Insyde hacking - New Vaio Z - Advanced menu in BIOS

Can you tell us how you did it? Does El Capitan work?

 

I respond to myself. OSX Yosemite works better than El Capitan on the Sony Vaio VPC Z13

 

ComputerCowboy's site seems to be in a strange state. Is there a way of obtaining the full Flash-it zip and associated files so that I can patch my US VPCZ13?

and perhaps point me to the safest instructions for the hack?
Thank you.

 

Hi,

I own a VPCZ13M9E model and unable to select 2560 x 1440 resolution for my external 32' screen. The highest resolution that can be selected on windows is 1920 * 1080 for my 32' monitor ( which can go up to 2560*1440), plugged in HDMI 1.3
As far as I can see in the spec, this laptop have an Nvidia Geforce GT 330M which can go up to 2560x1600.

I thought this is probably the default driver which prevent me to go up to this resolution( 2010 driver, it has not been updated since ).
I have tried to update to the latest nvidia driver with this hack but haven't done Bios update ( a bit scared ... ). The driver does not seem to recognize the graphic card ( max resolution 800x600 )

1) Do you think its normal that i'am not able to set 2560*1440 in windows with the default driver from Sony page support for the external 32' screen ?
2) If yes, do you think updating to the latest one on nvidia page would allow me to set it ?
3) any other idea ?

PS: I think i need to flash the bios to properly make the latest nvidia drivers works, but it would be nice if you could confirm that

Thanks a lot if any of you can help me.

 

You can't get a resolution on the screen's notebook higher than the native one, which will be either 1600x900 or 1920x1080 depending on the model. For higher resolution, of course you need to use the VGA-out or the HDMI-out.

 

Sure, I was talking about the screen connected to the laptop through HDMI, not the laptop itself. any thought ?

 

As far as I know, the output should adopt automatically the native resolution of the tv. Doesn't that happen?

 

After some digging, i managed to update graphic driver ( on windows 7 ) without updating the bios. Just follow the steps on andrew's post: http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...s-hybrid-graphics.342947/page-252#post7176699
Download the driver in andrew's signature: http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...hybrid-graphics.342947/page-410#post-10096454

With this graphic driver update, I am able to customize the resolution ( through Nvidia control panel ) and select the definition I want ( 2560 x 1440 ). Text is blurry, but that's another story

 

Great! Thanks for sharing the solution with us.

 

hi bro i want flash my bios for advance menu for ssd so can u pleas unlock for me i tried to find it but i didnt found it on any site so can u help in hacking it for unlocking all the hidden options of advance menu ..... my model is sony vaio vpceh38fn e series .... here is the bios backup of mine ( https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwJsYQxWVdUfcUJTTEJtLUJFbjhkZ014cmRQSWU5TURxTENF/view?ts=57e149c1)

 

Hi guys. I have a Z13. I wondered if any progress had been made towards enabling EFI boot capability. I have gone through this entire thread meticulously. My problem is as follows:
1. My original machines was a 256gbGB SSD (two port SATA OEM from Sony). The SSD Bay takes two ports on the Raid controller. Have since added a DVD bay adaptor and dropped a 1tb ssd into it. That takes another port.
2. Next step is to flash the hacked BIOS, applied the video switch changes and hacked drivers - on a journey to Win10 eventually.
An unexpected problem occurred. The SSD drive in the DVD bay (which is a clone of the original SSD) wont boot. It is recognisable as a drive and behaves well. I presume this is the result of a BIOS limitation which prevents the DVD port from booting an SSD.

Hence the question. I see that this BIOS in default mode only support a BIOS based boot. Did anybody manage to re-enable UEFI?

 

I have a 2.5" SATA SSD connected where the DVD drive usually goes (my laptop was an HDD model). I don't have the small SSDs. No problem booting from the 2.5" SSD. Check your BIOS settings - maybe it is set to boot from RAID only.

Also check that the 1TB SSD drive is indeed bootable. Maybe the cloning that you did messed up that part.

AFAIK no one was able to enable UEFI in these series. My advice is - don't bother. I have a desktop PC that I painstakingly converted to UEFI and GPT only to run into issues with multi-booting 64 bit and 32 bit OSs. Had to change everything back to MBR.

 

Sorry duplicate post

 

I've just plucked up courage and completed the flash to the hacked bios.
It works on a Z13!
@anytimer - I will look at BCDboot and try and see if that will fix the booting problem. However before I go there I would appreciate some advice.
The main bios page reports two drives (drive1, drive2) are occupied with 128GB disks (I presume one half each of the 256gb RAID).
The Intel RAID RST configuration page reports:

• Raid ID 0 With a RAID0 Stripe
• Physical devices:
  • Port 0: Toshiba SSD (one half of the RAID)
  • Port 1. Micron M600 (1TB SSD in the DVD bay)
  • Port 2: Toshiba SSD (other half of the RAID)

The IDE configuration is currently set to RAID. I presume that given I have a RAID operating on only two ports, with the other acting as a SATA JBOD port, it is OK to have the BIOS setting on IDE Configuration left in RAID. Is that fair?

Edit: Sorry folks that was a wooly question!
I believe my key question here are, as I am aiming to move a VPC Z13 towards W10, are:
1. Should I image my existing SSD, break the RAID, switch it to ACHI, rebuild and restore its content?
2. If so (apart from taking apart the laptop - which I don't mind doing as a last resort) is there anything which I need to know in breaking and rebuilding the RAID?

 

congratulations!

absolutely.

yes.

I don't know a reason why you would want to switch to AHCI mode? In my experience, RAID mode has been working well and reliable on my (similar) laptop. Oh well, except for some initial driver issues with Windows 10, but not sure if that wouldn't be the case with AHCI as well. I think Windows Anniversary Update is handling this more reliable than the previous versions, though.

For Windows 10 installation, I would generally recommend to do a clean install on the new SSD.
There are decent guides on how to do this here in the forum (it's fun but may take you some time)!

Be warned: Windows still, like in the early days, needs to find the primary boot partition (SYSTEM) on the first physical disk in the BIOS (in MBR mode, we cannot use UEFI) ! Though hacked, I haven't found an option to change the order in this Insyde H2O. Consequently, my primary boot partition is located on the old SONY SSD while Windows resides on my new 1TB SSD now.

Of course you will be imaging your existing disks and preparing for recovery, to go back safely if things go completely wrong.

That you will lose all the data on the raid volume.

 

actually, this sounds like a perfect option to keep your original (Win 7?) installation together with a new Win 10 install, selectable from the Win boot manager...

Sent from my E6653 using Tapatalk

 

That was just excellent. Thanks Galaxyge!
You've just clarified something for me. Somehow I have not been able to get my machine to boot off the DVD-converted-to-SSD port and its been driving me potty. Supposedly it is higher in the boot order than the internal SSD but it wont boot off it. I presumed I'd ***ked up the clone. bcdboot doesn't make any difference. So main conclusions are:
a) The BIOS wont let me boot off the DVD sata port because - well it wont - live with it!
b) However it might be fun to boot off the old raid - into WIN 7, and use the new SSD as the WIN 10 environment.
I'll go off and research Windows Boot Manager now.

Many thanks

 

May I have confirmation from someone else that if I run my configuration with OEM SSD in original SSD bay, and another HDD/SSD in the DVD bay, the DVD (now second SSD) bay device will not boot?

Edit. My laptop is a VPCZ13. I know there are similarities to the VGN series. However is there anybody out there with my generation of the Z series who can help?
It seems there were two versions of the VPC Z1 series issued, one with OEM SSD, another with a HDD (in the DVD bay). Having examined the strip connectors it seems that

• The version which came with an OEM HDD (and no DVD) had a SATA ribbon that slid into the same slot on the motherboard as the ribbon that came with the SSD. In other words - it didn't use the DVD slot on the MBO.
• Where a DVD was installed - it used another MBO slot for its own ribbon. The DVD was capable of booting.

It is possible to fit a DVD>HDD bay adaptor and mount a second HDD/SSD in the DVD bay if one already has the SSD. I've done that. It works. However I cannot seem to get it to boot

GalaxyGE has the impression that it is not possible to boot a HDD from the port which served the DVD. Is that true for VPC Z1s? Can anybody confirm this please?

 

Sorry @BrunoPGomes, didn't notice your answer until just now.

AFAIK know this limitation is not at all a hardware issue like VGN-Z vs VPC1 but simply an old limitation of Windows, on where it requires the system to initially boot from. In the newer Windows versions, this is the partition with the bootloader, labelled "System Reserved", the small partition (mine has 500 MB) which is created when you install Windows and contains everything needed to boot incl. the BCDstore.
You can check this using diskpart in cmd.
DISKPART> list disk
Disk ### Status Size Free Dyn Gpt
-------- ------------- ------- ------- --- ---
Disk 0 Online 119 GB 108 GB
Disk 1 Online 931 GB 502 MB

DISKPART> list volume
Volume ### Ltr Label Fs Type Size Status Info
---------- --- ----------- ----- ---------- ------- --------- --------
Volume 0 D DVD-ROM 0 B No Media
Volume 1 System Rese NTFS Partition 500 MB Healthy System
Volume 2 R Roaming NTFS Partition 10 GB Healthy
Volume 3 C NTFS Partition 930 GB Healthy Boot

DISKPART>

That partition must be on the first disk and activated, it will then be identified as Info = System in diskpart. I have two SSDs with volume 1 being on the first disk and booting into Windows 10 on volume 3 on the second one.

I'm sorry I cannot link you to more sources now as I'm in a hurry.. but it shouldn't be a problem to get the BCD (on the 500 MB partition on the first disk) let you choose to boot Win7 from the first SSD and Win10 from the second SSD, e.g. I use EasyBCD to configure my Multi-boots.

 

Hi,
I've got a VPCZ13M9E and I'm unable to unlock advanced menu on my BIOS.
I'm not even able to boot to an USB Key, there is no option to boot to it anywhere...
I work in IT so I'm not a total noob.
I've tried to download the latest bios from the Sony website and use the python script on it but I've got the Invalid VSS signature.
I wanted to try to modify the file this way and flash it with the official Sony exe, is it possible or do I must dump the rom from my computer ?
Thank you for your help

EDIT :
I was able to dump my rom, I had to use another USB key, I don't know why the other one didn't worked...
Anyway I still got the Invalid VSS Signature with the dumped rom...
Here is my dumped rom if someone can help :
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3kbuXWoLHVkdFF5OGxhNl9xM2s/view?usp=sharing

 

Go into the BIOS. It allows one to select external boot, and with that, the sequence of bootable devices to search. Once that's up try booting from the USB stick - it should work fine. If one USB port fails, try the other- they have different channels to the MBO, it may be that one USB port is down.

I've not tried Sony's BIOS flasher for this. However I can confirm that it worked fine using the Flas*it exe. If you are getting VSS errors I suggest you look at the first post in this thread, it enables one to find the VSS offset location and go from there. The European VSS offset is definitely different to the USA one.

Edit. This worked on a friend's Z13 from the UK http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...aio-z-advanced-menu-in-bios-utilities.795409/.

 

I've looked again in the first post for my VSS error but the link http://thechaw.com/insydecodr is down and I have absolutely zero knowledge about Python...
My laptop is an European one and I've got the very latest BIOS, the R3031C3 one.

 

Did you try the tools in the link I provided in my previous post?

 

Post No 85 ( http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...anced-menu-in-bios.473226/page-9#post-6120998) should enable you to find the VSS. Read the posts from that point and it enables you to build up a picture of how to proceed from there.

And this post ( http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...nced-menu-in-bios.473226/page-24#post-6967005) may be relevant to you.
Good luck

 

I found why I was not able to use the python script, it was because the dump was incorrect because it dump the file to A: drive which is, I think, the freedos ramdisk. I can't use the cd c: command because freedos keep returning to the A drive so I had to use to following command :
c:flashit c:dump.rom /g

Now I have a correct dump (4Mb size, the incorrect one was only 1.5Mb) and I was able to use the python advanced_menu.py dump.rom new.rom commnad without any error.

I had to use the following command to flash it back otherwise I had some error :
c:flashit c:new.rom /f

Thank you BrunoPGomes for the help

 

edit:
OK I figured out what was wrong.
When I booted freedos I didn't choose default but some option (3rd I think) about loading all drivers etc.
So it was my bad.
I don't delete whole post cause someone can make the same mistake.

edit:
OK I figured out what was wrong.
When I booted freedos I didn't choose default but some option (3rd I think) about loading all drivers etc.
So it was my bad.
I don't delete whole post cause someone can make the same mistake.

 

Hi. The guide is a little out of date, but not at this step. All you seem to be doing so far is taking a copy of the existing BIOS. There's nothing worrying about that step - there should be no risks there- and what you have experienced should not have done any harm. The error you were given is described in this URL ( http://www.tenberry.com/dos4g/faq/err2001.html). Now I'm not a python script man, but I do know that the utility you use is fine (as long as the version you downloaded had no internal errors). These are the only thoughts that come to mind, for now:
1. The error starts with a page fault - which means the program requested new pages in memory - and the response from DOS's kernel led to an error and a crash in the program, not the DOS kernel. This suggests that there was either a a problem in the program code, or a problem with the memory pool. If I'm right:

• Run a full, extensive, memory diagnostic on your machine. If it passes that-
• Make sure that your jump drive is fully reformatted, has no errors, that the utility is downloaded and copied across again, DOS is initialised again as a fresh copy, etc. (there are reports in this thread of crashes when the pen drive was faulty, or simply flaky)
• Repeat the process. Creating a dump of your rom is the simplest, least risk step in the process.

One thing. This definitely a VPCZ1* series machine? And you are definitely using freedos without any fancy additional memory extenders? I don't remember seeing DOS/4G in the picture when I did all this.

 

Today my old Vaio VPCZ1 get bricked because of my mistake.

I entered BIOS and change the IDE from RAID TO AHCI, it cannot boot, of course, but i cannot F2 to enter BIOS again to change it back.

Could anyone tell me how to enter BIOS again? Tks.

 

Don't panic. I don't think it is bricked yet. Do you know how to take the machine apart?
1. Remove the battery. Remove the top cover (make sure you note where every single screw goes). If you don't know, come back and I will give you a link to a guide.

• Carefully lift the holder that holds the ssd ribbon in place on the motherboard and slide out the ribbon.
• Also remove the DVD ribbon from the motherboard.

2. Now you have nothing to boot from. Plug the keyboard ribbon back in place (don't place the SSD or DVD ribbons back yet). Put the battery back.
3. Boot using the standard battery, press F2 repeatedly. It will let you in. The BIOS will give you back control when it cannot find a bootable device.
4. Change your settings to where they should be.
5. Shut it down again.
6. Carefully put it all back together.
7. Continue where you left off.

 

Thank you for your suggestion, @galaxyge also told me to do that, I will try it and report later.

 

There are no gpu settings in this one, do you have a py with the changeble gpu settings? im planning to put an eGPU on my sony vaio vpcz12m9e model and need to manage the primary gpu settings or display settings . can use some help please

 

https://mega.nz/#F!0FMFSb5S!jfxuApg8nQNbUoCij6wGoA

files you need for bios update

 

For those who asking flashitexe and files for update i found this link

https://mega.nz/#F!0FMFSb5S!jfxuApg8nQNbUoCij6wGoA

 

I've been researching to install Ubuntu. An IT on my intern, installed windows8 on my VPCZ1190X but, the drivers don't seem to work for the graphics card. The z also has a RAID0. I think he left the computer in a worse state than it was. Is it necessary to hack the BIOS in order to fresh install windows 7 (downgrade), or just go with the latest Ubuntu?

 

A lot has been written about the graphics drivers issues of these devices, and now it all depends on what you plan to do with this device.

Windows 7 in a clean install would be a perfect match, it works with the original drivers and also prevents you from getting into potentially serious trouble with the original SSDs in RAID0. But W7 is nearing EOL as you know and you might miss some features from other modern OS.

Any flavour of Ubuntu, LinuxMint or similar distributions should also be able to cope with it pretty well, though I would not start with Ubuntu 17.10 but rather wait (four months) for 18.4, the next long term release, as LTS generally provide better drivers support, and will be maintained for five years to come.

Windows 8, 8.1, 10, yes - but be prepared for challenges and yes it only makes sense with the forementionend BIOS hack.

 

Hey! thanks for the quick reply. Well, I was hoping going with latest LTS Ubuntu. So, I'll be going with that option.

I already got the files ready for the BIOS, but since I don't know what the IT guy did. I wanted to ask before hand.

I just hack the BIOS and install Ubuntu?

 

I don't think you need to hack the BIOS to run Ubuntu. You could try to run Ubuntu from a Live system, or just install and see how it goes.

I cannot say for 100%, because I hacked the BIOS and then installed Windows 10 plus LinuxMint in a multi boot.

If you choose to do the hack, be careful and stop if things don't work as described here.

 

Thanks again. I'll be running through a usb to see if it works fine. Since vaio vpcz1 is on W8 and graphic card is not recognized. The pc fans accelerates for a while and I'm afraid to damage it. Under device manager in display adapters the nvidia has a warning sign.

 

Did you go as far as applying the bios hack yet? Do that first, go into the BIOS and change the video setting to manual. Then turn off, switch the mode switch on the top left to 'stamina' mode - boot into windows - it should work - and apply the video patches. Once you've proved that windows works in both modes, install your multi-boot environment and install Ubuntu.

When you are sure you can operate the machine in Ubuntu you now have the option to remove the other environments - and presumably you can manage the partitions and boot manager to handle that......

 

I haven't applied it, yet. I read in another post that is not necessary for Ubuntu. What's still holding me up fixing it is the RAID0. If I try to install normally it will wipe it. And Im afraid to brick the vaio

 

the RAID configuration however is totally independent from the BIOS hack. Means you can switch RAID setup on in the unhacked BIOS, reboot and do all configuration there, like breaking and rebuilding the RAID volume - if you so wish.

But where did you read Ubuntu would mess up the raid? I don't think it would? Windows 10 did that in some cases - in its early days, but AFAIK they fixed that later on.
You can delete the partitions on the volume but the volume itself should stay intact.
Then create the Linux partitions on the existing volume. You can also create 2 or more partitions e.g. for a multi boot.

And remember you can always change the SSDs, and even get rid of RAID altogether, even without tinkering with the BIOS hack (where you could actually brick your VAIO).

 

I'm not clear what you mean.
1. Have you managed to prove to yourself that the machine will boot off a USB stick? Have you made a clone of your SSD or generated the DVDs needed to reinstall windows from the existing machine? If you haven't, do that first. You will then have a recovery environment.
2. If you want to install Ubuntu then do what you need to install it, I presume by wiping out the original installation. If this fails you can always boot and clone back from the image you made.
Why does Raid0 come into your deliberations. Do you really need to break the array for some reason?

 

I hope my question is not out of scope for this thread:
When they write that to contain the threat of Meltdown and Spectre, one needs updates for the antivirus, browsers, operating system (all clear to me) AND the firmware (not clear to me). Does that mean the patched Z1 BIOS would require an update (which Sony probably won't provide?), or is there other firmware involved?
I am curious whether there is anything one can do on a Z1 to reduce the risk.
Cheers