[REQUEST] Acer Aspire GX-281 BIOS Unlock

[dr_science]

Hi,

I just got an Acer GX-281 with the new Ryzen, and the bios is totally locked down, and virtualization is locked out.  I upgraded to R01.A2 but no changes.  Is there an unlocked bios?   Is it as simple as using the AMIBCP program to read the bios, unlock, and save a new version to flash?

This is the dmidecode output :

BIOS Information
        Vendor: American Megatrends Inc.
        Version: R01-A2
        Release Date: 07/18/2017
        Address: 0xF0000
        Runtime Size: 64 kB
        ROM Size: 16 MB
        Characteristics:
                PCI is supported
                BIOS is upgradeable
                BIOS shadowing is allowed
                Boot from CD is supported
                Selectable boot is supported
                BIOS ROM is socketed
                EDD is supported
                5.25"/1.2 MB floppy services are supported (int 13h)
                3.5"/720 kB floppy services are supported (int 13h)
                3.5"/2.88 MB floppy services are supported (int 13h)
                Print screen service is supported (int 5h)
                Serial services are supported (int 14h)
                Printer services are supported (int 17h)
                ACPI is supported
                USB legacy is supported
                BIOS boot specification is supported
                Targeted content distribution is supported
                UEFI is supported
        BIOS Revision: 5.12

[feluchi]

Hi,

I just got an Acer GX-281 with the new Ryzen, and the bios is totally locked down, and virtualization is locked out.  I upgraded to R01.A2 but no changes.  Is there an unlocked bios?   Is it as simple as using the AMIBCP program to read the bios, unlock, and save a new version to flash?

This is the dmidecode output :

BIOS Information
        Vendor: American Megatrends Inc.
        Version: R01-A2
        Release Date: 07/18/2017
        Address: 0xF0000
        Runtime Size: 64 kB
        ROM Size: 16 MB
        Characteristics:
                PCI is supported
                BIOS is upgradeable
                BIOS shadowing is allowed
                Boot from CD is supported
                Selectable boot is supported
                BIOS ROM is socketed
                EDD is supported
                5.25"/1.2 MB floppy services are supported (int 13h)
                3.5"/720 kB floppy services are supported (int 13h)
                3.5"/2.88 MB floppy services are supported (int 13h)
                Print screen service is supported (int 5h)
                Serial services are supported (int 14h)
                Printer services are supported (int 17h)
                ACPI is supported
                USB legacy is supported
                BIOS boot specification is supported
                Targeted content distribution is supported
                UEFI is supported
        BIOS Revision: 5.12

Hi!
You can try to enable AMD-V via EFI. Just format any USB flash drive to FAT32. Extract attached archive to the your new already formatted USB flashdrive.
It should create a new folder structure like this:
F:\EFI\BOOT\BOOTX64.EFI
Reboot Into BIOS setup menu for configurations.
Next step to do is to set BIOS to allow booting from USB-stick.
Boot from an EFI USB disk.
If done correctly, you should be greeted with a message saying something like:

Code:
Welcome to GRUB!
Entering rescue mode...
error: file not found
grub rescue>

Enter needed Variable overrides.
Now that we have the GRUB console, we need to enter the following command:

setup_var  0x10D  0x1

Then click Enter.
After you have done this command restart the machine with Ctrl Alt Del buttons combo and boot into Windows as normal.
Done.

[dr_science]

Hi,

I just got an Acer GX-281 with the new Ryzen, and the bios is totally locked down, and virtualization is locked out.  I upgraded to R01.A2 but no changes.  Is there an unlocked bios?   Is it as simple as using the AMIBCP program to read the bios, unlock, and save a new version to flash?

This is the dmidecode output :

BIOS Information
        Vendor: American Megatrends Inc.
        Version: R01-A2
        Release Date: 07/18/2017
        Address: 0xF0000
        Runtime Size: 64 kB
        ROM Size: 16 MB
        Characteristics:
                PCI is supported
                BIOS is upgradeable
                BIOS shadowing is allowed
                Boot from CD is supported
                Selectable boot is supported
                BIOS ROM is socketed
                EDD is supported
                5.25"/1.2 MB floppy services are supported (int 13h)
                3.5"/720 kB floppy services are supported (int 13h)
                3.5"/2.88 MB floppy services are supported (int 13h)
                Print screen service is supported (int 5h)
                Serial services are supported (int 14h)
                Printer services are supported (int 17h)
                ACPI is supported
                USB legacy is supported
                BIOS boot specification is supported
                Targeted content distribution is supported
                UEFI is supported
        BIOS Revision: 5.12

Hi!
You can try to enable AMD-V via EFI. Just format any USB flash drive to FAT32. Extract attached archive to the your new already formatted USB flashdrive.
It should create a new folder structure like this:
F:\EFI\BOOT\BOOTX64.EFI
Reboot Into BIOS setup menu for configurations.
Next step to do is to set BIOS to allow booting from USB-stick.
Boot from an EFI USB disk.
If done correctly, you should be greeted with a message saying something like:

Code:
Welcome to GRUB!
Entering rescue mode...
error: file not found
grub rescue>

Enter needed Variable overrides.
Now that we have the GRUB console, we need to enter the following command:

setup_var  0x10D  0x1

Then click Enter.
After you have done this command restart the machine with Ctrl Alt Del buttons combo and boot into Windows as normal.
Done.

will try. I normally boot linux & use grub so this makes sense.   Will this modification survive rebooting as well?

[feluchi]

will try. I normally boot linux & use grub so this makes sense.   Will this modification survive rebooting as well?

Yes of course. Only after after you set "Default Settings" in bios setup menu, or bios update it will be remove.

[dr_science]

will try. I normally boot linux & use grub so this makes sense.   Will this modification survive rebooting as well?

Yes of course. Only after after you set "Default Settings" in bios setup menu, or bios update it will be remove.

You sir are a magician, no - a wizard.   On reboot the /dev/kvm is now active, and in Windows too.   Where do you find these lists of memory addresses to toggle?

[ojiz1]

Hello!

I want to overclock my ram, but the bios is hard locked. It is AMI : RO1-A4 version. My guestion is that can novice like me open that Bios? Is it even possible? I know that I can ruin my computer, but i need new motherboard anyway so ready for try.

[Lost_N_BIOS]

Please add images of your BIOS, one image of each main page (put in zip). This way I can see which sections you have visible vs not, so I know which tabs need enabled.

Or, you can do as mentioned above and change it using grub with setup_var, or via AMIBCP @ Setup >> Chipset >> North Bridge >> Memory Configuration >> Memory Clock

Here's the variables you can use via grub/setup_var
Memory Clock, VarStoreInfo (VarOffset/VarName): 0x136, VarStore: 0x1, QuestionId: 0x146, Size: 1, Min: 0x0, Max 0x7, Step: 0x0 {05 91 1D 01 1E 01 46 01 01 00 36 01 10 10 00 07 00}
One Of Option: Auto, Value (8 bit): 0x0 (default) {09 07 1F 01 30 00 00}
One Of Option: 800MHz, Value (8 bit): 0x1 {09 07 20 01 00 00 01}
One Of Option: 1066MHz, Value (8 bit): 0x2 {09 07 21 01 00 00 02}
One Of Option: 1333MHz, Value (8 bit): 0x3 {09 07 22 01 00 00 03}
One Of Option: 1600MHz, Value (8 bit): 0x4 {09 07 23 01 00 00 04}
One Of Option: 1866MHz, Value (8 bit): 0x5 {09 07 24 01 00 00 05}
One Of Option: 2133MHz, Value (8 bit): 0x6 {09 07 25 01 00 00 06}
One Of Option: 2400MHz, Value (8 bit): 0x7 {09 07 26 01 00 00 07}

So you use >> setup_var 0x136 0x?
At the ? you enter 1-7 whichever speed you want to try (So setup_var 0x136 0x4 as an example for 1600Mhz)

[ojiz1]

Please add images of your BIOS, one image of each main page (put in zip).  This way I can see which sections you have visible vs not, so I know which tabs need enabled.

Or, you can do as mentioned above and change it using grub with setup_var, or via AMIBCP @ Setup >> Chipset >> North Bridge >> Memory Configuration >> Memory Clock

Here's the variables you can use via grub/setup_var
Memory Clock, VarStoreInfo (VarOffset/VarName): 0x136, VarStore: 0x1, QuestionId: 0x146, Size: 1, Min: 0x0, Max 0x7, Step: 0x0 {05 91 1D 01 1E 01 46 01 01 00 36 01 10 10 00 07 00}
One Of Option: Auto, Value (8 bit): 0x0 (default) {09 07 1F 01 30 00 00}
One Of Option: 800MHz, Value (8 bit): 0x1 {09 07 20 01 00 00 01}
One Of Option: 1066MHz, Value (8 bit): 0x2 {09 07 21 01 00 00 02}
One Of Option: 1333MHz, Value (8 bit): 0x3 {09 07 22 01 00 00 03}
One Of Option: 1600MHz, Value (8 bit): 0x4 {09 07 23 01 00 00 04}
One Of Option: 1866MHz, Value (8 bit): 0x5 {09 07 24 01 00 00 05}
One Of Option: 2133MHz, Value (8 bit): 0x6 {09 07 25 01 00 00 06}
One Of Option: 2400MHz, Value (8 bit): 0x7 {09 07 26 01 00 00 07}

So you use >> setup_var 0x136 0x?
At the ? you enter 1-7 whichever speed you want to try (So setup_var 0x136 0x4 as an example for 1600Mhz)

My current ram speed is now 2400Mhz and I want to overclock my ram as high as possible because I hace ryzen 1700x and it works better with faster ram. I tried your example but something went wrong. Any solutions with this mobo/bios (maybe modded bios?) to overclock higher than 2400 Mhz? In zip is what you asked to send and the grub setup_var error.

[Lost_N_BIOS]

You'll either have to try other grub, or wait for mod BIOS, but mod BIOS will only allow you to set 2400.

Here is other grub files to try, so you can see if one work this way since other regular one failed.
Rename these one at a time and use same command, except one you use setup_var2 and try, then other use setup_var3
var2 - http://brains.by/posts/grub_setup_var.7z
var3 - https://github.com/datasone/grub-mod-set...BShell.efi

Anyway, highest option is 2400, even in CBS Menu option is less than that (2000MHz max there)

[fabiohuerta]

Hey. I would like to oc my ryzen cpu,  and possibly ram but the bios acer provides is completely locked. I know that i can brick my hardware by doing so, i am familiar with it.. I would like to know if there is any way to unlock this bios for oc? Because i know it has a b350 chipset. and i can oc on ryzen master but it doesn't save the oc because the mobo is locked. But i also can't change the ram speeds on ryzen master, i have already upgraded to 3200mhz ram but i have it stuck at 2400 because of this .. It's not a really big issue if my motherboard passes , because that's literally the only thing i remain to upgrade on this pc , but would be nice if i can push some stuff with this motherboard and save some cash

Thanks in advance