Seeking informations to get started with Phoenix

[u.cpcag]

Hi there, nice to be registered in this forum at last.
Currently i have a disassembled LG s900-laptop lying around and wonder if it's worth the effort to use it in a casemod-project. Therefore i need to access some (hidden) BIOS-features, most urgent of all would be to get the initial display-signal to VGA-out instead of LVDS. These are the points that leaves me puzzled at the moment:

-BIOS-file is named *.IMC instead of whp or rom... or did i get the wrong file at last ?
-To use the PBE tools i will definetly need an WIN-installation or might be an virtual box running DOS be sufficent enough (my systems are all Linux-based...) ?

Tried several combinations to maybe find an advanced menu (CTRL + X), no luck, searched several websites, including these forums for maybe a little hint; documentation/support from LG sucks, to be friendly at this point...
Current BIOS Version is called ZUGSSF0A, latest seems to be ZUGSSF08 (attached, had to rename it to *.zip), setup identifies itself as "Phoenix TrustedCore".
Any suggestions/help would be appreciated.
Thx & best regards, Andy

  ZUGSSF08.zip (Size: 1.01 MB / Downloads: 17)

[Anaesthisia]

My girlfriend has an LG S900 that was originally delivered with Windows Vista but has since been upgraded with Windows 7.
I wanted to expand the memory in it from 2GB to 4GB, since that was what Kingston's memory configurator said would work.
I couldn't get my hands on Kingston memory straight away, so I tried with Corsair. Putting those modules in, the laptop started with a blank screen(no initial text about entering BIOS etc), but the Windows sound was played as should.

Starting with only one of the 2GB modules works.

What I wonder is if this is likely a problem with the BIOS version, or if those new modules are faulty? They do work in an HP laptop from the same era, and I used them to upgrade that computer from 3GB to 4GB since the Windows version has been reinstalled as 64-bit.

The BIOS version in the LG S900 is stated as ZUGSSF02, and there seem to be at least upgrades to ZUGSSF08 and ZUGSSF0A available, with higher EC versions accompanying them(whatever EC is).

Anyone familiar with what features have been introduced in the BIOS for the LG S900, and in what versions?

Or could the problem lie with chipset drivers or with anything else, including the memory modules? I did try the LG S900 also with the odd old pair from the HP laptop, and that didn't work at all. There was a blank screen and no Windows sound. Those modules were from Ramaxel and Netlist.

Regards,

A

[TheWiz]

Kingston's memory configurator sometimes likes to lie. You need to go to the LG website and check to see what the maximum memory supported for that particular machine is. It very well could be that the model chipset does not support that much memory (surprisingly enough). Normally chipset drivers don't have anything to do with it.

Regards,
TheWiz

[Anaesthisia]

Kingston's memory configurator sometimes likes to lie. You need to go to the LG website and check to see what the maximum memory supported for that particular machine is. It very well could be that the model chipset does not support that much memory (surprisingly enough). Normally chipset drivers don't have anything to do with it.

From what I can see, the chipset should support 4GB of RAM. There could be other limitations, of course, like the BIOS? I wouldn't expect Windows Vista to be able to use more than 3GB, but a successful memory expansion could make me upgrade to 64-bit W7.

LGs claim is 2GB, but several memory configurators all claim 4GB. If a BIOS update would make it happen I would possibly try that. Then, if there is no BIOS supporting 4GB I might as well give up since pretty much everyone has likely abandoned this machine by now.

Regards,

A