Insyde hacking - New Vaio Z - Advanced menu in BIOS

Is there any like this for the Sony Vaio YB?

 

I finaly do the flashing and ... it work like a charm !!! There are a lot of very advanced parameters ! But now I can boot my Linux without Nvidia card. The SATA type was already on AHCI so it's good for SSD owners.

Thanks a lot for this great job.

 

Don't thank me, I just followed the instructions, thank the OP

 

Hey maybe this has been answered already but... has anyone messed with enabling VT on their Z?
I run VPC a lot for work recently and it might be nice to have some virualization added. Has anyone tried it?

There is a big warning at the beginning of this thread not to mess with options you don't know about. Thoughts anyone?

 

You can enable VT-x and VT-d, nothing to fear.

 

Thanks pyr0, I figured that, but it's good to be safe

 

YouTube - Vaio vpcz13 fan feedback signal hack



Test complete!
after 2 week can confirm my mod work like a charm and fan noise when pc idle disappear.
I done an hack using my knowhow ,a microchip pic 12f675 ,and some row of #C language ,between speed signal coming from fan and send speed rpm to mainboard ok I explain
I measure at idle and I have 10.6ms on pulse signal
mainboard put more or less current to fan to drive exactly at 10.6ms
so my pic when fan go fast (<10.5ms)send real data to mainboard (fan work normal mode) when the fan go back to idle=time>10.5ms send virtual signal 10ms so mainboard believe the fan running too fast and remove current from it and fan slow down slow down and remain like run very slow if is need the fan again run more than idle,fan will start again and work like original
so

fan=idle=signal hack = slowdown fan to max
fan>idle=signal real = work at factory rpm
I attached 2 pictures during development
but If someone interested I can do mod
MY CPU TEMPERATURE REMAIN LIKE BEFORE AT IDLE
sorry if my english is not perfect

 

Pardon my very basic question here, but reading this entire thread both confuses me and leaves me with the only question I had to begin with:

Is it possible to get to the BIOS/UEFI of the Z11 without doing a number of (for me) overly complex preparatory steps? All I'm looking to do is first to see what things are controllable in the BIOS and then, well, control those things I wish to (eg, fan speed - btw, the immediately preceding Youtube video was not helpful to me!)

On every non-Sony modern computer I own, one simply holds the Esc key or a given Function key at boot up to get to the BIOS option. No such thing for this machine?

Thanks for both info and patience.

 

sorry but you can't slow fan idle from bios the only method is to disassemble bios but
no other option to do this

 

I have some questions about the bios hack:

1. What kind of settings will I get for the graphics adapter?
2. Will I be able to install orginal nvidia drivers without the "unsigned driver" issue?
3. Can I revert to the original bios?

 

1: You can set static mode which means that if the switch is on speed nvidia and only nvidia is enabled, if the switch is on stamina only intel is enabled. If you want to go between speed and stamina a reboot is required.

2: No. You can install the original nVidia drivers but you will need a small INF mod to make them work. The INF mod causes the driver not to be signed.
Does it really matter if they come out unsigned? You know the driver was untouched then you change 2 INF lines and it no longer believes that it is legit, but what is the problem.

3: yes, part of the process is to backup the original, you can boot from USB and flash right back, but why would you ever want to? The hacked BIOS is way better

 

Thanks for the response. I think the inf file hack also works without the bios hack. So is there any real reason for me to mess with the bios if I just want to install the latest drivers?

As to going back, I think the bios hack would void the warranty (if they knew), so I'd keep a backup just in case I have to send it in.

 

I am not sure if the INF mod would work without the BIOS hack, why don't you try it?

Here is a link to the latest nVidia driver with the INF mod for our 330Ms

Hotfile.com: One click file hosting: nVidia.270.76.zip

 

I didnt try this one but the one posted on this thread

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sony/342947-my-discoveries-vaio-z-s-hybrid-graphics.html

I'll try the one you suggested and get back.

 

That one will work but it is old news now, the one I linked you to is brand new, but not hybrid

 

could you please refer me to the details of the info mod?

 

you just take your hardware id, which is "VEN_10DE&DEV_0A2B&SUBSYS_905A104D" for the 330M in the Z

Download drivers from nvidia, try to install them, which causes them to be extracted to "C:\NVIDIA"

then search in contents of files for the first part of the hardware id "VEN_10DE&DEV_0A2B"

replace the lines you find with the correct 330M full hardware id.

The issue is that the SUB_SYS is for our systems is not in the nVidia INFs. Once you sort that out they install fine, but since the INF is modded they are no longer signed.

 

I finally flashed the bios. The advanced menu is nice but there are some settings that I don't really understand, especially the options about overclocking.

I didn't have much luck in getting the HDMI to work properly. The display has problem with sharpness. I have tried the driver you posted, along with several others without any success. HDMI is still not good quality. I am suspecting it is my display, but I did test with another HD TV and had even worse display. It may be that I need to test with a third display or perhaps try another cable. I'll update soon on that. Right now I am thinking of testing with Ubuntu..

BTW, I was also not able to get the optimus driver to work correctly, but I didn't spend too much time on it.

 

Sorry if this has been answered, couldnt find anything.

With the hacked bios on the Vaio Z, do anyone know what setting will disable speedstep ?

 

Sorry, but the only response I got to this dealt with the least important part of my question - fan speed- can someone tell me: how do you get into the BIOS of a Z11 and make whatever adjustments it allows? Thank you!

 

^
If you just want to get into the BIOS and see the things you can edit (like boot device order, e.g.), you have to press F2 while booting. The advanced functions are only available if you hack it though...

 

Thank you!

 

I have got advanced bios and I deleted my bios backup :/
How I can revert to normal R3030C3 BIOS ?
The sony updating bios program won't let me re-update the bios

I like the advanced bios but my jewel has a little issue that require a sony reparation... I guess there's no chance to keep my warranty if I send them my laptop with the current advanced bios


edit : I've just extracted the updating bios program and could extract the R3030C3.ROM should not be too hard to flash it now ^ ^

 

To flash my bios, to get back default R3030C3 bios..
I've prepared a bootable USB (DOS) including Fla
And I get the R3030C3.ROM when I extracted the EP0000229132.exe
Can I just use it like this ?

Fla R3030C3.ROM /f

Can I do this safely ?
How could I restore my original R3030C3 if above wouldn't work ?

Thanks in advance


edit : I found an other way to get the R3030C3 bios back.

 

What is that another way? I need to rollback it too.

 

I don't have my original bios rom.
How do I force to flash R3030C3.ROM ?
It says that I have current version and no need to update.

 

Hi demon xxi,

To get back to the original bios, I've asked someone on an other and much more pleasant forum if someone could back up his bios and send it to me.
Someone did it an hour later. Then I've have flashed it with Fla....

I did not dare to try to flash with the R3030C3.ROM bios that I've found in the sony program. Maybe that program is doing some other things before flashing.

If you want that bios, you can give me you email adress through MP.

 

Did anybody found out the patch values for the Vaio S Series? I've got the insyde fla utility 1.4b to grab the DUMP.ROM, but after running advanced_menu.py with Phyton and update to NEW.ROM the BIOS is not unlocked.

 

I'd be interested in that too if you mean the original S (and not SA/SB/SC/SD/SE/SF and so on )

 

I need it for the SB1-Serie. I've found the $VSS Offset in the DUMP.ROM File via Hex Editor, but how to find the PATCH_OFFSET value that is needed for these Vaio Series? Could anybody give me a hint. For the latest Z-Serie it was 0x258. Don't know how to find the value...

 

I backed up my original bios twice at different times on my pen drive.. I now see that their md5 hashes are different. I wonder why is that? Is it because one is corrupted? (and how do I find out which one, without bricking my vaio).
Or is it because they were taken at different times and the bios setting were different? (the boot order settings were different the two times)

 

What happened to your machine name, serial number and uuid (bios main panel)? I think this indormation is saved in the dump that flash tool creates but is certainly not included in the update rom.

 

I have successfully done the bios update and now my vaio is switchable between SPEED and STAMINA!! Thank you psyq321 and other people who provide useful info!

Now I'm wondering if there is a good information shows how to install the newest Nvidia driver, does any know anything about it?

 

Sorry forgot to write..

I'm using ubuntu 10.10 with 2.6.38-4-generic kernel.
I don't have 'xorg.conf' under /etc/X11, but 'xorg.conf.failsafe' instead.

Below is the hardware info....
VPC-Z12: 4GB DDR3, GF330m, 256GB Quad-SSD

 

If anyone is interested I posted my original BIOS dump and my Hacked ROM on my website. I am really not concerned about the fact that I supposedly contains my serial number. computercowboy.com

I posted a bunch of other useful stuff on there also.

 

My lappy name and serial number hasn't changed at all even though I've used someone else bios.
But I forgot to check my UUID :/ I'm gonna ask the one who gave me the bios.
Maybe it is saved in the dump.rom like psyq123 said but it looks that it cannot replace the original informations of your machine

 

message deleted by me, double post, parkinson ?
sorry ^^

 

That's nice of you but you should let that visible and accessible :s Sony could get your bios and find your serial number and your warranty could void.
Thanks a lot though

 

My warranty expires in June anyhow. But having a BIOS dump doesn't really prove that I actually replaced my BIOS. Whatever. The only problem I ever had with my VAIO was with bluetooth and it turns out that it wasn't a hardware problem. If my VAIO breaks I'll repair it myself.

I plan to post a lot more interesting stuff on my site, like how I got a decent dataplan with AT&T today for $35 a month. (they want $60 a month for their "LaptopConnect" plan)

I am much more concerned with modding and hacking than I am with getting support from Sony.

 

Ah ok, why does it expire in june ? you don't have a 2 years warranty ?
Mine got several problem, especially concerning the screen. I'll send it for repair a new time because now, it has an ugly dead pixel line from up to bottom of the screen :/
Before I had an other issue with the screen hard to explain, I miss the technical words needed for but, it was the pieces that hold the screen and allow it to be moved.
Too bad that I can't get longer warranty now..

 

I don't waste my money on extra warranties. If something is going to go wrong with the laptop it usually goes wrong in the first 6 months. YMMV

 

Hello,

I tried this command fla dump.rom /g when i boot on freedos with fla.exe files but when i do this command it says that it doesn't exist.
It says : " Bad command or filename - "fla"

Where am I wrong ?

thanks

 

In the command prompt, enter "dir" in order to show all files. You can also press Tab after you have entered "fla" until it shows the right .exe file. Then continue with the command and you should be successful.

 

Thanks pyr0
It worked, but i have a new problem :
When i do python advanced_menu,py ..... i got an error about VSS invalid signature. I changed the vss offset to 0x3b0048 in my advanced_menu.py file.

It works now, but is there a risk that when i change my bios it doesn't work ?

 

Do you not have a VPC-Z?
Why did you need to change the offset?

If you want to be sure just run through the whole process again, dump an new ROM, patch it successfully the first time, then flash it.

 

ComputreCowboy
yes i have a vaio VGN Z11 WN which is the first version.

Do you think that i re process everything it will make no error ?

EDIT: there is still the same error even when I reprocess

 

nevermind I was way off

 

Um I wouldn't recomment flashing a VGN-Z with a VPC-Z BIOS....unless you feel like buying a new PC.

 

good catch
I totally missed that it was a VGN Z... EDITING POST NOW

 

I cannot use your bios ComputerCowboy, it's an older version and it won't let me downgrade even with fla that's weird..