far enough ahead in my catch up reading. Going to go and download the new drivers. See how benching with the new updates goes this weekend.
@ Brian, if we have the old vbios, can we reflash our GPUs to the old vbios if for some reason we want to run the older drivers? And then flash back to new when we want to run the new ones?

 

As per reborn's advice i have successfully updated to the release vbios after installing the latest dell 8.763 video driver.
No real difference so far from the beta vbios hehe.

It seems if your card is being detected as a ATI 5800 series video card in gpu-z or ccc rather then specifically an ATI 5870 then the new dell release vbios setup wont even run.

Note to brian, only the latest dell 8.763 driver has detected my card as an ATI 5870. ALL other drivers from the stock dell drivers released back in may through to 10.7 and the beta 10.8 has picked it up as a 5800 series. The beta bios however flashed fine with that detection.

 

Testing some games like sc2, wow, mafia2 with the release vbios/8.763 looks like same as the beta vbios/previous 10.8 drivers.
Overall good performance, nice frame-rates, no crashes.

Too bad i still got my graphics corruption with ati catalyst enabled (xfire enabled).
Redish pixels randomly around the screen in any 3D game/application.

Starting to think my cards are faulty...

 

That is really odd...EVERYTIME I installed any dell drivers it always said "5870". The only time it ever said "5800 series" was when I installed ati reference drivers.

 

post#1 updated with update information as posted by Dell Support. Download links added.

post#2 updated with additional information from AW Brian. Updates to post#2 will continue as needed.

REMEMBER, read all the details in post#1 before doing anything. If you do not understand, post and ask.

 

Hey guys, i have just installed the drivers and cant boot to windows, just black screens and nothing. anyone else had these issues? also how do i find out what bios version my vid cards currently have installed?

 

Please include more info in your posts when reporting problems.

What process did you use to 'install the drivers'? Be specific on order and steps taken.

As for VBIOS version, use GPU-Z.


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Adding this (from the other thread) in case the question comes up about modding HWIDs of the GPU(s):