Modding the L502X bios (The project)

hi, I has been reading in many forums about ppl who wants to mod their XPS 15 (L502X) BIOSes to allow GPU overclocking, change voltage for lower heat or extra overclocking and another stuff.

I also am interested, but it seems there arent much info about modding the L502X bios or ppl working on it.

so I decided to create a new topic and let everyone to investigate and help others with what they found and togheter finally being able of flashing moded bioses for this laptop and allowing higher overclocks / custom GPU voltages for the gt525m and the gt540m

I will start with what I found by myself

I supose, first we need is extract the bios (.wph) format.

I tried stuff like

Code:

L502X_A__06.exe /writeromfile
L502X_A__06.exe -writeromfile

but didnt worked to me, so I discovered something bymyself.

the files already are getting extracted, and it even tell you the flashing parameters.

this is what I did (sorry for the spanish language at the screens)

I opened the L502X_A__06.exe file (last bios update avalible)



then click "ok"





now, its very important DONT click ok again unless you want to flash the original bios again and reboot your computer.



instead that, minimize that window, and open the task manager (ctrl + alt + supr)




now click on "view" tab, and click on "select colums"




now tic "command line" and apply changes



now look for the winflash.exe process at the processes list (winflash.exe is the app trying to flash the bios file, the one you just minimized)

now check the new command line colum, it shows the path from where it is being loaded!, and it even show the flashing parameters

Code:

WinFlash.exe /SA /BBL /BIOS /EC "%location of the wph file%"

now go to the location and copy the winplash folder to another location




when done, now you can kill both processes and abort the current attempt of start/initialize the flashing process, dont worry, it didnt started yet, so you will just kill the process cause there are not any "cancel" button.

kill the winflash.exe process





kill also the L502X_A__06.exe process

now you are ready to open the winflash folder you just copy



as you can see, everything you need is here, the flasher, and the bios file!!

I also made a script wich contain all the default parameters to flash the file

if you want to use it here is the code:

just create a new text file, paste following code, and save it as a .bat file (not txt file)

Code:

@echo off
echo trying to flash the file ...
WinFlash.exe /SA /BBL /BIOS /EC "BIOS1.WPH"

well, now you have the wph file, wich it is the bios file to mod, but the real pain start now, since you need to get the tools to edit it, and replace the gpu .rom file for a modified one.

i also recomend make a backup of the BIOS1.WPH file before doing changes on it
I will keep investigating for the next step

ps, there are some modified rom files for the gt525m card

http://forum.notebookreview.com/dell-inspiron-dell-studio/623006-n5110-bios-mod.html

however those rom files has been extracted from another laptop, even the gpu is the same, I'm not fully sure it will work replacing the one from your bios.

I will keep investigating about how to replace the .rom file inside the .wph file

if someone have more/extra info , It would be nice to share

edit:

if someone want to try something, here is the original bios A07, it also contain the extracted folder with files such as the flasher and bios1.wph

link: Bios A07 + extracted stuff for testing

 

Question: do we need the modded bios for GPU overclocking, or do you mean the ability to control things like the fan? I say bravo for the initiative, especially since I have little knowledge of the subject, but would still like to be able to set fan speeds since speedfan doesn't play well with the l502x.

 

You might want to work from the latest BIOS A07.

 

hey nomygod
well, I also have very little knowledge of the bios modding, but I wanted at least move a little the subject by extracting the bios from the package and start look for mor info.

relating your question:
no you dont need bios modding for gpu overclocking, you can overclock the card with msi afterburner or another apps like this.

however, with bios mod, you can control another things like voltage, and maybe the fans too.

it also allow permanent overclock, wich consist in boot the device already overclocked without needing windows software to overclock it everytime you need it.

also raising the voltage to higher levels I supose we can go further with the overclock, in the other hand, decreasing the voltage can help to decrease the heat produced and maybe improve battery time a little too.

there are a lot of interesting stuff avalible if we acomplish this, however we need more ppl at this topic for that ^^

oh, did a new bios got relased, I didnt even noticed (last time I checked the dell site, they were making changes at the drivers ant the L502X stuff were unavalible) :O
going right now to the dell site.
do you know what are the improvements/changes over the previus version?

 

There is a list of changes somewhere, maybe on the downloads page. I received my XPS 15 six weeks ago and it came with BIOS A07.

 

ok, found them

Code:

1. Updated Intel microcode. 
2. Added support for i5-2450M. 
3. Fixed system may stay in S3 state when doing BIOS update 
4. Fixed system can't boot from USB3.0 ODD if set CD/DVD as first boot device in Setup Menu. 
5. Fixed Function Key Behavior and Charger Behavior in Setup Menu will be disabled if to do load default and exit without saving. 
6. Fixed system does not handoff XHCI controller correctly before enter OS 
7. Enhanced compatibility of Windows flash utility, to support BIOS update if only 1GB RAM installed. 
8. Prevent OS pop up the warning message to notify user to change battery even if the battery capacity is not less than 40%. 
9. Change Intel IGD VBIOS to v.2104 for PSA compatibility. 
10.Enhanced compatibility on Lite-On LAT-256M2S SSD for fixing system cannot switch to Delldiag partition after PSA test is done.

however the L502X_A07.exe download link does not work for me , the funny thing is the DL link from the 06 version does
L502X_A07 link:
http://downloads.dell.com/FOLDER00202999M/1/L502X_A07.exe

edit: googled for the dell ftp and browsed manually for the file,found it under some weird directory, this link worked for me
http://ftp.dell.com/FOLDER00202999M/1/L502X_A07.exe

kinda funny dell have dead links at their driver download site

 

This is VBIOS'S :
GT-525M STOCK + Undervolt VBIOS - Guru3D.com Forums

I undervolted mine ( Dell Inspiron N5110 ) using the BIOS mods for my laptop , temps under load decreased to about 10 Celsius which is worth it and no performance loss , I used a GT540M mod undervolted to 0.85v from 0.95v.

But I reverted back to STOCK because I don't like messing with the BIOS !

 

thx for the vbios link MPIXAPP

what steps did you did to extract the bios?

I supose you had to extract the vbios from bios, replace vbios, repack everything and flash the moded bios.

I browsed some forums, used some apps such as phoenix bios editor, but nothing seems to work, also my knowledge is very limited on those stuff, after reading the whole aftermoon I just got a headache a a big mess of stuff in the HDD

 

Can I restore back old version bios ? A6--->A5 ? thanks.

 

when I tried, it worked for me.

anyway, not sure if is posible to rollback previus versions from A07, cause I recived a error message while flashing it again (unable to flash, similar or older bios detected)

but it was fine while restoring previus stuff from the A06 I think, at least it worked for me

 

A06 to A05 works. Not sure about A07 as I am stuck with A05 - as of A06 Dell folks were so "kind" as to hardcode the FHD resolution into their BIOS, my notebook wouldn't even POST with the HD+ screen.

 

mmm, I has been using the A06 for a while with the HD+ (1366x768) screen, and I had no issues at all., entered in bios several times with the integrated screen, and also used both hdmi and minidisplay ports with external screens.

 

No, yours is not HD +
HD+ is 1600x900.
Yours is HD (1366x768)

 

whops, you are right.
thanks for the fix.

I just forgot about there was another internal screens avalible for this model others than stock one (1366x768) and the FHD (1920x1080)

how is the HD+? are u satisfected with it?

about the HD, it is ok for gamming since when I tried higher resolutions than 1366x768 in some games resulted in a FPS drop, I also watch some films on it. however it is a little small handle stuff in the deskptop, windows stuff and misc, for that reason I bought the minidisplayport to vga adapter and hook it to a external 1440x900 screen when I am at home.


well relating to the main subject.
I uploaded the original .exe file, and the extracted stuff, if someone want to play with it he is welcome ^_^.

 

I am very pleased with HD+, I find 1600x900 to be the perfect resolution for a 15.6" display.
Thanks for posting the files...

 

Could be helpful
(UEFI) Dell XPS 15/15z L502x/L511z BIOS MOD HOWTO

 

whoah,nice find,especially cuz that topic is very recent , (from yesterday if I'm not wrong) that link will definitly make things easier, as soon as I come back at home from my xmas family trip, i will try doing that.

meanwhile if someone make some progress, please, feel free to share

did some quick tests , W/0 flashing anythng of course, since I have nothing else than this laptop atm and I'm not at home to make a crisis recovery bios disk or something else.

did a quick test, dumping and extracting my current BIOS

made a small research and the nvidia vbios rom file seems to be 8C8BAE9C-4AEB-44DF-AB67-1E4D8242E964_1_827.rom file for me in the A07 version

the file is also 64kb, so it correspons wich the modded ones I downloaded from the another site.

next step is mod the file.

but now I am worried about putting everything togheter and make a comatible bios file and flash it with a propper flashing method.

of course recovery method is needed, cause my luck is not usually the best, and I also dont want a brick if the first tests goes wrong

it looks like hex modding the bios file can also rename or change the card name to another one.

I have a 525m card and I got following at the almost start of the file

GF108 Board - 1079df50

relating with what N5110.X said

I supose changing this will rename the card

for 525m
GF108 Board - 1079df50
for 540m
GF108 Board - 1079df40
for 550m
GF108 Board - 1079dd60

this list should help

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m17x/598790-280-19-beta-drivers-out.html

however I'm not sure about how change the name of the card will affect the computer,they 525,540 and 550 have the same chip gf108, however may have different dedicated vmemory, example I heard 540m have twice dedicated vram (2Gbytes) than 525m (1Gbyte)

relating the voltages & clocks this should help

 

You're welcome.

 

Hi all - I'm the author of the original post on the link - glad to see that some of my findings have been put to good use

Any luck with creating a proper ROM file for flashing? I've created a few for my 15z, but am reluctant to flash unless (i) I'm absolutely sure what I'm doing, and (ii) we have a proper UEFI recovery process for our 15/15z!

Any thoughts?

Cheers
jkbuha

 

hey, welcome over there, glad you decided to get here

lets see if all toghether can get this working, so we all can boot the system with custom startup pictures, gpu clocks, voltages, unlocked menus and stuff like that

nah, did not made any progress, still out of home right now, however, you mentionated something about:

can you tell us more, any links or reference?

as soon as I get a BIOS recovery usb stick or something similar working to restore the bios from corrupt flashes, I will start the flashing everything.

I just need the fact that I will be able to recover my laptop from any bad flash before going on with the tests.

cause I cant test on a brick

edit:
found this, http://downloadmirror.intel.com/20592/eng/Recovery1.txt

is that the same recovery process you are talking about?

edit2: this seems related too:
http://www.supermicro.com/manuals/other/uefi_bios_recovery.pdf

 

Thank you for the warm welcome

Unfortunately I don't know of any UEFI recovery process for our Dell machines, which is why I am not ready to try out the modified BIOS yet Also I am still not yet sure if the dumped ROM file with Universal BIOS Backup is complete, and can be flashed as-is back to the BIOS. Have you ever flashed a BIOS in this way?

Cheers
jkbuha

 

nope, this is the first time I use the Universal BIOS Backup Toolkit.

thats why I'm not sure if the original dumped bios is bootable/flasheable.


this would be the priority list in my opinion:
1 - get a working recovery method and test it by flashing a original bios
2 - flash the original file the Universal BIOS Backup Toolkit dumped
3 - if previus steps worked, proced to mod and flash custom moded bios.

I picked a usb stick (1GB) and formated it in order to proced with the recovery tests.

 

Hey sorry for my ignorance, but what can you do with a modded bios that you can't do otherwise?

 

modded bios allow things like mod the video bios (overclock, increase or decrease voltages for better overclock or reduce the heat), modded bios also allow to add a custom bios splash image/picture, unlock hidden menus, advanced options and much more.

that is what we are trying to do

 

I'm most hoping for the hidden menus unlock, specifically for fan control. A gpu undervolt would be nice too. I'm doing a repaste tomorrow, so undervolt/paste/notebook cooler would be the cooling trifecta
Good luck to the both of you

 

well, made some small progress.

tried something about the crisis disk, it "seems" to work, I cant fully confirm anyway because I didnt flashed it, but the system detected some kind of cryisis disk at the system boot and he asked to remove it and press any key to continue.



here is the files for the recovery usb stick

test l502x recovery disk

I included the bios.wph from the l502x A07 bios at the package

if it works for the l502x, it should work too for the l5072 and the xps15z, just change the bios.wph is needed.


WINCRIS.exe file is required to create the bios recovery usb stick, however it may create trouble on x64 systems, (it did on mine) for that reason I installed win xp sp3 32 bits on a vmware machine and ran it from there.

I will start flashing tests soon, but I think I will wait till I arrive home, I will need a backup computer with internet if something goes wrong.

if someone else want to go forward, post the results plz ^^

ok, changed my mind, I cant wait
I want to belive that my crisis disk will work, so here I go (a little crazy maybe hehe) ^_^

here goes my first test:
I tried to flash the original (unmodified) rom file the "Universal BIOS Backup ToolKit 2.0" dumped.


however this is what I got



not sure if the dumped bios file type is compatible at all to be flashed or if I am doing something wrong with the flashing method, i will keep investigating

 

Just saw this now -apologies for the delay in reply

I think you need to flash via DOS and pflash.exe. I don't think winflash is supported.

I'm on holiday right now so can only post via my ipad - so will try and create a rescue usb as per your method in a few days time.

If you go ahead before me.... Good luck!

Cheers
jkbuha

 

np, thank you for your help

mmm, yeah I may have to try with pflash.exe, however the fact it fails with winflash (aka the method wich worked to flash the original wph files) annoy me a little.

I will try with pflash, I just hope to be able to reply next message using this laptop ^_^

 

hey, nice Thread
I´ve got one question: May it be possible to adjust die voltage for the CPU? Which is in my opinion the most potent Option to tweak. Why? Because the cpu gets a ridiculous amount of voltage when on Turbo Mode or even at default frequency. (Its about 1.2V in turbo) with that Voltage EVERY Sandy Bridge CPU(Desktop...) can do minimum 4GHZ (but in most cases it goes up to 4.5GHZ with that VOltage) I would bet my a*s*s that the mobile Versions can go down to 0.9V for 2GHZ! (when you look the old penryn CPUs with rightmark CPU utility) That would make a big difference! It therefore changes the bad Fan behavior and gives more room for overclocking the GPU(the amount is Heat is sums up for CPU and GPU...)

So keep an investigating I will subscribe
Btw: Do you think it will be even possible to adjust die CPU voltage?

MFG Jubeltrubel

 

mmm, didnt had luck with the pflash method, it keep asking my rom file is invalid and blah blah blah.



I suspect the bios dump from the system is incomplete , corrupt, or just in another format not compatible with the uefi system bios, also the rom file is about 2 MB, and the bios.wph from the latest update is 5MB, so I suspect the wph file contain more stuff, like a backup bios, or something, I just dont know.

anyway it seems we may have to mod the wph file instead the rom one we dumped using the tool

thanks!

probably is posible, however as for now I have no clue about how do it.
I know some ppl adjusted voltage for the gpu, but cant confirm it for the cpu.
if we have sucess with the recovery and custom bios flashing methods I expect ppl will start modding all stuff for this laptop .

maybe the pflash app does not work with uefi bios.

look at this, this is the standard flashing method, with the a07 dell update



this seems to load something into the system memory, since it restart the system and start flashing by automatic, it even dont show the system post screen.

and about this:



this seems to be a very similar app as pflash, however, in the tittle it specify it is for uefi bioses.

getting this app for dos would be nice, however this seems to be done via coping the executables directly to system memory, so I am not sure about how I can save those files to the hdd

maybe I can find something on the net

 

Hello again. I've just thought of something interesting, which might be worth a try. I can't do it from where I'm from but it might be worth investigating

1) Refer back to my original HOWTO document. But in step 3, instead of using the ROM created by BIOS dumper program, use the original BIOS1.WPH file which is supplied by DELL.

2) When you get to step 5 - of manually adding/inserting changed modules, put the modified 8C8BAE9C-4AEB-44DF-AB67-1E4D8242E964_1_813.ROM inside the DUMP folder. Then click OK to let the process continue.

3) If I'm correct, the PhoenixDell tool should bundle the new GT525 module into the correct location in the BIOS, overwriting the existing VBIOS.

4) And then voila - new BIOS1_SLIC.WPH file with modified BIOS and correct 5.1MB size!

Let me know if I'm correct
(Typical - you go on holiday when you get these ideas

Cheers
jkbuha

 

again, nice info!

you are my hero for second time at this topic

well , I got huge progress

1 - to enable the crisis mode: with the usb recovery stick I mentionated before plugged in, remove battey, and power, hold FN + B,plug the power cord, press power button, when the diagnosis screen appear you can relase the keys.

2 - this allow flash the bios even the new bios is older or the same version as previus

Code:

WinFlash /all /sa /sn /sd /sp /svs /sv /cvar BIOS.WPH

3 - you can flash phoenix tool modded bios with the winflash utility



I followed all your steps

I managed to get the two nividia files from the bios dump:

8C8BAE9C-4AEB-44DF-AB67-1E4D8242E964_1_827.ROM (GT525M VBIOS)
55009181-E3AE-4C68-9D93-29758EA9E18C_1_830.ROM (GT540M VBIOS)

both files are 64kb


anyway, when I use the phoenix slic mod tool there are just 4 files at the dump folder extracted from the .vph file

C8AB0F4E-26FE-40F1-9579-EA8D30D503A4_0_6.ROM - 1,06MB
F33E367F-41D2-4201-9CB7-AFA63DCCEEC9_0_5.ROM - 4,12MB
PADDING-00000000_0_3.ROM - 1 KB
PADDING-0043C340_0_11.ROM -783 KB


those files are big, and I supose they contain the smaller modules such the vbios files, but not sure how to extract them again.

I followed your advice and placed the 8C8BAE9C-4AEB-44DF-AB67-1E4D8242E964_1_827.ROM (from my gt525 vbios dump)
but not sure if it got replaced.

to make sure the replace worked, I made a small trick with the hex editor
I modified the vbios version number of the gt525m vbios file from 70.08.53.00.04 to 70.08.53.00.05
placed the file at the dump folder, ticked the options u said (not fully sure if I ticked the correct ones)
and clicked on go
I placed the vbios file there plus the another 4 files wich already were there.

after the process end, I picked the bios file, renamed it from BIOS_SLIC.WPH to BIOS.WPH and flashed it using winflash, no errors flashing or booting, but when were at windows again, the gpu bios version version still 70.08.53.00.04 instead 70.08.53.00.05

any idea where is the problem?

I think it just didnt replaced the file at all.

oh, forgot to post my settings




oh, hold on one second, I think I got it, did you remember I told you there was 4 files?

I opened F33E367F-41D2-4201-9CB7-AFA63DCCEEC9_0_5.ROM file (the biggest one) with the phoenix tool and it extracted more stuff, including the nvidia vbioses

mmm, so if I mod that file, and rename it again, I may have some luck , the bad news is that I have to extract/repack twice after each test, well, anyway is better than nothing, I think I got it.


edit: the vbios file names changed doing this, new names are:

(gt525m)
8C8BAE9C-4AEB-44DF-AB67-1E4D8242E964_1_828.rom

(gt540m)
55009181-E3AE-4C68-9D93-29758EA9E18C_1_831.rom

edit2:
replaced the vbios again,packed again the two containers, cross fingers * , lets hope my lappy will not say goodbye

if I dont reply before 24 hours,that will mean something went wrong ^^

 

You're doing well

 

thx

the flash seemed to work, the bad news is that with the version number modification of my card is not being recognized anymore by windows >-<



ok, lets try again modifing something else

 

Try Uninstalling the drivers then installing it again.

 

I was thinking about restore the original version number, cuz maybe the drivers didnt recognized my uber new vbios version xD, but lets try what you said, them are being installed meanwhile I send this message.

nope, didnt worked, I will restore the original vbios version.
I supose I screwed something while hex editing, or is just that the 70.08.53.00.05 version is too new for current drivers xDD (maybe nvidia hardcoded the vbios revisions to the drivers)

what else I can modify? just some tittle or number wich dont harm the system for the first tests, cause I was lucky enough my laptop had the intel card as a backup for the nvidia one ^_^

 

Check out the N5110 bios mods topic , maybe you can benefit from it.

 

excellent work sir - I suppose the "FFFFFFUUUUUU" moment (a reference I much appreciated) is actually a step forward since it's the first real successful change

 

yep, I checked that topic some times, found usefull info like hex addresses and info.

also got bios files from gt525m newer versions from another links

hehe xD

well, I think you are right, I got the "first real acomplishment".

be able to modify something in the bios , flash it, and get it working, the basis of any future bios mod for this laptop.

-

link of the moded bios ready to be flashed (I know this small modification is not really usefull at all, but this is the proof of the bios hacking sucess for any advanced future mod at this bios.)

-


this will be finally the first ever modded or non official L502X bios, and the fact it is editable with the tools mentionated at this topic.

however, in the other hand, I was unable to make work the vbios of the gt525m card, if I leave the file untouched, it work fine, but as soon as I edit the code, doesnt matter if I change a small part of a text, ,clocks, voltage or the revision number, cuz as soon as I flash, the card become unusable on windows until I flash back a clean vbios file with the bios. maybe some kind of HASH validation or code modification check? (I didnt modified the size, just a little part of the content)

I definitly will need more help/knowledge/time and maybe some motivation too.

I never moded any bios in past and spent several time trying stuff, on every flash I become really annoyed about the posible negative consecuences, and at one of them, the system started to acting weird/ not booting / shuting down automatly so my head almost explode.

well, maybe not that much but I got some really bad minutes for sure.

bios modding can be fun,but also stressing, time hungry, and really dangerous for unexpert persons at the bios modding subject like me.

now the gates of this bios are opened, so I expect lot of mods comming from the users in the next days.

I will take a small/little break for now ^_^

 

Only saw this now - the beauty of being in a different time zone and also on holiday

Great work kasar - and respect for taking the bold step to flashing! I know what it's like to be the first to try something and nervously waiting for the black screen to flash back into life!

So let's try and recap what has been done so far:

1) We are able to directly modify a 15/15z BIOS file (EXE or WPH file) with the PhoenixDell tool

2) The VBIOS can be replaced, but so far we seem to be doing it incorrectly. My suspicion is on the names of the files themselves (eg: F33E367F.....ROM) as they seem to be referencing absolute addresses in ROM. I don't have all the tools at my disposal, but I can do a binary comparison (fc.exe /b old.wph new.wph) of the original+patched ROMs, and in the original locations I get "FF FF FF FF FF..." compared where the patched file VBIOS location is. This almost definitely means we are patching the BIOS in the wrong address.

3) The CRISIS recovery seems to work but if I understand correctly the battery needs to be removed and re-inserted. This presents an added problem for the 15z as the battery is non-removable and so needs to be dismantled!

4) There seem to be a few people in other topics/forums who have clearly achieved more progress though in a slightly different direction. I agree with one of the previous posters that we should speak with the N5110 modder as this is most closely related to our hardware (even has a GT-525M) and possibly get more insight.

That's all for now. I'll post a few requests on a couple other forums, then off for a bit more skiing and hopefully back later to report!

Cheers
jkbuha

 

Any word on unlocking, as in showing more menus when actually inside the bios?

 

Well we haven't actually started working on it, though TBH this sounds like an easier task. I don't know what to look for really to remove any manufacturer specific locks, so anyone who has had experience with this - could you point us in the right direction?

Cheers
jkbuha

 

maybe we could take a Bios file, that differs not so much from another Laptop to have a deeper look. I think that some "special gaming Laptops" like MSI, Asus have some extra Options in their BIOS. Maybe we could look inside that Bios(since a Bios DUMP isn´t dangerous at all[i hope so ])
Does these extrem CPUs have an open Multiplier? So we might see any difference in which section of the bios we might have to look, since the extrem cpus are provided by dell too.
As i said earlier, excellent work, but could you please provide a checksum to files you uploaded? MD5, sfv or som´else?

MFG Jubeltrubel

 

thanks hehe, relating the flashing risk, someone had to

every hard goal requires effort and sometimes a little of risk and danger ^_^

mmm, it is curius the repack worked for the module containning my nickname mod, and also for the bios itself repack inside the wph file, but not worked for the vbios file, I suggest someone else than me test stuff with the vbios file to see how get it working.

about the battery, I didnt tested FN + B thing with the battery plugged in, but you can test on yours, it may works

well, resuming the process, here is what I did:

- I downloaded the original dell A07 exe update file from the dell downloads page
- executed it and got the flasher files and the bios.wph file from the temporal files (see first page)
- made a batch file to allow flash the bios without version issues preventing flash same or older versions.
- opened bios.wph file with the phoenix tool
- phoenix tool extracted 4 files from the bios.wph package file.
- one of those files is a big 4 mb rom, wich is the main bios
- opened that rom file with phoenix tool, it extracted all bios modules on another "DUMP" folder, including vbios of 525m and 540m card
- then you need to copy the modules you want to modify to another folder and modify them with hex editor or another tools
- apply changes on them
- now you have to repack again the big 4 mb rom file with your modified modules on it, so ticking the options I posted at the previus screenshots of phoenix bios, place the modified modules at the folder when the phoenix tool ask for it.
- this will generate a modified rom bios file
- phoenix tool add the "_SLIC" text to the modified file, so you will have to move it to another folder and rename it to its original name (remove the _SLIC thing from its name)
- now open the original bios.wph file with the phoenix tool and tick the same options.
- repack it, and when it ask to add the modified modules, place the modified big 4mb bios rom file overwritting the file with the name and size in the DUMP folder wich contain the 4 rom files extracted from bios.wph
- it will repack again the bios file
- now you will see bios_slic.wph, this will be your final and ready to flash bios
- place it at the flasher folder , rename the file to bios.wph, and run the batch file.
- it will restart the machine, flash your bios after some seconds,and reboot again
- if everything went fine, you will have your moded bios properly installed


to make the job easier, and since the files have weird names ,I explained content below:

- bios.wph (all the package file wich need to be flashed)

following files are found inside L05X2 A07 bios.wph file using phoenix tool

- C8AB0F4E-26FE-40F1-9579-EA8D30D503A4_0_6.ROM (?????, not sure what this is, this file is arround 1 mb size,phoenix tool doesnt let me open it )
- F33E367F-41D2-4201-9CB7-AFA63DCCEEC9_0_5.ROM (the A07 bios file , arround 4 mb size, we will focus on this file contents )
- PADDING-00000000_0_3.ROM (???? not sure what this is, this file is just 1 kb)
- PADDING-0043C340_0_8.ROM (???? not sure what this is,however everything is FF hex code inside the file, so I supose it is just a dummy file/wasted space, this file is arround 768kb)


following files are found inside F33E367F-41D2-4201-9CB7-AFA63DCCEEC9_0_5.ROM file using phoenix tool

using phoenix tool, It extracted 1104 files.

I will dont explain all of them since I dont know all of them, and since analize 1104 files in depth will be crazy!

however i will post the ones I know

- 8C8BAE9C-4AEB-44DF-AB67-1E4D8242E964_1_828.ROM (this file is the gt525m vbios, this file is 64 kb)
- 55009181-E3AE-4C68-9D93-29758EA9E18C_1_831.ROM (this file is the gt540m vbios, this file is 64 kb)
- BF646364-2ECE-4D9F-84C7-C33F28689363_1_1027.ROM (this is the file I modified to get my nickname in the top of the bios setup app, it also contain some stuff from the bios.)


more comming soon!

EDIT: now I'm looking for the splash image file, the one asking dell xps before booting the OS, I supose it will be with .rom extension, and the content will be a standard image or RGB code, but I'm lost searching for something I'm not sure inside 1104 files, so help is apreciated ^_^

EDIT2: we need more ppl on this, I'm not an advanded bios hacker or something like that, so help is greatly apreciated. ^_^

EDIT3: also disabling the stupid dell splash screen could be usefull to see the POST messages, something really needed for anyone with medium/average computers knowledge

yep, taking a different bios file could help to create new menus, or unlock current hiden ones, I have however no clue about how do that.

relating the extreme CPUs multiplier, I heard that all or most of extreme have it unlicked, however relating the sandy-bridge proccesors, I heard overclocking is not posible, not sure anyway.

oh, relating the sfv or hash stuff on the files I uploaded, I deleted the original rar files since I didnt needed them as I have all the right files extracted at the places.

are you looking for some file in particular?, if you dont trusth the current uploaded files due the lack of checksum stuff, I can try upload it again for you and get the sfv file too

 

Its not, that i dont trust you But i dont trust the internet
I flashed so many beta, hacked, bios over my PC GPU and Bios, and red about dead bios in many Forums

MFG Jubeltrubel

 

hehe, dont worry, I know what you mean ^_^

I admit I uploaded the files from a wireless connection using this laptop

its perfectly comphrensible to want to be sure that the file you just downloaded is valid and safe, especially if it is a BIOS file you are going to flash on your pc ^_^


well I flashed two bios for agp ati cards, however made it at the n00b way using the ati rabitt editor or whatever its name is (dont remember), just changed some clocks and memory timmings, well also did a hardmod at my last hd 3850 agp card to increase voltage, did a similar mod to computer motherboard but well, relating main bios modding I still being a n00b with a keyboard

so what file you need? ^_^

oh, just forgot to tell you:
welcome aboard man, we need ppl like you to mod this

I think I found the dell splash logo file on:
0C7F41A9-0A6F-43F6-A0D9-1E2D01DBD7BE_4_1122.ROM

not sure anyway

edit: the file format seems to be 8BIM or JFIF image (suposed to be opened with photoshop)
trying to open it with a bunch of software

nah, got nothing, no one program I tested were able to open the image (MSPAINT,photoshop, gimp)

but when I was almost about give up, tried with some weird free app and this is what I got:



as you can see, the image looks small, and it doesnt seems complete, or at least dont looks like the one from the startup, maybe it is another image (didnt know about more images than the one from splash at the bios) or its just that there are layers or something that the image program cant pick.

idk, any idea?

edit:
here is the link of the file suposed to be the image
click me :3
MD5: 14868A97F0B2FC7FA59A9E41E7211230

 

Guys

I've managed to successfully upgrade the GPU BIOS - am now running a newer and undervolted GT-525M. I cannot upload more than 1MB to this forum, so if anyone with a 15z is interested to have a go, pop over to the bios mods forum for a peek

Alternatively, could someone give me privileges to upload 1MB+ files to this forum

Cheers
jkbuha

 

subscribed.....good job guys really interested in overclocking/undervolting my L502x

 

good news to everyone

the first L502X modded bios has been relased

this and more modded bioses for the L502X will be posted at this topic
http://forum.notebookreview.com/del...modded-bioses-download-gpu-voltages-more.html

 

Excellent work, will try it very soon! Great first step