[REQUEST] ASUS TUF A15 FA506IV BIOS Unlock

[KnoxMe]

I'm kinda an experimental die-hard fans myself.
I also have the CH341A Programmer ready.
I have almost zero risk of bricking my laptop so,

You can proceed to pursue this modding.
I'm rooting for you mile:
Thank you so much for your work.

[Sml6397]

Awesome! Thank you for this opportunity! I will make sure to make the most of it and write up a comprehensive tutorial so that others may perform this mod as well when we are done.

I have a few ideas right now.

1.) There is another module named AMITSE that seems to have something to do with which modules are selected to show the BIOS menus. I've seen this in various places. Maybe there is a list of short FormIDs there. I will investigate this further.

2.) We could go crazy and outright swap the code in the setup module with the code in the CBS module and see what happens (either only CBS will show up or nothing will show up in the BIOS Setup Utility). I will also likely need to modify functions that may hide sub-menus based on certain conditions. This would be a quick and easy mod to test tonight if you wish. EDIT: a slightly more elegant approach to this would be to simply switch the GUIDs (16 byte identifier/name for each module) at the tops of the two modules.

No guarantees the second option would work. Even if it does, the ideal final mod will not include such a shortcut method of unlocking the CBS menu.

I will be reaching out to BDMaster for his knowledge on this as well.

[KnoxMe]

I don't mind if we go crazy btw xD.

Also the first option, take a look at Genius239 modded BIOS for ASUS FX505DU, as he successfully integrated AMD CBS into the BIOS.

[Sml6397]

Alright, attached to this post is the GUID-swap mod. One of two results is expected: (1) The CBS Menu is the only menu that shows up. (2) You can enter the BIOS Setup Utility but no menus show up.

WARNING: DO NOT FLASH THIS MODIFIED IMAGE TITLED "FA506IV_Setup-CBS_GUIDswap" IF YOU ARE NOT KnoxMe. IT MIGHT BRICK YOUR COMPUTER.

Two other results are possible, the former due to my incomplete knowledge:
(3) Somehow, the same normal menus show up. (4) Attempting to enter the BIOS Setup Utility causes the computer to stall or crash.

Thank you for the reference. I will check this out.

EDIT: Upon further inspection, it appears that there is a Chipset Menu that I can unlock right now. This should give you some settings to play around with (included the memory frequency one) while you await the bigger mod. I'll unhide that right now.

[Sml6397]

Hello!

I have completed my first attempt at unlocking the Chipset Menu.

It was actually more and less simple than I originally imagined. It was simpler in that I only had to edit two bytes. It was less simple in that the mod required me to "swap" the positions of the Main and Chipset menus. I think there might be a function outside of the Setup module (or some place in the Setup module that is outside the norm that I expect) that defines which menu positions are supposed to be shown vs. hidden. I will investigate this further, though I may need to develop my reverse engineering skills first.

My expectation going into this mod was that there was a SUPPRESS_IF function that makes some kind of comparison that would be hiding the Chipset Menu. This was not the case, which is why I swapped the Main and Chipset menus.

[KnoxMe]

Laptop doesn't boot up at all.
Am I doing anything wrong?

Flashed BIOS via CH341A Programmer V1.4

[Sml6397]

Huh... Guess that didn't work.

Does it try to boot into the OS or show anything on the screen at all?

If not, I'm not sure why it wouldn't boot at all. The mod should only impact the BIOS menus.

I guess reflash the original BIOS dump then. The second mod I posted should work, unlike this one.

[KnoxMe]

Huh... Guess that didn't work.

Does it try to boot into the OS or show anything on the screen at all?

If not, I'm not sure why it wouldn't boot at all. The mod should only impact the BIOS menus.

I guess reflash the original BIOS dump then. The second mod I posted should work, unlike this one.

Do you have any recommended tools for using CH341 programmer?

I even tried flashing original BIOS, but my device doesn't start up at all.

[Sml6397]

Huh... Guess that didn't work.

Does it try to boot into the OS or show anything on the screen at all?

If not, I'm not sure why it wouldn't boot at all. The mod should only impact the BIOS menus.

I guess reflash the original BIOS dump then. The second mod I posted should work, unlike this one.

Do you have any recommended tools for using CH341 programmer?

I even tried flashing original BIOS, but my device doesn't start up at all.

No worries. We will try a few different things. Your backup is consistent for sure. The AFU (software) and SPI (hardware) backups are consistent with each other and the double-dumps were identical. This puts you in a great position.

Let's start with the programming software. I am assuming you used the software that came bundled with the programmer with a name something like "CH341A - USB Programmer 1.30" (maybe with a different version number at the end). I have found that AsProgrammer works better. You can find a github link to this program as well as a tutorial on how to use it here: https://www.onetransistor.eu/2018/11/use...ndows.html

Let me know if the program is in Russian and the "Language" menu (spelled in English) at the top has no contents. I fixed this somehow, but I don't remember what I did. However that was resolved, I have an English copy if you need it.

After clicking "Read ID", take a picture of the resulting values in the bottom left corner of the window. Please post them here if this upcoming flash attempt doesn't work. This will allow me to verify the clip has a good connection with the chip and the chip is being identified properly.

To flash the chip, click "Programm IC". This will likely take more than 30 seconds.

Try this with one of the SPI backups ("FA506IV.rom" or "FA506IV_backup.rom") and one of the software backups ("A15original.rom").

I expect this to work since you were able to get a consistent backup earlier, but if it doesn't either (1) you need to remove the CMOS battery while flashing or (2) your BIOS chip requires 1.8v or 3.3v instead of the 5v (I believe) supplied by default by the CH341A. If you post the numbers on your BIOS chip, we may be able to look up the chip and its requirements.

If your chip requires 1.8v, then a modification will have to be performed on your CH341A or you'll need to purchase the 1.8v adapter for the CH341A.

Let me know how it goes.

[KnoxMe]

Huh... Guess that didn't work.

Does it try to boot into the OS or show anything on the screen at all?

If not, I'm not sure why it wouldn't boot at all. The mod should only impact the BIOS menus.

I guess reflash the original BIOS dump then. The second mod I posted should work, unlike this one.

Do you have any recommended tools for using CH341 programmer?

I even tried flashing original BIOS, but my device doesn't start up at all.

No worries. We will try a few different things. Your backup is consistent for sure. The AFU (software) and SPI (hardware) backups are consistent with each other and the double-dumps were identical. This puts you in a great position.

Let's start with the programming software. I am assuming you used the software that came bundled with the programmer with a name something like "CH341A - USB Programmer 1.30" (maybe with a different version number at the end). I have found that AsProgrammer works better. You can find a github link to this program as well as a tutorial on how to use it here: https://www.onetransistor.eu/2018/11/use...ndows.html

Let me know if the program is in Russian and the "Language" menu (spelled in English) at the top has no contents. I fixed this somehow, but I don't remember what I did. However that was resolved, I have an English copy if you need it.

After clicking "Read ID", take a picture of the resulting values in the bottom left corner of the window. Please post them here if this upcoming flash attempt doesn't work. This will allow me to verify the clip has a good connection with the chip and the chip is being identified properly.

To flash the chip, click "Programm IC". This will likely take more than 30 seconds.

Try this with one of the SPI backups ("FA506IV.rom" or "FA506IV_backup.rom") and one of the software backups ("A15original.rom").

I expect this to work since you were able to get a consistent backup earlier, but if it doesn't either (1) you need to remove the CMOS battery while flashing or (2) your BIOS chip requires 1.8v or 3.3v instead of the 5v (I believe) supplied by default by the CH341A. If you post the numbers on your BIOS chip, we may be able to look up the chip and its requirements.

If your chip requires 1.8v, then a modification will have to be performed on your CH341A or you'll need to purchase the 1.8v adapter for the CH341A.

Let me know how it goes.

Tried again with AspProgrammer, Chip detected as Gigadevice LQ128C_1.8V and Yes, I'm using 1.8v power to supply the BIOS Chip and I've removed battery cable before flashing or dumping the BIOS.

I think the problem is the former program that was used to dump and flashing the bios. i have a good backup from AFUWIN too, Hope it works.