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

[kasar]

jkbuha, sad to hear that :/

you mentionated something about using cloverefi to overclocking on the another forums, right?

I supose cloverefi is some kind of bootloader.

I think I can create a bootable clover usb drive, and boot from them, but still need to figure a lot of things.

how exactly I can OC from there? :o

[TimeWalker]

@jkbuha
I've actually thought of that .. F11 menu is nowhere to be found as well, but I made a guide how one could add shell (and I also know how it can be accessed from a hotkey, but I haven't mentioned it to anyone yet .. it's a little nifty trick from dmazar hehe) - you can find in in the Vostro 3450 thread.

You may have a different combo indeed, but if it even starts up from inserted power lead then the key is assumed correct. I have been able to do both - boot with recovery BIOS (and yes, my Vostro has a dedicated End key) and fire up Windows in ATA mode (changing registry settings prior to doing that). I even have a video somewhere linked on previous page ..

[TimeWalker]

Anyone have an idea what the [censored] is this table for?
Mode 1 (640x480): 80 02 e0 01 - 80 11 0e 00 00 03 00 00 08 72 0c 00 d0 07 58 02 0c 72 0c 00 d0 07 f4 01 10 72 0c 00 05 0f 27 00 ff ff - d6 09 80 90 20 e0 1d 10 08 60 22 - 00 00 00 00 00 00 1e 36 7f - 01 00 01 00 00 00 00 0c
Mode 2 (800x600): 20 03 58 02 - 80 11 0e 00 00 03 00 00 08 72 0c 00 d0 07 58 02 0c 72 0c 00 d0 07 f4 01 10 72 0c 00 05 0f 27 00 ff ff - a0 0f 20 00 31 58 1c 20 28 80 14 - 00 00 00 00 00 00 1e 36 7f - 02 00 02 00 00 00 00 0c
Mode 3 (1024x768): 00 04 00 03 - 80 11 0e 00 00 03 00 00 08 72 0c 00 d0 07 58 02 0c 72 0c 00 d0 07 f4 01 10 72 0c 00 05 0f 27 00 ff ff - 64 19 00 40 41 00 26 30 18 88 36 - 00 00 00 00 00 00 18 36 7f - 03 00 03 00 00 00 00 0c
Mode 4 (1280x1024): 00 05 00 04 - 80 11 0e 00 00 03 00 00 08 72 0c 00 d0 07 58 02 0c 72 0c 00 d0 07 f4 01 10 72 0c 00 05 0f 27 00 ff ff - 30 2a 00 98 51 00 30 40 30 70 13 - 00 00 00 00 00 00 1e 36 7f - 05 00 04 00 00 00 00 0c

The first 4 bytes in each sequence are in little endian, inverted hex which translate into the corresponding resolution ... It keeps going on .. with a weird 1440x1050 resolution .... ???

[jwhirl06]

So I'm having trouble installing Windows 7 as an EFI install. Any time I try to boot using EFI only nothing boots. But everything boots up under legacy? Also my installer fails at completing setup with the error "Cannot complete setup on this hardware."

[TimeWalker]

So I'm having trouble installing Windows 7 as an EFI install. Any time I try to boot using EFI only nothing boots. But everything boots up under legacy? Also my installer fails at completing setup with the error "Cannot complete setup on this hardware."

Your HDD probably has to have GPT partition table, not MBR. Ensure it is indeed GPT before you install, otherwise bootmanager will have trouble adding itself to bcfg because it's handle will be empty.

Sent from my LG-P500 using Tapatalk 2

[TimeWalker]

Meh, tried swapping all of the 00 04 00 03 entries to 38 05 00 03 inside the VBIOS -> no luck.

[jwhirl06]

So I'm having trouble installing Windows 7 as an EFI install. Any time I try to boot using EFI only nothing boots. But everything boots up under legacy? Also my installer fails at completing setup with the error "Cannot complete setup on this hardware."

Your HDD probably has to have GPT partition table, not MBR. Ensure it is indeed GPT before you install, otherwise bootmanager will have trouble adding itself to bcfg because it's handle will be empty.

Sent from my LG-P500 using Tapatalk 2

I had set it as GPT from Ubuntu using GParted, however. The problem was that since the Ubuntu install is on my SSD, and Windows was going on the HDD which is in a caddy bay in the Optical Disk Drive slot on the mobo, Windows didn't want to install it. So I pulled the SSD and plugged in the HDD installed windows and then put the SSD back in the slot and the HDD back into the caddy bay.

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Moreover, if I look in the bios in the ODD section, my 500GB hdd is listed there. Whilst the SSD is in the HDD section. That's probably going to be an issue.

[TimeWalker]

Yeah, I've noticed that my Vostro 3450 doesn't have a secondary HDD listed in the Main page either.. whilst the person with a L702x has posted the following screenshot on one of the previous pages:

[jkbuha]

jkbuha, sad to hear that :/

you mentionated something about using cloverefi to overclocking on the another forums, right?

I supose cloverefi is some kind of bootloader.

I think I can create a bootable clover usb drive, and boot from them, but still need to figure a lot of things.

how exactly I can OC from there? :o

It's actually already OCed at that point either a bug or a feature you decide - anyway run a geekbench on whatever os you boot from clover and you should see your CPU peak at ~3.4GHz. It will kill your battery life, but hey, borderlands2 will be much sweeter

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Yeah, I've noticed that my Vostro 3450 doesn't have a secondary HDD listed in the Main page either.. whilst the person with a L702x has posted the following screenshot on one of the previous pages:

Hmm is this with the recovery bios? can you boot into usb at least?

[TimeWalker]

Don't mind, it's nothing .. it's a cosmetic 'bug' when loading a recovery bios. I can boot to anything as long as ATA mode is used .. so OS X would be a problem since it most definitely requires AHCI.
I just pointed out that a secondary HDD can be installed in a L702x for sure, because there is even an entry in the Main bios pane to indicate it's presence .. for me theres just Fixed HDD, Sata ODD and eSata.

I was told that clover uses advanced BiosVideo.efi module (based on EDK) which take VESA to a whole new level, because it obtains EDID from LVDS and determines what is the actual native resolution and then adds it as a new better screen mode for VESA. I've determined through dh that Dell has renamed the driver to SystemVgaDxe.efi but the GUID remains the same .. I'm currently setting up UDK Environment and will compile the BiosVideo.efi from clover and reintegrate it to my rom, create a capsule and see what this brings me.
*Feels like a mad scientist right now. muhahahaha*