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

[jkbuha]

I'd stay away from modifying the FSB in the BIOS if I were completely honest - would much rather see how we can crack Win7/8 loading in legacy or UEFI mode under Clover, which would allow us to change the FSB at run-time. Also I'd prefer Legacy mode because Dell machines are crap at Win in UEFI - hit Fn+F2 in Win UEFI on our Dell laptop and see what I mean. No wonder Dell disabled UEFI booting...

Comparing BIOS scores in Windows:
BIOS 100kHz FSB: v2158 (Current): Win8 10.4 FPS, 261 Score
BIOS 100kHz FSB: v2158 (Current): Win8 28.2 FPS, 710 Score <-- with Nvidia turned on

So good news is that OpenGL (and Hardware) performance for the intel card is similar in OSX and Windows.

Now, let's try and enable Windows FSB modification through Clover Legacy mode...

[kasar]

still unable to get clover working, this is how far I went




this is how my config.plist looks

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
<key>ACPI</key>
<dict>
<key>GenerateCStates</key>
<string>Yes</string>
</dict>
<key>Graphics</key>
<dict>
<key>GraphicsInjector</key>
<string>Yes</string>
</dict>
<key>CPU</key>
<dict>
<key>Turbo</key>
<string>Yes</string>
<key>CpuFrequencyMHz</key>
<string>2100</string>
<key>BusSpeedkHz</key>
<string>100000</string>
</dict>
<key>SMBIOS</key>
<dict>
<key>BiosVendor</key>
<string>Dell Inc.</string>
</dict>
<key>SystemParameters</key>
<dict>
<key>boot-args</key>
<string>-v arch=x86_64 npci=0x2000 rd=disk0s1</string>
<key>prev-lang:kbd</key>
<string>en:0</string>
<key>InjectSystemID</key>
<string>Yes</string>
<key>LegacyBoot</key>
<string>LegacyBiosDefault</string>
</dict>
<key>Pointer</key>
<dict>
<key>Speed</key>
<string>8</string>
</dict>
</dict>
</plist>

am I doing something wrong? D:


also, if we dont get clover working, wich module should I focus in order to alter the default FSB?

[jkbuha]

Have you enabled Boot UEFI in Bios? Normally the 'Operation System' message arises from this option being disabled.

[kasar]

yeah, I have that option allways enabled

It is also needed to have it in order to be able to boot clover.

EFI/BOOT/.... structure

[jkbuha]

Try this:

<key>LegacyBoot</key>
<string>PBR</string>

[kasar]

tried with PBR, then it get stuck even before the "operation system not found"

it get stuck at the white symbol



did you managed to boot your win7 64 installation with clover?

[jkbuha]

No mate - unfortunately I get the same freezing when I choose PBR, and choosing LegacyBiosDefault I get an error saying "Secure Tianocore" something. Booting UEFI into OSX works fine - even better than BIOS in fact.

My suspicion (and also validated by TW) is that it is due to our faulty (incomplete) UEFI Dell bioses or even possibly a limitation in Clover - unless someone can show us how to correctly *legacy* boot Windows and/or Linux.

Anyone?

EDIT: kasar - can you try booting with the USB drive inserted in the USB2 port, not USB3? I have a hunch...

[kasar]

so, then it is a BIOS limitation instead clover software limitation?

well, anyway I spent some time trying with clover before the xmas, thats why I started to think about hacking a module to hard overclock the machine (default values), OCing this machine CPU was my biggest priority while I started hacking the L502X BIOS, all the other hacks has been made because they were on the way, or also needed, like the recovery methods/cd.

but well, I still want to OC this machine, I doesnt care if I have to flash permament stuff at the bios, I have the programmer and also the recovery cdrom, I also am up for more hardware mods.


about the USB2, USB3, what do you mean?

I have one port at the left, one back, and one at the right side, I dont know how they are labeled.

or are you talking about usb 2.0 and 3.0?

the ones from left and back are 3.0. and the one from the right is usb 2.0/esata combo.

the one from the right is the one where the system load sucesfully the recovery capsule, I also plugged allways the clover usb stick there, and still no luck

I need to OC this thing so badly

my current proccesor is the i3 2310m

2 cores 4 threads, hyperthreading can be disabled thanks to the bios hacks we made.

however I am stuck at the 2100 mhz, if I would up it to at least 2300 or 2400 mhz it would be really nice.

I am a big dolphin emulator's enthusiast, and many games run at 90% speed, I just need a little more to make the amulation perfect

EDIT: is there anyway to send the money from the pledgie back to all people who donated?
and if not posible, would it be posible to donate it to this site?

I remember one of the greatest donations was from thewiz, and also it would be nice to support the forums we are using to make this posible

[jkbuha]

I have 3 ports on my 15z. 2 are USB3, and the other one is a USB2 port but is in the middle of the ESATA port. I guess they put it like that to save space on the thinner chassis. Anyway, when UEFI is disabled I cannot boot via USB from the USB3 drives (I get the Operation System not found error), only from the USB2 drive. Seems like you're getting the same results I am, unless we're both missing something...

[TimeWalker]

Dell has blocked booting of off usb3.0 non-external powered devices while in legacy BIOS emulation, for my Vostro it was as of A07.