the first one looks like it is the most undervolted one, however you should ask jkbuha, he is the one who made all mods for the 15z, I just made the l502x mods on another topic.
I dont think using another network card will be a problem, as far I know this laptop doesnt have a whitelist for wireless cards.
10-04-2012, 12:39 PM (This post was last modified: 10-04-2012, 02:39 PM by TimeWalker.)
SystemCdExpressPei.efi contains a BIOS.cap string, which in hand indicated that there's a crisis restoration capability from CD disks?
Has anyone actually gone through all the modules in order to find string from the Phoenix SHELL flasher? Or this has been done previously with no success to it?
Also I just found out, there is this: http://puu.sh/1bnOw inside SystemKeyboardDescDxe.efi .. so there's a hotkey for Fn+ something to initiate the recovery.
There is a DellMfgBoardDxe.efi module. Turns out there is some kind of Board Manufacturing mode which is triggered by Fn+X combination. Reading about older bioses (non-UEFI) turns out you had to enter bios setup and then by pressing some kind of key combo (Alt+F on older Dells) it would load up MFG Mode. But I wasn't able to access it on my Vostro, probably requires setting some jumper...
Ok, I skimmed through the modules with no luck whatsoever ... there's however WinFlash.efi in there .. I may try tampering with it as PFlash.efi this weekend.
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(10-04-2012, 12:39 PM)TimeWalker Wrote: SystemCdExpressPei.efi contains a BIOS.cap string, which in hand indicated that there's a crisis restoration capability from CD disks?
Has anyone actually gone through all the modules in order to find string from the Phoenix SHELL flasher? Or this has been done previously with no success to it?
Also I just found out, there is this: http://puu.sh/1bnOw inside SystemKeyboardDescDxe.efi .. so there's a hotkey for Fn+ something to initiate the recovery.
There is a DellMfgBoardDxe.efi module. Turns out there is some kind of Board Manufacturing mode which is triggered by Fn+X combination. Reading about older bioses (non-UEFI) turns out you had to enter bios setup and then by pressing some kind of key combo (Alt+F on older Dells) it would load up MFG Mode. But I wasn't able to access it on my Vostro, probably requires setting some jumper...
Ok, I skimmed through the modules with no luck whatsoever ... there's however WinFlash.efi in there .. I may try tampering with it as PFlash.efi this weekend.
Are oyu talking to me? if so, i didnt understand anything out of it lol?
In regards to unlocking shell access. Well, a hotkey combo sure would be nice to have .. but I just researched what kind of shell Dell provides (or should I say doesn't?) it's users. I have extracted the module and removed the header part, so it starts with MZ, much like any other efi module/driver.
Dell's shell is the following:
? - Displays the EFI Shell command list or verbose command help
alias - Displays, creates, or deletes EFI Shell aliases
attrib - Displays or changes the attributes of files or directories
cd - Displays or changes the current directory
cls - Clears standard output and optionally changes background color
connect - Connects one or more EFI drivers to a device
cp - Copies one or more files or directories to another location
date - Displays or changes the current system date
dh - Displays EFI handle information
disconnect - Disconnects one or more EFI drivers from a device
dp - Resets the system
drivers - Displays the EFI driver list
drvcfg - Invokes the Driver Configuration Protocol
drvdiag - Invokes the Driver Diagnostics Protocol
echo - Controls batch file command echoing or displays a message
exit - Exits the EFI Shell environment
for - Executes commands for each item in a set of items
goto - Forces batch file execution to jump to specified location
help - Displays the EFI Shell command list or verbose command help
if - Executes commands in specified conditions
load - Loads and optionally connects one or more EFI drivers
ls - Displays a list of files and subdirectories in a directory
map - Displays or defines mappings
mkdir - Creates one or more directories
mv - Moves one or more files or directories to another location
pause - Prints a message and waits for keyboard input
reconnect - Reconnects one or more EFI drivers to a device
reset - Resets the system
rm - Deletes one or more files or directories
set - Displays or modifies EFI Shell environment variables
shift - Shifts batch file input parameter positions
time - Displays or changes the current system time
touch - Updates filename timestamp with current system date and time
type - Displays file contents
unload - Unloads a EFI driver
ver - Displays EFI Firmware version information
vol - Displays or changes a file system volume label
? - Displays the EFI Shell command list or verbose command help
alias - Displays, creates, or deletes EFI Shell aliases
attrib - Displays or changes the attributes of files or directories
cd - Displays or changes the current directory
cls - Clears standard output and optionally changes background color
comp - Compares the contents of two files
connect - Connects one or more EFI drivers to a device
cp - Copies one or more files or directories to another location
date - Displays or changes the current system date
dblk - Displays one or more blocks from a block device
devices - Displays the list of devices managed by EFI drivers
devtree - Displays the EFI Driver Model compliant device tree
dh - Displays EFI handle information
disconnect - Disconnects one or more EFI drivers from a device
dmem - Displays the contents of memory
dmpstore - Displays all EFI NVRAM variables
drivers - Displays the EFI driver list
drvcfg - Invokes the Driver Configuration Protocol
drvdiag - Invokes the Driver Diagnostics Protocol
echo - Controls batch file command echoing or displays a message
edit - Full screen editor for ASCII or UNICODE files
eficompress - Compress a file
efidecompress - Decompress a file
err - Displays or changes the error level
exit - Exits the EFI Shell environment
for - Executes commands for each item in a set of items
goto - Forces batch file execution to jump to specified location
guid - Displays all registered EFI GUIDs
help - Displays the EFI Shell command list or verbose command help
hexedit - Full screen hex editor
if - Executes commands in specified conditions
ifconfig - Modify the default IP address of UEFI network stack
ipconfig - Displays or modifies the current IP configuration
load - Loads and optionally connects one or more EFI drivers
loadpcirom - Loads a PCI Option ROM
ls - Displays a list of files and subdirectories in a directory
map - Displays or defines mappings
mem - Displays the contents of memory
memmap - Displays the memory map
mkdir - Creates one or more directories
mm - Displays or modifies MEM/MMIO/IO/PCI/PCIE address space
mode - Displays or changes the console output device mode
mount - Mounts a file system on a block device
mv - Moves one or more files or directories to another location
openinfo - Displays the protocols and agents associated with a handle
pause - Prints a message and waits for keyboard input
pci - Displays PCI device list or PCI function configuration space
ping - Ping a target machine with UEFI network stack
reconnect - Reconnects one or more EFI drivers to a device
reset - Resets the system
rm - Deletes one or more files or directories
sermode - Sets serial port attributes
set - Displays or modifies EFI Shell environment variables
shift - Shifts batch file input parameter positions
smbiosview - Displays SMBIOS information
stall - Stalls the processor for the specified number of microseconds
telnetmgmt - Change terminal type
time - Displays or changes the current system time
timezone - Displays or sets time zone information
touch - Updates filename timestamp with current system date and time
type - Displays file contents
unload - Unloads a EFI driver
ver - Displays EFI Firmware version information
vol - Displays or changes a file system volume label
64 commands versus 37 from Dell's shell. I say [censored] the crippled version .. the EDK one is superior. Of course one could always swap the module in the fw out with this one (and I thought of doing this for XhciDxe as well, to enable support for my FL1009 whilst being on A04, instead of A10) .. it's a similar procedure to swapping VBIOS, but I personally wouldn't risk it for such an irrelevant thing.
Also I extracted WinFlash.efi and sadly it's not a standalone app that could be run straight away from the shell:
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10-04-2012, 08:08 PM (This post was last modified: 10-04-2012, 09:51 PM by kasar.)
loving your recent posts TimeWalker , those cool info is flooding my eyes
I think I will try the usb thing to try bios recovery and the enchanced uefi shell.
made some tests with my usb stick, however, can you upload your usb stick content? well the content inside EFI folder I mean.
(10-02-2012, 07:02 AM)TimeWalker Wrote: Like jkbuha said earlier, there are 2 occurrences of IFR_SUPRESS in SystemSetupSecurityDxe.efi
For Vostro 3450 bios GUID = 166CD554-8AAE-4617-8FDD-A2E3A5AFD89E_1_1079
EFI_IFR_SUPRESS: 0A 82 45 8A (00) 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 45 0A
Address of 1st occurrence: 88F9
Address of 2nd occurrence: 897F
If these are in fact IFR SUPRESS sequences then they must be related to TPM unlocking as there are text string regarding TPM found in the module.
The file that is 7.5Mb in size also has few occurrences but I guess it's really a bad idea to tamper with this as it appears to be the base of the entire fw.
Also I have found an interesting string in SystemBootManagerDxe.efi which says: "F11 - Internal Shell"
relating about what jkbuha said in this previus post.
I dumped the modules from the L502X A11 bios 7.5 Mb file with phoenix tool, and then I took some time to made another list of the extracted modules.
aparently the modules list is quite similar to the previous list I made before.
I would even say it is almost the same thing, because it contain the same modules and also the gpu vbioses, it looks like a entire bios inside another bios?
wtf?
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It seems like phoenix doesnt actually restore your bios, it just sideloads it as if it was a secondary emulated bios (like the legacybios) to allow you to boot into the os and flash a proper noncorrupted bios. At least this is what I assume by looking at FvRecovery an cap packages.
As of yet i was unable to reproduce the accidental flashing thing nor was i able to find a module that when trimmed would initiate recovery. It almost looks like judging by the string i had found we would have to burn BIOS.cap to a blank CD to initiate recovery, but if its anywhere close to Insyde the battary would need removal (which is not a problem for me, but a big one for 15z owners)
10-05-2012, 12:44 AM (This post was last modified: 10-05-2012, 12:51 AM by TimeWalker.)
If the SystemCdExpress.efi module would have been called a standard name (CDExpress\Pei\PeiCdExpres) then PhoenixTool would have been able to calculate the filename of the BIOS.cap that needs to be used (like on Insyde bios, if you know what i mean).. but Dell decided to go down a wrong route. So basically we have to try burning the .cap to a CD and tamper with all sort of hotkey commands to initiate it. I will try doing next week probably this as my machine allows me to take out the battery easier.. like a ton easier
Quote:This module reads data from CDROM device by all installed block IO ppi and finds whether there is Recovery data in the device. If it finds recovery data, it will install Device Recovery Module PPI
That's that for now ...
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(10-04-2012, 08:24 AM)kasar Wrote: the first one looks like it is the most undervolted one, however you should ask jkbuha, he is the one who made all mods for the 15z, I just made the l502x mods on another topic.
I dont think using another network card will be a problem, as far I know this laptop doesnt have a whitelist for wireless cards.
you means for the 550m? I only have a 525m...?
And jkbuha doesn't seem to respond to me
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10-05-2012, 07:35 AM (This post was last modified: 10-05-2012, 09:12 AM by kasar.)
@TimeWalker
so, another test, is to buy the BIOS.cap file in the root of a cdrom right?
will I also need to include any other file or folder?
just a normal data cd/dvd, right? ^^
I will try that, plus the hotkeys you already mentionated
oh, if you could upload your edi shell I would be happy, I'm using dells one (the one wich came with the bios, and it seems smaller in size compared with yours ^^)
@Fawar
well. maybe jkbuha is away for a while.
in the first post, all of the bioses are for the 15z, the laptop you have.
however he also overclocked the gpu (525m) to 540m, and also 550m speeds, so dont worry, all of the bioses at the first topic are for the 15z so dont worry , if you flash them properly bricks will be away
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