[GUIDE] - Blind-Flashing AMD 7970M modded vBIOS for Clevo P1xxHM Laptops

Hey gang,

Since ive already been asked multiple times by various forum members, I thought I might as well just make a thread for this

Background-story: As many of you know, the AMD 7970M doesnt run out of the box in Clevo HM series laptops, since the GPU has an in-built IGP check in its vBIOS. Consequently, the screen stays black with the stock vBIOS, since the Sandy Bridge IGP units are disabled in HM laptops. As a work-around, its possible to blind-flash a modded vBIOS onto the card, thus circumventing the stock IGP-check and making the 7970M fully functional in an HM machine

I have posted this guide before in 1-2 other threads, so bear with me if Im just copy/pasting here

Disclaimer: People, you should know the drill by now, Im not taking ANY responsibility for bricking ur card, world hunger, nuclear fallout or any related incidents! DO THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK!

ATTENTION! There are several different revisions of the 7970M out there, but only one of them (v1.2) works in the HM series laptops! v1.1 and v1.0 DO NOT WORK, no matter what kind of vbios u flash!

P170HM users: Please read this post before considering a 7970M upgrade:http://forum.notebookreview.com/sag...bios-clevo-p1xxhm-laptops-10.html#post9892674

Aight, that being out of the way, heres the deal:

- download the HP USB Stick Format Tool and use it to prepare a thumb drive of ur choice in windows (choose FAT32 and install DOS files)
- use a DOS package for the usb stick (in the HP format tool, just point to the directory in which the folder lies)
- after uve prepared the USB drive, copy ATI Flash 3.95 and the 7970M modded vBIOS onto it
- now, this is a VERY IMPORTANT STEP: make sure to do a dry run first with ur old graphics card installed!!! for that, u do the following:
- go into ur system BIOS (press F2 repeatedly right after u switch on ur machine) and put the USB stick on the first priority in the BOOT list, so that ur machine boots from the stick, and not into windows
- connect ur usb stick and start ur laptop, u will see a typical DOS environment loading until theres just the command line (C:\ )
- now type the following to check and see if ur keyboard buttons match the input (DO NOT PRESS ENTER AFTER TYPING IT IN, THIS IS JUST A DRY RUN! otherwise u will RISK BRICKING ur old GPU):
atiflash.exe -p 0 -fs -fp -reboot 7970M.rom
- after uve checked and made sure that ur keyboard buttons align correctly with the actual input on the screen (for example, the "-" on my keyboard would result in a "/" cuz i have a german layout ), switch off the laptop and install the 7970M in it
- after installation, switch on the machine and wait for a minimum of two minutes (to make sure DOS has finished loading and the command line is ready for input. its probably overkill, but blind flashing is just something u dont wanna take easily!)
- input the bios flash command that ive mentioned above and wait till ur machine reboots by itself. until that time do not touch anything!
- hope for the best that when ur laptop reboots ure able to see the splash screen and windows booting

and here are the files necessary for this whole shabang:

HP USB Stick Format Tool
DOS system files
Ati-Flash 3.95
AMD 7970M modded vBIOS for HM laptops

Update 1:
Now, some users have rightly pointed out that a .bat file would be far easier in order to do the blind-flashing. I totally agree with that, thus have come up with this lil file:

7970M Blind-Flash

Basically, it saves u most of the trouble in typing the commands in blindly. As soon as the DOS environment is loaded, just type in "flash.bat", hit enter and wait for your laptop to reboot automatically.

Update 2:
changed the above mentioned .bat file into an autoexec format, its thus eliminates the need of any command-line input completely just put this file onto ur usb drive formatted with dos and atiflash,make sure its got the first boot priority in ur system bios and then let the laptop run its own course until it reboots

autoexec.bat

Update 3:
As an additional bonus, I`m providing modified vBIOS versions in order to overvolt the 7970M core to either 1.075v or 1.100v (stock: 1.05v) Based on NBR user experiences so far, 1.075v is very stable and gives up to 30-40 Mhz more overclock capability on the core, whereas 1.100v has been reported to cause instabilities and lower scores when overclocking in some cases.

All credit for these go to svl7!

OV modded 7970M vBIOS for HM machines

Update 4:
This is for all you HM overclockers out there. Aside from OCing with afterburner, there is a lil tweak to enable AMD overdrive in CCC. makes OCing way more comfortable, its possible to force load clocks to 300/150 for a cool silent laptop whenever needed and also solves the 2d flickering issue some ppl were having when OCing with afterburner. first of all, download these two files and manually add them to ur afterburner install directory:

https://www.box.com/shared/87dxghtm2bhfaonabv5c

https://www.box.com/shared/90engxolk8x52p4ka5a2

next, make a shortcut to afterburner.exe and under properties/shortcut/target add the command -xcl (thats a small L at the end). double click on it and ull get a prompt to reboot ur machine. do that and next time ure in windows, start up CCC and ull find AMD overdrive in the performance subsection of ur lefthand side menu

Update 5:

Seems like this procedure also works well for the Alienware m15x:

Update 6:

svl7 over at techinferno has supplied a dell vbios together with his famous vbios patcher. i checked it out and it actually works on clevo 7970M! so in case u have troubles with ur flashed card, u can always resort to flashing that dell vbios and see if that solves ur issue

If you have any questions, just shoot!

Cheers

 

Very nice guide JB! + rep

edit: I think instead of having to type "flash", just name the bat file "autoexec.bat" and that should load up straight away when booting on the USB stick?

 

yep,good point,already considered that when talking to the nbr user with the bricked card.ill add that to the description and upload the autoexec.bat
thx for the rep,much appreciated!

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

alright,updated with the autoexec.bat

would appreciate it if any users using either of the .bat files could give some feedback.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

Thanks once again jb for all ur effort . Turns out , i bricked it and flashing it was never going to save it - maybe sager can salvage it but I don't hold any hopes .

So feeling foolish I had to spend 320 on another one - though hopefully my naivety will help save some other newbie from making my mistake.

It's been said time and time again ! But I will repeat never ever ever flash v bios or any bios in windows.


I had done it countless times and rode my luck but the other day , windows hung in the middle of a flash - and the result was having to buy a new card that could not be saved.

One good thing though, I have learnt so much about the process and he vbios etc after hours of reading and talking to folk like u, so hopefully that will help me in future.


Still going to run a slight over clock but with no v bios flashes or volting. 6000 marks 3d 11 will just have to do

Anyway, now some what of a master in flashing with dos as a result of this, but hopefully a skill I won't be needing to use for quite sometime .

U live and learn , but seriously thanks for all ur time Jaybee and effort


Pj

 

I do flash it too under Windows, never got it wrong even though I know it happens unlucky mate, I hope you can get a replacement quickly enough!

 

Hi,this guide work with P170EM?
Tnk's

 

no need to flash the modded vBIOS on the EM series, since they do have the IGP enabled

oh, but if ure thinking to disable the enduro functionality with that vBIOS, that aint gonna work!

 

My objective is to save the vbios and modding the default voltage for decrease the temperature.
you think it's possible?
Sorry for my english

 

i would rather send a pm to svl7,he also modded the existing vbios versions with different voltages. the thing is,i habe no idea how the 7970m would behave in an em series machine with the modded hm vbios. better not risking a brick! just dump ur vbios with gpu-z and give svl7 a shout

edit: if u guys want i could also upload the overvolt HM vbios versions for the 7970m all credit goes to svl7 for those!

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

Ok,thank you!!I send a PM tp svl7

 

jaybee, excellent guide! My 7970M should be here this week, so I will have to use this blindflashing guide, since the card is for P150EM. I'm really a copy-cat...

 

haha nice one would be great if u could try the autoexec.bat and report if it works without hiccups

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

I'll receive the card tomorrow, and I will test flashing it with the autoexec.bat. I'm afraid of blind flashing with a swedish keyboard, easy to misstype, so it seems better to use the .bat file,

 

for anyone whos interested, i updated the OP with a link to the OV vBIOS versions

 

GTX 660m doesn't work P150HM. Have vbios for this card ?

 

really? weird, since the 680m does work (as long as the driver .inf file is modified appropriately) and both cards are kepler-based. what kind of symptoms does it show in a p150hm? does the machine start at all? or just as long as no driver is installed?

cheers

 

Vbios Version:

 

@Jaybee The autoexec.bat file did it's job!!! I now have a working 7970M card in my P150HM! After installation of the card I just plugged in the USB stick, it ran for a few seconds the screen was all black, then a reboot, and voila - it worked, yessss. +REP

Stock 3DMark11 was 5865 and temp was only 68C'
http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/4483060

 

haha nice! im glad everything worked so super smooth, good job! enjoy ur new beast

 

My stock bios: GTX 660M Vbios
Dosya.tc - Ücretsiz, Hýzlý ve Kolay Dosya Paylaþýmý

 

How vbios is changing? Who wrote vbios to hd7970? Help

 

well, thats the thing, no one here did the modding, we just used an already modded vBIOS off a card that was purchased at a retailer. not sure if vbios-cracks like svl7 or prema could help out there...

 

@jaybee83, Thank you very much for your concern.

 

guys today i installed my 7970m and flash the modded bios in this page but the stock voltage is 0.98..how is that possible to be so low?thx!!

 

Hey guys, I have a p150em and I flashed a bad VBIOS on my 680m but I have a friend with a p150hm that I could use to flash my card possibly. The only hang up I can think of is that he has a 6990m and I have a 680M. With that cause any problems? And also is there an auto exec file that I can use or should I just use the manual commands?

Sent from my HTC PH39100 using Tapatalk 2

 

with the p150HM it doesnt matter if u got an AMD or Nvidia gpu installed, its all the same revision/mobo

u could easily come up with an autoexec.bat urself. just create a .txt file with all the appropriate commands in it and convert it to a .bat file with the name "autoexec"

done

 

I got a P150HM with an old 6970. Soon I will upgrade with 7970, and i guess it will worth.
Thanks for your very useful guide, i'm curious to compare it with the great GTX680m. I'll let you know.

 

680M is great for modders who want to take things to the extreme, the 7970M is a great bang for the buck card, especially in dedicated card only setups.

 

Well. I got the card and i installed following the guide.
Everything went perfect with the blind flashing, modding the bios at 1.075v and overclocking till 1050/1450 and the result are amazing.
The only bothering thing I experience is that when I overclock from the stock 850/1200 to even 900/1200, the screen starts flickering while i move the mouse around the screen. But if I run a 3D application, it fixes and i can play steady. Is there any problem maybe from the sync from 2D to 3D applications? Anyone had the same problem and knows how to fix it?.

 

Which drivers do you use?

 

Installed the last Catalyst 12.11 Beta 6

 

It's to do with the ram clocks I believe, changing between the idle and load states, you could try modifying the idle ram clocks, I think someone manage to unlock overdrive with -XCL at the end of the shortcut to MSI afterburner? I think you could then create a clock profile for 2d too....

 

UnofficialOverclockingMode = 2

in MSIAfterburner.cfg file fixes the screen flickering problem. The drawback is that it disables PowerPlay.

 

^^^ yep thats correct. setting the OC mode to 2 will take care of the flickering. it will reset after each reboot tho, so ull have to do it manually every time u want to OC ur card.

awesome clocks btw! congratz

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

Thanks to you for the great guide and everybody answered to me.
The OC mode 2 is a good workaround so far, but i hope to find something that makes it work without giving up the powerplay.
Maybe patching furtherly the bios working on the 2d voltage and frequencies?

 

It doesn't reset after reboot on my machine.

 

ah ok, thx for the info

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

You could try method described here:
Enable Higher Clock Limits With -xcl + .dlls (not Unofficial Method) - Guru3D.com Forums

 

Damn men, you know one more than the devil. That worked fine, thanks.:thumbsup:

 

i didnt know that the xcl method also takes care of the 2d flickering? huh.... but duh, shouldve known, ive been using it for weeks now myself *lol*

probably time to update the OP

edit: done

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At Your service ;-)

 

It's a shame that the vision engine center allows no messing with overdrive so /XCL is no help for APU+dedicated users.

 

yeah ive heard that from EM users already... one more reason im happy to be "stuck" with my HM series machine

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Jaybee,

Any chance of updating the box links?
They seem to be not working..

 

hey buddy!

the links are up to date, only that the monthly bandwidth limit of my account (10GB) has already been reached unfortunately so in 9 days time (dec 1st) the downloads should be possible again
in the meantime, if u need anything specific that is also time critical to you, just hit me up via PM and i could send it to you by email

cheers

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

Can you give me the files to Mod my P170EMx HD7970M ? I cant download your files in your discription couse your traffic is empty.

And i dont know weather files run's on my system. mfg

Can i activate the Performance button in CCC???

 

hm...dont u have an EM machine? this modded vbios is only for HM models. if u flash this in ur case itll probably cause a defective gpu so i wouldnt do it

unfortunately, the -xcl trick to unlock amd overdrive in ccc only works on hm machines afaik...

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-.-" there is no way???

 

concerning the vbios: no, but it wouldnt make sense to use it on an em machine anyways! its only purpose is to make 7970m cards compatible to hm laptops.

as for amd overdrive: i cant say for sure, since i dont own an EM model, but all owners so far stated that overdrive cant be activated on their systems using that trick.
in the end it doesnt really matter tho, since it doesnt give u any other functionality than msi afterburner. only that its a bit more comfortable in my opinion, especially since it keeps the OC/UC even after reboot

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