(UEFI) Dell XPS 15z L511z modded BIOS - and HOWTO

[kasar]

@kizwan

yeah, we boot bios from the usb stick

to do that, get this tool

http://forums.mydigitallife.info/threads...up-Toolkit

and make a backup of your bios, then rename it to BIOS.cap and place it on the root of a usb stick

poweroff the laptop, unplug the powercord, hold the end key, and plug again the power cord, then relase the end key

the laptop should boot up automatically loading the bios from the usb stick instead the onboard one.

Note: some laptops also load the file from the root of the dvd/cd drive
also building a BIOS.cap image without use the app mentionated before is posible from a bios update.

it is exaplained here like the most of this

http://www.bios-mods.com/blog/unlocked-m...15z-l511z/

[stoffg]

Dear jkbuha and other BIOS Gurus who worked on this mod,

Thanks for the great mod.

Just as an update to all users and readers, this mod is working just keep in mind to spend a little on making a backup before flashing your BIOS.

Started on a XPS 15Z (L511Z) Phoenix SecureCore Tiano
Win8 (64b) i7 2640m

I started from version A11 (actually from A12 but flashed that back to A11, not recommended)
I installed the L511Z_bios_recovery_by_capitankasar.rar tools

Downloaded the modified BIOS version in this thread and unpacked it in the same directory.

ran Winflash and directed it to this package. Program starts reboot and flashing part. However this failed as it detected the package as a older or identical version.
System continues with normal boot, so no damage done.

Second time I tried from the command line after reading jkbuha's comment in this thread, post 11.

Go from command line to the location of Winflash and issue the command

winflash.exe /BIOS /EC /SA /SV /BBL "BIOS1_A12_SPEEDSTEP_UV_FULLMENUS_INTEL.WPH"

winflash reboots and starts flashing process.

Works like a charm


Use the Nvidia Inspector tool to check version.
http://wiki.step-project.com/Guide:NVIDI...__26_Setup

Tx

Stoffg

[jkbuha]

Many thanks Stoffg - good to see the mod working well on a more modern 15z - yours is a 2640m with higher clock speed (mine's a 2720m).

Hopefully we'll be able to soft-unlock BCLK very soon as well, and thus enable overclocking/undervolting!

Happy May Day everyone

[Marinaldo]

yes, pls

[kasar]

well, as far I know, the only wall wich block software unlocking the BCLK, is the descriptor settings, wich block the software to read and write the ME region.

well, anyway, it is recomended to backup the whole chip with a hardware way.

I hard bricked my laptop while trying to unlock the ME overclocking settings.

only way to recover the laptop was hardware program the last working backup of the whole chip.

thats also why is it is so risky do the entire process by software.

1 mistake, and bye bye to the machine, no recovery method will recover a bad ME flash, the cdrom method only cover the BIOS section :/

[oshyman2010]

is that work with inspiron n5110 or just xps ?

[jkbuha]

Just XPS for now oshyman. We haven't managed to crack the n5110 yet as the descriptor tables don't seem to be in that BIOS.

[Brabbelbla]

BTW, has anyone come across a UEFI shell binary that supports the bcfg command and runs on our machines?

And, mostly @ TimeWalker:
I took the BIOS of the Inspiron 15 R SE 7520 model, as AFAIK it supports UEFI booting OOTB. I compared the the FOWM call in the DSDT of that machine with the one in the XPS'es, and they are identical. So that may be a part of the problem, but can't be the true cause. Have an idea of what else it could be?

[thorbsd]

Alright, I've mostly been lurking here, but now my warranty is up and I'm interested in trying out the modded bios on my 15z. I'm just curious as to what I'm actually getting with the mod.

What is in the hidden menus? Anything that will allow me to make this system run cooler?

Looking at GPU-Z, my 525m is using 0.98v. Will having it at 0.83v be unstable at all? It seems like a fairly significant reduction in power.

New CPU microcode really doesn't do anything other than allow you to use a newer CPU (if you somehow managed to swap out the CPU) right?

Is there a good site for information on installing OSX on this computer?

[jkbuha]

hey thorbsd

so in answer to your queries:

1) yes the system will run cooler. much cooler in fact (mine is approx 15C less than stock)
2) 0.83V works perfectly fine on my machine, and I occasionally play cpu-intensive games too
3) CPU microcode is actually for your existing CPU. it updates the cpu 'firmware' at runtime
4) There's lots of OSX tutorials around; a couple were actually written by me specifically for the 15z. GIYF

cheers
jkbuha