ECS 945GZT-M (945GZ/CT-M): BIOS Unlock

[Maxinator500]

I added 3 new settings inc. CPU VID to the standard features menu. Had to sacrifice the separator items though.

There are two roms in the archive. Since there is 2 non identical CPU VID settings in the bios, I decided to add both of these in one of the roms. Hope this allow you to set voltages.


The rom with Advanced submenu which doesn't hang: ECS 945GZ(CT)-M.zip
But cpu settings may not be visible.

[mbentefor]

looking at Strings set it seems there are some traces of such functionality

I added 3 new settings inc. CPU VID to the standard features menu. Had to sacrifice the separator items though.

There are two roms in the archive. Since there is 2 non identical CPU VID settings in the bios, I decided to add both of these in one of the roms. Hope this allow you to set voltages.

Wow, it is incredible. And I assume all of that is done purely in a hex editor based on your knowledge. I did suspect it is not enough to have some set of tools... 
Unfortunately the new items didn't show up at all. Could it be due to the list of IDE/SATA devices being auto populated/auto sized?
Is it possible to locate those new menus in these locations:
(Advanced Features) CPU TM Function -> Intel Dynamic Accelerator Technology
(Advanced Features) Case Open Warning -> Ratio CMOS Setting
(Power Management) PS2 Keyboard Wakeup -> CPU VID 1
(Power Management) PS2 Mouse Wakeup -> CPU VID 2
?
Thank you so much!

[Maxinator500]

the new items didn't show up at all. Could it be due to the list of IDE/SATA devices being auto populated/auto sized?

No. This is due to the items being marked as Ext. (external), which means there must be met certain conditions for them to show up. Like cpu family and stuff. The fact they did not show up cuts the chances that the items are going to actually do anything.
I tried forcing them to show up the same way I done this years back. Here's what I got: SLABmod~2.zip.

Is it possible to locate those new menus in these locations

I can do this provided that there will be any use of them.

[mbentefor]

I have tested the rom. The options did appear, however I can't use/test them because their values are just random strings ("1080i50", "ntime space for MPS" etc)
Except for CMOS Ratio, which has correct 1-255 values (hehe, 255x multiplier)
The Intel Dynamic Acceleration per its description seems to be specifically for mobile Core processors.

[Maxinator500]

Because of my offtopic we've got a separate thread now. Ws to the mod that he didn't simply delete our messages.

I can't use/test them because their values are just random strings ("1080i50"

I see, I figured out why these exact strings are popping up, but more on this later. Remember I linked the method I used to edit the bios? It is not correct for your device, apparently. I mean, it worked for another because it was the special occasion.

So, the change of certain flags made bios expect the settings being several bytes longer, while there is no more data at the end and the next byte is a different setting already.
In case of ASUS P5, options for even external items were intact to main body. And ECS 945 uses something like symlinks in linux. Options are away from settings.

Believe me or not, I feel like Mike Leatherwood now because I'm not only spend inordinate amount of time trying to understand the setup utility, but also prepared the explanatory picture.

Here's how to find settings' options and their functions as well:


If you look at the junction of CPU VID settings 1 and 2, you can notice bytes there forming the value 0158, which completely corresponds to "1080i50" string. Writing 81 at offset 3116C makes bios thinking that 0158 is a legit option.
Of course, in my new mod I gave up on this and tried to patch functions instead: SLABmod~3.zip.

Reverted standard features menu to its default state, put second advanced menu in place of DVD drives.
How it looks in BCP:

[mbentefor]

@Maxinator500, sorry for the late reply. This PC is at my grandma's house, so I don't have 24/7 access to it
Unfortunately, with your latest version, the BIOS interface hangs when pressing Enter key on "Advanced" submenu (so I can't get "inside" it).

[Maxinator500]

sorry for the late reply

No worries. After all, this is not me who's in need of help with bios.

the BIOS interface hangs when pressing Enter key on "Advanced"

Don't know which of the edits is responsible for this. The one which adds Advanced submenu, or one in assembly code which should make CPU VIDs visible.

In the following mod the settings are back in the standard features, and the Advanced submenu removed: SLABmod~4.zip.
If still hangs, consider this mod as my last attempt to unhide CPU VID settings. There is something going on I don't understand in the code.

[mbentefor]

Don't know which of the edits is responsible for this. The one which adds Advanced submenu, or one in assembly code which should make CPU VIDs visible.

In the following mod the settings are back in the standard features, and the Advanced submenu removed: SLABmod~4.zip.
If still hangs, consider this mod as my last attempt to unhide CPU VID settings. There is something going on I don't understand in the code.

Unfortunately, it doesn't work. Now I can't even get into the Standard menu (on the first Bios page). So I guess I have to stuck with E4700.
I tried a different E5800, from Costa Rica (the previous one was from Malaysia) and it was definitely much more stable. I never had a Safe Mode BSOD. However Windows normal mode would BSOD nevertheless. I think it happens when Windows enters a multi-core mode (I remember these settings were available to be edited within boot.ini). So high frequency + multi core = instability. I assume my motherboard's voltage filtering may be dirty. Or... Maybe it is the Power Adapter itself? Maybe it is worth trying another Power Adapter?

[Maxinator500]

it doesn't work

Got it, altering code of the settings totally failed. There are still variants of what could be edited differently, but I think it'll end up with no avail. So I give up at this point.

I assume my motherboard's voltage filtering may be dirty. Or... Maybe it is the Power Adapter itself? Maybe it is worth trying another Power Adapter?

On the other hand E4700 works fine. The difference in power consumption cannot be this big.
Don't know.

[mbentefor]

it doesn't work

Got it, altering code of the settings totally failed. There are still variants of what could be edited differently, but I think it'll end up with no avail. So I give up at this point.

I assume my motherboard's voltage filtering may be dirty. Or... Maybe it is the Power Adapter itself? Maybe it is worth trying another Power Adapter?

On the other hand E4700 works fine. The difference in power consumption cannot be this big.
Don't know.

I don't mean the power consumption. In order for transistors to properly open, they should be provided with a proper voltage. Every circuit's part functions partly as a capacitor, so at a frequency X it can be able to auto-smooth the transistor's gate voltage and thus make a definite Open or Closed state. However If the frequency is much higher, voltage instability on gate points may become crucial and thus lead to incorrect readings.
That's how I see this. And that's why one copy of CPU may be more stable than another working copy of the same CPU. 
Seemingly either my motherboard's filtering circuit (those 3 capacitor banks + some other elements) is bad, or my power supply is bad.