(UEFI) Dell XPS 15z L511z modded BIOS - and HOWTO

[jkbuha]

Thanks TimeWalker - now happily running v2130 on Windows, Linux and OSX Rep added (again) to you & kasar for this and the recovery methods!

I'm adding this to the first post as well. Will also help you look for the 2137 vbios.

Now let's find a way to undervolt this just like we did with the nvidia gpus

[TimeWalker]

You are welcome. I think Intel's VBIOS prior to HD3000 was well-documented, especially for GMA950 and X3100.. nothing has changed drastically, so we just need some research done.

Also I hate to break it, but .. there's something weird going on with my machine and Windows 8. I would happily reformat now and set up 7 .. but I don't have the storage to backup nor have I got time for this ...

If I'm running A04 (for best compatibility with OSX) then Windows 8 will completely lock up on boot at random, not right away.. but after some programs load, usually after Dropbox starts syncing. I though software was causing it so I've disabled every startup item I had and also tried to start with diagnostics boot .. still the same issue - complete lock up after about 1 minute of uptime.
If however I install A13 this doesn't happen .. but sleep is broken in OSX and Fn+F1 will sometimes bring up the monitor setup menu and sometimes it wont .. (how in the world this happens anyway ??) ..
I've noticed that it's related to PS/2 controller, because it locks up as soon as I touch the surface of the toupchad, type something or use my bluetooth mouse. I don't feel like backporting PS/2 controller efi drivers but I wonder what is the deal here ... it kind of pisses me off how they force me to use the shaite A13...
Both A04 and A13 are "configured" identically .. unlocked menus, updated microcode, updated vbios .. so it's something related to what Dell has programmed into A13 that allows Windows 8 to work.

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@kasar
you won't find it as a standalone flashable firmware (like ME for eg), it has to be extracted from some rom from other laptop/all-in-one-pc (which usually have mobile internal parts.. much like iMacs) usually IVB platforms, but with 67-series chipset preferably ... I know Intel had released an updated firmware, but their desktop boards have the firmware twice in size to what we can afford (ie 64Kb for our laptops). So we have to look around in high hopes of spotting a 2137 in the wild

I'm currently staying on A13 then .. but I would like someone to compare L502x modules to L511z modules to find what's different and why is sleep not affected on 15z. I will try to do this myself, but going through this pile of files (1100+) will prolly take a long time .. I'm willing to compare A12 to A12 by the way..

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P.S. I feel retarded but .. PhoenixTool won't unpack L502x A12 bios ?????

However 15z and all the other are unpacked fine. Can someone upload an unpacked A12 (untouched preferably) ?

[kasar]

@timewalker

mmm, that is curius, ahmed also was unable to open the bios, it seems like only legit l502x users can do it (well, probably not the real cause ^^)

ok, I uploaded a A12 L502X unpacked BIOS (untouched)

http://www.mediafire.com/?mkml2th57no39kc

I also included at the package a modules list I made.

on the second DUMP folder there are all the modules extracted from the 4 MB file (F33E367F-41D2-4201-9CB7-AFA63DCCEEC9_0_5.rom)

I dont know in another laptops, but for the l502x, I have to unpack,repack twice every bios before flashing, because all interesting stuff is inside the F33E367F-41D2-4201-9CB7-AFA63DCCEEC9_0_5.rom file


bios1.wph -> F33E367F-41D2-4201-9CB7-AFA63DCCEEC9_0_5 -> other modules like advanced setup, nvidia intel vbios, etc ...


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on another subject, I made a modded bios including your intel vbios.

the flashing went fine and the machine booted up showing video, aparently no differences.

anyway, I had a severe Issue.

well, while I usually work with my laptop, I usually hook it to a bigger screen using the minidisplay port, when windows screen appears at the system boot, it automatically switch to the external screen with user interaction after I configured it some time ago.

but when I was booting the system using the modified intel vbios, it didnt showed on the external screen, just at integrated one, then I was unable to show any image on the external monitor, it didnt even detect it, it simply stoped working D:

I had to flash my previus modded bios (with no intel vbios mods) to make the external screen back to usable status.


for some reason the module you gave me kill the external screen support, at least the one from minidisplay port.


since the external screen is important for me, I will keep using my previous version until we find a fix for this ^^

[TimeWalker]

bios1.wph -> F33E367F-41D2-4201-9CB7-AFA63DCCEEC9_0_5 -> other modules like advanced setup, nvidia intel vbios, etc ...

It's because BIOS1.WPH includes both the firmware capsule (RAW capsule with a checksum) and UEFI Shell flasher (the other .ROM file you extract along with F33)
I was unable to extract even the first 'stage' of the original .WPH for some reason. It's only the A12 bios which is troublesome .. the rest were fine. oO

I see, I've tested both VGA and HDMI (I have no DP connector on my laptop) and they both work with this version of VBIOS, I guess DP is just not in the FB connectors list in this ROM. You may try to check display connectors table in your and 17r-se roms.. and compare them against each other.
Here's my little ghetto setup /w a HDMI TV:

[kasar]

what table? my hex editing skills are very basic.
as for the moment I just replicated on l502x most of what you guys got on your machines ^^

I uploaded both modules (l502x and the one you sent me)

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ok, I will try getting a xps 13 bios

you mean the L321X, right?

I found the bioses, lets hope I will be able to unpack them ^^
http://ftp.dell.com/Browse_For_Drivers/L...X%29/#BIOS


oh, and by reading your comments, you definitly made dissapear my small doubts about updating to windows 8 hehe, I will stick with 7 for a long time ^^

offtopic, do any of you get those annoying messages?

Code:

We're sorry, but the page you've requested could not be loaded due to high server volume. Please go back and try reloading the page again.

I lost several posts thanks to this, when I am sending the message or trying to refresh the page, it happens the most of time D:

edit: now duplicated posts?
wth is happening with the forums? D:

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not sure why but my previus post is getting aded before yours D:

this forum hate me lol ^^

well, I downloaded the xps 13 bios and disasembled it.

I found some interesting thing.

even we already have a recovery disk based on windows, I found something interesting inside the flasher folder

DosFlash.exe (looks like a compatible msdos flasher) and default.rsp file, wich can be opened with notepad, it contain the flashing parameters.

maybe we can finally can flash directly from Dos?

in the other hand I disasembled the xps 13 bios, the structure is very similar to l502x one.
the intel vbios is 29206FC2-9EAB-4612-ACA1-1E3D098FB1B3_1_1252 file

and it is 2111 version.

should I try to put the xps 13 module on my l502x bios?


every files of this post are at this package

http://www.mediafire.com/?0tzikh7oqvqllm8


edit: seriusly, wtf are happening with me posts? D:

new ones keep appearing before last timewalker's one!

[TimeWalker]

Yeah, I've just checked .. Inspiron 17R SE uses LVDS/VGDA/HDMI configuration .. hence you have issues with miniDP.
Try scooping the rom from an XPS 13 bios (even though it may not be Tiano, the module will be the same in size and structurally) as these have DP onboard. I guess VGA is replaced by DP in XPS's VBIOSes...
I suspect my issues with PhoenixTool are Windows-8 related .. [censored], my hate for thins thing grows bigger every day..

[kasar]

edit: check my previous post, for some reason latest post got added before your latest post, I think the forum hate me or something

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ok, another problem.

I flashed the modified bios with the xps 13 intel vbios.

not sure about the external monitor since I had to deal with another issue.

it started even while It was flashing.

first I though the integrated screen was not outputting any signal at all, everything was black and dark.

when I was about to pick the dvd drive and bios recovery cdrom, I noticed something very weird at the screen.

I had to almost touch the screen with my eyes!

I noticed the integrated screen definitly was outputing video image.

however the backlit was gone, making almost imposible to read what the screen shows.

so I had to pick a flashlight, and try to boot windows and locate my flashing folder.

it was hard as [censored] to locate anything in that almost blind situation, but I managed to flash a working bios.

while it was flashing, inmediatly the backlight revived

and everything came back to normal.

well, xps 13 intel vbios isnt also suitable for l502x D:


anyway this experiment showed me that it load the intel bios and probably other modules even WHILE flashing the bios itself, even before booting it from first time lol

[jkbuha]

Morning all

Confirmed what kasar has said that the DP is not enabled on the 2130 variant. Under OSX I had manually patched the connector tables for the old 2104 bios but I guess we'll need to apply a bios patch for the 2130 if possible. Otherwise we'll have to look for a 2130/2137 with HDMI, LVDS and DP

[TimeWalker]

Actually its a good idea to find same version of VBIOS for DP-enabled and VGA- enabled machines to compare connectors table. I know its there .. but I just don't have the time nor knowledge to identify where it is. Locating VBE table was pretty easy though. Also make sure proper HD3000 hardware ids are present in the vbioses when you attempt flashing or it may end up like what kasar has experienced.

Sent from my LG-P500 using Tapatalk 2

[jkbuha]

could you send me your 2104 bios let me compare it with mine?