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

[TimeWalker]

For some reason Phoenix Tool hates L502x BIOS on my machine, it won't unpack any of the version for this laptop ... so i'm unable to check what I had written above myself ..
@kasar you mind comparing just the modules I've noted with '+" to see if there were any changes from A06 to A09 ?

[kasar]

I think I've found the connector table...

@kasar - I don't have time to do this now (and I dont have a HDMI/DP connector to test at the mo) but if you do, could you try the following:

1) From your original v2104 bios, could you copy range 0xc20-0xd1f into the clipboard
2) Paste it into your new v2130/v2137 bios
3) Reboot & cross fingers.
4) If fail, boot through recovery & flash original bios?

done, I flashed it, and aparently it is working nice.

I picked the 2310 version you uploaded and did that.
no issues at the moment with the external screen

what are the advantages of this version over stock version?

you said it had more VESA resolutions right?

the vbios I flashed on my last experiment is upload as attachment.

no problems yet.

---

I think I've found the connector table...

@kasar - I don't have time to do this now (and I dont have a HDMI/DP connector to test at the mo) but if you do, could you try the following:

1) From your original v2104 bios, could you copy range 0xc20-0xd1f into the clipboard
2) Paste it into your new v2130/v2137 bios
3) Reboot & cross fingers.
4) If fail, boot through recovery & flash original bios?

done, I flashed it, and aparently it is working nice.

I picked the 2310 version you uploaded and did that.
no issues at the moment with the external screen

what are the advantages of this version over stock version?

you said it had more VESA resolutions right?

the vbios I flashed on my last experiment is upload as attachment.

no problems yet.

---

I think I've found the connector table...

@kasar - I don't have time to do this now (and I dont have a HDMI/DP connector to test at the mo) but if you do, could you try the following:

1) From your original v2104 bios, could you copy range 0xc20-0xd1f into the clipboard
2) Paste it into your new v2130/v2137 bios
3) Reboot & cross fingers.
4) If fail, boot through recovery & flash original bios?

done, I flashed it, and aparently it is working nice.

I picked the 2310 version you uploaded and did that.
no issues at the moment with the external screen

what are the advantages of this version over stock version?

you said it had more VESA resolutions right?

the vbios I flashed on my last experiment is upload as attachment.

no problems yet.

---

for some reason I cant post anything now D:

this forums are killing me >.<

[nebster]

Hey,

Great work guys!
I was wondering whether you could add to the first post that the hotkey for the L702X is the end key.
Also, could one of you make a video tutorial or something about modding it? I'm kind of stuck on how to get the names from the dumped files (rather than dumping each one individually and reading it out of the tool). Also, I'm not sure I would be able to reassemble the file correctly...

Thanks,
Nebster

[nebster]

Hey,

Great work guys!
I was wondering whether you could add to the first post that the hotkey for the L702X is the end key.
Also, could one of you make a video tutorial or something about modding it? I'm kind of stuck on how to get the names from the dumped files (rather than dumping each one individually and reading it out of the tool). Also, I'm not sure I would be able to reassemble the file correctly...

Thanks,
Nebster

---

Hey,

Great work guys!
I was wondering whether you could add to the first post that the hotkey for the L702X is the end key.
Also, could one of you make a video tutorial or something about modding it? I'm kind of stuck on how to get the names from the dumped files (rather than dumping each one individually and reading it out of the tool). Also, I'm not sure I would be able to reassemble the file correctly...

Thanks,
Nebster

[kasar]

@nebster
hey nebster

thanks for the info.

so aparently the latest laptops use the same key to initiate the recovery process ^^

if u want I can make a bios recovery CD-rom image for the l702x

that will allow to recover your bios in case of a bad or corrupt flash.


about the modules, well, I made the list for the l502x by hand, checking the files with hex editor and by paste the name on a txt file with notepad.

I took like two hours to make a list for all the l502x modules.

what you want to mod exactly?
if you want to mod the setup menus and unlock advanced options I think I can help you since both laptops have very similar modules

[TimeWalker]

Forums are undergoing some serious database issues right now, also content caching if off again .. pages don't seem to scale to the content being posted.
L702x also has issues with sleep in OSX after certain BIOS version .. so it would be useful to compare it as well, knowing what was the latest version that hadn't the problem and knowing how many L702x users are out there on insanelymac.

Meanwhile ... i'm continuing the second half of my research .. I have like 130 modules to compare and then I need input from L502x users to try backporting some of the modules that may be impacting wake capability.. this will result in a franken-rom lol

[nebster]

Thanks kasar, a CD-ROM would be nice. I am currently playing around with all the options in the modified A18 rom (I converted it into a usb bootable rom and saved the options) so now I have a UEFI-only laptop which boots Windows 8. I have yet to find a nice bootloader (similar to Clover) which works with EFI and the mouse though!

I'm currently writing a program to decompress the EFI ROM and recompile it successfully. I'm still trying to understand some of the specification though. I've nearly got it working on the first layer of the WPH (it decompiles but recompiling is a few bytes bigger somehow and the checksums aren't being computed correctly...)

Soon, I should get down to the level of being able to output the files by filename, allow modification and then package it up again!

Setup menu's are already modded but I would be interested in replacing the menu (if that's easy) with one with a mouse!

[kasar]

@nebster

today I relased a modded bios for the l702x, also the recovery CD ^^, you can find both on following link

http://forum.notebookreview.com/dell-xps...ost8930394

oh, that programs sounds really nice, keep me updated about your progress


well, about a bios with a mouse, probably would be easier to code a entire new bios D:

I saw some of those bioses with mouse on new machines, but well, I dont think they have too much new, just a mouse and more colours than white over blue or grey background ^^

[jkbuha]

L702x updated in first post - thanks!
@kasar/timewalker - can you confirm the patched connector tables are working in the new vbios so i'll update the files?

also - any sign of v2137?

[nebster]

@kasar

Awesome, how come you didn't do it on the A19 BIOS though?