Acer Aspire 7551 Change DMI Info

[nic2k14]

Hello all,
I had to replace the board in that notebook, the replacement came from a Gateway NV73A, Windows didn't even flinch and erecovery still works; the only problem is the keyboard function keys are different.

I thought of modding the BIOS, but when I did a file compare on the download from Acer and Gateway I found they were the same. I opened it in Phoenix Editor and I can see that it contains the logo for all the Acer brands and 4 unknown option ROMs. Those might be the keyboard layouts, but how to tell which one is the right one?

I did more research and it appears that I can change the DMI information using phlash16 from the command line. In fact, that is supposed to override the contents of the ROM or the flash file and I wouldn't have to mod anything.

The only problem I have is I don't know what to use with the different switches. Does anyone have the info for an Aspire 7551:

chassis manufacturer DMI string
motherboard manufacturer DMI string
system manufacturer DMI string
OEM DMI string number xx
motherboard product ID DMI string
system product ID DMI string
chassis serial number DMI string
motherboard serial number DMI string
chassis version DMI string
motherboard version DMI string

Thanks.

[nic2k14]

I guess it might help if I give you the means to retrieve that info, use CrystalDMI, it's portable just delete it when your done. If anyone owns an Aspire 7551, I would greatly appreciate if you could select all information in the drop down menu, then click edit->copy and paste it in your reply.

I have another question regarding Phoenix BIOS, is it possible to extract the interface file from a WPH file?

[nic2k14]

200 hundred views and no reply! No matter, I got it working anyway. First, extracting stuff from a WPH; it's possible if you know what to look for. The file appears to be a concatenation of the actual BIOS and the interface information (flash chip programming data and what not). Same goes for the EXE file, it includes Winflash.

If you're looking to replace your motherboard try the crisis recovery method first. If you can get into the BIOS setup, record your SN and UUID.

I never got any version of Winflash to work (including the Acer EXE file), I'd get an error every time I'd try to flash or even access the advanced options menu, so that is a no go to change the boards DMI. For the same reason modding a BIOS file with Phoenix Tools doesn't work either. DOS flashing works, but changing the DMI data doesn't.