L502X modded bioses download (GPU voltages and more!)

So the stock bios is also modded? Didn't know that... Thanks. Also, I'm using the GT540M version. I'll test the stock bios right away then...

 

Just tried the stock bios... Didn't solve the issue of freezing on stock clock speeds. Will test further though...

 

If you have a heat gun, you could try reflow soldering the GPU chip, generally that provides good result.

I know this is kind of extrem, but still good to try tho.

 

Did you try this? What are the improvements (in percentage)? Also, how do I do this?

 

No, I did not try this, and not really recommend it (this is really useful when your GPU chip is like almost dead).
There is the way to do it: http://www.deskdecode.com/how-to-fix-a-laptop-gpu-by-reflow-graphic-chip/

But again, there is no guarantee at all on the result, and in your case I do not think you will gain in stability with this method.

 

Well, I guess I wont try it then. However, could you recommend any alternative/tweaks that could improve gaming performance? And also, where you able to play games at default clock speeds without freeze?

 

My L502X is still not working, it has been like 3 months now, I've spent more than 500 buck.

For now I changed every single part (except the full HD panel), brand new and genuine as well, when I said everything this is:

Bottom case.
Chassis case.
Door cover.
Touchpad.
Keyboard.
FAN.
DC jack.
I/O board.
AC adaptater and battery.
CMOS battery.
3 x motherboard.
3 x CPU.
4 x RAM modules.
Best thermal paste and pad in the world (overclocking) as of 2017.
I have over 20 BIOS/EC eeproms (ready to be programmed).

He's looking like fresh out of 2011 from manufactury.
___________________________________________________________

So what I got is a black screen, fan running full speed, nothing on screen, not even LEDs indicator on the back (battery in charge and activity).

I dunno if the fact of not plugging in the USB I/O Circuit Daughter Board (with the large orange ribbon cable rattached to the motherboard, near the DC jack, could have some effect like not giving power functions (I will check the schematics more closely).

The classic error to not getting POST/BIOS (black screen) let people think it is either the motherboard or the CPU.
Well the first motherboard is dead (I've short circuited the whole board, not even get power anymore).
The second that I bought from China and returned gave me a black screen and the circuit wasn't really in a good state (like not clean solder joint) so I said **** another faulty brick, then got the third and actual one who is looking brand new and like new, everything got tested and marked on it, got it from USA, and still got the same problem as the previous one.

Alright alright this had to be the CPU right, like I have everything brand new and tested out with a multimeter.

The only difference between my first working board and the new whole build is that I was first using a 2670QM CPU, then got a 2820QM and just ordered a 2860QM.

However this is like pretty impossible to test a CPU, so I've returned the 2820QM and waiting for the 2860QM.

If I'm still getting a black, there is only one possibility (I hope), this had to be the new motherboards using a old BIOS (with outdated CPU microcode) and so not supporting the 2820QM/2860QM, who are the best for this board.

So I will have to program a new eeprom with my old working BIOS dumps and manually inject in binary the latest microcode in it, I really hope it will work...

 

1) You'll need to connect that Orange cable labeled MB to the board before it works (don't know if this is what you're referring to though).

2) My PC's using the i7-2670QM CPU.

3) Good luck. I hope you get your PC to work...

 

it was originally sold with the 2860QM as (expensive) option so the stock microcode should support it fine. All mini boards need to be connected or it will not even go to bios.

Thanks for all the effort put in!

 

The re-released and undervolted version 1.0.0 works fine for me, though there are no real advantages over capitankasars beta version 7 (with Intel VBios update to 2171 I integrated on my own) for me at the moment.

Edit: Could you please re-check the undervolted 540M BIOS? GPU-Z is showing me 1.0V GPU voltage at load.

 

How did you added the VBIOS, or at least where can I get it? Is it the same version in Thiblizz's BOS mod?

And I haven't heard of a beta version of the BIOS... Could you guide me to where I could locate it?

 

The Intel VBios 2171 is the same as in Thiblizz's BIOS. You can get a collection of Intel VBios' at win-raid.com.
Capitankasar's beta v7 was linked in this thread some pages before. It was a work in progress version which was never finished because capitankasars notebook broke.
Therefore I recommend to stick with Thiblizz's BIOS.

Edit: I checked the nVidia BIOS myself. The one inserted in Thiblizz's Mod is exactly the same file capitankasar added to his BIOS. Strange that the monitoring tools are showing 1V at load instead of 0.85V.

 

Okay. I've an issue. After installing this month's Windows 8.1 update, I've been getting frequent crashes while gaming at under clocked speeds of 522Mhz/900Mhz which was stable before this. I'm currently using @Thiblizz BIOS. I want to ask which is the most stable windows for the Dell XPS L502x. Windows 8.1 or Windows 10? Also, I have a friend that uses the same PC as mine and he's using Windows 10 and the same modded BIOS. The crashes are very minimal, less than mine before I did the update. Any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks in advance...

 

I flashed the latest v6 mod version to my l502x gt540m
unfortunately it keep freezing in LOL in win10

could you please post bios with underclock values 522 for clock and Memory clock 700 ?
i dont want to use any software tools for underclocking

is there any chance to brick laptop because of underclocking ?

 

Nope. Not a chance... You could download Nvidia System Tools 6.08, install, then activate Performance in your Nvidia Control Panel... Then try to underclock by setting the appropriate fields, then click Apply. Also after exiting the Nvidia Control app, a prompt comes up asking you to set at boot. Select Yes...

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Any feedback on the above?

 

I have never had any problems with both Windows 8.1 and Windows 10.

But I really recommend you to stay on Windows 10, as now it should be really stable as it just got the Creators Update.

 

By the way, I repushed my modified BIOS, with latest compilation and rechecked everything.
I tagged it as v1.0.0 and I won't make any more modification.

However the project will remain active forever, and now it's time to work on serious things.

I'll work on a coreboot port, this will be pretty awesome and will be the first Dell laptop ported on it.
As a reminder, coreboot is an Open Source project aimed at replacing the proprietary BIOS.

That would means, a BIOS constantly updated and open source, I'm so excited.

And I'm fixing and recompiling ACPI tables, to fix some problems and fix a lot of warnings as well as be compliant with the latest ACPI Standards.

 

Nice. I've heard of coreboot but bringing it to the Dell XPS L502x should be great. I noticed an extra folder in the BIOS package called freedom and it seems to include the BIOS dump of an unlocked descriptor... How do I get this to work? Thanks once again @Thiblizz...

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OK then... I'll try the Creators Update soon and post my feedback here... Also @Thiblizz, are you able to run GPU-intensive tasks at the GT540m stock clocks without crashes?

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hi guys. could you help me, my laptop is working, but l can't get to change my BIOS,
if I turn on my laptop press F2 and want to get it, then l see black screen and then do nothing
I think it's maybe broken NVRAM. I don't know what I can doing that. how could fix it. please help me

 

Ok. How did this happen? Did you flash a previous BIOS?

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What you have to do:

1. Flash my latest BIOS on Github, then shutdown your laptop.
   
2. Remove your CMOS battery like that: https://www.parts-people.com/blog/2014/10/08/dell-xps-l502x-cmos-battery-removal-and-installation/.
3. Wait at least 10-15 minutes.
4. Remove the battery and disconnect the ac adapter, press and hold the power button for 20 to 30 seconds.
5. Reinsert the CMOS battery like you did in the first step.
6. Now connect only the ac adapter and wait for 30 seconds and turn on the system.

Then is your laptop connected to an external display?
Disconnect everything connected to your laptop, just use the internal display (try to close the LID and reopen it after you did press F2).

 

Thanks guys, l will try to do that

 

Yeah I can run GPU-intensive tasks with my GT 540M with stock clocks, I have no crashes.
I will just get low FPS if it's really high GPU intensive, like latest games and so on.

The only bug I got was the latest Adobe Photoshop crashing, but this is driver related, only NVIDIA can fix this.
And not to mention that as of now, fermi drivers on Windows are really ****, this is like no more supported, on Linux they keep pushing patchs on the proprietary driver, but the best hope is to get and work on the open source linux driver.

Although my L502X is brand new, every parts in it are news, except the CPU.
I have really good temperatures, like crazy, I have modded it a bit with polished copper and I'm using the best thermal paste on the market (Thermal Grizzly).

But as I am only on Linux, it is really different, like I am using my own custom kernel, DSDT fixed.
When you are on Linux you have control on everything...

But would like to tell you again that you should not get any kinda special crashes nor problems using Windows 8.1, if your GPU is crashing constantly without any reasons, that means it is deffective...

 

Well, I guess my GPU's gone... Well, I've to keep managing it till I get money to buy a new PC...

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Also I'm using the 90-watts charger instead of the Dell recommended 130-watts...

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WOW, that could explains a lot, maybe your GPU is perfectly fine.

You really try to run games with a 90 Watts AC Adapter????
This is normal that it's unstable then...

I dunno why you try to find many reasons about your stability problems, like the OS's updates, when you use a lower wattage adapter.

 

I've a friend who has the 130-watts adapter but it still crashes at stock clocks. Tested it many times... I would have purchased the 130-watts adapter if it would have prevented the crashes... And he too also have crashes, we had to under clock our GPUs to enjoy games... And we had to bear with the low FPS...

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Ok, so this is the GPU...

I will do some test on the GPU soon, I know there are some power management problems, and I'm still working on it, I will push the fixes on Github, but I dunno yet how to implement it in the BIOS, it is actually directly compiled into my Linux Kernel.

 

OK then. Thanks for your efforts. Please update us when you do... Wishing you the best...

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Just a quick question, have you reflashed my BIOS since I re-uploaded it on Github?

 

The latest one as of today?

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My laptop is working back!

It was deffective CPU!!!

I have just rebuilt it

 

@Thiblizz Your next coreboot project, are we going to need to make some hardware modification or will we just need to flash bios? What improvements can a project "coreboot" give to our device?

 

Well, sadly yeah, every laptops/desktops had to flash the BIOS with an external programmer to get coreboot.

But the benefits of having coreboot is too great to not have it.

Here is a list of the main benefits, if you are interested: https://www.coreboot.org/Benefits

 

Okay thank you very much I found the coreboot very interesting, when you get it you can do a step by step tutorial for installation with external programmer eprooms?

 

Well, I guess we just have to prepare for the coreboot. Meanwhile, I'll flash the latest BIOS build on GitHub later... @dedos, could you please tell me if you've crashes on your xps while gaming on stock speeds... Also, which GPU do you have? Thanks.

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Yes I will, everything will be tested by myself, then I will make a good tuto with screenshots, on what to buy and so on.

The most difficult part is actually to develop and port the board on coreboot.

 

When I used bios of the capitan undervolt for GT525 I had games crashes, I changed thermal folder "Artic silver" I did complete cleaning, at the moment I'm using bios undervolt latest from thiblizz, and I'm only playing donk kong returns by emulator and I have no more crashes think if I Test a more robust game crashes would certainly return

 

Okay then. In case you test more GPU-intensive apps, please post your feedbacks here...

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That would be nice... Goodluck...

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ufff? I ran Dell diagnostic, and got memory errors on advanced test.
The memory is brand new, there is no way, anyway dell's tool is really outdated and kinda weird. (this is so retarded)

I'm running memtest86+ right now.

Edit: Yeah Dell Built-in diagnostics is useless, probably cause the memory is not the one provided by Dell.

 

Well...I was do that, but it's not help me. maybe I trying to this:

Pins 1-2 once shorted will clear NVRAM and reset all ESCD Settings

Note: You can use the RTCRST jumper procedure above to attempt recovery from a No POST, No Video situation.
Clearing CMOS Settings
The CMOS contains the current BIOS settings

1. Turn off the computer and disconnect the power cable from the electrical outlet.
   
   
2. Remove the computer cover.
   
   
3. Locate the 2-pin password connector (PSWD) on the system board.
   
   
4. Remove the 2-pin jumper plug.
   
   
5. Locate the 2-pin CMOS jumper (RTCRST) on the system board.
   
   
6. Move the 2-pin jumper plug from the password jumper to pins into the CMOS jumper.
   
   
7. Plug in AC power to the system and wait ten seconds for the CMOS to clear.
   
   
8. Move the 2-pin jumper plug back to the password jumper.
   
   
9. Replace the computer cover.
   
   
10. Connect your computer and devices to electrical outlets, and turn them on.

Note: Location of the RTCRST Jumper will vary by platform and form factor. For more information about jumper locations refer to the system service manuals located at:

• www.dell.com/support/manuals

but I did not find it

 

That's for sure you can't find it, cause there is no jumper on laptop, the first thing I told you to do was correct.
So just remove the CMOS battery, there is no other way.

 

Hi @Thiblizz... I disabled Hyper Threading and Turbo boost which reduced the crashes when my 540m is under clocked (522MHz~core/ 700MHz~memory). But it still crashes instantly when gaming at Stock Clocks...

Also, I see a ROM Dump which seems to be with Unclocked Descriptor and could enable over clocking... How do we use it?

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Weird, cause Hyper Threading and Turbo boost are CPU related, cannot see the connection with the GPU stability.

About the ROM dump, I mean the one you are mentioning (BIOS-FREEDOM), it indeed have unlocked regions and Intel Management Engine neutralized, thus you can't use overclocking functions as Intel ME is not working nor "present" anymore.

This is all about security/privacy stuffs and the one I'm using daily in conjunction with my modded BIOS, and the purpose of this dump is mainly to work more easily on the coreboot port.

 

To everyone using the Dell XPS 15 L502X, both OEM BIOS or modded, is the fan going full speed when you are on the BIOS Setup (F2)?

This is important for me, I am looking for a potential issue with the fan speed control.

 

Nope. It runs in normal mode. Not running on full speed though. I had that issue but it was affecting both BIOS and OS. Had to adjust the Power control flex cable...

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hey for some reason i cant get into the bios hitting F2 takes me to a blank screen and thats only when i remove the battery and let the settings reset then i see the option.

if i try to hit f2 on power up it just boots to windows cant even get to the boot selection screen after hitting f12.

if i remove the hard drive then i get a boot manager screen with some wierd options like
boot manager
boot manager
+USB FDD
HDD0
HDD1
CDD0
and some others any way to get the bios back to normal
also the fan is on high as soon as i turn on the pc and windows locks up when i try to install quickset