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

[TimeWalker]

It looks like ME incompatibility either with BIOS or with chipset.
Both of them have such symptoms: unreadable ME version and inability to start ME.
It's sad to say it, but there is almost nothing to do in both cases.
If it's BIOS problem we need an example of Phoenix SCT 2.0 BIOS with similar structure and ME 8 support, which can be provided only by Dell, who simply don't care.
If it hardware incompatibility we need to replace chipset to IB-supporting one (AFAIK, they are ball-compatible) and new BIOS as well.

Inspiron 17R SE (Inspiron 7720) had ME8 onboard, but I'm not aware what SCT version is being used on that one. Can't run shell on it to check for ver.
The flasher used there is different, because EC region appears in a different spot inside the RAW capsule (at the beginning instead of very end for previous gen, the rest is pretty much the same.). The string has to say the following: "Phoenix SCT Flash for %s V%d.%d.%d.%d Build %s..120717"
Looking at DellSmbios module it even has ru-RU locale which ours hasn't. I suspect it's 2.3.1 or something in between this and our 2.0 ...

According to what we read from the confidential Intel doc, the HM67 ie mobile Cougar Point can handle ME8 if OEM decides to implement it and there are in fact proper guidelines to do that.. but Dell doesn't really care for older gen machines.

[kasar]

mmm, acording to that image, If I am not wrong, it specify only sandy bridge proccesors can work under Mobile huron river

so even we get ME8 running at that chipset, the benefits wouldnt be very noticiable I think.

then I supose to bye bye to ivy proccesors on our machines then ^^

[jkbuha]

Happy new year everyone - old and new!

I come bearing new gifts, namely the updated Intel mobile vbios 2158. This one is a bit different from the rest as I've flashed the unmodded version as the descriptors looked similar to the 15z code and it worked fine. I still haven't been able to check if the HDMI and DP ports work fine, but the LVDS works brilliantly, and I've even noticed a good improvement in OSX/Mint.

For various reasons I'm not going to bundle it into a Dell Bios (do so at your own risk) but I've attached the unmodded file for anyone to try out.

I've also taken TW's advice and removed the /EC and /BBL params off the flashing process (also removed /CVAR as I don't want to have to play around with the BIOS settings all over again, but it's up to you really) and it has worked fine.

Let me know how it goes!

[kasar]

hey mate

welcome onboard ^^

Ill give a look to that bios, and yeah, I think I will also use TW's flashing parameters since, looks safer to use ^^

[jkbuha]

Just a quick update - v2158 native (no mods) works really great on my machine, and all ports are enabled as well.

In the interests of providing a proper benchmark - what's the best scientific tool (a la Geekbench) for validating graphics performance?

[willerson]

Just a quick update - v2158 native (no mods) works really great on my machine, and all ports are enabled as well.

In the interests of providing a proper benchmark - what's the best scientific tool (a la Geekbench) for validating graphics performance?

try Msi kombustor from msi afterburner ( windows ) or 3dMark.

[]'s

[jkbuha]

I meant for OSX?

[CodeRush]

jkbuha, try Unigine Heaven, it's reliable and comparable in all supported OS.

[jkbuha]

Thanks CodeRush that's exactly what I was looking for. +1 Rep

So, here's a 'scientific' evaluation:

OpenGL tests on OSX: 800x600 windowed, all features turned on for max visuals

BIOS: v2104 (Original): OSX: 8.9 FPS, 225 Score
BIOS: v2158 (Current): OSX: 10.0 FPS, 253 Score

So there is clearly a difference. Also it gets more interesting:

UEFI 100kHz FSB: v2158 (Current): OSX 11.8 FPS, 298 Score
UEFI 105kHz FSB: v2158 (Current): OSX 12.0 FPS, 306 Score
UEFI 120kHz FSB: v2158 (Current): OSX 13.0 FPS, 327 Score

So booting in UEFI mode via Clover as opposed to Chameleon boosts the native performance as well, probably because the FSB clock is set to a 'clean' speed of 100kHz via Clover. Confirms my initial suspicion that the OS felt more responsive under Clover.

[kasar]

woah, nice results!
so as far I understood, do the new intel video bios support more OC than previous ones?


there must be some way to adjust the FSB too in windows D:

even hardcoding the desired FSB value and make it default to some kind of module in bios and replacing it, the question is wich one >.<