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

[TimeWalker]

Could someone describe the steps required to set the BIOS to IDE mode? I can't see the BIOS on my external monitor so I need "blind" instructions for setting IDE mode and saving changes in BIOS.

Thanks!

Load up a recovery capsule, it will start your windows in IDE (ATA) mode. Then you can go into registry and change Start key values to support both ATA and AHCI modes simultaneously. Read a few pages back, the recovery capsule creation process as well as necessary registry edits have been discussed a couple of pages back.

[jkbuha]

Great work kc - am downloading your iso and modifying it for the 15z now

With regards to your question, your bios should be updated with all the relevant microcodes that are supported. From my procedure outlined above, just do a search for all the microcodes in the bios from the filenames dumped by the microdecode tool, and just replicate the steps I mentioned for each relevant microcode

I'm also interested to explore your XTU scenario by inserting new modules - I think we could realistically investigate the theory of inserting other modules into the bios which allow for faster performance or enhanced sleep. Let me know your thoughts and I could start working on a possible solution.

[TimeWalker]

mmm

timewalker mentionated something in order to fix the sleep feature, since some users said the sleep feature is broken at the latest bios updates, I was thinking on doing the same.

those are the modules I found related

Code:

SystemAcpiS3SaveDxe.efi 2BDED685-F733-455F-A840-43A22B791FB3_1_114.ROM
PlatformS3SaveDxe.efi 51D4BACC-E70A-4136-9426-546973ED938C_1_892.ROM
PlatformS3Save.efi F5AC7057-5650-466E-B692-76A47223EFB0_1_887.ROM
SystemS3ResumePei.efi 8BCEDDD7-E285-4168-9B3F-09AF66C93FFE_2_1395.ROM

so, basically if I replace those A11 modules with the A06 modules I should get the sleep feature working back on A11 version, right?

At least this is my theory.
I see no other way of the sleep/wake cycle breaking for both Vostro and XPS series laptops after certain bios version just due to the fact that XPS uses nVidia and Vostro uses AMD Switchable Graphics .. so it can't be due to the graphics implementation changes as some assumed. I thought it was due to USB 3.0 changes (how they made USB 3.0 devices non-bootable if they have no external power), but it wasn't for that either. So it obviously has something to do with S3 state .. Now according to Dell's research both XPS L502x and V3450 exhibit an unusual behavior with sleep/hibernate in Windows 8 (XPS wakes from blank screen and vostro just wakes immediately by itself) ..
By the way new bios for L502x has been released today, it's A12:
Fix system resume from S4 automatically after upgrade to Windows 8.

do this mean the laptop have now ivy bridge support? or I have to add another microcode file? can we add more than 1 microcode file at the bios?

I noticed some microcode files are bigger than others, for example, the one I used was 2kb, and the size was exactly the same as the one in the bios (the next bytes were all FF FF FF ....)

the question is, how I can have a bios with support for all mobile sandy bridge and ivy bridge proccesors.

We have a tester around, the smartest move to test this would be supply the tester with an edited BIOS file. Update the rest of the ucodes in the same manner.
For me the 0x14 ucode my A04 bios (which I had modified) has is 1FFFh in size, whereas 0x28 is 23FFh in size. So I had to slap some FF FF FFs away in order to fit the ucode update in the rom. My A11 bios on the other hand has 0x23 embedded which is 23FFh in size as well ..

[kasar]

A12 bios relased for L502X?, oh, those are great news

I think people will be happy if I relase a A12 modded bios for l502x with the current mods + the microcode one

however dell site drivers zone isnt loading for me today D:

ok, got the page working but the download isnt working now, the ftp trick doesnt work at this time :/


oh, about editing the iso jkbuha, dont forget to edit also the repair.bat script inside i386/system32/ folder.

its the only file I added/modified after the root folder.

about the root folder, well, replace the BIOS.cap file with yours for the 15z and the flasher files too, dont forget to modify also the bios1.wph ^^


I also made a custom autorun.inf and icon file, feel free to modify them too

[TimeWalker]

Thanks for the package, kasar. Good job!
I already modified and burned a DVD, now it resides on my shelf of emergency items lol.

The Dell support page is being bombed right now because Windows 8 was released like 2 hours ago.
I barely completed my checkout .. now in process of downloading the sucker ...


Even though I don't have any drivers for it nor a proper bios update

[kasar]

thanks timewalker

arrgg, I want that bios from dell so abdly, hacking it the same day it got relased would be a new record hehe

I think I will stick to windows 7 for some time, I have very little hdd free space and also I dont want to reconfigure everything, also windows 7 works fine so I have not reason for update yet ^^

let me know if you can get the bios recovery method working for your laptops by modifing the ISO I provided

oh, and here is a modded l502x A11 bios with updated microcodes

http://www.mediafire.com/?n6ka6tu6upg79nt

it is the same I am using right now, it contain some voltage tweaks for the 525m, native speetsteep, and unlocked menus ^^

it would be nice if paralel or another user with a l502x and a ivy bridge proccesor can try it ^^

[TimeWalker]

I already did confirm - it works like a charm. I wouldn't have bothered burning it if it hasn't worked hehe.
I believe they have FTP issues, uhm .. it's like they have added all the info to their support page but the FTP server is missing all the files or at least mayoralty of them .. http://ftp1.dell.com/Pages/Drivers/Laptops

[kasar]

ah oks

^^

oh, and thanks for the ftp link, I can see all of the stuff now, and yes, you are right, they didnt even uploaded the file right now, it seems like we are so fast

[HairyCube]

If you connect to the FTP directly (i.e. not using a browser), you can see a bunch of directories called FOLDER......... in the root folder. These are the uploads that haven't been sorted yet. I'm pretty sure all new stuff is in some of these folders, as I was able to get the Dell+AMD graphics driver for Vostro 3450 from one of these folders. I wonder if anyone can do a search through this FTP, because I'm sure the BIOS update is there. It's just that I don't know of any good FTP client with search functions

[kasar]

i dont know about the advanced search functions but

you can use windows integrated ftp client

open "my pc"
open one of your hard disks

paste this at the windows file explorer's bar

Code:

ftp://ftp1.dell.com/

^^