(UEFI) Dell XPS 15z L511z modded BIOS - and HOWTO

[HairyCube]

Okay, the system powered on after I released the End key, but it didn't do anything until I turned if off after a few minutes. Unfortunately I only have an 8GB SanDisk drive without LED, so I can't really tell whether it is accessing the drive. I would guess it is not.
This is the list of the filenames I used: http://pastebin.com/ZEsJh3kF
The stick was formatted in FAT32, default allocation size. Obviously I can't format it in FAT16 since it's bigger than 4GB.

[TimeWalker]

Ok, I'm now positive I don't have Quanta Inc mobo ..

I have got my hands on this conf. document
Which has platform name Emerald Lake FAB2.
Looking at my dmpstore dump from shell, which I did a few days ago, I have found this:

Code:

Build Date: 03/25/11
DMI Board Mfg Name: Intel Corp.
DMI Board Product Name: Emerald Lake
DMI Board Serial Number:
DMI Board Version: FAB1
DMI Chassis Asset Tag: Asset Tag
DMI Chassis Mfg Name: Intel Corporation
DMI Chassis Version: 0.1
DMI System Mfg Name: Intel Corporation
DMI System Product Name: HuronRiver Platform

So the maker for my laptop is actually Intel themselves and my platform identifier is FAB1 (will try to get the schematic just for the sake of having it at hand). Apparently I was right about where to look for the platform string all along ... it's just Quanta being lazy and not putting stuff to NVRAM/DMI. So my platform module has to be originated from Intel's Tianocore EDKII .. might have to look for clues in there.

Apparently Ideapad Z570 uses the same platform (which is logical considering the price niche they both fall in).

[TimeWalker]

Okay, the system powered on after I released the End key, but it didn't do anything until I turned if off after a few minutes. Unfortunately I only have an 8GB SanDisk drive without LED, so I can't really tell whether it is accessing the drive. I would guess it is not.
This is the list of the filenames I used: http://pastebin.com/ZEsJh3kF
The stick was formatted in FAT32, default allocation size. Obviously I can't format it in FAT16 since it's bigger than 4GB.

Thanks for testing and the info provided!
Well, 48 files and neither of them worked -> appear like a total flaw in the method I thought otherwise should work. As the Acer guy said the technician who restored his bios had to remove HDD before it actually recognized the rom. Also I can see some HDD LED activity first and only then the flashdrive starts blinking (got hold of generic-brand 64Mb flash drive lol) .. might be related. But it's a pain to take out the HDD on this machine, so I'm not doing it myself nor asking anyone to do so. I may have to try with the newly discovered FAB1 platform identifier for my machine, but not any sooner than Thursday .. have tests at college .. Also I highly doubt we are getting anywhere with only this file .. because I looked up Lenovo Z570 service guide and there's same method of crisis recovery described as we've seen previously in Packard Bell's decumentation - it involves BIOS.cap, PFlash.efi, startup.nsh and an extracted xxxxx.fd bios image. Which is sad... very sad indeed.

[jkbuha]

thanks timewalker!

i wont be back near my laptop until the weekend so wont be able to report back sooner. once i'll try it i'll let you know

[aossama]

Hi Guys,

I can't find "AdvancedSetup.efi", I can only find "PlatformSetupAdvancedDxe.efi".

Are they both the same, or am I going the wrong way?

[kasar]

@aossama

yeah, that is the correct file I think

what is the size of the module?

278kb?

[aossama]

Thanks kasar,

It's 283 KB (289632 bytes)

[kasar]

mmm, mine is 278, but I supose it will still be the correct module.

I uploaded mine to this post, so you can check if they have similarities ^^ (I uploaded unmodded one)

[TimeWalker]

Compare GUIDs, the version independant part will match.

[aossama]

This is mine,

It's CFEF94C4-4167-466A-8893-8779459DFA86_1_1048 same as yours.

Note that this one is the one from the original BIOS, no strings attached.

---

I found 3 occurrences in this module;

C:\Users\aossama\Desktop\workspace>hexsearch.exe "0A82458A0000000000000000450A" CFEF94C4-4167-466A-8893-8779459DFA86_1_1048.ROM
Found at offset
202739 (0x317f3)
203717 (0x31bc5)
204186 (0x31d9a)

Which one should I change?