The Official MSI GE40-2OC Owner's Lounge

Anyone still visiting this thread? I managed to unlock some hidden BIOS options on this laptop (2PC model), sadly it still doesn't allow me to disable nVIDIA Optimus or prevent the laptop from power cycling the hard disk every time it restarts.

 

Why do you want to disable Optimus?

 

1. Optimus cannot be disabled on GE40 because the display circuit is Intel and Nvidia GPU is slave unit to it.
2. Hard disk cycling issue might be AAM/APM setting, see below.
http://crystalmark.info/software/CrystalDiskInfo/manual-en/AamApm.html

 

Because it causes problems with OpenGL on Windows 10. See here: https://www.reddit.com/r/pcgaming/comments/4ms6yv/nvidia_optimus_users_beware_your_opengl/

Yes, but on some laptops there is an optional "muxed" imitation mode switch that forces switchable graphics to behave as if the DGPU is the primary display. It also makes an option show up in the driver to select which GPU was the "main" GPU. I have seen this implementation even on laptops which don't have the dedicated GPU connected to the display, e.g. Dell Vostro 3450 where it was added with a BIOS update. On GE40, as I found out, there are no options other than "Muxless", so I don't think it's possible on this laptop.

This has nothing to do with AAM/APM settings. The laptop literally cuts the power to the HDD at the moment it restarts, and the HDD makes a squeaking noise as if it was forcibly disconnected and reconnected again. The hard disk itself is not faulty (and I have tested it with a different drive), but it makes me worry it would fail someday because of this constant power cycling. I assume it's designed this way because the HDD is in the ODD bay, and most laptops power cycle the ODD on every restart. I found many settings in the unlocked BIOS related to noise management and HDD spin-up, but none of them seem to do anything. This was also the case with my previous laptop.
It might be that the MSI HDD caddy that comes with some versions of this laptop has some circuitry to prevent this from happening (pure speculation here), but I am using a generic HDD caddy from ebay because I can't find the original one anywhere, if it even exists at all.

 

That's correct, only GT80 has this function, but not on GE40.

 

Slightly off topic, but is OpenGL performance still wonky on laptops that ship with Windows 10 pre-installed (not just for MSI products but in general)?

Edit: I ask this because I haven't seen an outcry from Optimus users about Doom. Forgive me if I'm just ignorant about it.

 

Anyone have a ge40 chassis for sale for parts? Mine i guess is heat stressed and cracking all over. Still runs good tho.

 

Check with MSI directly as they do sell these parts.

 

I bought a FHD dual MSATA version in Feb 2014, and used an official ODD adapter to put a 3rd SSD in the ODD bay.

The machine has been an OK workhorse, a daily driver for webdev work, no gaming, but it's got its 'quirks' now.

• Won't charge unless the power adapter is connected to the laptop before the adapter is connected to the mains
• power adapter turns off after a time, once the laptop is fully charged
• front USB 3 port has some play in it, and can cause some sort of short, that stops the machine dead if a device is not in straight
• plastic around both display hinges is cracked, and it lifts alarmingly in one corner when the hinge is moved
• Despite repasting the CPU cleaning the ducts, and disabling the discrete GPU in most apps, it idles at mid 60s-70 degrees, which means there's always fan noise. I do run it with lid closed, so I'm unsure
• I was forced to replace the screen after the original got cracked, and ended up with a full gloss one,despite much research in the product codes (thanks, eBay)

It'll soldier on for a bit yet. Latest thing is I'm out of storage, and I've been thinking of replacing one of the MSATA 128GB SSD with a 500GB Samsung. Does anyone know how the dual msata adapter works? Assume it's like one of these:

http://www.mfactors.com/ssdmr-dual-mini-sata-to-sata-raid-adapter-sataiii/

Suggests that you can change the way it is configured via jumpers. I guess I'll have to crack it and find out.


Alway thought this was a strange, and perilous arrangement... putting a RAID 1 mirror on top of what is either a RAID0 stripe or a JBOD seemed daft.

Can the adapter take 2 drives of different sizes?

 

As a follow up, I've replaced the dual mSATA to SATA adapter with an 500GB m2 Samsung 850 EVO, in a 2.5 adapter case. I chose m2 as I figure it'll outlive the rest of the machine.

The original dual mSATA adapter is an exotic (and pretty fussy) bit of kit. It exposes the 2 drives to the BIOS, but I had no luck when plugging it into an external case or another Intel board. Worse, when I reconnected it to the GE40, the machine wouldn't boot, with the BIOS saying that the array had failed. I looked like I was screwed, but I was able to boot from another SSD and then use the Intel RST utilities to mark the array as OK and then verify it.

Replacing the power brick as fixed the power issues I mentioned above. I bought this one:

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Free...-19V-4-74A-90W-AC-Adapter-For/1004200243.html

 

Seeing how people are still requesting unlocked BIOSes for this model on MSI forums, I decided to make a guide for unlocking hidden BIOS options on MSI GE40. It can be done using publicly available tools, and I see no reason for Svet to charge for something this simple. This guide, the necessary tools and an unlocked BIOS image (2PC model only!) are available at: https://mega.nz/#F!J0dxiTZD!x6kS0nTpYNgOl7KjJamRdA

DO THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK! IF ANYTHING GOES WRONG DURING THIS PROCESS, YOUR COMPUTER MAY GET BRICKED!

STEP 1. CREATE A BOOTABLE DOS USB FLOPPY WITH AFUDOS UTILITY

1. Run HP USB Disk Format Tool.
2. Use it on a USB stick, format as FAT32, Create a DOS startup disk using the files located at the "Bootable USB floppy" folder.
3. When complete, go to the "Bootable USB floppy" folder and copy all files manually to the root of the USB floppy (overwrite not necessary).

STEP 2. BOOT INTO DOS AND CREATE A BACKUP OF YOUR CURRENT BIOS

1. Restart the computer and keep pressing DEL while it restarts to get to the BIOS screen.
2. Go to "Boot", select Legacy boot mode instead of UEFI and make sure "USB Key" is the top priority.
3. Save changes and restart again. Do not disconnect the USB disk.
4. If everything works fine, you will see a command line. Type the following:
AFUDOS BACKUP.ROM /O
5. When AFUDOS finishes backing up your BIOS, restart again and go to BIOS.
6. Switch back to UEFI mode (or whatever you had there) and set boot priorities as they were before you modified them.
7. Boot back into Windows. Open your USB drive and save BACKUP.ROM somewhere safe.

STEP 3. UNLOCK HIDDEN OPTIONS USING AMIBCP

1. Run AMIBCP and open BACKUP.ROM in it.
2. In "Setup Configuration" tab, open the folder in the left pane and click any section (e.g. "Main")
3. In the right pane you will see a list of unlockable options. To unlock them, Change the "Access/Use" value to USER.
4. Go through all options you want to unlock by browsing through "Setup Configuration" and unlocking individual options in each folder.
5. Save the file as UNLOCKED.ROM and place it on the USB drive.

STEP 4. FLASH THE MODIFIED BIOS IMAGE

1. Restart the computer and keep pressing DEL while it restarts to get to the BIOS screen.
2. Go to "Boot", select Legacy boot mode instead of UEFI and make sure "USB Key" is the top priority.
3. Save changes and restart again. Do not disconnect the USB disk.
4. If everything works fine, you will see a command line. Type the following:
AFUDOS UNLOCKED.ROM /P
5. When done, shut down the computer.
6. Turn on the computer and press DEL to go into BIOS. If you did everything right, you should see the unlocked options.

 

Hi A little bit off topic , does anyone know if you can upgrade the internal Realtek wifi card , apparently my version cannot access the 5ghxz bandwidth ?

 

Yes, you can upgrade the internal wireless card since MSI BIOS does not prevent you to do so.

 

why my laptop sometimes get freeze/hang when change from nvidia to intel after playing game, my intel and nvidia driver always up to date. sorry my bad english, can someone solve my problem?

 

Intel Graphics isn't for gaming so if you switch to it then system will not be able to handle it.

 

but my problem is when i after playing game, if my laptop on desktop mode its auto switch from nvidia to intel