02-29-2012, 11:21 AM
The BIOS file can be downloaded from here.
This BIOS belongs to the Gateway ML3108 laptop. It is also used in several other Gateway laptops which were shipped with AMD Sempron, AMD Turion, and AMD Turion X2 CPUs. I'm amongst a few how have tried to update their Gateway laptops from a Sempron to a Turion X2. The Turion X2 is recognised and identified correctly by the BIOS, but the laptop refuses to load the OS, and instead displays the following message:
'Fatal Error !!! Please change CPU !!!'
I've tried a TL50, a TL52, and a TL60. Since some of the laptops using this BIOS are shipped with Turion X2, I'm thinking that Gateway is using a sort of a white list to stop people from upgrading their CPU.
I've requested help in various forums but no one was able to help. These are some of the threads I posted in the past:
Link1, Link2, Link 3
I need help locating the routine inside the BIOS that checks the CPU ID and disable it so that the laptop can load the OS instead of displaying the above error message and halting.
I've opened the BIOS in Phoenix BIOS Editor, and was able to find the above error message inside the 'STRINGS0.ROM' file. I tried to disassemble the BIOS with IDA pro but failed. I'm having issues locating the BIOS 'entry point'. Unless I'm doing something wrong, the usual 'entry point' at the offset F000:FFF0 doesn't seem to work.
This is what I did in IDA:
1- I open the 7910.ROM file in IDA Free 5.0 in 16-bit mode.
2- Following the info emailed to 'kizwan' by 'asscut', I clicked on Edit -> Segments -> Create Segment, and set the following parameters:
Name: F000
Start address: 0x00070000
End adress: 0x00080000
Base: 0x7000
Class: Code
16-bit segment
3- I went to segment F000:FFF0 and pressed 'C' to start the autoanalysis but nothing realy happens. IDA complains saying: "Command 'MakeCode' failed".
I have been trying to got the upgrade to work for 4 years now. I've bought a 2nd hand Gateway ML3108 laptop and a TL58 just so I can experiment.
I would appreciate any help any help I can get.
Thanks
This BIOS belongs to the Gateway ML3108 laptop. It is also used in several other Gateway laptops which were shipped with AMD Sempron, AMD Turion, and AMD Turion X2 CPUs. I'm amongst a few how have tried to update their Gateway laptops from a Sempron to a Turion X2. The Turion X2 is recognised and identified correctly by the BIOS, but the laptop refuses to load the OS, and instead displays the following message:
'Fatal Error !!! Please change CPU !!!'
I've tried a TL50, a TL52, and a TL60. Since some of the laptops using this BIOS are shipped with Turion X2, I'm thinking that Gateway is using a sort of a white list to stop people from upgrading their CPU.
I've requested help in various forums but no one was able to help. These are some of the threads I posted in the past:
Link1, Link2, Link 3
I need help locating the routine inside the BIOS that checks the CPU ID and disable it so that the laptop can load the OS instead of displaying the above error message and halting.
I've opened the BIOS in Phoenix BIOS Editor, and was able to find the above error message inside the 'STRINGS0.ROM' file. I tried to disassemble the BIOS with IDA pro but failed. I'm having issues locating the BIOS 'entry point'. Unless I'm doing something wrong, the usual 'entry point' at the offset F000:FFF0 doesn't seem to work.
This is what I did in IDA:
1- I open the 7910.ROM file in IDA Free 5.0 in 16-bit mode.
2- Following the info emailed to 'kizwan' by 'asscut', I clicked on Edit -> Segments -> Create Segment, and set the following parameters:
Name: F000
Start address: 0x00070000
End adress: 0x00080000
Base: 0x7000
Class: Code
16-bit segment
3- I went to segment F000:FFF0 and pressed 'C' to start the autoanalysis but nothing realy happens. IDA complains saying: "Command 'MakeCode' failed".
I have been trying to got the upgrade to work for 4 years now. I've bought a 2nd hand Gateway ML3108 laptop and a TL58 just so I can experiment.
I would appreciate any help any help I can get.
Thanks