Sony vaio SA/SB bios: findings (help needed)

Hi, I've been trying to unlock the "Advanced Menu" on our sony vaio SA/SBs, enabling control of almost everything you could dream of, right from within your bios!
The good news: Sony HAVE included the menu in the bios code, and after testing the memory references changed by some of the options, it probably will work!
The BAD news: unfortunately, this time the advanced menu doesn't just need a "relatively" simple hex edit to turn on.

Instead, it is disabled by the use of the "dreaded?" Opcode 0x27. Extracting the setuputility from the bios, changing this opcode to 0x28 in all occurrences and then re-compressing, should, in theory, enable the advanced menu. Extracting the setuputility has been aided by many people's incredible python tools, but I dont have the knowledge to correctly compress it back.

I will post my work so far, in the hope that someone else can work this out.

Ill start with some values: these are for the tools here thechaw.com/Insydecodr/branches/master

Code:

VSS_OFFSET = 0x351048
VSS_SIZE = 0x00ffb8
STRING_TABLE = 0x13190
FORMS = [
	('form1',	0xe3d0),
	('form2',	0xec90),
	('form3',	0x84110),
	('form4',	0x841a0),
	('form5',	0x84670),
	('form6',	0x847f0),
]

(haven't bothered giving the forms "proper" names, but it doesnt effect anything)

Attached is all the python scripts I used, including some modified ones I found for finding the string table details.

Also attached is the version of the insyde bios flashing tool required to flash/dump your bios

I have managed to modify a few things successfully, including enabling ACHI onn my vaio, as it didn't appear to be enabled by default. However I don't want to write a noob friendly guide for that right now, and anyone who knows what they're doing cant work it out pretty easily

Thanks, and I hope someone who is better at this can get us an advanced menu!

 

What type of settings are available in the advanced menu?

I'd also like to be able to access this so I can get my SSD's firmware updated.

 

Is there any need of exposing the advanced settings? What in particular are you looking for?

 

There are a LOT of options in it. the size of our menu is bigger than eny other example I have seen so far. Attached is the decoded "version" of the setup menu. it a little hard to read, but these are all the options available.

It looks like some other interesting parts of the menu can be enabled without messing with the setup utility itself. Ill see what I can get working.

As a quick summary, I'd say the most "useful" options are changing the graphics between intergrated/dedicated, lots of power management related things, overclocking, HDD modes, RAID, fan control, temperature control. All these appear to be modifiable from within the bios.

also, this http://www.mediafire.com/?dbz5j9x03819f6e bios enables AHCI, works perfectly for me, but I take zero responsibility if you damage your machine with it

EDIT: I meant linux, how silly of me.

 

Curious to see the major benefits other than yours for Mac OSX.
What other benefits for current windows users?
Thanks and subscribed

 

We are not supposed to talk about running OSX on non-apple hardware. I've been warned about this before.

 

I'm sure he's just kidding about the OSX install..

 

Ok I went thru it. But from a practical standpoint, I cannot see what changes you can make to make it more usable? Can you explain? The virtualization is not locked anymore, so thats not an issue. Fan, temperature control, processor states - are you really going to modify these? I am pretty sure the bios engineers must have experimented with vvarious values to arrive at these. Why do you think you'd be able to do a better job?

overclocking can be done in s/w. why mess with bios?
graphics options - what do you intend to change?

Probably the hdd mode is useful but I dont know much about ahci or raid so i cant comment on that.

I am just curious thats all. I cant see any meaningful use of flashing a bios with unnecessarily more options which a normal user doesnt need.

 

I guess for a normal user it adds very little. I just saw the huge thread about the advanced menu on the Z1, and thought "Hey, why not see if I can get that"
I guess I just like having the ability to mess with lots of stuff I probably shouldn't.
And AHCI is a must for those with ssd's. I think I remember something saying the vaio SA had it enabled by default, but maybe that's just models that came with one. It definitely wasn't enabled on mine, so one good thing has come of this!

 

How do you tell that your AHCI isn't enabled by default. Mine appears to be. I'm trying to change mine to IDE since I can't update the firmware.

 

Yeah, mine came with a HDD, and AHCI was enabled by default... just as well for my SSD

 

if ACHI is enabled, in device manager you should see "Intel(R) Mobile Express CHipset SATA AHCI Controller" under "IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers"

 

I don't have the IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers tab anymore.

Under storage controllers. I have

Intel(R) Mobile Express Chipset SATA RAID Controller.

 

Neither do I.

Being able to enable AHCI would be very useful.

 

Being able to do an UEFI boot would be useful, too

 

I'm new here and happy owner of a VPCSB1...
I found this forum by searching a way to change ahci modes and raid configurations
in the bios of my VPCSB1.I'm not interessted in overclocking but would like to have
the abillity to do.I dont understand wy there's a bios only to change boot order or
clear the tpm module.
When i here there so existentially options hided like ahci mode temperature controle,
perhaps ram timings, too. i have no sympatize for that. i am the holder i want to decide
if i destroy my hardware or pimp or change the software in my way espacially for unix
open source systems thats much more than important.

Could you please give me the uncompressed ahci.rom file please to have a look at it,
i hope i understand it right my english is not great thx and great work so far
morn

 

welcome to NBR

I'll note, RAM timings are likely not editable, since the stock RAM is soldered onto the mobo.

 

@morn
Not entirely sure what you mean by "uncompressed" achi.rom, this zip has:
BIOS.rom - an unmodified bios of the sa/sb (they are identical)
AHCI.rom - a version with achi enabled
SetupUtility.pe - this is an uncompressed binary of the setup utility, which contains all the options we want. If only I could figure out how to re-compress and re-insert and be sure it would work...
The main problem is I cant even experiment and test, I'm pretty sure I could brick it if it was compressed wrong/occupying too much space
bios_ahcienabled_and_setuputility.zip

 

@cyberwalrus
There is a user in the MyDigitalLife forums (AndyP, MDL Projects and Applications subforum) that writes bios tools to modify AMI/Award/UEFI bioses.
I don't know him personally, but he might be able to give you some pointers if you ask him. This sounds like something he might know.

 

I think all he does is insert SLIC for whatever reason?

BIOS-Mods may be a batter place to look for help, IMO.