M18x A00 BIOS.....

Can someone please extract/upload the M18x's A00 BIOS and a method for reflashing?

I think the BIOS should be readily available for download. At present there's no BIOS for download at Welcome to Dell Technical Support

 

I thought this was slightly odd too....I mean, shouldnt it be there regardless of wether or not its had a revision?

 

Why would you need to flash to the same version that you have on your system? There should be no need to.

 

Sometimes your BIOS can have/cause strange glitches....like greyed out options not fixed by loading default setting. Reflashing usually fixes those issues. For 2 days they had the BIOS available for download. I wonder why it was removed?

 

can anybody help / send me pm about bios for m18x mine is locked down
PLEASE

 

Locked down? You mean you can't change anything locked, or do you mean frozen?

Thanks,

 

Can some one at least provide a method for extraction and reflash?

 

mean is locked that is i cant change unlock anythink

 

i dont think anybody know how to do it

 

This is gonna be a pure guess and a stab in the dark but have you tried hitting "enter" when you go into bios......I dont know exactly what you are meaning here, wether you cant move around when in bios etc but maybe try pressing enter and then see if you can navigate the menus.......

I only say as when you enter bios, unless you hit enter, you wont be able to use the keys to navigate....maybe thats what you mean by being "locked"......it could just be the case that you need to hit enter! - hope so!

 

a level 3 is suppose to contact me tomorrow....hopefully he can point me in the right direction. I'm going to discuss the sleep bug, aero bug and bios.

I already got the vbios.

 

lol good one you make me laugh
i am not so much noob
i can navigate and change thinks
just menu where you should be possible change like speed of processor and ram is lock grey

and rumors in forus say that bios flash can unlock this problem

 

Most likely a reflash will fix your problem. That's why I'm trying to get ALL of US a bios & reflash method.

 

good i hope you will find solution
fingers crossed

 

Hahaha - sorry, but you never know whos noob and not!

Have you tried simply just restoring bios defaults instead of looking to reflash? - that may well do the trick.

 

np man i try all
i need reflash

 

Gotcha....its stupid that the initial bios release isnt avialable to d/l....hmmmmm, great way to go Dell

Hope you get sorted!

 

I looked into it and found out that AW gets the M18X bios -- code name of the technology utilized to make these PC bios is InsydeH20 BIOS -- from Insyde Software, which seems having a quite strict policy about letting their customers, such as Dell, giving availability to their bios. I went through to quite a few forums, and I found out that many are trying to find a way to "overcome" Insyde's approach in order to save or mod their bios. I tried various bios-flashing software, trying to save it, which of course didn't work as they don't recognize the bios. However, I think/hope that not having the M18x bios available for download is only temporary.

 

So the M18x doesn't use Phoenix ? Hmm..
I bet later revisions will be released in order to fix some issues, it's just a matter of times.

 

Yes, I tried every utility under Win and Dos, and then I realized that it's an Insyde product. The only editor that actually seems to work is their own, called EzH20, which only allows the user to edit and mod an Insyde bios file once you have it available, but nothing about extracting, or saving it from the actual machine.

EDIT: those curious about Insyde and their bios can look here.

 

Intersting.
Thank you for all your info. I'll rep you when I can. I'm almost past my 24 hour rep cap.
InsydeH2O bios have a history of randomly hanging with usb peripherals(Razer & Logi G Series) attached at boot.....lame. I really would like the bios for reflashing purpsoes.

I don't think it is too much to ask.

 

Hanging with USB 3.0 peripherals is a common problem with most if not all systems. Good thing is M18x will not freeze on boot but pause until the device is unplugged, or just boot regardless.

 

I've seen 3 M18x's pause at post and hold up the bios with a 2.0 Razer Mamba & 2.0 Logi G13. It's time for a BIOS update.

 

True, it's high time we had an update. I'd also like to have a better fan control, screw the noise

 

Aiki, from what I understand Sapphire Trixx has built in fan control ... do you use it ? if not you could load it just for the fan control

 

I hate having my M18x ramdomly hang at boot with my Razer Mamba. My friends & Fiance's M18x does the exact same thing with their own Razer Mamba/G13. What maybe causing this is a boot from USB option/toggle that is missing from our BIOS. The G13 & Razer Mamba both have onboard memory that maybe causing the random hang in the BIOS.

You're right removing the said device does speed up the hang. But on a 4000.00USD + laptop this is unacceptable!! Perhaps a reflash may solve this. But because of the lack of available BIOS for download, we can't even test this theory. The M18x has alot of bugs: sleep brightness bug, random hanging bios/post w/usb & aero bug. It's time for someone to do their job. They didn't do it on the R1, R2 & R3.

 

Yes, I have the Razer Mamba as well, and my M18x used to hang at boot until I disabled USB Emulation and USB Wake Support in the bios. I don't know if this will fix your problems as well, but you may want to give it a try, if you haven't already. I also agree that it's time for a bios update.

 

rep +1. I already had wake support disabled. I just disabled USB emulation. I did notice that my startup was faster in post and bios load to desktop with Mamba.

 

@Rafix73,

You rock!

 

Thanks guys basically I grew suspicious about having usb emulation enabled by default. I knew that it was useful when there were DOS based systems and USB hardware - the bios would wait for the usb drivers to be loaded in the memory by the system. With modern systems this has no use anymore, and it's better keeping it OFF in order to avoid many problems.

 

wondering if I will have the same problem, I have a razor Death Adder
... nice solution though ...

 

In case you experience issues, just disable usb emulation and see how it goes. I had this problem with both razor mamba and the logitech g7 until I changed that value.

 

Shaden what problem were you having?

 

none yet system is on a truck on the way here, i just have a razor mouse as well, the solution here should work. wonder if anyone is using sapphire trix for custom fan control ?

 

oh ok. The Mamba has onboard memory in the base & mouse which probably causes trouble x2. The G13 also has onboard memory which could contribute to the hang.

 

Count the Orochi and iPods too
This is not a M18x issue.

 

What kind of issue is it then? I have never had an issue with USB devices until the M18x.

All 4 of my R2's never had a problem.

 

IDK, it definitely has something to do with the onboard memory.
For the Orochi I disabled USB emulation and reflashed the firmware (already had the latest).

 

I have also reflashed the firmware of the Razer Mamba & Dock through the boot strap loader. It changed nothing.

Since disabling the USB Emu, I can't replicate the hanging issue. It's most definitely a BIOS issue.
I've owned a Logi G13(3) & Razer Mamba(4) through G51GX>G51GX>G71GX>G71GX>G73JH>G73JH>G73JH>M17x R2>M17x R2>M17x R2>M17x R2>m17x R3 and have not had a single issue. As soon as I get my M18x(2) the hanging begins.

I know that we can agree that the onboard memory is causing the BIOS to malfunction.

Maybe a reflash can help maybe not. We still should have a method for reflashing.

Most likely we need a BIOS update addressing these problems. But most AW owners only care about benchmarking not system functionality.

Do you have a M18x or R3?

 

I'm telling you it's not a M18x issue, it happens even on desktops etc., disabling USB emulation should do the trick, there's no need for it anyway.

I do agree with the fact that a BIOS version should be available, but I'm sure in time there will be though.

See sig for the AW systems I currently have.

 

It is for me. Like I said b4, out of all the systems I've owned including the desktops that I have not mentioned I have never had usb issues at boot. Out of all the troubleshooting I have done with fellow M17x R2 NBR owners I have never had them or myself mention USB problems. All of your systems must have had UEFI insydeh20 bios. Which is known to have problems with USB at boot. My iPAD 2 has never had a problem with any system including the M18x.

These problems may have existed for you on your current and past systems. What I'm telling you is that the M18x with it's BIOS does have a problem with it's default BIOS configuration regarding USB at boot and needs to be fixed via BIOS update.

Does your R3 have insydeh20 BIOS?

 

I don't have a R3, gunner, only the M17x, the M17x R2 and a custom desktop.
Maybe we're not talking about the same level of this 'issue', I was referring to a huge boot delay while these peripherals were plugged in. Also maybe the other systems had the USB Emulation option set to Disabled by default.

I found this, I know it's old but it's based on the same fact:
http://www.togaware.com/linux/survivor/Dell_OptiPlex0.html

 

I don't know how I got the idea that you had an R3. I should probably go to bed lol....you did say to look at your sig. Most BIOS that I have seen have that option disabled by default. I'm also talking about a random delay in the BIOS and rarely Post with USB devices with onboard memory connected.

At this point, I hope we can agree that it is a BIOS problem.

 

Then in that case I feel sorry for you guys to hear that it's not related to this option
Don't lose hope, a BIOS revision will eventually be released, hopefully with no new issues.

Sleep tight, buddy
TTYL

 

It's all good as long as USB Emulation is disabled. What's lame is that alot of M18x owners are probably experiencing this problem and have no idea why. After a few more post in the Asus forum I'll pass out....lol.

G/N

 

Ok guys, I found a way to at least back up the M18x InsydeH20 A00 bios. Here's the thing: the developer is a Chinese guy who is well known in the bios modding community. He develops several modding/editing tools for various bios in this website (it's in Chinese but you can Google translate to find what you need).

The app that allows you to read and backup the M18x bios is called Universal BIOS Backup ToolKit 2.0. I downloaded, checked and used it successfully - I backed up the ALIENWARE-A00.rom file with no issues.

The first thing you need to know is that since the guy programs using Chinese, some antivirus may believe that the file contains dangerous/unwanted programs. Before posting here, and after I installed and used the this toolkit, I made sure, once I received the warning from Nod, to check my system for any virulent activity and the system resulted not infected. Below you will find the developer statement about what I just mentioned.

Here is the link to the Tookit.



The following are the steps needed to back up your bios: all images are print screens taken in my system.

Step 1: You need to run the program as Admin of course.



Step 2: Click on Read and let the program recognize your bios.



Done: Click on Backup, and save you .rom file wherever you want.



So, in the meantime that we're waiting for a bios upgrade, we can at least save our bios, and luckily we'll find soon enough another tool that it allows all those experiencing bios issues to re-flash it.

 

briliant job well done
now just reflash soft and we are fixed

 

Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are half way there!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

YaaaaaaaaaY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have a copy of my BIOS in the bios rom format!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

While Trixx works for overclocking, the fan control does not work. I believe it is because the fans are controlled by the mb, not the gpu. Trixx will act like it is working, but no matter whether I use fixed or custom the fans don't change their behavior.