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

[TimeWalker]

Ash, or @ashp as he's known here, has shared some knowledge with me in terms of Intel VBIOS modding, turns out *there's an app for that*. The tool is called Intel Bios Modification Program (or BMP for short). There's some documentation to accompany it, which fortunately is more easily obtainable then the actual software. As it doesn't seem like the app is really out there in the wild, I won't be uploading it for security reasons, 'cause it's Intel's inside stuff you know, and by the looks of it even Dell don't seem to have it, otherwise they wouldn't have rolled back VBIOSes due to screen test issues and ePSA failing for range of other reasons.

The script files (bsf) used by BMP and actual blank stock Intel VBIOSes come bundled with Intel's Windows XP 64-bit VGA drivers, here's an archive full of them.
This one for example comes bundled with script for VBE 2089: http://wikidrivers.com/wiki/Intel_GMA_14.46.0.5313
Unpack vbios_pgm.zip, the *.bsf file is a script to preserve configuration of the current VBIOS (which has to be of same or similar version), the *.dat file is a blank stock Intel VBIOS binary, which can be used to apply the OEM settings to and pack it into the firmware.

Ash went down the following route IRRC:
- Using 2089 script he has pulled config from my OEM 2098 (notice the versioning is not the same), configuration is stored in an *.ssf file
- Using 2108 script (this is still SNB-only VBE) he has patched my settings from 2098 OEM to a blank 2108 from Intel
- Pulled settings again from just patched 2108 using the 2108 script
- Applied 2108 SNB-only settings onto a blank 2119 SNB/IVB
- Pulled settings from 2119 he just had patched using the 2119 script
- Applied settings to from 2119 to a blank 2158
There're some minor hiccups along the way, because some settings are absent from newer VBIOSes, hence you have to alter the resulting *.ssf config files when going from some lower version to a higher, especially if it's a transition from SNB-only to an SNB/IVB combo VBIOS.

After carrying over all of the settings from my OEM 2098 SNB-only VBIOS, Ash was able to patch Intel's stock 2158 SNB/IVB combo VBIOS and now I get high resolutions as well as proper brightness controls, backlight level and port setup. Which I give him huge props for this!
This is not a guide by any means, but hopefully I'm leaning in a right direction, some things can be a little misleading or off as I wasn't doing this myself.

[Florin9doi]

you say you have Intel BMP ??

[jkbuha]

Yes but I can understand if TW cannot distribute them because of confidentiality.

Would be good to see if we can find ssf files for the 2158 bios in the wild...

[ashp]

Yes but I can understand if TW cannot distribute them because of confidentiality.

Would be good to see if we can find ssf files for the 2158 bios in the wild...

@jkbuha it's highly unlikely we will see ssf files in the wild or floating around the internet because these files are not typically distributed as settings vary from laptop to laptop. typically the laptop manufacturers will follow the hardware spec and use BMP to setup the VBIOS for that particular machine. Assuming they do it that way I doubt they have ssf templates. ssf is handy for developers who are upgrading VBIOS etc.

Just to clarify the process, initially when I showed TimeWalker how he can use the tool to upgrade his VBIOS and not lose brightness etc... BMP was throwing out nasty errors line 12 into 24 and all sorts. Also this BMP program is buggy and will not allow you to save selected setting it just crashes. so I asked if he can provide me with his V2098 BIOS. I loaded this into BMP along with the V2089 build script from winxp_1446 drivers (hard to find, thanks wiki drivers). old intel drivers are really hard to find and i could not locate VBIOS 2098 so I had to use the next best thing which is 2089 build script. I saved all the settings and then I applied the settings to 2108 to see if it throws up errors. All went well, then I tried 2119 as it is the next common firmware present. I used the same 2089 ssf and all went well. Then I knew 2158 will give a message asking to check settings file as 4 lines do not transfer well into the new firmware,
PAGE TV Features
$Under_Over_Scan_Via_DVI 00 has changed to $Under_Over_Scan_Via_HDMI 00
and 3 entries $Int_EFP1_Dongle_Detect 01, $Int_EFP2_Dongle_Detect 01, $Int_EFP3_Dongle_Detect 01 have been removed option not present in new firmware. I removed these lines from the V2089 settings file and it loaded correctly.

The only thing I forgot in excitement was to set the chipset to sandybridge and change the signon message to the correct one.

but despite this I could not manage to get full screen resolution in clover so it must be to do with my machine. need to hack my insyde bios maybe,TW found a good BMP guide for award bioses,

If anyone wants BMP send me a PM. I do not want to post it on forums.

cheers.

TW keep working hard I know you can solve this

[jkbuha]

Hey ashp

Thanks for the detailed update. The vbios config is a very peculiar one as it depends on bios versions as well as laptop variants. For example the default version of v2137 didn't enable my DP & HDMI ports but the v2158 did. Ideally we'd be able to 'extract' an ssf file from an existing and fully functioning vbios ( eg such as my original v2104 or else this latest v2158) and use that as a template that we can apply to other/future bios versions. I also have an issue with default EDID and brightness in OSX, both of which can be solved using EDID overrides and display sleep respectively, but ideally we'd be able to patch them directly using this tool via a properly configured ssf.

On a performance note - would we be able to overclock the vbios in this way, or would it still be dependent on the native FSB?

Anyways, thanks for this - very useful!

[kasar]

yeah, overclocking the HD 3000 graphics would be awesome

I has been doing more tests relating to the ME firmware.
previous page tools I posted seems that I can just read parameters, but cant write anything, so I probably will use that tool to look for changes at the firmware.
I will get back to fitc

since I cant pass that error, I will start from the firmware timewalker posted long time ago (the one he managed somewhere to output it)

http://www.mediafire.com/?m2g631wi74uaa99

I can perfectly modify and build that image with fitc 7.1.20.1119

I will try to mess with fitc and then I will try reintegrate the me firmware manually by hex copy/paste, will let you guys to know if I get something.

as allways help is also welcome

[kasar]

ok .., I got it why you version works and mine does not.

you sent me a ME 8 version of the firmware while I was trying to enable oc on mine.

that explains why it it can be edited and why my machine got bricked probably while using ftw to use it.

I noticed about this while opened your modified FW image with FITC





mine ask version 7

in other words, while I was trying to mod my firmware version and patch it to enable oc, you sent me a different firmware than the one I sent you

[kasar]

woot, I think I got it

well, I didnt enabled OC yet, but I managed to make changes at the ME firmware with some hex editor help ^^

- I opened any of my BIOS dumps with FITC

- a subdirectory were created automatically in a subdirectory from FITC with the name of the opened rom, if you go to the undecomp folder, the me region will be there as ME Region.bin (mine was 820 kb)

copy that file to anywhere, I renamed and attached mine to this post as completedump_me.bin.

also attached the pics of a modded desktop bios settings wich I modded on mine.

well, here is the tricky part.

this is how I managed to make the changes at my ME firmware bypassing that error.


1 - open FITC
2 - load completedump_me.bin (820 kb) on FITC
3 - make changes on ME settings, select compact image option at build options and generate imagen , and error will appear, click OK
4 - now copy the outimage.rom file FITC just generated (896 kb) to somewhere
5 - open outimage.rom with hxD hex editor
6 - select block (ctrl + e) 0 - FFFF
7 - delete selection
8 - select block (ctrl + e) CD000 - D0000 (end of the file)
9 - delete selection
10 - now your file is also 820 kb like the original one ^^ (this procedure may change a little if you use a different image than mine)

now if you open outimage.rom with FICT, you will see all your changes got saved

now I am going to try reintegrate manually the outimage.rom into the whole chip image and see if I can get this thing working finally after flash the modded chip image with the hardware flasher

wish me luck ^^


EDIT:

WHOOPS: forgot to attach the files, also fixed some hex addresses ^^

http://www.mediafire.com/?i8mwa0ys63zdyju

[TimeWalker]

what the heck ... ? so this was a mistake from my side all along ? I admit I may have screwed up, but what I did back then was change bytes in the ME firmware to a newer version. The're is this version string right at the start of the firmware: 07 00 01 00 34 00 98 04 which translates to the following:

[kasar]

edited my previous post *

mmm, well, you sent me some edited full chip images.
I am talking just about the ME firmware update you uploaded to me at the page 94 of this topic

http://www.bios-mods.com/forum/Thread-UE...TO?page=94

post 937

I think that was I flashed while my laptop got screwed and I had to desolder everything again and the chip got burned due excesive heat due soldering/desolderings.

I checked for the hex string 07 00 01 00 34 00 98 04 on the firmware you uploaded on that post, and it didnt found anything, also FITC is very clear about that while opening the file. asking the ME version is 8.0.2.1410

08 00 00 00 02 00 82 05 can also be found at the header of the file