GUIDE: How to create a flashable BIOS from a backup BIOS

This is a brief guide on creating a flashable BIOS from a Sony Vaio Backup BIOS.

Problem: Sony does and did not issue bios updates for all their machines. They also do not release the original BIOS versions as flashable images. Due to this lack of "support" it has been, so far, rather difficult to perform bios mods on Sony VAIO machines, for which no bios updates have been published.

Idea: One can create a backup of a running bios using a BIOS DUMP. A useful tool for this is for example: "The Bios Backup Toolkit". Once we have an image of the current BIOS, all we need is compatible platform data which can than be appended on the BACKUP BIOS to create a flashable .WPH file.

I'll start out with a list of programs you need:

1. Uniexctract. You will need this to extract the bios from an exisitng Sony BIOS update .exe
http://legroom.net/scripts/download.php?file=uniextract161

2. A HEx-Editor of your choice. I use HxD.
http://mh-nexus.de/downloads/HxDSetupEN.zip

3. A Bootable USB Stick with DOS and "Phlash16.exe" on it. You can download the complete package for creating a bootable USB stick here:
usb_stick.zip

4. Universal Backup Toolkit 2.0
Universal BIOS Backup ToolKit 2.0.rar

5. An original BIOS of a very similar model (same series, same chipset) In this case R0032J8.wph originating from a VGN-AR550E BIOS update.
R0032J8.WPH

After downloading and installing all the software you need, you can start by creating a backup bios.

As an example I will use the R2090J8.rom that Samozen provided from his VGN-AR71. R2090J8.rom

Consult Vaio e-support to locate a bios update file for a similar machine:

Americas: Sony eSupport - Computers - Notebook - Select Your Model
Europe: VAIO Country Selection Page
Asia Pacific: Sony Support & Tutorial : Sony Asia Pacific

If in doubt, search ALL locations. Feel free to explore others I have not shown here!

Now, use UniExtract to extract the original BIOS update from the "update.exe" Sony provided. My recommendation is to ALWAYS flash using DOS, so all we need from the extracted archive is the ".WPH"

Once you have a BIOS dump and an original BIOS you will notice, that they differ in size. The backup bios is exactly 2MB whereas the .wph is slightly larger. The difference is the platform data, needed for flashing. I also found, that the bios dump contains some "garbage" at the end, so just appending everything beyond the 2MB does NOT yield a usable bios.


Comparing the two bios dumps you will recognize that there is a "hole" (hex: 00) in both files towards the end of the file. The size of the hole is NOT identical, but similar. You have to match your insertion point in such a way, that the resulting file size of the backup file appended is identical to the original source bios. The newer R2090J8 contains more information, hence the hole has to become a little smaller.


R0032J8


R2090J8


000F7AE0 is the insertion point/beginning of the hole in R2090J8.

Go to your source bios and select everything from THE SAME location onwards.
Now go back to your backup bios and here too, select everything from the very same location onwards.
Then paste the code from the original file OVERWRITING the existing code from the beginning of the hole onwards.

Save the file with a .wph ending.

This is now a flashable version of your backup BIOS


My method was purely trial and error. Somebody with more knowledge in the field might be able to actually disassemble the platform data making the process more foolproof...

 

thanks a lot Hippotek,it is a good guide for all ar series owners,hope help others with there notebooks.