[~$200 bounty]Dell Inspiron 1564 unlocked A10/A13 BIOS

[Aeny]

Hi all,
I decided to rewrite the first post to include all the links so it's more clear for people who will stumble across this topic later. As of now A13 is unlocked. Since Dell considers the Inspiron 1564 to be a legacy device we can safely say A13 is going to be the final bios revision of these models.
Mirrors for all files have been added so please download from mirrors unless they're down, in that case use bios-mods and report the broken link here.

BIOSes lower than A10 cannot be found anymore, if you have any then please post them here! If you have them on your device you can use WinPhlash(64) to make a backup


Original Dell Inspiron 1564 BIOS:

• Download A10 EXE [Mega|Dell|Dropbox|Bios-mods]
  
• Download A11 EXE [Mega|Dell|Dropbox|Bios-mods]
  
• Download A13 EXE [Mega|Dell|Dropbox|Bios-mods]
  
• Download A10 WPH [Mega|Dropbox|Bios-mods]
  
• Download A11 WPH [Mega|Dropbox|Bios-mods]
  
• Download A13 WPH [Mega|Dropbox|Bios-mods]
  

Modded/other Dell Inspiron 1564 BIOS:

• Download unlocked A10 WPH [Mega|MediaFire|Dropbox|Bios-mods]
  
• Download unlocked A13 WPH [Mega|Mediafire|Dropbox|Bios-mods]
  
• Download unlocked A10 with fixed DSDT and HD5450m to HD5470m overclock WPH [Mega|Dropbox|Bios-mods]
  
• Download unlocked A13 with fixed DSDT and HD5450m to HD5470m overclock WPH [Mega|Dropbox|Bios-mods]
  
• Download A08 stock backup, can be flashed as normal bios [Mega|Dropbox|Bios-mods]
  
• Download A01 stock backup, can be flashed as normal bios [Mega|Dropbox|Bios-mods] careful, untested. DO NOT flash on HD5450, vbios missing.
  

List of fixes in bios revisions:

A09 to A10
1. DF388908 : Long run test for S4, will show BSOD 9F in battery only.(fail rate 20%)
2. DF340035 : MP: "BIOS Post (Seconds) " in Velocity test fail. (about 0.2 second)
3. Behavior : [Arrandale] Processor, CPU Signature 20655h ¡V Microcode Update (MCU)Revision 00000002h
4. Bug : Update VBIOS BR037829.001 for Park
5. Bug : Update VBIOS BR37859.001 for M92LP
6. Bug : Check EC idle flag in ASL code.
7. Utility : D0 token : EDID information for utility
8. Remove behavior : Disable USB before flashing (remove behavior)
9. EC Feature Enhanced: Behavior : for EC idle flag.

A10 to A11
1. Can't accept PWD in BIOS successful with Numeric keyboard and keypad.
2. Device Manager will show yellow bang of intel turbo technology when resume from S3.

A12 to A13
1. A12 Appears to not exist on their website. I had it on a secondhand replacement board once but forgot to make a backup

A12 to A13
1. Fix Computrace status report error and update Computrace ROM.

Unresolved bugs:
1. Quad cores not supported (720qm, 740qm, 820qm, 840qm, 920xm, 940xm)
2. ODD sata bug over 120GB on dGPU editions.
3. When coming out of sleep CPU sometimes get stuck on lowest multiplier, to fix sleep and wake up again.

Bounties
This section contains a list of bugs that still need to be fixed and the reward for fixing them. Feel free to chime in if you want a bug fixed, currently the money will be coming out of my own pockets only. as I can't solve these bugs by myself these bounties are naturally here to attract other BIOS modders.
If this is not allowed on bios-mods then feel free to remove this section of the post or ask me to remove it.

• $100 - Quadcore support
  
• $050 - ODD caddy +120GB support
  
• $050 - Spoofing HD5450m -> HD7370m device id through BIOS/DSDT
  
• $005 - Working versions of the BIOS A00, A02, A03, A05, A06, A07, A09, A12 (I'm well aware some of those might really not exist)
  

[under construction] Wincris packages for the 1x64
Wincris is used to recover laptops that had a bad flash/are bricked.
Use tools in included zip file to create a wincris disk, these tools only work under Windows XP.
To get the 1564 in a mode where it will accept a wincris USB stick:
1. Remove the battery
2. Unplug power cord
3. insert prepared USB stick
4. Hold the end button on the keyboard while plugging in the power cord
5. release the end button, the fans should come on at full speed, the screen should stay black and if you have a USB stick with an indicator light it should start flashing. The 1564 will reboot automatically after the flash so do not turn it off manually. This can take up to 10 minutes to complete.
Download wincris package with A10 stock BIOS [Mega|Dropbox|Bios-mods] ONLY for 1564. Do NOT recover on other systems without replacing phlash16 and bios.wph with the correct versions for your model of laptop.

Winphlash(64)

• Download WinPhlash 1.0.76.0 [Mega|Dropbox|Bios-mods]
  
• Download WinPhlash64 1.0.76.0 [Mega|Dropbox|Bios-mods]
  

How to flash the unlocked bios
If your bios is older than the version you want to flash then you can use WinPhlash(64) to flash it. If the bios is newer or the same version then use the method described here. This method is preferred since flashing under Windows is considered more dangerous.
If PHLASH16 is giving you errors then use the one linked below, flashed without a flaw for me.
Download Phlash16 [Mega|Dropbox|Bios-mods]
As always flashing any BIOS is at your own risk, if your laptop explodes, your coffee became cold while researching this or whatever, it is just your own fault, just deal with it.

Manuals and documents

• Dell Inspiron 1564 service manual [Dell|Internet archive|Dropbox]
  
• Dell Inspiron 1564 schematics [Dropbox]
  

Credits
Thanks to AHMED HOSSAM, in this post for originally unlocking A10, all my other mods are based on his unlock.
Thanks to eugenio412 for emailing/donating me BIOS A08, and refusing to take the $5 bounty in the name of science!

Changelog
07/11/2013 - Added unlocked A13 with fixed DSDT and HD5470m overclock WPH download
08/11/2013 - Added 7370m bounty.
08/11/2013 - Added dropbox mirrors for all download links.
09/11/2013 - Added bounty for A12 BIOS
12/11/2013 - Added Mega mirrors for all download links.
14/11/2013 - Added mirrors for Phlash16 file.
18/11/2013 - Minor tweaks to post.
21/01/2014 - Added A08 BIOS, removed bounty for A08
22/04/2014 - Added wincris recovery package and a tiny guide.
20/05/2014 - Fixed some spelling mistakes.
01/06/2014 - Added links to original A10 & A11 WPH BIOS files for completeness.
04/06/2014 - Found BIOS A01 hiding in the dark corners of the interwebs.
08/06/2014 - Extra warning at A01 download.
18/09/2014 - Cleaned up formatting a tiny bit
19/11/2014 - 99% of the info in this thread is also valid for 1764 and 1464 models.
20/02/2015 - Added service manual for Dell inspiron 1564
20/03/2015 - Added rare bug where cpu gets stuck in lowest multiplier.
08/04/2015 - Added pretty detailed schematics for the 1564.
25/03/2021 - Strike dead links


~Aeny

[AHMED HOSSAM]

Here is the Unlocked BIOS :-


http://www.mediafire.com/?0ibr456llm3olq6


it was unlocked before , but i don`t remember the version .

[Aeny]

Here is the Unlocked BIOS :-
http://www.mediafire.com/?0ibr456llm3olq6
it was unlocked before , but i don`t remember the version .

I'm sorry, I didn't know it was unlocked before, Google and bios-mods search didn't return any results.

The unlocked version you posted is A10. Latest version is A13, updated bioses from Dell for the 1564 past A13 are unlikely to happen. Dell doesn't seem to release change logs with their bioses but A13 from my experience fixes a bug with virtualization.

Also, I found some small graphical bugs in the unlocked A10. I'll post these in a bit.See below.
I'd be very happy with an unlocked A13 bios if you find some spare time. Whether you make it or not, and if you include some bug fixes, is up to you.

Bugs:

• Weird word wrapping around the screen on the SpeedStep function, see bios1.jpg attached to this post.
  
• LPC Control is an empty page, see bios2.jpg attached to this post.
  

~Aeny


EDIT: Added bugs + Pictures. PS: Sorry for crappy pictures.

[AHMED HOSSAM]

The BUG in BIOS setup utility is the same in all versions if BIOS and unlocking the A13 aill not change anything with this ............ also , the LPC Control sub-menu is empty ( not a BUG , its really not linked to anything ) .
do you find any other improvements in the A13 version and need unlocked version of it !

---

Thanks for confirming,



Moved to unlocked /mod

[Aeny]

The BUG in BIOS setup utility is the same in all versions if BIOS and unlocking the A13 aill not change anything with this ............ also , the LPC Control sub-menu is empty ( not a BUG , its really not linked to anything ) .
do you find any other improvements in the A13 version and need unlocked version of it !

---

Thanks for confirming,



Moved to unlocked /mod

Bugs fixed between A10 and A13 are:

• Virtualization function doesn't always work even when set to enabled (very annoying for 64bit OS'es in vbox, etc..)
  
• On rare occasions the screen backlighting goes to full brightness and can only be restored by rebooting.
  

Do mind that there are no changelogs with these BIOSes dell releases and that these are finding from the now over 11000hours of usage that I have on this laptop.

PS: Sorry for the late reply, I repasted my cpu and added a 2nd hdd so I can get another 11000hours out of it

~Aeny

[Aeny]

The BUG in BIOS setup utility is the same in all versions if BIOS and unlocking the A13 aill not change anything with this ............ also , the LPC Control sub-menu is empty ( not a BUG , its really not linked to anything ) .
do you find any other improvements in the A13 version and need unlocked version of it !

---

Thanks for confirming,



Moved to unlocked /mod

Updated first post with bugs and changes/fixes between A10 and A13.
Any chance of seeing A13 unlocked?

You won't hear me complaining after that anymore because it's the final release of the BIOS by Dell.

Thanks in advance,
~Aeny

[AHMED HOSSAM]

Sorry for my late response , it will be ready in 2 days

[Aeny]

Sorry for my late response , it will be ready in 2 days

Any update on this?
Also, do you by any chance use cbrom to edit these? If so which version? I only found some that crash whenever I try to load A13. I'm thinking about trying some small bios modding myself .

~Aeny

[Aeny]

Sorry for my late response , it will be ready in 2 days

BUMP.

~Aeny

[sumitgupta]

Bugs fixed between A10 and A13 are:

• Virtualization function doesn't always work even when set to enabled (very annoying for 64bit OS'es in vbox, etc..)
  
• On rare occasions the screen backlighting goes to full brightness and can only be restored by rebooting.
  

Do mind that there are no changelogs with these BIOSes dell releases and that these are finding from the now over 11000hours of usage that I have on this laptop.

PS: Sorry for the late reply, I repasted my cpu and added a 2nd hdd so I can get another 11000hours out of it

~Aeny

I have added a 2nd HDD to my Inspiron 1564. I have a caddy for the hdd that goes in the optical drive bay. Now with the 2nd hdd installed, system BIOS is taking a lot of time to load. I guess its searching for the ODD and not finding it.

My machine is currently running bios version A13. Now should I install the modded A10 to correct this problem?

Thanks in advance.

Sumit

Sorry for my late response , it will be ready in 2 days

BUMP