Razer BIOS Mods - Potential to Unlock All Hidden Options

I have a bricked Razer blade 15 2018 with a 1070. Going to try to recover the bios. Was wondering if anyone has a full dump done with a reader that I can refer to or use?

 

How did it brick? I have no experience with an SPI programmer, so can't help there, but curious what happened

 

I believe it bricked on 1.05 to 1.08 update

 

You pulled the battery and CMOS battery for a while to make sure it reset? There are also some tools for booting from USB to do a BIOS flash. Haven't tried any of them with the Razer, but worth giving a shot if you're already bricked.

 

You could find the original BIOS for your machine in the Razer Drivers - extract the BIOS update exe with 7zip to a folder, the BIOS is in there called Charlotte1_0108.bin

If you don't have computer access I could extract it for you and upload it somewhere.

 

I will be giving it another go later this week. Though I am fairly sure it has already been tried.

I do not believe there is any bios recovery enabled on the blade. I didn't see any options in the bios for recovery from usb or hard drive or any mention of any filenames or extensions normally used.

I do have some experience reflashing.

Thanks for the offer. I already have it and I have the partial AFI flash tool dump of the chip from a working laptop found here on the forum. I am not sure if the Charlotte file really is a whole bios. The update tools only flash certain sections depending on which update specifically. The whole 16MB is likely missing machine specific and/or Intel me or other things not included in the update file. We will see though. Hopefully the chip still retains any manufacturer programmed portions and I can just reflash the broken part/main bios.

 

The Charlotte file is for sure the whole BIOS, open it up with AMIBCP! Intel ME is definitely a different file but I don't remember my 2018 RB15 having ME firmware.

 

I have. It's the right size and what it contains is valid but I am not sure it's all there compared to a full dump. Charlotte file certainly contains the whole main bios but unsure about the first half. It doesn't erase the whole chip for updates but only a section that it's reflashing. Have you manually restored with the bin from a bios update?

 

Yes.

 

You've flashed the whole 16MB to the flash chip with a programmer?

 

No just the VBIOS for the 1070 Max Q when I bricked it.

I've no reason to believe the GirlsNamexx-xxxx.bin file is not the whole BIOS.

Here is the "Updater.exe" decompiled - you can see all it is doing is running AFUWINx64.exe to flash the .bin file ...



EDIT: In fact, 16,384kb is all a chip can hold, why am I even doubting myself?

 

The batch file only updates portions of the chip. Check the command line switches if you want. The second half of the 16MB seems to be the main bios. If you do a backup with AFUWIN you will see that it backs up only the second half of the 16MB or 8MB.

The data in the first half may include machine specific data or data that is NOT in the area of the flash that the batch file updates. I would not suggest flashing the whole 16MB over top without taking a backup first. Loading it up you can see that there are three regions in the Charlotte file:

Descriptor region 4K
ME region 8MB starting at 1000h
BIOS region 8MB starting at 800000h

If your bios died flashing just the main bios you only want to write the 8MB chunk that you can export using UEFITool starting at offset 800000h. This is why when you use AFUWIN and backup a bios it knows where to restore it to. That would be an 8MB file starting at 800000h. Maybe this explanation will help you understand why I am asking and why it's important.

The manufacturer could have withheld some of the data that would be on the chip and read protected normally from being released in their bios update files.

 

Give it a flash and tell us what happens.

 

Unbricked by flashing v108. Updated ME afterwards. EC is already up to date.

The Charlotte bin in this case is a full bios. There is another bigger eeprom on the board at minimum. The system specific information is stored elsewhere as it is intact in the bios screen.

Can also confirm that the issue is the mainbios being written at offset of 0 instead of 8MB. So it overwrote the bios header block and into other functional parts of the first 8MB.

 

First experience with Bios modding, yay!

Unfortunately I don't have amazing results with my early 2019 Blade Stealth.
I unlocked the power delivery and yes, it now boosts higher more consistently but that also means it now consistently drains the battery during gaming. After about 2hrs I'm at 30% which is when it automatically downclocks the GPU.

I guess I need a better power brick.

On a side note, I also unlocked the Overclocking menu successfully. One issue though: as soon as I activate OC it doesn't boot any more, have to make reset with CMOS battery.
There's 2 things I can think of:
- the default timings/settings have not been set up correctly and as everything is zeroed it just instantly crashes
- the Blade Stealth has LPDDR3, not DDR4. As far as I could deduce there is also no SPD chip installed, so the memory timings are handled differently than with a usual PC/laptop. They are probably hardcoded somewhere in the BIOS (maybe even the part which is not flashed during update) and setting the timings in the OC menu wouldn't do anything anyway.

So yeah, that's a shame. If anyone got it working I'd love to know too

 

Has anyone been able to adjust their fan controls with the BIOS?

My fans turn on at around ~50C, which is really annoying since my temperatures fluctuate below and above the threshold to cause the fans to turn on and off constantly. To make things worse, my fans make a loud buzzing noise when starting, which is probably the only reason why I'm looking to raise the threshold. I'm also on the latest BIOS version and using Throttlestop to undervolt

I've pretty much followed this video (but maybe it only works for the 2017 models. I have the Razer Blade 15 Advanced)


And this is the only other resource I found (which talk about the same BIOS changes)
https://www.reddit.com/r/razer/comments/asmkfa/razer_blade_15_2018_fan_control/

However, flashing the BIOS hasn't change anything on my laptop.

 

The BIOS settings does not work, the fans are controller by the EC firmware.

I haven't found a workaround yet for this and I've been looking for one for months, my problem being the opposite: I want 100% fans while on Performance mode, which doesn't happens anymore even at 100 C....

 

If you have the modded BIOS - I don't think there's actually any benefit to using performance mode, right?

Can't you just leave it in balanced mode, set the fans manually, and enjoy full performance through your BIOS mods?

 

Sure, but I have the feeling that 5300 isn't actually the max speed as I remember fans being louder in performance mode, back when the fan curve was decently tuned.

 

I wonder if Dell's 130W USB-C adapter would work for you.

 

Thank you very much to the OP for this... Just did this on my RBS late 2019 GTX... Didn't care much to overclock memory as I just wanted to undervolt a little, but I had to add the perf menu as a separate tab in the BIOS since it's not under "advanced"

0x2DF21 Form: OverClocking Performance Menu, Form ID: 0x27AB {01 86 AB 27 62 14}

So for the configuration in the hexedit this would be

4A 10 59 7B 0D C0 58 41 87 FF F0 4D 63 96 A9 15 AB 27

Was worried I'd have to guess the suppressed settings I wanted under the tab, but they all ended showing up by simply just USER unlocking the menu row itself in AMIBCP I believe except for the XMP profile? Didn't check

 

Has anyone tried this on a mid 2019 RB15 Advanced? I've had no such luck

 

I'm also just trying to get the overclocking / performance menu up.

 

Yes, my original post was all done on RB15 mid 2019 advanced.

Check your PM

 

Awesome I PMed you back thanks.

 

@HeardEmSay Could you give my a little Noob explanation how to do so? I want to do the same but I already failed following the instruction on the first page because seems like the Bios structure of the RBS Late 2019 GTX is different than the one discribed. Would really appreciate...

 

Anyone knows if this applies to the latest 2020 Razer Blade with 10th gen CPU?

 

I would also like to know

 

Tried modifying the BIOS, everything looked ok but if failed on the actual FLASH.

error was something about signature verification failed. Couldn’t find an answer for it, so waiting until someone else hopefully does..

I feel like the 2020 models are neutered

 

Same here. Tried flashing and got the verification failed code. Read somewhere some has check all the boxes when flashing to get pass the verification check but to hesitant about trying it.

 

I've dumped, altered and flashed the BIOS in order to change DVMT from 32GB to 64GB on my RB15 2019, using AFuWIN64.
I confimed that the value was changed by dumping the BIOS again.
However, it's clear that the value was not changed. I also tried to unlock the otherwise hidden menus in the BIOS in the Chipset menu, to display the System Agent entry, but changing the respective entries in the BIOS to "USER". Again confirmed that these values were changed by dumping the BIOS after flash. Yet these menus wouldn't show up.
Can someone explain to me why none of these alterations have the desired effect and what I need to do so that they work?

 

What does this achieve exactly?

 

I think it's to increase the dedicated memory for the onboard GPU? BTW tried dumping the BIOS on my Razer Pro 17 (2020) and it's not showing much in AMIBCP.

 

The GPU doesn't get that much memory anyways. @naujoks was probably looking for a way to get around the maximum RAM limitation of 32GB. I think it's in hardware though?

 

Which laptop is limited to 32GB? My RB15 advanced mid 2019 has 64GB.

 

Oh, right. The 2019 model supports 64GB. Nevermind, then only @naujoks knows what they wanted.

 

"Moving a hidden menu to your main screen" Did you see these instructions on the initial page? These are the instructions for the absent overclocking performance menu on some razer laptops which includes our specific model.

All the steps are the same except for 12 and 13. So I already did the work on finding the OC performance menu form ID for the RBS late 2019 GTX which is:
0x2DF21 Form: OverClocking Performance Menu, Form ID: 0x27AB {01 86 AB 27 62 14}

Replace these instructions below with the OP for your specific device(RBS Late 2019 GTX):

Spoiler

12. In MenuBinaryIFR.txt find the form id for overclocking performance menu. In my case, it is 0x27AB
13. In your hex editor, in the empty space following the last entry, type the meny entry exactly as the previous one, but this time the next 4 numbers will point to overclocking form id:
(4A 10 59 7B 0D C0 58 41 87 FF F0 4D 63 96 A9 15 AB 27)

Spoiler

Notice how his is 4A 10 59 7B 0D C0 58 41 87 FF F0 4D 63 96 A9 15 94 27... your 6 previous menu bios binaries will be structured the same exact way and they HAVE to be(as stated in step 11) in order to proceed with this edit..the only difference will be yours will end with 4A 10 59 7B 0D C0 58 41 87 FF F0 4D 63 96 A9 15 AB 27..

 

Has anyone been able to modify the bios on the RBP 2020 sucessfully?

 

Attempted to open up the 2020 RBP 17 bios in AMIBCP v5 but I get the error
Language name present in the ROM file exceeds 0x08 in length. Setup tab and BIOS Strings tab will not be shown.

Anyone run into this before?

 

Whats the full version string for the AMIBCP you're using? The Blade being 2020 might mean it needs a completely up to date version to read it properly.

 

I tried
5.01.0014
4.53.0050
5.02.0023
4.55.0070

Let me know if there is something newer

 

I've 5.12 here but you're saying it's signature error - flash your modded BIOS with one of these: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Programmer-Module-Ch341A-Adapter-Suitable/dp/B07QSS28T6

 

Are you saying you have AMIBCP 5.12 or AMFUWIN 5.12?

I have AFUWIN 5.12 and get the signature error. AMIBCP is where I get the length error.

If you have AMIBCP 5.12 can you send me a copy please?

Eek programmer module is a bit out of my comfort zone.

 

It's your only option RE: signature verification error - they have implemented that security measure for a reason.

You've almost put me off upgrading now.

 

hmmm decisions lol. I can get it by tomorrow on amazon. Is there a guide for using this on a RPB?

 

Yeah saw that one. Was looking to see if someone did it on the RBP itself and not a GPU. I'll search some more on youtube. Got the part coming Friday now so will give it a shot and report back.

 

It's a big chip attached to your Razer BIOS mobo that outputs a 16mb file when read.

 

Cool I will get it a shot Friday thanks

 

The great thing about it is: now you have the programmer there is no way to do it wrong - keep a backup of a working dump of your chip, or the Razer original and you can never brick your machine.