[solved] Can asus NB frequency be unlocked or added? amd mobo m3a78-em

[pman26]

Can this be done ? i read somewhere that you need special tools that only asus employees have access to.

It appears asus omitted the northbridge frequency multiplier feature in bios. I need to be able to decreases the NB frequency for stability.
I think this feature might be hidden and not enabled.

You can download the bios at... http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/sock...S-2701.zip
or ftp://ftp.asus.com.tw/pub/asus/mb/socket...S-2701.zip


I looked at the m3a78-em bios strings, and there is "0x03AD CPU/NB Frequency", which basically acts like a NB freq multiplier.
There are also strings for speed values- 1000mhz, 1200,1400,1600,1800,2000.....2600mhz.....



Can you take existing bios string values and turn them into actual options?

[1234s282]

Oh my goodness! Who modded this for you? This could be a big step forward!!!

I look forward to receiving some moreinformation from you!!

Admin

[1234s282]

After some seareching ive found the modded bios il now see if i can repliacte the effects

Regards
Admin

[pman26]

aw crap.

after a closer look, the guy who modded my bios only unhid the performance option from another location.

performance options were originally hidden, and nested deep under the chipset configuration menu.

[1234s282]

Ive just made the same discovery

Aw well i thought we were onto something!

[Antinomy]

Do you have a way to flash back if something goes wrong? I've made an option that you wanted, should work.

Don't forget to report on your results.

Can you take existing bios string values and turn them into actual options?

Yep, this is exactly what I'm doing now. Unlocking in AMIBCP is only a starting point. But it's harder to unlock bios string values and not always can be done. You've got lucky I suppose.

It wasn't easy but brought me some additional knowledge to get further.

[pman26]

Do you have a way to flash back if something goes wrong? I've made an option that you wanted, should work.

Don't forget to report on your results.

Can you take existing bios string values and turn them into actual options?

Yep, this is exactly what I'm doing now. Unlocking in AMIBCP is only a starting point. But it's harder to unlock bios string values and not always can be done. You've got lucky I suppose.

It wasn't easy but brought me some additional knowledge to get further.

Thanks for your effort.

could i ask what program you used to unlock and edit the asus ami bios ?
Everywhere i looked, people said it was encrypted and couldn't be modified, and that amibcp corrupts the bios if you try to save the modified bios.
did you just use MMTool to replace the module ?

what program will allow me to view a specific feature's option values?
For instance, amibcp doesn't show me what the values are for voltage.

[pman26]

good news and bad news.

good: it didn't brick my pc. The cpu/nb frequency options showed up just fine. and the pc booted up with no corruption.

However, they didn't actually change the NB frequency.

I think this is because it does not recognize multipliers. It only recognizes mhz values..... like the picture below from another motherboard.
so, can you change the 4x-10x options to 1000,1200,1400,1600,1800,2000,2200,2400,2600mhz ?
These are bios string values that start from line 05c7 in amibcp.

The bios link for the motherboard pictured below is here.....
ftp://ftp.asus.com.tw/pub/asus/mb/socket...e-3303.zip

maybe you can open this bios and see how they configured the values for cpu/nb frequency, and whether or not they used bios string values ?

[Antinomy]

OK, I'll check the BIOS. I've might set the wrong address to configure. I've used HEX editor, AMIBCP (yes, it really corrupts BIOS but there's a workaround), MMTool and my brains Oh, and a BIOS from a similar board, guess it was M4A78 or like that.

Everything can be modified. It's just about required time and the level of knowledge of the one who is performing the mod.

[pman26]

I discovered something very interesting.

the oldest bios for my motherboard actually had the feature I wanted.
But was deleted in newer bioses.

ftp://ftp.asus.com.tw/pub/asus/mb/socket...M-0404.zip

here is the link to the oldest bios.
It has a feature called "processor nb frequency multiplier".

Maybe you can disassemble that bios and look at string 03F1 and see how they did it...