Bios Help + Bios Editing

[CompMod]

Hi

I have a Dell Inspiron E1505 that I purchased less than 2 years ago and purchased it almost totally decked out. Unfortunately, I didn't know I purchased the laptop at the end of that chassis/chipset design as they switch over to the 965 instead of the 945 chipset. I have always been displeased with the ATI x1400 video card which is a shared 256mb (hypermemory) video card which utilizes your ram for the additional video memory.

Being that I enjoy cracking open electronics and modifying them I under took the task of retrofitting a Dell 8600m gt card. I had to desolder the NIC port on the board as well as the wireless apdapter port on the motherboard and the wireless card attachment on the board. I made a 1/4 inch thick custom copper heatsink that mounts where the stock heatsink went. I had to do a bunch of other tweaks but it looks to be good and you can't tell from the outside that anythings been modded. I will be getting a wirless and ethernet card that slides into the side of the pcmcia slot of my laptop.

Now the problem I can't get my laptop to take nvidia's 8600m gt video drivers. I think this is because my bios doesn't recognize the card. When I enter Dell's bios, it states under video settings (can't modify them)

Video Controller = Unknown
Video Bios Version = .060.084.050.000.002.000
Video Memory = 256mb


I believe that my bios is reading the card since it picks up that my 8600m gt card is 256mb of video ram.

SO the question is, how can I get my bios to pickup the card. I checked under device manager and it shows my video controller (VGA as having 14mb). I ran the vista score test and it gave me a 1 in graphics score so its definitely not working.

In a nut shell, Need to get Dell inspiron E1505 with an ati x1400 card to read a Dell 8600m gt card. I have the latest E1505 bios version which is A17. I was thinking of flashing my motherboard with a inspiron 1520 bios or a XPS M1530 bios, but the chipset is a different family and that could render my motherboard dead. I'm also considering flashing my MB bios with a Intel 945pm series bios which might work as wel..

I originally posted this in the mobile part of this forum, but thought this could apply to desktops as well. I think their is only 3 ways to attack this problem and I'd appreciate any constructive feedback you guys might have

Current system is Dell E1505
T7200 processor
4 gb ddr2 6400 (not installed yet, have just 2gb in their this moment)
320gb Hard Drive
WSXGA+ screen
ATI X1400 video card (8600m GT trying to get it up and running)

As you can see this laptop is still a very good system and I'd like to get it back up and running.


A) Flash bios with the inspiron 1520 which replaced my laptop and supported this video card. The flaw to this is that the MB chipsets are different 945 vs 965. They share lots of similarities though.

B) Flash bios with non dell bios and use instead intels 945 bios. This hyperthetically would allow me to change cpu specs and should allow driver support. Downside of this would be for sure that my OS would no longer be valid and I'd need to either put Win 7 on it or put a new vista cd key on. Theirs also potential for the bios not to take and I'd have to buy a new bios chip and solder it on my MB since its soldered on. Its only an 8 pin chip so I shouldn't have to much of an issue with this.

C) Find a utility that can read Dell Bios's and find whats different in the Dell Insiron 1520 and copy that section to my E1505 bios. THen flash the bios and hopefully it'd work.


Anyone know of a bios utility that I can use to edit the MB bios?

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Pics Added




















I think I'm on to something. So I've been doing a bunch of google searching and came upon a program that can read Pheonix Bios.


I took a snapshot of my stock ATI X1400 VGA card (in the laptop) and the picture shows it below, then I took a picture of the 8600m gt in the laptop as well. Tonight or tomorrow I'll be heading over to my sisters place to install the software and take a snapshot of her inspiron 1720 (which is using the same 8600m gt card).

ATI X1400 Pic




Nvidia 8600m GT Pic




Sisters 8600m GT Pic (soon to come)

[1234s282]

hmmm well firstly i thank you for providing me with so much information!

Id initially ignore options A and B as these are extremely risky and have at least a 90% failure rate

Sometimes you can get away with flashing a non oem bios or a bios from another machine but its very risky so im going to try option C first (Take Video card support out of one bios and add it into the E1505 , replacing the stock video bios). I thought only Wifi / WWAN cards had a whitelist as most people do not bother changing laptop video cards , due to the modding required. Seems there also may be a video card whitelist then!

I have extracted the A17 bios into modules and have 3 VGA roms in front of me. One refers to Intel - possibly an integrated chipset feature or an extra display port??? (PLEASE CLARIFY!). One VGA rom is ATI the other is NVIDIA - possibly because Dell shipped several similar versions of this laptop but changed graphics cards (like you stated above , a very similar model supports the nvidia 8600m GT where as yours came with the Radeon 1400.

I have also extracted the A09 bios from the Inspiron 1720 and strangely couldnt find a VGA module

Following the idea from wifi whitelist il reverse ven dev and subsys ids into hex and then perform a hex search , if i find soemthing then i could in theory swap the data over. Your laptop wouldnt support the old 1400 but something tells me you would mind that

Il get back to you on this

Regards
Admin

[CompMod]

hmmm well firstly i thank you for providing me with so much information!

Id initially ignore options A and B as these are extremely risky and have at least a 90% failure rate

Sometimes you can get away with flashing a non oem bios or a bios from another machine but its very risky so im going to try option C first (Take Video card support out of one bios and add it into the E1505 , replacing the stock video bios). I thought only Wifi / WWAN cards had a whitelist as most people do not bother changing laptop video cards , due to the modding required. Seems there also may be a video card whitelist then!

I have extracted the A17 bios into modules and have 3 VGA roms in front of me. One refers to Intel - possibly an integrated chipset feature or an extra display port??? (PLEASE CLARIFY!). One VGA rom is ATI the other is NVIDIA - possibly because Dell shipped several similar versions of this laptop but changed graphics cards (like you stated above , a very similar model supports the nvidia 8600m GT where as yours came with the Radeon 1400.

I have also extracted the A09 bios from the Inspiron 1720 and strangely couldnt find a VGA module

Following the idea from wifi whitelist il reverse ven dev and subsys ids into hex and then perform a hex search , if i find soemthing then i could in theory swap the data over. Your laptop wouldnt support the old 1400 but something tells me you would mind that

Il get back to you on this

Regards
Admin

You don't know how good it is to hear that someones had some luck here. I have posted this on around 5 forums so far and you have got the furthest so far.

Posted on
Hardforum.com
Xtremesystems.com
Dell laptop hardware forum
mydigitallife.com
and finally this one

Here's a bit of infor on the Dell E1505 Systems. The E1505 came with 2 motherboard options the 945GM (integrated graphics) and the 945PM (has a PCI-E proprietary slot, doesn't use MXM slot)

The 3 video card options for the boards are

945GM (integrated graphics)

945PM (nvidia 7300go and the better ati X1400 card)

Those were the only 3 video card options for this laptop and I purchased the best one. Following the redesign of this model with a new chipset they allowed up to a 8600gt card and they also allowed an 8400 card.

I'm not sure if it matters but I know this card was used in the 1520 models and 1720 models along with the XPS M1530's and a host of other dell models.

Any other questions let me know and I'll get back to you ASAP

---

I forgot to say, my motherboard does have a VGA out port to hook up to another monitor, but it still uses the graphics card. IF theirs no video card in the pc, nothing displays out of the VGA Port

[1234s282]

Hmm another discovery :-

Unknown video vendor Unknown video card ATI Technologies Inc. ATI Radeon 7500 ATI Radeon 9000 ATI Radeon 9600 Series ATI Radeon 9650 ATI MOBILITY Radeon X600 ATI MOBILITY Radeon X300 ATI M24GL ATI M28P ATI Mobility Radeon X800 XT ATI MOBILITY Radeon X1300 ATI MOBILITY Radeon X1400 ATI MOBILITY Radeon X1800 RS400M 300 /14 ATI Radeon Xpress 1270 ATI Radeon Xpress 1250 NVidia Corp. NVIDIA GeForce 4 Go NVIDIA GeForce4 4200Go NVIDIA QuadroFX NVIDIA GeForce FX Go5600 NVIDIA GeForce FX Go5650 NVIDIA GeForce FX Go5100 NVIDIA GeForce FX Go5200 NVIDIA GeForce FX Go5700 NV37 NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Go NVIDIA GeForce Go 6800 Ultra NVIDIA Quadro FX Go1400 NV43 NV44 NVIDIA GeForce Go 7800 NVIDIA GeForce Go 7800 GTX NVIDIA GeForce Go 7900 GS NVIDIA Quadro FX 2500M NVIDIA Quadro FX 1500M NVIDIA GeForce Go 7900 GTX NVIDIA GeForce Go 7300 Quadro NVS 120M Quadro FX 350M NVIDIA NB8P-GS NVIDIA Quardo FX 1600M Quadro NVS 130M Quadro NVS 140M Quadro FX 360M NVIDIA NB8M-SE NB8M-GS Intel Corp. Intel Crestline Graphics

Thats what i found in the middle of a bios module. Wondering if simply editing text would correctly identify the card?

Admin

[CompMod]

Hmm another discovery :-

Unknown video vendor Unknown video card ATI Technologies Inc. ATI Radeon 7500 ATI Radeon 9000 ATI Radeon 9600 Series ATI Radeon 9650 ATI MOBILITY Radeon X600 ATI MOBILITY Radeon X300 ATI M24GL ATI M28P ATI Mobility Radeon X800 XT ATI MOBILITY Radeon X1300 ATI MOBILITY Radeon X1400 ATI MOBILITY Radeon X1800 RS400M 300 /14 ATI Radeon Xpress 1270 ATI Radeon Xpress 1250 NVidia Corp. NVIDIA GeForce 4 Go NVIDIA GeForce4 4200Go NVIDIA QuadroFX NVIDIA GeForce FX Go5600 NVIDIA GeForce FX Go5650 NVIDIA GeForce FX Go5100 NVIDIA GeForce FX Go5200 NVIDIA GeForce FX Go5700 NV37 NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Go NVIDIA GeForce Go 6800 Ultra NVIDIA Quadro FX Go1400 NV43 NV44 NVIDIA GeForce Go 7800 NVIDIA GeForce Go 7800 GTX NVIDIA GeForce Go 7900 GS NVIDIA Quadro FX 2500M NVIDIA Quadro FX 1500M NVIDIA GeForce Go 7900 GTX NVIDIA GeForce Go 7300 Quadro NVS 120M Quadro FX 350M NVIDIA NB8P-GS NVIDIA Quardo FX 1600M Quadro NVS 130M Quadro NVS 140M Quadro FX 360M NVIDIA NB8M-SE NB8M-GS Intel Corp. Intel Crestline Graphics

Thats what i found in the middle of a bios module. Wondering if simply editing text would correctly identify the card?

Admin

That very well could be. I'll check to see when Nvidia released the 8 series GPU cards and when Dell first implemented them.

[banana19]

Hmm another discovery :-

Unknown video vendor Unknown video card ATI Technologies Inc. ATI Radeon 7500 ATI Radeon 9000 ATI Radeon 9600 Series ATI Radeon 9650 ATI MOBILITY Radeon X600 ATI MOBILITY Radeon X300 ATI M24GL ATI M28P ATI Mobility Radeon X800 XT ATI MOBILITY Radeon X1300 ATI MOBILITY Radeon X1400 ATI MOBILITY Radeon X1800 RS400M 300 /14 ATI Radeon Xpress 1270 ATI Radeon Xpress 1250 NVidia Corp. NVIDIA GeForce 4 Go NVIDIA GeForce4 4200Go NVIDIA QuadroFX NVIDIA GeForce FX Go5600 NVIDIA GeForce FX Go5650 NVIDIA GeForce FX Go5100 NVIDIA GeForce FX Go5200 NVIDIA GeForce FX Go5700 NV37 NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Go NVIDIA GeForce Go 6800 Ultra NVIDIA Quadro FX Go1400 NV43 NV44 NVIDIA GeForce Go 7800 NVIDIA GeForce Go 7800 GTX NVIDIA GeForce Go 7900 GS NVIDIA Quadro FX 2500M NVIDIA Quadro FX 1500M NVIDIA GeForce Go 7900 GTX NVIDIA GeForce Go 7300 Quadro NVS 120M Quadro FX 350M NVIDIA NB8P-GS NVIDIA Quardo FX 1600M Quadro NVS 130M Quadro NVS 140M Quadro FX 360M NVIDIA NB8M-SE NB8M-GS Intel Corp. Intel Crestline Graphics

Thats what i found in the middle of a bios module. Wondering if simply editing text would correctly identify the card?

Admin

That very well could be. I'll check to see when Nvidia released the 8 series GPU cards and when Dell first implemented them.

hmm if this route fails, you could try a video card bios editor and change the product id to one thats in the list. It may let you install the drivers. It would have less of a chance of having to get a new bios chip.

p.s. you have any pics of the mods you did on the inside?
Nick

[CompMod]

Hmm another discovery :-

Unknown video vendor Unknown video card ATI Technologies Inc. ATI Radeon 7500 ATI Radeon 9000 ATI Radeon 9600 Series ATI Radeon 9650 ATI MOBILITY Radeon X600 ATI MOBILITY Radeon X300 ATI M24GL ATI M28P ATI Mobility Radeon X800 XT ATI MOBILITY Radeon X1300 ATI MOBILITY Radeon X1400 ATI MOBILITY Radeon X1800 RS400M 300 /14 ATI Radeon Xpress 1270 ATI Radeon Xpress 1250 NVidia Corp. NVIDIA GeForce 4 Go NVIDIA GeForce4 4200Go NVIDIA QuadroFX NVIDIA GeForce FX Go5600 NVIDIA GeForce FX Go5650 NVIDIA GeForce FX Go5100 NVIDIA GeForce FX Go5200 NVIDIA GeForce FX Go5700 NV37 NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Go NVIDIA GeForce Go 6800 Ultra NVIDIA Quadro FX Go1400 NV43 NV44 NVIDIA GeForce Go 7800 NVIDIA GeForce Go 7800 GTX NVIDIA GeForce Go 7900 GS NVIDIA Quadro FX 2500M NVIDIA Quadro FX 1500M NVIDIA GeForce Go 7900 GTX NVIDIA GeForce Go 7300 Quadro NVS 120M Quadro FX 350M NVIDIA NB8P-GS NVIDIA Quardo FX 1600M Quadro NVS 130M Quadro NVS 140M Quadro FX 360M NVIDIA NB8M-SE NB8M-GS Intel Corp. Intel Crestline Graphics

Thats what i found in the middle of a bios module. Wondering if simply editing text would correctly identify the card?

Admin

That very well could be. I'll check to see when Nvidia released the 8 series GPU cards and when Dell first implemented them.

hmm if this route fails, you could try a video card bios editor and change the product id to one thats in the list. It may let you install the drivers. It would have less of a chance of having to get a new bios chip.

p.s. you have any pics of the mods you did on the inside?
Nick

I'll consier that option if need be. I can solder pretty well so if the bios chip is trashed, I'll just resolder a new 8 pin SOIC chip on and flash the chip before hand so no harm done.

I have Alex on here via Instant messanger working on the bios as we speak.

I'll provide pictures later.

---

This is what my normal ati X1400 card shows up in the bios as

[CompMod]

Hmm another discovery :-

Unknown video vendor Unknown video card ATI Technologies Inc. ATI Radeon 7500 ATI Radeon 9000 ATI Radeon 9600 Series ATI Radeon 9650 ATI MOBILITY Radeon X600 ATI MOBILITY Radeon X300 ATI M24GL ATI M28P ATI Mobility Radeon X800 XT ATI MOBILITY Radeon X1300 ATI MOBILITY Radeon X1400 ATI MOBILITY Radeon X1800 RS400M 300 /14 ATI Radeon Xpress 1270 ATI Radeon Xpress 1250 NVidia Corp. NVIDIA GeForce 4 Go NVIDIA GeForce4 4200Go NVIDIA QuadroFX NVIDIA GeForce FX Go5600 NVIDIA GeForce FX Go5650 NVIDIA GeForce FX Go5100 NVIDIA GeForce FX Go5200 NVIDIA GeForce FX Go5700 NV37 NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Go NVIDIA GeForce Go 6800 Ultra NVIDIA Quadro FX Go1400 NV43 NV44 NVIDIA GeForce Go 7800 NVIDIA GeForce Go 7800 GTX NVIDIA GeForce Go 7900 GS NVIDIA Quadro FX 2500M NVIDIA Quadro FX 1500M NVIDIA GeForce Go 7900 GTX NVIDIA GeForce Go 7300 Quadro NVS 120M Quadro FX 350M NVIDIA NB8P-GS NVIDIA Quardo FX 1600M Quadro NVS 130M Quadro NVS 140M Quadro FX 360M NVIDIA NB8M-SE NB8M-GS Intel Corp. Intel Crestline Graphics

Thats what i found in the middle of a bios module. Wondering if simply editing text would correctly identify the card?

Admin

That very well could be. I'll check to see when Nvidia released the 8 series GPU cards and when Dell first implemented them.

hmm if this route fails, you could try a video card bios editor and change the product id to one thats in the list. It may let you install the drivers. It would have less of a chance of having to get a new bios chip.

p.s. you have any pics of the mods you did on the inside?
Nick

I'll consier that option if need be. I can solder pretty well so if the bios chip is trashed, I'll just resolder a new 8 pin SOIC chip on and flash the chip before hand so no harm done.

I have Alex on here via Instant messanger working on the bios as we speak.

I'll provide pictures later.

---

This is what my normal ati X1400 card shows up in the bios as

Looks to be a bit off

[gabiz_ro]

Most probably Unknown video vendor Unknown video card ATI Technologies Inc. ATI Radeon 7500 .....
is a part of some text module so it's useless .
Even if bios doesn't identify video card,if is working well windows will install drivers if a match is found.
Latest two pictures (RW everything X1400 and 8600m) that is chipset registers, is not vbios

Check into inf files for exact device strings if doesn't exactly match don't work.Nvidia installer checking for subsys too if doesn;t match result is no compatible drivers found.
Usually nvidia decompress instalation into some folder on drive C ex C:\nvidia
Take a note of nvidia card device id something like
PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0407&SUBSYS_20021028

Locate this folder and look into inf files for if there exist exact match then that solution don't work but could be probable some similar like
PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0407&SUBSYS_20031028
but in that case installer doesn't accept to install drivers because of different subsys.

Locate few instances into inf referring to your hw id and make them simple,just remove subsys part
PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0407&SUBSYS_20021028 become PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0407

save modification then go to device manager select standard vga adapter- update drivers and poit search to respective folder.

Give me a link to drivers you want to install to take a closer look.

[1234s282]

Also gabiz_ro,

We tried downloading the latest dell drivers , because this is a dell 8600m gt card. The dell. inf files contain the correct subsys id references where the nvidia ones dont but the error message still occurs

Regards
ADmin