[REQUEST] ACER 1830Z BIOS MOD ??

[Nohnaimer]

In the original BIOS those are the only options, apart from the "542 Intel"

[Lost_N_BIOS]

Wow, I thought it was bug, never seen such a limited BIOS. What is the Intel 542 option do?

[Nohnaimer]

I wish I knew. It does not appear in the bios, both the locked and unlocked one.
I don't even know if it is unlockable

[Lost_N_BIOS]

What all is shown in the unlocked BIOS?

[Nohnaimer]

all i have for now

[Lost_N_BIOS]

That is a lot of options, sorry I don't know how to increase the values on that video config

Maybe, if you can find other setting in BIOS, that shows 512MB as a selectable option, show me then I can try to use it's values and see how the output looks. I tested editing values to lower like 64MB on bottom instead of top, and I can OK, so need to find some setting with the higher 512MB or 1024MB amount so I can use correct setting.

[Lost_N_BIOS]

OK, I have made some progress I think!  Do you have programmer yet, just in case?







Right now, I set 512MB for all 9 instances of 128MB in the module this is contained in, but now I see I need to later correct the "DVMT Total Gfx Mem" to a larger value if possible.  I'm very confused why there is nine instances of this specific 128MB (all with the original 32/64/128 from first setting at each location too)?

Anyway, I will have to make 9 edits one by one first, to find which of the 128's I edited is this one that's now 512, and then increase that to 2048-4096 etc (If possible, I think so, but maybe not)

Do you want to test BIOS with these changes now, and see if you can tell in windows how much, if any, more GFX memory allotted you have?
For now I made edit on stock BIOS, since I already had this module extracted previously.  I guess it doesn't matter anyway does it, since the Camilo BIOS did not enable anything extra for you, or did it?  I can't remember if you had all those options before or not, specifically the GFX DVMT options did you have those with either, or is same now with either BIOS?  If you want to try, but only on the Camilo BIOS I can redo edits on that one, only take a minute or two so not a big deal.

[Nohnaimer]

Wow, thank you for your hard work!
I don't have a programmer here, will get back home to my country in December, but I think I can try. Worst case I will order another programmer here, they don't cost much. And the stock bios should be fine. If the minimal value is set to 512MB it should show in windows anyway.
When it comes to memory allocation, I have no idea either why those values appear in 9 different instances.
And allocation 512MB as minimum and 1024MB as maximum should be enough. The integrated GPU cannot handle more than 1720MB of VRAM anyway


Also.. this editing looks difficult. I wish I could learn it someday!

[Lost_N_BIOS]

You're welcome, hopefully this is the fix!

Programmer only cost $2.50 or $3 if you order from China, but that is long shipment usually to anywhere (3-5 weeks). Sometimes you can get at local selling places, shops similar to Newegg or Amazon usually have them (wherever you would buy a good brand motherboard where you're at now probably has them). Buying locally instead of China they usually cost $8-12, and SOIC8 test clip cable, unsure what price would be at these stores, if they have, but in China on ebay it's only $3 for that too.

I was worried about the mod failing, since this is not a normal type of BIOS edit for me, but I think it is probably OK. Up to you if you want to risk the flash, or wait

So you will be able to tell with how it's set now, in windows, if these changes worked correctly? See, without board myself, I am unable to test, to ensure the changes are real and not just "cosmetic" showing in all these programs. I do think it's changed really, but only actual test can tell us for sure. If it is changed, then I think I can increase to larger amounts too, if not 999MB may be max (unsure if I can add a digit or not, will make the change later tonight and see if it compiles and outputs correctly). but first, I need to find bottom setting only, I think these 9x instances are only the top one since they all have 64/128/256 and the bottom one is only the two defaults 128/256

On the 9x instances, I was laughing out loud and wanted to share with you, I assume you probably didn't know either but it's a good laugh
Once we verify these changes work, I'll try to narrow down via 1-9 edits to see which is only required for this change, or if all. And then also find out how to change bottom and top separately too, because you want top pre-allocated to be less than bottom total allotted correct? Like you want to be able to set 1-2GB on top, but have 2-4GB on bottom so some GB is shared memory from windows, correct?

Yes, it is difficult this type of modification, for me anyway, normally I use programs that allow changes in a GUI type setting when possible, but this change and more specifically this BIOS type I'm not super skilled at editing and don't have programs to show these settings visibly in a GUI. So it had to be done in a disassembler/assembly program along with hex editor, 4 programs used to find, make and verify this one change!

Here is BIOS if you want to try, this is based on Camilo Mod BIOS - fingers crossed, let me know, thanks!
https://www.sendspace.com/file/3p7h31

Right click download button, save as or open in new tab. No need to join or enter credit card etc here, sometimes ads/popups confuse people on this site. If you can't get and need another link let me know.

[Nohnaimer]

OK, so I decided to go for it and installed the modified bios. No issues whatsoever! I could select 512MB for both minimal and maximum VRAM options, and the bios did show that video memory amounts to 512MB, but... upon reaching the OS and opening the driver settings, it still shows only 128MB and pre-allocated :/ will test a bit more, but i don't think the modification was successful