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

[kasar]

here is the pinout of the W25Q32BV


you can also download the datasheet at this link

http://www.datasheetdir.com/W25Q32BVSSIG+4MB-FLASH

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ok, just checked the pictures I took from the mobo while I was doing the USB internal mods.

I took the pictures in hopes of find the ICS chip to OC the cpu, but when ppl told me that was missing from sandy bridges motherboard I lost hopes about doing OC by hardware

anyway those pictures allowed me to find the bios chip today

http://img803.imageshack.us/img803/5921/dsc0080c.jpg



aparently is pretty easy to solder the wires

I think I will make the internal conector pins while I await news from the flasher method

[TimeWalker]

What can I say.. lucky you!

Sent from my LG-P500 using Tapatalk 2

[TimeWalker]

Here's your "on the lap" flasher:
[img] http://blog.dros.ws/upload/voskreshaem_g...-dq6/7.jpg[/img]

[img] http://blog.dros.ws/upload/voskreshaem_g.../700/9.jpg [/img]

SPI FlashROMs supported (new are marked with *) ***********************************************
Winbond:
W25Q10B (128kB)
W25Q20BV (256kB)
W25Q40BV (512kB)
W25Q80BV (1MB) - tested OK
W25Q16BV (2MB) - tested OK
W25Q32BV (4MB) W25Q64BV (8MB)
W25Q128BV (16MB)
*W25Q256FV (32MB)

http://blog.dros.ws/upload/voskreshaem_g...spipgm.zip
Or look for a newer one.

spipgmw.exe /i
To identify SPI, specify filename to dump

spipgmw.exe /u
To unlock

spipgmw.exe /e
To erase

spipgmw.exe /p file
To flash

Sent from my LG-P500 using Tapatalk 2

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Also, how small should FD and GbE be? ME is roughly 1.5Mb.. 1.33 to be exact, BIOS region is 2.5. What are you left with on a 4 MB chip? :O
Wanna see a complete dump badly.

I got hold of a Lenovo Y570 dump, will see if FD is actually the header of it .. when I'm around a comp that is.

Sent from my LG-P500 using Tapatalk 2

[TimeWalker]

yeah it's indeed in the header of the entire dump:


you can see FD is locked :|

[kasar]

@all

ok, I made the hardware mods to my laptop.

I has been the whole night soldering and taking appart the laptop meanwhile taking pincs but, well, I made two hardware mods.

* added hardware switch to disconnect internal battery (fast way of clearing password, date and cmos settings)
* added port for programer.


however, I noticed something weird.

I noticed there is another winbond chip in the board!

however it have a different name W25x40vsig



what do you think that is the objective of that chip guys?

I also read it is 512kb

well, anyway,I proceded with my original objetive:

the W25Q32BV


Before the mods (just old internal usb mods done)






[after the mod]















and here are the pics of the settings reset mod










now I will check the flasher timewalker posted, I think it should be easy to make a cable from the parallel port to the port I added to the laptop ^^

to make things clear for me too, I made a pinout from the port I added

[TimeWalker]

More hot glue lol .. it's never enough. Good job @kasar! And it was indeed very thoughtful to make a CMOS-reset switch.
To not to try and guess what's the other chip for I told you to get a schematics for your laptop's board. You know the Quanta name already as it has been discussed previously.
The LPT port is an easy soldering job .. and then it's only a matter of dumping the flash.

[kasar]

well, I added more hotglue to secure the connections after I took the pictures, its just that without hotglue the pics seemed clearer


yeah, the cmos reset switch feature is nice to have, I also wanted it, since when I will flash using the programer port, I will have to remove AC, battery and cmos battery to do a clear programming, so all I have to do now is toggle the switch after and before programing


about the other chip, I will check for more info later, anyway since it seems all or most interesting stuff is inside the chip I already made a flasher port, it should be ok.

mmm, I think I will need to go to an electronics store again, I dont have any spare parts at home, also I dont want to kill my wrt54gl jtag cable to make this one since the wrt54gl cable works fine and I use it sometimes.

so I may take some time to build the flasher cable.

as for the 3.3v, not sure if I can get them directly from the parallel port, so I may have to get them from usb by adding also a usb port with a resistor just to get power.

any other idea about where to get 3.3v?

a cable without a big or annoying external power suply would be interesting

[TimeWalker]

Most importantly @kasar remove power from the laptop completely (AC/battery block/3.3 coin-cell battery using your switch) when attempting any magic on the chip.

oh, you know that apparently
for 3.3V use a coin cell battery (same one you have in the laptop) because if using a pulse-type source you would need to use capacitors on the circuit.

[kasar]

yeah, I will, that was another reason about why I made the cmos settings switch

the mobo must be lack of any power execpt the one from the programer while attempting to backup or write things

[TimeWalker]

And make sure your cables are as short as possible, this flasher software is finicky .. i've seen people had to reduce the length of the cables to about 10cm to get a proper dump/flash.