Hello everyone first post,
Can anyone help me out(or give me tips where to find the information) modifying my laptop original bios to accomodate a new graphics card? The socket is exactly the same(of the cards).
I have a asus a8js :
Asus website link
In which my graphics card fried. There are no old ones in stock and if there are they cost 200-300€ for a gforce 7700. So I bought a Gforce 9600 from the asus f8n which has the same socket etc etc.
However..and obviously when I plug the card...everything is black in the screen.
Two questions:
- Is it a BIOS limitation/blockage?
- How can I modify the A8js BIOS binary to accept the new graphics card?
The Bios is a AMI bios
Thanks
Well this is really the first request of its kind so im not too sure. As far as im aware theres no "Video Whitelist" . As the Video cards are not generally user replaceable , the manufacturers probably dont bother with the whitelists. Whitelists are used for the more obvious / easier upgrades that a user might want to do like upgrading 802.11b Wifi to 802.11n or similar
A quick google search shows that this isnt for the faint hearted as it involves completel disassembly of the laptop. However , if you do manage to find a compatible card , Standard Windows VGA drivers should kick in automatically once you reassemble with the new card , allowing you to install the proper drivers.
What id do myself is just double check all the connections , make sure you havent left anything disconnected or the wrong way round or loose!
Do you get any sign of life from the machine , like do the fans spin???
Regards
Admin
(03-04-2010, 12:09 AM)1234s282 Wrote: [ -> ]Well this is really the first request of its kind so im not too sure. As far as im aware theres no "Video Whitelist" . As the Video cards are not generally user replaceable , the manufacturers probably dont bother with the whitelists. Whitelists are used for the more obvious / easier upgrades that a user might want to do like upgrading 802.11b Wifi to 802.11n or similar
A quick google search shows that this isnt for the faint hearted as it involves completel disassembly of the laptop. However , if you do manage to find a compatible card , Standard Windows VGA drivers should kick in automatically once you reassemble with the new card , allowing you to install the proper drivers.
What id do myself is just double check all the connections , make sure you havent left anything disconnected or the wrong way round or loose!
Do you get any sign of life from the machine , like do the fans spin???
Regards
Admin
The fans spin but I don't even have the typical beeping" sound with the f8sn card.
When I don't have any card. It doesn't the repetitive beeping because there's no card.
Isn't the Nvidia BIOs included in the same Bios as the rest in laptops usually?
Hello again.
So.
http://dl.free.fr/qcNiTUMm5
In this zip file I assembled the following BIOS
A8js (My laptop with a gforce 7700 has the base graphics card): A8JAS.211
A8jp (Exactly the same config except the graphics card which is an ATI): A8JpeAS.210
A8JAS.211 It's a similar one I think it's the a8ja
F8SNGAS.304 (F8sn where the gforce 9500 comes from) I realized this ROM is shared between F8SN and another F8's(F8SG) series where the graphics card is a gforce 9300.
F8SPAS.301 : A laptop with the same configuration has the F8SN except that has a ATI Mobility™ Radeon® HD 3650, External 1024MB VRAM
I think all of these laptops use solely graphics RAM, so no shared RAM I believe.
I took a look in the A8js and A8jp Roms and the hex seems similar in the beginning, however I have more (I think they are empty lines with FFFF FFFF FFF) in the beginning of one of the files(I know nothing about HEX)
Can you pro's take a look at the files? If I replace the F8sn section to the Graphics in the A8js is it possible to run?(theoretically of course)
I'm buying a PLCC socket to solder into the mobo, to be able to flash as many times as I want.
Thanks.
Well, it worked.
However I had no CRT screen, but the external worked. In linux I had LVDS mode is active but no modes. In windows the nvidia drivers worked.
And to see if it was an laptop assembly problem (because I had everything opened up). I re-flashed with the previous BIOs...and..I removed the graphic card(to the old one) and in the process I think I short circuited something....... So now.nothing boots...I feel so stupid after all this....After a great day yesterday..Today had a bad start....
(03-06-2010, 09:01 AM)forevertheuni Wrote: [ -> ]Well, it worked.
However I had no CRT screen, but the external worked. In linux I had LVDS mode is active but no modes. In windows the nvidia drivers worked.
And to see if it was an laptop assembly problem (because I had everything opened up). I re-flashed with the previous BIOs...and..I removed the graphic card(to the old one) and in the process I think I short circuited something....... So now.nothing boots...I feel so stupid after all this....After a great day yesterday..Today had a bad start....
Aww no! As i was reading this post i was so exctiing that we had got this mod right as it opens up a whole new level of bios modding. Then as i progressed through your post my face dropped
Shame about that mate , try sending it off for RMA (Ensuring of course that the original bios and original graphics card are in there
, I dont think Asus will fix it if you have a modded bios and an unofficial graphics card
)
Regards
Admin
Maybe it was the back to original flash that screwed everything.
What happens when a bad flash happens? Because the computer turns on. The cd/dvd drive makes it's typical sound but then the computer turns off. Could it be the bios? If so i'll just install a PLCC socket and do my original plan
Like this we(that means..if you help me) could make it work 100% and I assure you a lot of a8js users will be happy..(I had a lot of contacts of people wanting to do the same).
Tnx for all the help
Im not fully understanding , so in the end did my mod work?
Because this could open up another area of bios modding for us
Regards
Admin