Insyde hacking - New Vaio Z - Advanced menu in BIOS

I've tried to patch my Z21MN (French version), bios version R2169M3.

After some "Invalid VSS Signature", I've modified VSS_OFFSET to 0x3b0048.

The script seems to work, but I have a question before flashing bios:

Does I modify the VSS_SIZE too ?

Thks

Edit : A diff says me that there is a different value at offset 3b108c.
It has change from 00 to 01. Normal ?

 

I have made a bootable USB Stick with fla but when i use the dump.rom/g command i get the following error message:

"This FD file can not open"

Does anybody know what that means?

 

hi dwkor, I have the exact same model but having trouble with the VSS. Could you tell me what values you used? Thanks.

 

I've used default script from the first post. It works just fine - I did not modify any offsets there.

I've updated my BIOS to the last version from USA support web site before - make sure you have it applied first.

 

Sounds good,but dangerous

 

Hello,

I can confirm that the manipulation worked perfectly on my VPC-Z12L9E
No error reported when running advanced_menu.py.

Thanks for the great work!

 

I can confirm this works on my Korean Sony VAIO VPCZ115GK/BI with the newest BIOS (R3030CR). I was a little worried about flashing my BIOS, but it all worked wonderfully.

Thank you very much!

 

Had the same problem because I was running python 3.0.1 even though the instructions says to download 2.6.1. Make sure you've gotten 2.6.1 and the syntax errors will disappear.

 

And just to 1000x times check, with this bios mod people are able to install the verde drivers off Nvidia's site without any hybrid modding and such?

I might be stupid but I make no sense of this line in the guide

"- Download Fla (with i instead of 1 as you keep repeating ) with the link in this thread and copy it to the key"

Where do I find that? and as you repeat what?

 

^you realize if you manually force nvidia gpu in bios you will lose all brightness controls, right?

 

I found the Fla file thanks.

Yeah thanks Beaups. To me updated drivers are way more important than brightness control as I have it on 100% always anyway.

But can you confirm that disabling the intel gpu allows the computer to only have the nvidia gpu in terms of installing drivers? (the whole hybrid thing is gone?) thanks

 

Can't confirm you can install whatever driver's you'd like...but I can confirm the intel vanishes when you set the switch to speed mode and enable static switching in bios. There could be other tweaking required to get the verde drivers working. If it helps, I can confirm the nvidia behaves normally with linux and other os's once you do the bios hack/force static switching, as well. So I'm optimistic.

 

and out of curiosity, why not just install the 260.63 custom package that's been posted here?

 

I am already running the 260.63 and trying to get the new 260.89 verde drivers modded to work too.

 

Can anyone be so kind to explain a little bit more the step that says:
Switch to command prompt on the USB key, in the python directory and do the "python advanced_menu.py dump.rom new.rom" command
I'm just struggling at this point to create the new.rom file. I mean after I use the command python advanced_menu.py dump.rom new.rom" all I get is the message that the python is not recognized as a command, just like Negaiido (previous posts) stated, however I've installed the python to Windows as well.

Any help would be appreciated.

Edit: after couple of hours I've managed to get it work, had to read the whole thread carefully.
The instructions aren't very detailed, but they did the job, even for a noob like me

 

Can anyone confirm that the BIOS mod works on the Z1390?

 

What's the version of your 1390's BIOS?

 

oh, good question.... I don't know..... I don't have my 1390 yet

 

I'm trying to enable the advanced menu for my VPCS12C5E. However I'm not that familiar with python .

I've tried to run "python main.py DUMP.ROM", which exits because of a missing "liblzmadec.so". I'm on Debian and thought to have all needed packages installed. Any guess what I can be missing?

Furthermore I could find $VSS within the dump with a hex editor and could use "advanced_menu.py" in order to patch it successfully. However I'm not that sure whether I should flash the ROM without any further research (using the insydecodr). How are the chances that the patched BIOS at least is bootable so I can still re-flash the old one?

 

Hi -- I just wanted to confirm that the method given in the first post works perfectly on my new VPCZ12NGX. Thank you so much!

 

I really want to reduce my Z's boot time. It takes 50+ seconds to boot to my desktop. Which IMO is quite disappointing for a 4x64GB RAID0 SSD setup. Especially since my friend's HP Envy 15 with one 7200RPM HDD for some reason boots faster than it.

I would greatly appreciate it if someone with a hacked bios would confirm for me and taboripeter whether "fast boot" is already enabled in BIOS (R3030CR)? Since I really wouldn't want to risk damaging my laptop when I don't have to.

I did not notice a difference in boot time between the stock BIOS and R3030CR, so either it was enabled in the stock or it is still disabled in R3030CR, or the benefit of "fast boot" is really not noticeable. I am really hoping that it is not enabled... cause 50 seconds is quite slow.

PS. I have also read through the Sony VPC-Z11 - Slow POST thread. I get 11-12 blinks, so I don't think my Post is that messed up. Also feel free to give me any tips you can think of that will help reduce boot time and what your boot times are, especially if its below 50 seconds LOL!

 

Managed to get my boot time down to 35 seconds. Ran System Tune-up in VAIO Care, freed up more of my hard drive, disabled prefetch, disable/delayed many startup programs and services, and enabled no GUI boot.

However, still looking forward to enabling "fast boot"... Would really appreciate it if someone can help me out with that...

 

So, I went to use the fla.....exe new.rom /f command it it gives me back "Error: This FD file can not open."

Any ideas?

EDIT: Never mind. Forgot to put new.rom in root USB directory.

 

Great work to all involved in this project. More BIOS options than most desktops!

So glad I can turn hyper-threading off now.

EDIT: Psyc, have you come across anything regarding RAID 1 support in your endeavor?

 

hi fds, I've been using Z115 and have just found this thread of hacking the bios enabling the advanced options. I've followed the steps on the first post. But I've encounterd the following issue. Could somebody help? Thank you!

Pressed "Enter" on this screen


Chose the option 1


This screen was shown. It cannot be changed to drive C by cd c:

 

Try to install Freedos to a USB Flashdrive. That works because it doesn't need that CD-ROM driver stuff. Most DOS-level CD-ROM drivers are struggling with newer SATA/AHCI stuff.

 

Thanks for your suggestion! Actually I was using an FAT32 formatterd USB flashdrive. The three screenshots were shown by using this.

 

Try FreeDOS livecd in the boot menu.

 

I've just tried. The screen as follows. Does it mean that it needs a physical optical drive? My Z115 doesn't have one.

 

First I wish to thank psyq321 for a great job and guide, and Treofred for the "Windows way".

I have recently followed the guide (post 1) and patched my new VPC-Z13M9E/B, bios version R3030C3. The advanced_menu.py script worked out of the box. I didn't need to change any offset.

(I did check things with the InsydeBiosDecodr scripts by d6z though. I guess I'm a bit on the nervous side ;-))

 

Hi Jussi,

did you flash your bios with success? I'm about to do it for my VGN-Z21WN bios R2169M3 also.

Thx.


EDIT: Can not wait. I've done it! It works fine, all options there in the bios! And less power under linux.

 

Hey fberier, I would really appreciate it if you could tell me whether or not fast boot was enabled on default, or did you have to manually enable it after you flash your bios.

 

hey, need some help

I have the z13 model, z13m9e and I get invalid vss signature.

those python utils require lzma utils which I am unable to find for dos/win.

hex editors doesn't find that hex sequence, what can I do?

 

Do not try to apply scripts to the BIOS image that you downloaded from Sony for flash update. You need to literally boot too DOS and save current BIOS with the flash utility. It will not be compressed and file will be larger in size - a good indicator that you have correct image. Then VSS offset will suddenly be correct and the script will work.

 

Can anyone confirm if you with this bios hack can set the nvidia gpu to primary gpu / disable the Intel gpu. Basically get rid of the Hybrid part so you can install any laptop / modded driver released by Nvidia??

Thanks

 

Yes you can.

Modded BIOS - static gpu switching policy and you are all set.

 

Very very interesting. I must look further into this. I realised that I have no once used my Intel Gpu even while on battery (does not happen often) since i got my Z12.

The current issues with hybrid driver support should be gone with those settings....

 

True, dig a little bit deeper in the Hybrid Graphics driver thread, some guys did that already. With hybrid disabled, you can install whatever nvidia drivers you like and they do work out-of-the-box. But, honestly, your latest hybrid driver release worked great for me, so I don't see an advantage in switching over to standalone drivers. The only thing I can see is that it is less update work and you don't have the CUDA issue.

 

I'm glad they did, works great for me too

But this is more about options than actual desperate need for now. I like the idea of being able to IF I have to in the future. who knows where they leave the hybrid systems hanging later on, sure modding can do a lot but it's also a lot of work and seeing how much trouble out good Nautis have already with the currently rated "best" nvidia 265.90 drivers as they are still not 100% functional on the VPC-Z this bios is a good option.

 

Why on earth do you want to disable hyperthreading??

I get why some want to disable turbo boost to permanenly overclock the cpu but... ??

BTW: if you you find that there is a huge bonus in doing it, please let me know I hear some get better gaming performance on desktop computers and higher cpu overclocks too but... ?

 

it might just be me but the guide on page1 makes no sense to me.

"Download Fla (with i instead of 1 as you keep repeating ) with the link in this thread and copy it to the key" why is there no DL link ? I found a link on page.. something which gave me a fla.exe file? not exactly "Fla" ?

So where do I find this strange file?

Thanks.

 

The problem is that the forum prevents swearing words. The file is "flash"+"it". If you put that together, the forum censores the last 4 letters. The same problem with MATSUSHI-TA drives.

 

Haha really?? oh man! well well then it all makes sense

thanks mate!

Ill give it a go

 

It all worked like a charm on my VPC-Z12 no extra editing needed.

 

Thanks. Worked great on VPCZ13EGX/B (US Edition) with Fedora 14 and Win 7 dual boot. Look on Page 9 of the forum for the mystery FLA 1 utility.

 

I was having a hell of a time getting X server working on my new VPCZ1390X. Didn't want to do the dual boot trick. Tried custom kernels which didn't help. In desperation, turned to this firmware hack and instant gratification. Sony should have done a better job with this. Now thinking about purchasing a second machine. Thank you very much!

 

nice man, just flashed my vpc112gx. worked perfect, great job tho. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU

now here is the million dollar question, is it possible to set an expresscard SSD to be bootable somewhere in the advanced menu? maybe using ide mode, or something?
that was the main purpose of this, and im still gettin no love from the win7 installation.

 

I would imagine you need to boot with ExpressCard SSD plugged in, get to BIOS immediately and see if it is in the list of devices available for boot. Typically when you plug bootable USB stick, it appears on the list (has to be in before you turn laptop on and get into BIOS). Consider also allowing boot from "external devices" in BIOS.

 

tried it all. oddly, i couldn't even get it to work connected to a usb port configured as a boot drive. i tried a regular flash dive next and it worked fine, booted right up off the USB.

It doesnt show up as a drive on the sata controller, i assume because its connected thru the pci-x interface. ( i believe it is specifically pci-x slot 5, since it is the only one with a "hot swappable" bios option.)
if anyone has any ideas, help me out. im more then willing to physically mod the internals in any way to get this working. But i have a real need to be able to load various operating systems on seperate drives and be able to swap the drives without having to open the laptop everytime.

im going to try opensuse on it right now to see if grub will let me

 

You cant boot straight off the express card slot, this is simply not possible because they had to implement various driver sets into BIOS for different chipsets.

But what you CAN do is, install a bootloader on your drive which lets you select from which drive to boot.