Sony Vaio VGN-AR61E Phoenix BIOS R2080J8 (12/26/2007) (SLiC 2.0)

[Sml6397]

Hello Boost,

I have replaced the previous example BIOS with an updated image. It now contains the "Penryn CPU Control Sub-Menu" "ICH Workarounds:" (primary menu) "MCH Workarounds:" (primary menu) "frequency ratio:" (CPU multiplier option) and keyboard settings.

So far the "ICH Workarounds:" parent menu looks strange. The frequency ratio option can be changed (even with the NVRAM registers!), but doing so will have no real effect as the setting is locked by the CPU PLL lock.

As before, this is just an example BIOS meant to be emulated in Phoenix BIOS Editor. DO NOT FLASH THIS IMAGE.

Thank you for the links. The PDF contains very useful descriptions of the BIOS settings and how they interact with the system.

EDIT: Post #13 contains a flashable modified BIOS image.

I enjoy reading about changing bits and numbers at the right location with the hex editor, but sadly I dont have the time right now to explore any deeper. Changing hex-values with instructions is one thing, but finding these is another story. So Im really glad there are people on the net that actually know what they are doing.
Im amazed by the amount of sub-sub-sub menus in my phoenix BIOS and can imagine why these options arent there for the "standard-user".

I guess the flash didnt happen, because of the platform data missing. Hence the message "error reading ROM".
Thank god this tool doesnt just flash data files you point at, without asking or testing file integrity.
I would really like to see the result of "Back up system BIOS ROM". (platform data - yes or no)

Good to know our phoenix BIOS ROMs are similar and Im ready for the next mod of yours, to be viewed in the phoenix tool.

Thanks for your support, I really appreciate that !
This is an exciting adventure into the land of BIOS!

[Boost]

Really looking forward for the result(s) !

So the previous BIOS you sent to me, already had the Merom-CPU-Control-SubMenu and you managed to add the Penryn Menu ?
I wouldnt mind having both menus, in case I switch CPUs one day.

Thanks for the time and work you are putting into this !

[Sml6397]

Hello Boost,

This post contains the modified R2080J8 BIOS Image. I am going to have Yen check it one last time even though I have already checked it many times to confirm it safe (as this is my first real BIOS mod on somebody else's machine).

EDIT: Yen has verified this image and so have I. THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN TESTED AND CONFIRMED WORKING BY BOOST.

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R2080J8_BIOSfiles.rar Contents:


R2080J8.wph: This is the BIOS image that Boost flashed onto his notebook. He has confirmed that it works.

R2080J8_mod.wph: This is the modified BIOS file. It was created using the included "R2080J8.wph" image.

SLIC.log: This is the log file of the unpacking and repacking processes (PhoenixTool v2.50).

Default.txt: This is the NVRAM Token Table dump that Boost obtained using symcmos.

TEMPLAT00_original.ROM: This is the untouched TEMPLAT00.ROM module.

TEMPLAT00.ROM: This is the modified TEMPLAT00.ROM module.

README.txt: This file contains a changelog/documentation of the BIOS modification.

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Links:

R2080J8_BIOSfiles.rar:
  R2080J8_BIOSfiles.rar (Size: 1.09 MB / Downloads: 78)

[Sml6397]

Boost has verified that the modified BIOS image from post #13 of this thread WORKS.

Currently Unresolved issues that I am looking into to fix:

•The "frequency ratio" option does not appear under the advanced menu
-This is likely due to a function that hides it, this shouldn't be too difficult to fix
•The "MCH Workarounds:" Menu appears, but you cannot enter it, it just skips over it to the next menu
-I currently have no idea why this happens

[Sml6397]

Hello Boost,

Thanks to bios-mods members 'We of Us', I have been able to test out a new type of mod that I recently discovered. I can now expand the Main Menus of BIOS's anywhere from 8 items up to 41+ items.

I plan on applying this mod to your BIOS image. I will be modifying the modified BIOS image that you flashed from post #13 of this thread.

Before I implement the change, I am going to upload a text file of all of the new and old items in the Main Menu so that you can reorder them to your liking. I will try to order them logically before I release the text file, so that you can easily "fine-tune" it.


~Steven

[Sml6397]

Hello Boost,

When gathering the information required to begin the Main Menu mod for your BIOS, I found that apparently, your BIOS has two "System Memory"s...

I am ready to perform your Main Menu mod. If you would like to customize the order of the new items in your Main Menu, please download the text file at the bottom of this post, modify it to your liking, and then reupload it to this thread. Please DO NOT change ANY of the hex characters in the file (anything after the brackets in each line are hex characters). These are the offset links that will make these items appear. Cut and paste each line to the place in which you want it to appear. Add line breaks between lines to signify where you want spaces in your BIOS menu.

I tried to logically group settings together, but you may still want to make modifications.

[Sml6397]

Hello Boost,

I have finished the Main Menu mod based on the orderings specified in the text file from the previous post. If you still wish to customize it, please modify the text file and re-upload it. I have also included an image of what the emulated menu looks like at the bottom of this post.

Now that I have finished the initial reorganizing of the TEMPLAT module near the beginning, all I have to do is swap around a few bytes for each customization.

In the mean time, I am going to look for other settings that I can add to this BIOS. I think that I found some "Spread Spectrum" settings that can be added to the Intel Menu.

I wonder if the reason why, in your BIOS menus, the 'MCH Workarounds:' menu gets skipped over in navigation, is that all settings under that menu are hidden. If they are all hidden, then there is nothing for the BIOS menu to display and it wouldn't make any sense to allow the user to enter it. Due to the standard behaviour of the BIOS menus, there must always be an item selected in a menu. If there are no items, there is nothing to select.

There are two ways that the above can be tested:

1.) I can place the menu's contents under another menu that functions normally (Workaround Control Sub-Menu).
2.) I can "unhide" one or more of the hidden settings.

I will probably try the first "workaround" first. If this does not work, then I will try the second solution to test my theories:

1.) There must be a selectable item within a BIOS menu in order to enter it.
2.) If there is nothing in a menu/sub-menu, the BIOS will deny access to it and not necessarily for the reason in the first theory.

[Boost]

The main menu looks well organized and already shows the "most important" infos on the main page ! =)
I dont see any reason to make changes to it.

What exactly would I have to imagine about my BIOS having "2 system memorys" ?

I understand that if there is no (sub)menu item, the parent menu makes no sense and cant be selected.
Probably I will never ever need MCH workaround...but who knows xD

I think this mod already has everything I can imagine.
If you find a solution to unhide RAID or are able to add menus from the other Phoenix BIOS post (#100 on MDL),
feel free to do so.

And if I should take apart this VAIO one day, Il have a closer look at the PLL, as it would be really great to overclock CPU and/or the NVIDIA from within the BIOS. "Riva Tuner" works like a charme from within Windows 8.1 Pro, but I have no idea how it would access these values and why it is able to "ignore/pass" the PLL here.

Im ready to flash when you are.

[Boost]

Heya SML ! :'D

What about these menuitems from a 1998 laptop ^^

https://www.bios-mods.com/forum/Thread-S...5G-R0114R5

do you think these could be added/ported to this VAIO as well ? Or too old ? ^^

Any progress on the RAID menu btw ? =)

[Sml6397]

Hello Boost!

Does the setting that controls RAID actually show up in your real Advanced Menu? If so, is it grayed out or is it accessible and the option is just hidden?

When I say setting, I am referring to something like "Vaio Animation Logo." When I say "option," I am referring to the items that you could set your setting to (in the previous example, you could set the setting to the options of "enabled" and "disabled").

I will take a look at this tomorrow. I will be busy tonight.