Dell Vostro 3450 Advanced Options unlocking in progress

[TimeWalker]

As mine comes without AMD graphics the system is actually always cool to the touch at the bottom, the only part that gets hot is the bloody hard drive compartment below the touchpad ... the HDD as I was told is not user-replacable (according to Dell anyway) and as such warranty will be void. I want to swap it out for a 256Gb Crucial M4 SSD so badly .. I absolutely hate the fact that they had put SATA2 HDD in a SATA3 compatible machines and also the fact that the HDD is 7200RPM so as soon as you put your hands on the palmrest you can feel the machine vibrating if it's sitting at the table surface... not so much when you have it on the lap though. Bollocks ..

[dragonmon]

I used to own an Inspiron 5010 with the ATI 550v (renamed HD 4650) that got stuck with usual core, it couldn't lower the core when using drivers after January 2011. But I figured out how to fix it and the result that brought the temp in range 40~47 in idle for the whole Laptop. Not like this Vostro. I always think that Switchable Graphics does make the lappy cooler, but infact it makes much hotter. Mine has 2 months of warranty but I opened it up last month for cleaning and checking the opponents. I was very disappointed while cleaning the heatsink.

Dell always runs after other brands. For the 1st Core I, Acer, HP, Sony, they did have switchable Graphics option but Dell released none, only those came with NVidia that had the optimus (XPS). My HDD is a WD black, very hot, not saving power much.

Keep working, guys! I do believe you will break every locked features hidden in the BIOS. I'm very eager to try.

[TimeWalker]

I have upgraded to Windows 8 Pro (from Windows 7 Professional 64bit) and updated my bios to A13.. however I still have something weird going on with sleep and hibernate features. When I leave the laptop in idle for autosleep to trigger it goes to sleep, waking up the system esults in fan spinning, leds blinking and completely black screen (same as on OS X actually).. if I do hibernate it won't even write the sleepimage properly .. just hangs in the middle of shutting down the system and stays like that forever. Anyone with Windows 8 installed (please specify if it's a upgrade or a clean install) is able prove this or prove otherwise ?

Actually this upgrade is totally not what I was expecting .. but then again getting used to something like that will take ages for me, it's so darn non-customizable and unlogical how the UI is set up. How the heck do I even access my computer, computer properties or control pannel for that matter (it's a rhetorical question ..) also they definitely ripped of Windows + Space language bar from OSX haha.

[ygor.almeida]

well then .. here we go again.
1. The WinFlash utility has been updated (I believe the version now matches what XPS users had)
2. There still 0x23 microcode inside A13 bios
3a. The sleep/wake problem persists for OSX users
3b. Cooler behavior has definitely been altered, it now tends to spin somewhat constantly at a lower RPM rate, those temps lowered by at least 5C.
4. There's a bloody snow storm at my place so I cant get to the store to pick up blank DVDs and burn my copy of Windows 8 (to do a fresh install) so I'm unable to test the Hibernate-related issues for it.
5. The link for the 'official' download is the following: ftp://ftp1.dell.com/FOLDER00952500M/1/3450A13.exe
6. Here is a modded bios for you enthusiasts out there ... http://www.mediafire.com/?komxo57si198ltn
- Native Speedstep (for OSX users .. but doesn't break anything for Windows users, so won't heart)
- All the unlockable menus have been unlocked in the Advanced and Security tabs
- Microcode has been updated to 0x28 as per Intel (thanks for the guide, jkbuha!)
- The "Below is reserved for RD, not DELLOIL request" string has been removed from the Advanced tab.
The usual deal ... winflash.exe /BIOS /EC /SA /SV /BBL "BIOS1.WPH"
7. My Search query is still kicking to find the other drivers from the Dell's FTP mess.

Wow

Thanks a lot ...

Just flashed the original A13 and A13 unlocked one.
At last UEFI is working - if you enable this - and after disable the legacy boot - UEFI works fine - i was able to boot the CloverEFI and also the Ubuntu 64 in EFI mode without problem.

Played also with the Graphic option - but when windows loads it disable the video and start with error - didn´t played with a fresh install as its quite difficult to remove HDD on it.

But at last is working ... i will try soon the Mountain Lion Setup - and see if it´s working fine.

Keep up the great work

[TimeWalker]

You will most likely run into some weird problem regarding nvram runtime variables and 10minute delays.
In case you do run into such a problem (and I repeat you most likely will, unless Dell has bumped the bios to support UEFI version 2.31 .. which the didn't for sure), here's a set of UEFI drivers for Clover for you: http://puu.sh/1fbjn

[ygor.almeida]

You will most likely run into some weird problem regarding nvram runtime variables and 10minute delays.
In case you do run into such a problem (and I repeat you most likely will, unless Dell has bumped the bios to support UEFI version 2.31 .. which the didn't for sure), here's a set of UEFI drivers for Clover for you: http://puu.sh/1fbjn

Hi Brother

Thanks ... i will try it later ...
In fact i used this software to create the USB with Clover

http://cvad-mac.narod2.ru/bootdiskutilityexe/

It already comes with some drivers - don't know if are the same as you posted

I'm still downloading ML 10.8 usb raw image to give a try on notebook

Anyway a great screenshoot from windows device id checker for kext

[kedzior87]

Hi, after upgrade to A13 bios (stock, and modded) my vostro 3450 become .. lauder ... maeby it's because of windows 8.... but i'v turned off Radeon, configure power plan to "passive cooling", but the fan is still working ... on windows 7 sometimes he was completly turned off , on windows 8 and A13 he never turns off ...
is there a way to do something in "thermal configuration" ? That my fan will turn on later ?

[buhuhu]

I managed to unlock V3450 BIOS version A11, now Advanced Menu tab is completely unlocked. Thanks to jkbuha for suggesting the HEX values to change in the setup module
Here it is: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/91178815/BIOS1.WPH
To flash it, run the official Dell BIOS update, wait until it asks you to reboot, go to your temp folder and replace Winflash\BIOS1.WPH with the file I provided. After this, agree to reboot and the firmware updater will flash the unlocked BIOS image.

P.S. This is working fine on my Vostro 3450, however I take NO responsibility if you brick your system using this file!

i installed a hdd instead of optical drive on my dell vostro 3450 and i have a bit of a problem because it acts like an optical drive. everytime i restart my computer it cuts off power from hdd and i'm concerned that at some point it's gonna fail. second of all i cannot boot from it. is there any option i can configure in this bios to make it act like a hdd and be seen as a hdd in bios? if no can you make a bios version where i can configure this feature? sorry for my bad english.

[TimeWalker]

Hi, after upgrade to A13 bios (stock, and modded) my vostro 3450 become .. lauder ... maeby it's because of windows 8.... but i'v turned off Radeon, configure power plan to "passive cooling", but the fan is still working ... on windows 7 sometimes he was completly turned off , on windows 8 and A13 he never turns off ...
is there a way to do something in "thermal configuration" ? That my fan will turn on later ?

My Vostro has became louder as well, and please note my model only has Intel IGD onboard.. so it's something Dell screwed up. Thermal configuration seem hit and miss, cranking up low fan kick in temp sometimes sets properly and works .. but sometimes it just doesn't stick .. you set more than 57C for example, but fan kick in at 57 anyway.

Interestingly enough I have zero issues with A04 version in Windows 8. No sleep issues what so ever .. the fan is back at how it used to be, spins up once every 5-7 minutes I would say. Dell sure is a weird company all around.

i installed a hdd instead of optical drive on my dell vostro 3450 and i have a bit of a problem because it acts like an optical drive. everytime i restart my computer it cuts off power from hdd and i'm concerned that at some point it's gonna fail. second of all i cannot boot from it. is there any option i can configure in this bios to make it act like a hdd and be seen as a hdd in bios? if no can you make a bios version where i can configure this feature? sorry for my bad english.

Tampering with UEFI bios, especially this one is not an easy job pal. You can't just request something from the top of your head and hope it's easily achievable. Phoenix-Dell UEFI is still a mystery cabinet and we are very puzzled. I've seen that L702x supports 2 HDD configuration from the factory and you can see that it allows the use of 2 HDDs simultaneously by looking at the Main bios pane. On our Vostro however this is not the case - only one HD is listed in Main bios pane, so it may very well be non-supported at all and this what you will end up with .. The only real way is to compare L702x BIOS to V3450, however which of the modules is related to this is a total mystery ..

[buhuhu]

Hi, after upgrade to A13 bios (stock, and modded) my vostro 3450 become .. lauder ... maeby it's because of windows 8.... but i'v turned off Radeon, configure power plan to "passive cooling", but the fan is still working ... on windows 7 sometimes he was completly turned off , on windows 8 and A13 he never turns off ...
is there a way to do something in "thermal configuration" ? That my fan will turn on later ?

My Vostro has became louder as well, and please note my model only has Intel IGD onboard.. so it's something Dell screwed up. Thermal configuration seem hit and miss, cranking up low fan kick in temp sometimes sets properly and works .. but sometimes it just doesn't stick .. you set more than 57C for example, but fan kick in at 57 anyway.

Interestingly enough I have zero issues with A04 version in Windows 8. No sleep issues what so ever .. the fan is back at how it used to be, spins up once every 5-7 minutes I would say. Dell sure is a weird company all around.

i installed a hdd instead of optical drive on my dell vostro 3450 and i have a bit of a problem because it acts like an optical drive. everytime i restart my computer it cuts off power from hdd and i'm concerned that at some point it's gonna fail. second of all i cannot boot from it. is there any option i can configure in this bios to make it act like a hdd and be seen as a hdd in bios? if no can you make a bios version where i can configure this feature? sorry for my bad english.

Tampering with UEFI bios, especially this one is not an easy job pal. You can't just request something from the top of your head and hope it's easily achievable. Phoenix-Dell UEFI is still a mystery cabinet and we are very puzzled. I've seen that L702x supports 2 HDD configuration from the factory and you can see that it allows the use of 2 HDDs simultaneously by looking at the Main bios pane. On our Vostro however this is not the case - only one HD is listed in Main bios pane, so it may very well be non-supported at all and this what you will end up with .. The only real way is to compare L702x BIOS to V3450, however which of the modules is related to this is a total mystery ..

Yea i realise it's not an easy job. but i simply asked if you can. i didn't demanded ot threaten you to do it... but thanks anyway for the answer.