Alienware M18xR2 New/Updated BIOS Mods - NOW WITH MAXWELL LEGACY SUPPORT - Testers Needed

Hey Everyone,
Post Updated On April 5th, 2016 @ 1:06PM (EST)

*** APRIL ****
TECH-INFERNO HAS RELEASED MY MOD!
IT IS IN THE DOWNLOAD SECTION!
ENJOY!
(Please donate if you use this!)
I am now working on Legacy Mode for the M17xR4 CPUs, and a few people have asked if I can update the m17xR3-R2-and R1 (I THINK). If there is another bios you'd like to have UPDATED, let me know. I can do ALL the updates that i've done to this (or ALMOST all the updated / enhancements / add-ons / mods to another bios!). So PM me if you'd like another bios updated. Worse case, I can update your bios at least a little bit! I'm happy to help if I can, so contact me and let me know! hope to hear from you soon!
Again, ENJOY MY M18XR2 MOD! MORE STUFF TO COME! (M18XR1 mods will be on T|I's downloads page as well and should be available within the next couple day)
ENJOY!

*** April 11, 2016 ***
(Trying this for a 5th time, the site keeps crashing... *SIGH*)
So, I'm finally releasing the bios either today or tomorrow! TechInferno has been KIND enough to host the file for me! You'll see it's location below in my signature. I would have posted a download link on here, but NBR claims that they have full copyright to any files and tutorials that are posted on here, and to me that is INSANE! So, T|i said they would host, thankfully! You'll notice that the download link is in my signature, so go to T|i and you can download it. HOWEVER, a download link probably wont be available until tomorrow OR tuesday, though it is possible to be up today. But tuesday at the latest, and we just need to wait for them to post it.
Lastly, IF you use this mod, I would ask you that you buy me a keg of beer, as I'm going to need MANY kegs to get rid of the headache this bios has caused me, LoL! Also, thank you to EVERYONE that has supported me on this endevour! Your kind words, encouragement, and support were INVALUABLE (@Mr. Fox , @Raidriar , @Rengsey R. H. Jr., and MANY others) - if I forgot your name let me know and I'll post on here! I believe EVERYONE that has helped deserves to be recognized! Thank you so much!! I am working on getting legacy support for the m17xR4, right now, too. I've added ALL the mods that the m18xr2 has, EXCEPT legacy support, yet. I'm hoping to get it, but MIGHT NOT be able to do so! heh


*** April 8th, 2016 @ 1:16AM (EST) ***
Yet another update - guess it's come to the point where I really do NOT understand where the throttling is coming from, of the GPU's. The DSDT & SSDT tables both really didn't have any kind of FLAGS that slow the card(s) down. I even asked Raidriar to take a look at the tables and see if he could find anything, and he couldn't - EITHER!
HOWEVER - I'm guessing it's GOT TO BE a Driver issue. Therefore, there ar e acouple options. First is trying to disable APCI in the bios AND disabling the Power Management in System within the Device Management, and see if throttling is still done. We can also add the Nvidia Inspector, via command line to "force" the GPU's to work at FULL SPEED. And then when you are not using them, you'd need another shortcut to set them to a slow / idle speed. I'm HOPING this can be done, even if it's a little bit of a pain / chore. At least it would solve the problem, short term, while I look for a final solution! So, that's what's happening.
If ya'll could, please tell me in the thread if you think I should still release this with the throttling that's happening, or should I wait until it's fixed? (Bare in mind if you want me to wait til it's working 100%, it could be a VERY LONG time!) Just wanted to know what ya'll want... (THANK YOU)!

*** April 6th, 2016 @ 5:25PM ***
Just to give ya'll a heads up - I realize this is an m18xR2 thread, but I wanted to let others know that I CAN mod the m17xR4 Bios to give this legacy support as well. HOWEVER, I need testers and will NOT do anything more until I see people actually want it!
On another note, I've included the NEWEST EDID Support, and GOPolicy as well! I've got 4 more modules that need to be updated and modified. Once done, I will have people test and see what happens. I am ALSO looking at throttling issue in drivers & DSDT tables though I dont think it's a DSDT issue, I'm still looking to make sure. Will update you when I have news.

*** April 6th, 2016 @ 1:40AM (EST) ***
Well... I've gone over the DSDT table and had someone else take a look at it, too. Turns out that the nVidia do not appear to be throttled by the DSDT / ACPI settings. It's possible that the DRIVERS are causing this issue, and I will look into that shortly. However, I'm still trying to research and see if there is ANYTHING in the DSDT table that is causing trouble for the GPU's. I'm also editing the DSDT table because I think that may control / allow you to put the AW18 LED onto the m18xR2 (NO GUARANTEE's, but it is possible). I'm also updating a few more modules, too (GOPolicy, TERMINAL, EDID, and a couple more). Once those updates are done AND assuming I can kill the throttling, this modded bios should be released in the VERY near future. I think it'll be a couple of days. IF I can't get the throttling fixed, I'll release the MOD and hopfully ya'll can use and give me ideas or feedback and we can figure things out! Thanks for being patient, it wont be much longer, PROMISE!

*** April 5th, 2016 @ 1:06PM (EST) ***
I'm now working on modifying the DSDT (ACPI) tables to stop whatever THROTTLING takes effect. This will, UNFORTUNATLY, take a little bit of time. I don't want to release the bios UNTIL I get the throttling issue taken care of, though it doesn't appear to be much - it's enough to where disabling it will give a performance increase, that's for sure. The real question is, how much of a performance increase will we get, that's unknown, but it's likely to be substantial! (I HOPE) In any case, I've been able to get the ACPI tables dumped, and I also got the tables converted into human readable text (but the conversion did have a few errors, and I'm not sure what the consequences will be from those errors). So, if anyone knows how to do DSDT / ACPI table editing so we can get rid of the throttling, please contact me! I would appreciate the help! I'll keep ya'll posted on the progress (or lack there of)...

*** April 4th, 2016 @ 7:35PM (EST) ***
IT IS CONFIRMED THAT 2x980m GPU's in SLI WORKS on m18xR2 in Legacy mode without 8 beeps!
3DMark2011 Score - 14083 W/980m SLI cable
Running in Windows 7 with bios set to Legacy Mode
(Or bios can also be set to UEFI with Legacy Mode, too)
AW18 Screen is to be tested next. Not sure I can get it to work, but am trying. We will be testing that tonight and I will let you know how things turn out!


*** April 4th, 2016 @ 6:21PM (EST) ***
IT IS CONFIRMED THAT LEGACY SUPPORT for 900 Series GPU's IS UNLOCKED ON THE M18XR2!
The Alienware m18xr2 can now boot in legacy mode with the 900 series GPU's! OR, it can boot with UEFI Mode enabled and LEGACY MODE enabled, too. Both ways have been CONFIRMED working!
We are now testing SLI, and that SHOULD work being the other tests worked!
Lastly, we are testing the mod to see if the AW18 LED can be used on the system!


*** April 4th, 2016 @ 4:30PM ***
CONFIRMED - LEGACY SUPPORT On the 900 series IS WORKING! User CAN boot up in legacy mode, OR UEFI with Legacy Support, in Windows 7, WITHOUT any beeps. Tester also stated that the 980m he's running was tested in 3dMark11 and was able to go through all tests!

Download link will be posted in my signature within the next day or so. Just doing last minute testing and adding some other mods to allow AW18 screens to be used (possibly) and a few other things, too!

Furthermore, a SPECIAL SHOUT OUT to Rengsey R. H. Jr. for having the guts to test my mod. He is either EXTREMELY brave, or totally insane. (I'm guessing there is a fine line between the 2, heh) But his testing was INVALUABLE! We ALL owe him a debt of gratitude, as this mod with legacy support would not have been made without him!

*** April 4th, 2016 @ 1:43am ***
Testing appears to show LOTS of promise. One of my testers stated they see DX12 support. They are in the process of running 3dmark11 to verify support in legacy mode for dx11. Things look really good so far. I hate to get my hopes up but things are looking good so far. If he tells me there is dx11 support in legacy mode, we will be in great shape. I hate to get everyones hopes up, but... looks like it may be working. But i need more testers!!!!

** April 3rd, 2016 @ 4:30pm (EST) ***
**** LEGACY SUPPORT TESTING ****
I believe I may have found the key to unlock LEGACY SUPPORT for the 900 Series Clevo GPU's. If anyone would like to test, please contact me, as I do not have any Clevo 900 series GPU's. But, the mod that I did SHOULD allow legacy support! I can confirm my mod flashes and does NOT cause any harm to the pc (I've flashed it a dozen times now).
TESTERS NEEDED!!

*** April 3rd, 2016 @ 3:15pm (EST) ***
I am now working on, FINALLY, the LEGACY support for the M18xR2! I have a few ideas and am open to ANY suggestions, too! Contact me if you have.

*** April 2nd, 2016, @ Sometime In The Evening ***
Changed the Bios default from PEG to IGFX. Now when someone tests any bios mod of mine, they will not have to Break Down Their System, from what Mr. Fox tells me!

*** MARCH 19th, 2016 @ 11:24pm(EST) ***
CREATED an UPDATE package for the Intel Management Engine Firmware to v8.1.65+
13) NEW support for updating the Intel ME (Management Engine) Firmware from v8.1.xx.xxxx to v8.1.65.1058! If ANYONE would like to test this update, please PM me for a download link!

**NEW Updates As Of March 13**
11) Added NvMe Support (Pure UEFI)
12) Added Support to boot from Samsung M.2 SSD drives

1) Unlocked A11 Bios (SLV7 deserves ALL the credit for unlocking the BIOS!)

The following items are MOD's that I've updated OR added into SLV7's UNLOCKED BIOS MOD
2) Intel vBios Updated from v2138 to v2171 For SandyBridge On-Board Video Card (HD3000)
3) Intel vBios Updated from v2138 to c2171 for IVYBridge On-Board Video Cards (HD4000)
4) ATHEROS Lan & PXE Boot Firmware for Atheros AR81xx updated from v2.0.5.9 to v2.0.6.6
5) CPU Microcode updated from v28 to v29 (2920XM & 2960XM CPU)
6) CPU Microcode updated from v15 to 1B (3920XM & 3940XM CPU)
6b) The MICROCODE for all the other CPU's appears to be the latestest version available, unfortunately! If there is a MICROCODE that has been modded for these or ANY other supported CPU's, please let me know and I will be happy to upgrade them into the bios, too. At the moment though, the 2900 & 3900 series CPU's were the only ones that had microcode updates! (SORRY!)
7) GOP Driver for Sandybridge updated from 2.0.35.1018 to v2.0.1024
8) GOP Driver for IvyBridge updated from 3.0.1018 to 3.0.1030
9) Updated Intel Rapid Storage Technology - EFI RaidDriver (AKA:SATADriver) from 11.6 to 12.9.0.2006 w/ TRIM supported in RAID0
10) Update of Intel Rapid Storage Technology v11.6 (LEGACY OpRom) to v12.9.0.2006 w/ TRIM in RAID0 Supported (Used Modded OpRom to force support of TRIM in RAID0) - I can confirm that TRIM does work in raid0

Raidriar Added the following Mod to my A11 Modded Bios:
14) Patched my Modded A11 BIOS with MSR 0xE2 to disable "Package C-State Lock"
14b) You can download throttlestop by unclewebb, and under c-states....notice how it is locked/greyed out in the Alienware 18.... It should NOW be unlocked in the m18x R2!

Thanks,
Swick

Link to the A11 Bios -
(Download link will be in my signature. I'll upload the new MOD ASAP!) Will post here when it's uploaded.

 

Have a look at the attached image of Thaiphoon Burner as a point of reference. Change the tCKmin a couple of notches so the Frequency value highlighted in the blue box at the top increases slightly to 1067 or 1068 instead of 1066 and it should boot and run at 2133 with the BIOS memory options set to AUTO.

That is all I had to do to get 2133 memory to run faster than 1866 in the Alienware 18. This one small change took care of it. Click in the "Min SDRAM Cycle Time" drop-down (don't change the value, only select the field) where the red arrow is pointing and that will show you the tCKmin in the menu at the bottom. Make a small change to the value in the "Fine Correction" menu where the blue arrow is pointing and that will bump the speed up. As you change the value for tCKmin you will see the Frequency change up or down in the Frequency field highlighted by the blue box in this screen shot. Credit for this tweak being the fix for 2133 RAM only running at 1866 goes mw86 at Tech|Inferno.

Save your original SPD before you start tweaking. Remove all but one memory module for testing. Flash one module and test it before flashing the rest of the memory modules. If the Thaiphoon Burner tweak(s) do not work to your satisfaction, flash back the original SPD.

 

I'm happy to be a part of this. Swick and I have been working on/off on this for quite a while now

Just a correction here though Swick,

The M18x R2 can already do pure UEFI, it's always been able to do that. The issue is actually running Maxwell GPUS in Legacy mode, which we've been unable to do thus far (I think he may have been slightly confused at time of writing, he's working hard)

For the sake of keeping track, these were the changes between Alienware 18 A10 and A12:
We know, that the M18x R2 on A10 and the Alienware 18 on A10 cannot boot maxwell cards in legacy mode, but Alienware 18 A12 can. I did a MD5 comparison of the individual modules of Alienware 18 A10 and A12, and came up with this list:
29CF55F8-B675-4F5D-8F2F-B87A3ECFD063_1734.ROM (BiosVideo, PE32 section) +
33CF55F8-B675-4F5D-8F2F-B11A3ECFD063_31.ROM (InstallPlatformOverrideEDID, PE32)+
99C20A37-042A-46E2-80F4-E4027FDBC86F_1148.ROM (SmmPlatform, PE32 image section)+
662D072E-70A0-4E14-901F-8DB301631647_1566.ROM (Freeform, raw section)
B674D90A-9BDA-410D-A26C-14D6AFFEBD6E_71.ROM (CMFCDxe, PE32 section)+
E62F9F2F-4895-4AB5-8F1A-399D0D9C6B90_39.ROM (OEMPost, PE32 section) +
EF0C99B6-B1D3-4025-9405-BF6A560FE0E0_1228.ROM (MiscSubclass, PE32 section) +

 

Yes, for the record, I get confused, in truth, easily. I was also working on porting several modules (new) into the bios, upgrading modules in bios, editing modules in bios and upgrading cpumicrocode with hexeditor and using hex editor for UEFI support of the darn SataDriver (AKA RaidDriver) in the bios to support TRIM in RAID0. So I got EXTREMELY confused and apologizse for that - though it's NO excuse. I should have known better... I do apologize for this, and appreciate the clarification. I'll edit the post above to reflect your info....

 

@Swick1981 PM sent.

 

Hey Everyone,
Just to give you an update on things... I'm also trying to add Anti_Virus module AND a PCTOOL Module into the bios. I dont know if I'll be successful, but I'm thinking that it would be nice if we could run all different sorts of hardware tests from within the bios if possible... Does that sound like something that could be useful? If so, let me know and I'll continue to TRY adding that support. If not, I'll drop it and, instead, just continue work on the legacy support for the CLEVO 900 series GPU's...
Thanks for the feedback!
Swick

 

I'll put this here, too.

 

Hello, how can I be of assistance? I have 680M SLI and I believe I'm on A08.

 

I wouldn't mind helping out. If I am on the latest bios on m18x-r2 , Can i just flashed this bios directly ?

 

Hummmmm, I have a M18X R2 in my possession at the moment.

 

If this is sucessfull the throttle problem will be gone in M18X-R2 with 980M SLI? Actually the 353.00 driver is the only one that helps but is getting old now and dont have support for Dx12 like 364.51 does

 

One thing at a time. We will have to get the damn thing working first, then we can look at power management/throttling

 

Hey,

Thanks for the mods. How's M18xR1 980M mod going? Impossible to do that?

Regards

 

Hoping you guys are successful. Would be nice to have a bios for my own M18xr2 that worked with my 980m's tho I'm hesistant to flash unless people are successful with this as I'd be totally clueless on how to undo it if i made a mess of it or something didnt work! o_o

Edit: Your using an unlocked A11 bios but theres a A12 bios in existence for the M18Xr2 is there no unlocked version of that?

 

Was waiting to see if anything was going to develope here, but looks like things are still on hold.

 

I've been out of contact with Swick he hasn't been online. I can't publish anything without his permission and svl7's

 

A simple it works or it doesn't work would suffice...

 

Still in development. These things take time, and at the moment, it is still not working.

 

Thanks for that.

And I know all about things taking time.... Been on that end of things since 08

 

Er, why is pure UEFI bad?

I run windows 7 with pure uefi and have no problem so far. And GPU throttle must be fixable by a vbios from prema?

 

Legacy mode is the problem

 

But why would you need legacy mode?

 

Just something else people want to have access to with 980m's

 

But the R2 works fine with full UEFI Win7 + 980M prema?

 

no it doesn't work fine.

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/9658441

vs

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/10841442

GPU score only.

 

Hey everyone, I'm so sorry... I haven't been here for a while. I was taking care of some PERSONAL crap. (My sincere apologies!) I hope ya'll can forgive me for the delay! Anyway, I'm posting the bios shortly to my mega drive or google drive or something...
again, so sorry!
Link to be posted here shortly, too...
give me 15 minutes!

 

Okay, here is the link to the A11 UNLOCKED BIOS! With all the mods that are in the OP! I hope ya'll like it. I'm still working with RAIDER on the LEGACY issues...
https://mega.nz/#!q9lBDLrD!rJa6pD-4d6i787E8UDulLqw_P2bwmF0diQ4At77B6lY
Again, my sincerest apologies for being away for soooo long. Hope ya'll can forgive me. Had some majorly serious crap to deal with!
PS. I'll put link on the OP as well...

 

Good job, bro. Looking for testers to report how things are working here in this thread.

 

Seems the flash.bat file is missing....

Edit: Got past that part and it seems to be booting so that's a good sign.

 

Shoot, sorry... reposting the link. give me 2 minutes. my bad!
I'm really off my game today... LoL
https://mega.nz/#!C1tmARTb!dNQcmh0aOrToUWjzBvTD7okSz2oEOsCdU0f_Fym4Dp8

OP has the new link and correct files in the ZIP file...
Please, EVERYONE that tests, share your results. Also, if you are running an older version bios, can you run some benchmarks and then show if these mods helped with increasing the benchmarks?

Thanks,
Swick

PS. A BIG THANK YOU goes out to Mr. Fox. He has been INSTRUMENTAL in helping me understand the problems, what I could try to fix these issues, etc... this WOULD NOT have happened if it weren't for him, as his help as been INVALUABLE! So, if you like this MOD, please make SURE you thank HIM, as well!

 

here's to hoping my work and swick's did something good lol

 

Raider, I did not put on the OP what your mod did. You deserve the credit on that mod. Can you PM me the info and I'll put it on the OP and let the people know you did that!
Thanks!

 

This is exciting stuff. I so hope this works. I'd be temped to pick up an r2 again.

 

it's doesn't mean much, but I can CONFIRM that I've loaded the bios and it works fine. Raidriar also tested it and he confirmed it worked as well. Johnksss is testing as we speak, and stated that so far his tests have worked in Win7. He's loading Win8 and going to test fastboot once he's installed it. Let's hope that there is SOME kind of performance increase for some of you, if not all!
I can state for a FACT that when I went from bios A11 to A11 unlocked with all my mods, I was able to pickup a few more points on benching with 3d mark and vantage! I did NOT save it because the increase was minimal. didn't think, at the time, that it would be important...
Anyway, if ALL of you could post any bench tests, before and after my mod, that would be great! and like I said before, if ANYONE has modded microcode that they think would be better, send it my way. I'm willing to try (almost) anything!

 

I will be sifting through other Alienware modules to see what else can be updated.... will keep you all posted

 

I've been doing the same thing, heh!
Didn't sleep all that much, cause I was hoping more could be updated. However, there doesn't seem to be too much more that can be updated. EXCEPT the clevo legacy support. I really want to get this to work just because I hate Win 8 +... heh

 

I've created an update ZIP file for the Intel management Engine Firmware. Right now we are running v8.1.0.xxxx. My update will bring you to v8.1.65.1058! If you're interested in testing the update, please PM me. Info is on the OP, too...!
Thanks,
Swick

 

Well, I haven't heard from anyone, sadly... Does no one want to try my intel management engine firmware update? This will bring you from Intel ME Firmware 8.1.0 to 8.1.65... It's a VERY easy update to run, and shouldn't (in theory) cause you ANY TROUBLE what-so-ever. If no one wants to try it, that's kind of sad, but I was hoping this would be helpful to us. It's a rather BIG update... In any case, I hope to hear from someone soon!

 

Keep up the good work its nice to see someone working on it! If you managed to get lagacy mode working for 980m cards I'll probably take a chance and test it myself at that point (I'm shy about changing anything on it right now since I got it settled down) but anything you add before that is always appreciated!

Is there no way of getting an unlocked A12 bios? Dunno what change they made betweent that and A11.

 

Updated bios flashed, everything working ok so far. Ran some 3DMark11/Firestrike benchmarks results are unchanged so I wont bother posting the scores, which was kind of expected but is still nice to see that all that is still working as it should.

@Swick1981 Keep up the work, if you can get 980m legacy support I think you will have many more testers.

 

Tested bios. It seems to operate as intended. I'll get back to it later when I have that machine back together.

 

i want to help , currently have an m18x r2 with a10 unlocked bios i think , my setup is 16gb ram , i7 3740qm and 780m sli (svl7)

 

Indeed. That would be so awesome.

 

Yeah if this is successful Ill definately give it a go just waiting on this more or less.

 

It would make the M18xR2 worth keeping, that's for sure. As it stands right now, I've totally lost interest in it with 780M being the end of its useful life for me. It deserves to keep going and have more left to give if that barrier can be broken.

 

Yeah theres few alternatives atm to replace a M18x what with the A18 gone again and while that sky x9 is awesome its still smaller than the m18x so Id rather keep mine intact and going as long as possible and if the guys here can crack the 980m legacy issue it would be brilliant and buy my m18x another few years.

 

BTW - this is working fine for me, too. I flashed it and all is well. Nice new BIOS boot logo, too.

 

I really hope this turns out for the best. The beast doesn't deserve the fate it presently has.

 

@Mr. Fox > show that new boot logo. nay! enshrine it here.
*oops edit: maybe only testers get the privilege to see it? The Gentlemen's Club. What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. You decide*

*thinking outloud**I wonder if @Lord Zog might be contacted to collaborate on an R1 fix, he's another Bios wizard, currently working on Aurora R4 bricks*

 

Here you go, buddy.

01-M18XR2-A11_V2 by Mr. Fox posted Mar 22, 2016 at 5:26 PM

02-M18XR2-A11_V2 by Mr. Fox posted Mar 22, 2016 at 5:26 PM

03-M18XR2-A11_V2 by Mr. Fox posted Mar 22, 2016 at 5:26 PM

04-M18XR2-A11_V2 by Mr. Fox posted Mar 22, 2016 at 5:26 PM

05-TrimCheck by Mr. Fox posted Mar 22, 2016 at 5:26 PM