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

[jkbuha]

of course we are!
(or at least I am still interested hehe ^_^)

heyyyy Ahmed hope you did well in your exams! Importantly they're all over now!

As kasar said, of course we're still interested in the mods - let me know when you have something to test

Cheers
jkbuha

[kasar]

yeah, I also hope your exams went fine

what are the chances of getting CPU OC features by modding the BIOS?

xps 15 (l502x) and xps 15z uses second generation sandy bridge proccesors, and I heard OC mobile versions of those proccesors is hard.

however I heard there is a small chance of overclocking the BCLK, that will be minor OC but would be interesting anyway.

[AHMED HOSSAM]

Thank you all

I have started the disassembly of the setup module today and i have reached few results and i hope its correct
try this modified bios and see if any menu has disappeared or any thing had changed in the setup utility :-

http://www.mediafire.com/?sacgwaqajw13l6n

its based on the 550M mod in first post .

and here is link to the setup module and the CRISIS RECOVERY module
i haven`t started disassembling the crisis module but thought that any one can help in this

http://www.mediafire.com/?22uu2n0rpuyx6ka

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And please notice that this bios may brick the setup utility

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there will be alot of mods to reach our final aim

[kasar]

whoah, that was fast, as I can see your reputation is well known for a reason

this bios, is it for the 15z? or for the l502x?

also, as soon we get the recovery process working, I will start flashing mad tests

edit: oh, since you said it is based for the 550 one I supose it will be the 15z version, so all I can do is wait for the user feedback/pictures ^^

what changes did you made then?

and how I can implement them at the l502x bios version?

[AHMED HOSSAM]

upload the bios file for the l502x and i will see if it can be modified .

all the changes is that i have deleted what i think its a menus ........... if you see the menu is deleted then i`m on the right way and i`m in the routine where menus are initialized but if you didn`t notice changes or noticed changes other deleting one menu then i`m wrong in my assumption .

the recovery here is only the module not the process or the method as i haven`t checked this .

[kasar]

yep, I knew that was just the module, Its just that everytime I flash something at the bios without a recovery method avalible my hearth get socked ^^

http://www.mediafire.com/?aqe27y8ycgm66x3

here you go, this is the version I modded (just added a little text at the phoenix bios setup top, and modified the vbios)

[jkbuha]

all the changes is that i have deleted what i think its a menus ........... if you see the menu is deleted then i`m on the right way and i`m in the routine where menus are initialized but if you didn`t notice changes or noticed changes other deleting one menu then i`m wrong in my assumption .

the recovery here is only the module not the process or the method as i haven`t checked this .

Hey all - sorry for delay as was flying back home this morning.

NICE WORK AHMED! The Advanced Menu is no longer showing in the new BIOS, as predicted by yourself! So you're on the right track.

I've disassembled the C494... module and noticed that the only changes you made were to insert 90 90s (NOPs) into 6 bytes. Great work - you're definitely in the right routine.

Looking forward to unlocking the real interesting menus now

Should I start doing anything with regards to the other recovery module you attached?

Cheers
jkbuha

[AHMED HOSSAM]

I'm very happy that I'm in the correct routine now: D: D
This saves a lot of time checking other 8 routines that i suspect but this was the most suspicious one: )
Now I'm gonna check how to knew this is amenu and how to trace it till reaching the routine hiding it.

And yes i have nopped the menu bytes sothat it disappears as the bios don't read the menu and then i knew that I'm in the right place and focus in this routine.
Also can you tell me how many menus are there in the original bios!
I will upload another mod soon.

@Kasar: i will check your bios now and if it has the same structure, i will unlock it but if its different, i will wait till i finish unlocking the other bios sothat i could focus on one structure to unlock it fast.

[jkbuha]

I'm very happy that I'm in the correct routine now: D: D
This saves a lot of time checking other 8 routines that i suspect but this was the most suspicious one: )
Now I'm gonna check how to knew this is amenu and how to trace it till reaching the routine hiding it.

And yes i have nopped the menu bytes sothat it disappears as the bios don't read the menu and then i knew that I'm in the right place and focus in this routine.
Also can you tell me how many menus are there in the original bios!
I will upload another mod soon.

@Kasar: i will check your bios now and if it has the same structure, i will unlock it but if its different, i will wait till i finish unlocking the other bios sothat i could focus on one structure to unlock it fast.

I think the original menu structure was as follows:

Main Advanced Power Security Exit

@Kasar - I'm assuming your menu is exactly the same to the 15z. Could you double check your BIOS main headings and report back? With Ahmed's modded bios I'm missing the Advanced menu but I want to make sure there was nothing else before

cheers
jkbuha

[kasar]

I think the bios escruture should be almost identical on both computers

as for the menus, you can use some screenshots I made some time ago







those are from the original a06 bios, but I dont think the new a09 bios will have newer menus/options