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

[kasar]

mmm, I have some questions first.

what do opening the xml with fitc does? (I allways altered the settings manually on fitc)

well, I supose it already changes a lot of stuff since it already changed the flashspace from 4 to 16 and other settings

however, it messed a lot the VSCC table with my original dump, I had 6 flash devices listed on the VSCC table.
by opening your xml file it list now only 4 devices on the VSCC table. (I supose that isnt good)

I noticed it also removed my Overclock tweaks from ME region settings :o

is there any way to do this manually by altering just the required settings?

I supose it is just to alter the flash space from 4 to 16, make some minor tweaks on the VSCC table.

and maybe other small tweaks.

[kasar]

here is my dump if you want to compare it with yours

http://www.mediafire.com/download/kagpip..._l502x.rar

[follow_me]

what do opening the xml with fitc does? (I allways altered the settings manually on fitc)

This is just settings I've changed

well, I supose it already changes a lot of stuff since it already changed the flashspace from 4 to 16 and other settings

It changed only flash space but baset on my firmware

however, it messed a lot the VSCC table with my original dump, I had 6 flash devices listed on the VSCC table.
by opening your xml file it list now only 4 devices on the VSCC table. (I supose that isnt good)

It doesn't matter how many did you have
It uses only one , found by device ID , so there can by only one device an it would be totaly fine

I noticed it also removed my Overclock tweaks from ME region settings :o

Yes , because it is based on my dump , and I don't have this tweaks

is there any way to do this manually by altering just the required settings?

Yes, you can - you should set flash density to 16M, set VSCC record to be Hi 0x40 Lo 0x18 , and adjust bios region size (I've set 0x00762000)

[kasar]

so, if I do those, nothing else will be neccesary?

wich VSCC will be neccesary to edit?

is posible to add another VSCC record and preserve existing ones and get it working?

or I need to edit one of those?

about the bios region size.

you mean the "bios region lenght" option at the fict bios region folder over the bios binary input file?


and about fill the 4 mb with the 16 mb size, will fitc do this, or I need to do it manually?

[kasar]

ok, I think I figured it by myself

I also decided to keep the other profiles, and I added another profile named number 7 with following settings.

that plus modifing 4 mb to 16 and also the bios region lenght to the one you said.



pressed F5 , it gave me an error, "configuration parameter size missmatch", however, it gave that error also while modding the ME region, and it worked anyway, so I decided to skip it too and try luck, I also disabled the "compact image" at build options, so it generate a full 16 mb image, (not sure if good since they may be something uncompresed wich may cause this to fail but well, the chip is being programed meanwhile I type this message, it take like 30 mins per each program, and more if I verify the flash from the file.)

but well, hopefully I will be able to test it tomorrow

edit: spipgm and spipgmw still seems to have issues, from windows, so I will proceed to flash from flashrom from pure DOS on a desktop machine, it was the only way with previous chip.
so will try the same with the 16 mb chip, however it takes huge time per flash >.<

[follow_me]

the chip is being programed meanwhile I type this message, it take like 30 mins per each program, and more if I verify the flash from the file.)

O_o

Irecomend you to buy something like this

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odkw=spi...0&_sacat=0

It is much faster and easier to use

[kasar]

yeah, that flasher would speed things a lot, I also woulnt need LPT computers anymore, that would be interesting.

ok, have some news.

sadly, some of my chip legs got broken.

so I have just 1 working 16 mb chip now.

this means if the remaining chip get damaged too, I will not be able to test more stuff relating bigger flash until I get spare ones.

well, relating the tests.

I was unable to get the machine booting.

however, I noticed the leds turned on like normally, and the fan go to max speed when I connected the working 16 mb chip, but not image output.

this doesnt happen when no chip is installed or bad connected.

did you got yours working?

I suspect we have to try the compact image thing, however it output a 8 mb image with our settings and compact image selected at the FICT build options

[Florin9doi]

http://forums.mydigitallife.info/threads...post866356

[kasar]

mmm, then it seems it wasnt as easy as it seemed

It can be used but BIOS itself must be modified too. It's Intel-based board, so BIOS image must be altered in many places:
1. FirstChipDensity value in component section of the descriptor, there are possible values:
Code:

#define FLASH_DENSITY_512KB 0x00
#define FLASH_DENSITY_1MB 0x01
#define FLASH_DENSITY_2MB 0x02
#define FLASH_DENSITY_4MB 0x03
#define FLASH_DENSITY_8MB 0x04
#define FLASH_DENSITY_16MB 0x05

2. New chip must be added to VSCC table in the descriptor to enable normal operation for ME code.
Both 1 and 2 can be edited using Intel FITC 8.xx.

3. Boot firmware volume must be moved to the end of new BIOS space, so the last byte of Volume Top File (the last FFS file in BFV) will also be the last byte of new BIOS space.
It can be done with any HexEditor.

4. All uncompressed PEI files in BFV must be rebased to their new locations to maintain executable-in-place constraint.
It can be done with UEFITool or MMTool.

Every BIOS update must be threaten the same way, so my answer for the topic starter: it's possible, but pointless, too much work for nothing.

also I dont know how to do the steps 3 and 4 exactly


what about you follow_me, did you made any progress with yours?

[follow_me]

what about you follow_me, did you made any progress with yours?

I've buit image, but not flashed it at the time , because I don't have a quich flash aceess mod like you
And I woun't have access for a couple of weeks (will have a vacation) , so , will see you when I'll back