IS THIS WORTH THE TROUBLE? Sony VGN-SZ18GP VAIO PhoenixBIOS R0096N0 full unlock

[kagari_15]

Since this is my first post on the forum (and this BIOS request is for a really old laptop)...I should tell the story for the background

My current rig is a Toshiba Satellite Pro M30 (~2004) that has seen better days. The GPU (a potato FX Go5200 64M) has problems with VRAM and the screen is cut in half because the LCD is damaged after more than five years of my use from a long hibernation before I received it. The fan and fan controller was dead and is using an external blower for cooling.

Due to fears of the laptop not turning on from a shutdown or restart (when the GPU is initialized) and the screen artifacts and RobustChannels kick in seen when Rivatuner reads 32MB of VRAM (works fine when it reads 16MB...the story of why all this happened must be left for another time) and so had desperately needed a supplemental laptop to help me stay on track...on where I currently am (Philippines) there are no dumpsters that got good stuff to hook me up with and I need the dedicated GPU (cheap laptops on sale contain iGPUs) then money is extremely scarce

A good buddy of mine had this VAIO that never seen use for over eight or so years until we decided to check if it still runs. Gladly it does. Will try to upload pics when I can borrow a phone but it has not been abused and except for the broken keyboard (some keys are dead) and no battery there are no complaints. Now I got it to see if this is worth saving other than reducing e-waste. This laptop seems to be from an official store or from Japan (VAIO Official Warranty as what my fellows also had over there) and is the "premium" model with the carbon fiber chassis and thin screen and the unusual keyboard (no carbon pads!)

So the hardware (i945GM and ICH-7M) does support AHCI which is welcome because I want to run this laptop on Win7 efficiently and a dual boot XP with the proper drivers (currently on XP including the Toshiba where I am typing this from) and other stuff like what would be on a typical desktop board of the time. Then there is the 3.something GB RAM barrier that we are concerned about as well though the chipset datasheet does say it can see all the 4GB of RAM. And maybe even the option to disable shadowing and other bits...would be upgrading the CPU to a T7200 (has a T2400 as stock) and put on two 2GB RAM modules (currently has 512MB...the other 512MB module died) if this does pan out...regardless of outcome this VAIO is two generations better than what I currently use (i855 -> i915 -> i945) and it's dual core!

Hope admins and mods are cool with this...sorry for the long winded text!

Greetings...

~kagari_15


Device Manufacturer: Sony Corporation
Device Model: VGN-SZ18GP_C (VAIO)
Mainboard: MBX-147 (i945GM-G72M)
BIOS make: Phoenix Technologies (PhoenixBIOS TrustedCore)
BIOS version: R0096N0 (04-12-2007)
BIOS download link: https://elapidae.io/stash/ftp.vaio-link....231-UN.EXE
RWEverything Report: BSOD: IRQ_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL (STOP: 0x0000000A (0x00000000 0x00000002 0x00000001 0x80522800)) Maybe someone could help me...

Reason why the BIOS download link is not officially from Sony (and almost became a lost cause for the laptop): https://www.sony-asia.com/electronics/su...s/00188888

[Maxinator500]

This is not worth the trouble. Do you already have access to "Debug Intel Menu" in your BIOS, don't you? "AHCI Configuration" is available from "Integrated Device Control Sub-Menu". Thus, there is a little to unlock.

BIOS MOD: R0096N0.zip.
I reworked a bit the setup utility. More specifically, I added some new settings and removed duplicates of old ones. SLIC2.1 has also been implemented.

[kagari_15]

Maxinator500:

The BIOS on this VAIO is stock OEM...that's why I posted the thread.


On flashing the BIOS on Windows there is a warning message:

Part ID of System BIOS and new Image File are different (system = , file = VAION ).
The System Platform may be different from the Image File. Are you sure you want to proceed?


Is this fine?

[Maxinator500]

(system = , file = VAION ]

This issue has already been discussed here. It won't let you install. I realised this BIOS needs installation to be ran via "wbflash".
The file has been updated.

BIOS MOD: R0096N0.zip

[kagari_15]

Maxinator500

It flashed! Always a nervous time when you do flash a BIOS...much more without the battery or a UPS

Do you set AHCI and VT through the "Installed OS" option on the Advanced tab? Set it to "Other" ? There seems to be no other options...

[Maxinator500]

Do you set AHCI and VT through the "Installed OS" option on the Advanced tab?

No.
The following picture shows how the BIOS should look like:

Tell me if the Debug Intel Menu is not displayed. I'll fix it. This menu contains most of the settings.

[kagari_15]

Maxinator500

[Can't seem to be able to upload images (running XP on the Toshiba on the last Firefox ESR)]

There is no Debug Intel Menu. Though it has shown a lot more info on the Main tab and on the Advanced tab as shown on your image but that option you pointed out.

[kagari_15]

and the stock BIOS did not contain keyboard settings or standby timeout and anything. That's how laptops are even on this Toshiba that also has PhoenixBIOS.

It's a Sony™

[Maxinator500]

There is no Debug Intel Menu.

Too bad. It is very difficult for me to locate a code in BIOS that is responsible for display of separate menus. It will take me two tries.
You may re-download the archive.

[kagari_15]

Maxinator500

Did not work. Flashed and made through the BIOS menu but the debug menu is still missing.