Phenom II on Gigabyte GA-M57SLI-S4

[haarp]

Greetings. I am new to BIOS modding.

I'm using an old Gigabyte M57SLI-S4 board (nForce-based AM2 non+). According to Gigabyte, the board has support for AM2 and some AM2+ and AM3 CPUs. For instance, the PhenomII 945 is listed as working, the 955 is not.
http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Support/Mothe...#anchor_os
I tried a 955 anyway because I suspected that it's just missing support because Gigabyte thinks the board can't deliver 125W TDP (it can). The result is that the BIOS won't export any P-States, and the multiplier is hardcoded to 4 (resulting in 800MHz). Regardless of what multi I set or whether Cool'n'Quiet is enabled or not. Even software that can change the FID doesn't work.
So I tried looking into BIOS modding. I learned quite a bit in the last few days, and finally attempted to put a newer AGESA into my BIOS. I took my BIOS ( http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Support/Motherboard/BIOS_DownloadFile.aspx?FileType=BIOS&FileID=15248 ) and replaced the AGESACPU.ROM with one from a newer BIOS of another AM2+ board. The new BIOS flashed and is running fine, however the 800MHz problem remains.

What am I doing wrong? What else do I need to replace? Would someone be so kind to tell me or mod the BIOS for me?
Thanks in advance!


here's the component listing of the unmodified BIOS:

Code:

CBROM182.EXE V1.82 [04/11/07] (C)Phoenix Technologies 2001-2007

              ******** M57SLS42.FHL BIOS component ********

No. Item-Name         Original-Size   Compressed-Size Original-File-Name
================================================================================
  0. System BIOS       20000h(128.00K)  1448Ah(81.13K)  m57sls42.BIN
  1. XGROUP CODE       0EC60h(59.09K)   0A254h(40.58K)  awardext.rom
  2. ACPI table        04E92h(19.64K)   01C07h(7.01K)   ACPITBL.BIN
  3. EPA LOGO          0168Ch(5.64K)    002AAh(0.67K)   AwardBmp.bmp
  4. GROUP ROM[18]     021A0h(8.41K)    018DAh(6.21K)   ggroup.bin
  5. GROUP ROM[20]     00C10h(3.02K)    0097Dh(2.37K)   ffgroup.bin
  6. YGROUP ROM        07540h(29.31K)   04A5Dh(18.59K)  awardeyt.rom
  7. GROUP ROM[ 0]     075B0h(29.42K)   02EE7h(11.73K)  _EN_CODE.BIN
  8. OEM2 CODE         0BE20h(47.53K)   006D2h(1.71K)   BSMICODE.ROM
  9. PCI ROM[A]        0E000h(56.00K)   07519h(29.27K)  NVPXES.NIC
10. PCI ROM[B]        0B800h(46.00K)   06F5Bh(27.84K)  NVRAID.ROM
11. OEM0 CODE         028ABh(10.17K)   01E1Bh(7.53K)   SBF.BIN
12. GV3                08E53h(35.58K)  02FA5h(11.91K)  AGESACPU.ROM
13. MINIT             0EC11h(59.02K)   0EC42h(59.06K)  MEMINIT.BIN
(SP) NCPUCODE          06000h(24.00K)   06000h(24.00K)  NCPUCODE.BIN

  Total compress code space  = 54000h(336.00K)
  Total compressed code size = 52672h(329.61K)
  Remain compress code space = 0198Eh(6.39K)

*** NVMM 4.073.3709/10/07 ◄♥ * Start Offset => 0, End Offset => 4b00 ***

                          ** Micro Code Information **
    Bridge ID                          |     Bridge ID
North    South      Update ID  CPUID  |  North    South      Update ID  CPUID
---------------------------------------+----------------------------------------
     C0012102     0401                  |       1000002     0|

[1234s282]

Hmmm this is interesting , will get a couple of my moderators together and see if we can tackle this

Admin

[haarp]

Wow, thanks a bunch!

I am kind of reluctant to changing to another board, since this board works quite well with Coreboot. But for normal operation, I need a normal BIOS
I even ordered a spare BIOS chip, so if you guys want to do some testing, don't worry, I can do that

[TheWiz]

Hey guys,

A. We LOVE testers with backup chips, so that when something goes wrong there aren't a ton of whiners running to us. Now, I have done some research, and I have determined that an AGESA ROM replacement is not the only thing required. First off, lets get all on the same AGESA version. 3.5.1.0

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1525839/Random/AGESACPU.ROM

Okay, now here is where it gets tricky, and I'm getting there. Let's all do some research on MEMINIT and NCPUCODE. From my studies this is the best way I can describe it. The AGESA is like going to a library, it has all the books you want, but if you don't have an OPAC or a way to find the neccessary book, you are stuck. the MEMINIT and NCPUCODE.bin point the bios to where it needs to go in the AGESA library. The meminit sets the HT DDR speed, and the NCPUCODE.bin sets the call for the proper AGESA code. Sosmetimes this can be hardcoded, but you clearly have the ncpucode.bin in CBROM. We ourselves have been researching this, and I will get back asap when I get an answer.

Thanks
TheWiz

[TheWiz]

Also, try modding your BIOS with this version that is an independent ROM. I don't know if itll work, but give it a go.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1525839/Random/AGESAi.zip

You may also want to wait a day or two until I finish my research though, your call.
TheWiz

[TheWiz]

Another UPDATE: Ignore the second lnik I provided. In order for successful CPU upgrade, you must add a microcode to the Microcode information table for it to call the right one. Once you replace teh GV#, ill find a table of microcode for you to add.

TheWiz

[haarp]

Thanks for working on it

You may also want to wait a day or two until I finish my research though, your call.
TheWiz

It'll be a few days until I have my backup chip, anyway

Another UPDATE: Ignore the second lnik I provided. In order for successful CPU upgrade, you must add a microcode to the Microcode information table for it to call the right one. Once you replace teh GV#, ill find a table of microcode for you to add.

TheWiz

Mhh, I was under the impression that AGESA contains the microcode? But I may be wrong, as I'm clearly no expert on this

[TheWiz]

Wewll, the AGESA has the code, but theres code that references the otehr code lol.

[haarp]

Oh, so you meant the info at the bottom of cbrom, which contains a pointer for an address inside AGESA? Sorry, I was just a little confused

[haarp]

I don't want to appear impatient, but as you can probably imagine, 800MHz is not really comfortable to work at
Any news on this?