Alienware M17x R1

[scook9]

I would love to unlock any and all overclocking related menus in this BIOS. I looked at the strings file and saw A LOT of options that look like they could be beneficial. If someone were to help with this I could do all the testing needed on my notebook as well as make a generous donation to show all of my appreciation

Also, if possible, I would love to add GPU support for a few cards although I know that may be a lot more difficult.

Here is a link to the download page for the bios.
http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/download.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&releaseid=R293843&SystemID=Alw_lp_M17x&servicetag=&os=BIOSA&osl=en&deviceid=19197&devlib=0&typecnt=0&vercnt=8&catid=-1&impid=-1&formatcnt=0&libid=1&typeid=-1&dateid=-1&formatid=-1&source=-1&fileid=438965

Thanks!

[TheWiz]

The GPU support will definitely be more tricky, but I have been researching the unlocking aspect and think I can make a nice MOD for you. Do you have a spare chip to do your testing with you sounded like you can't brick it which is always nice to know

Thanks,
TheWiz

[TheWiz]

Update: Unfortunately I am getting the infamous PSI Analysis failure message. I will keep attempting this.

TheWiz

[scook9]

I do not have a spare chip but it is not my primary computer either so I can do a crisis recovery most likely in the event of a failure

I have 4 computers right now, so downtime is not the end of the world for me.

[TheWiz]

Hey there,

Thanks to the help of mods kizwan has already completed, there is a mod available for this BIOS already. This was taken form the notebook review forum kizwan helps out at.

Alienware M17
(Based on Bios 029 from zfactor's)
Added/Unlocked:
- Unhidden Virtualization menu
- Unhidden SpeedStep (EIST) menu
- Unhidden Frequency Ratio menu (CPU internal frequency ratio)
- Replaced the Intel splash screen with original Alienware splash screen
- Update "DMI Strings" to original value (alienware)

Alienware M17

TheWiz

[kizwan]

Hi TheWiz,

That is BIOS image for M17, not M17x. Sorry for the confusion.

[TheWiz]

LOL woops, any way to get around the PSI Analysis error then?

TheWiz

[scook9]

When are you seeing that error? Because I have been able to open and view the bios fine so far using Phoenix Bios Editor PRO Release 2.2.1.3

I just have no clue how to edit it

[TheWiz]

I think I must have tried opening the wrong extracted file all this time! I'll retry asap.

[scook9]

I was just opening the A06.rom that is inside the exe from dell. Their exe just extracts everything to a folder in c:/dell/RXXXXX