C840

Discussion in 'BIOS Mods' started by dbc1965, Jul 14, 2010.

  1. MAN-AT-ARMS

    MAN-AT-ARMS MDL Novice

    Sep 9, 2010
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    Is this mod posted anywhere?
     
  2. scrotty

    scrotty MDL Novice

    Mar 5, 2008
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    Hi,

    I am currently trying to do this mod on my own C840 but am hitting a brick wall. When I run PhoenixTool, I put in all the details etc but after hitting 'Go', it appears to go through the motions but I then get an 'Unable to reintegrate 02_2.rom' message. Can anybody shed any light on what may be causing this error? Thanks in advance.
     
  3. tqhoang

    tqhoang MDL BIOS Modder

    Apr 29, 2008
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    #24 tqhoang, Jan 8, 2011
    Last edited: Jan 8, 2011
    I just tested PhoenixTool 1.67 and it works fine...produces an identical EXE to what I generated previously.

    My suggestion would be to turn off any antivirus. I'm using Microsoft Security Essentials on a laptop and sometimes need to disable the real-time protection.

    BTW, I updated the link to my BIOS above if you just want a pre-made one.
     
  4. scrotty

    scrotty MDL Novice

    Mar 5, 2008
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    I just downloaded your files and thought I'd spotted something - your RW file is 107kb while mine was only 56kb. I updated RWe to the latest release and then got a 107kb file but the process still fails. I then tried using your bios and your rw file rather than mine and it still fails so I can only assume that my machines are in some way incompatible. Are there any pre-requisite bits of software that are needed in order for the PhoenixTool to work such as a particular release of dotnet etc?
     
  5. tqhoang

    tqhoang MDL BIOS Modder

    Apr 29, 2008
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    If the software starts up, there should be no problem with the .NET install.

    Just make sure you have the latest PhoenixTool (AndyP has already posted a few updates but they have been all EFI related so now worries for Dell Phoenix problems).

    Other than disabling any anti-virus real-time protection, you could try working on the BIOS in some place like C:\Temp.
     
  6. scrotty

    scrotty MDL Novice

    Mar 5, 2008
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    I already tried a different version of PhoenixTool - initially I had 1.66 but when you said you'd used 1.67 I got a new download which was 1.68 (props to AndyP for regular updates). I already had all AV disabled and was running from C:\Temp so it looks like I'm heading nowhere with this one. For the time being I have flashed the bios with your files which has done the job (many thanks for that) but I'll still keep on twiddling with this to see if I can get it working even though I don't actually need it now.

    Thanks for your time and input :)
     
  7. epson1

    epson1 MDL Novice

    Jul 9, 2010
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    C840A131_SLIC.zip[/URL] BTW it's best to flash this from real DOS.[/QUOTE]

    File not found.. Please upload again Many thanks :(
     
  8. tqhoang

    tqhoang MDL BIOS Modder

    Apr 29, 2008
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    #29 tqhoang, May 8, 2012
    Last edited: May 8, 2012
    Link is updated
     
  9. epson1

    epson1 MDL Novice

    Jul 9, 2010
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    Thanks for the quick responce tqhoang, I will have a go with this later.... Thanks again
     
  10. BeemerBiker

    BeemerBiker MDL Novice

    Dec 11, 2012
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    #31 BeemerBiker, Dec 11, 2012
    Last edited: Dec 11, 2012
    This is an old thread, but I like my C840 and want to do the SLIC thing. After downloading the latest and greatest RW and PHOENIX, I got the error unable to reintegrate the 02_2.rom. I then located a post on another thread that suggest using the advanced option and the "split". This worked, or rather it generated no error message, and I was left with a new rom executable. I then tried to compare my newly created rom with the one linked thru a url by tqhoang, but the file tqhoang posted was no longer on sendspace.


    My Original A13 bios and the new one
    12/11/2012 10:33 AM 390,051 C840A131.EXE
    12/11/2012 01:40 PM 389,416 C840A131_SLIC.EXE


    Currently, my C840 has 2gb mem, a 2.4ghz CPU, "G/wireless", XP and runs good and I have an SSD and a Broadcom N/wireless mini-pci already ordered and paid for. I do not want to brick the laptop with this bios and would like to know if what I did was correct and if the above new bios seems to be the correct size.


    Thanks for looking!


    ps: this is my first post so I could not link the thread and images alluded to above.
    the "error": usual http and tinyurl bfrasld
    the "another thread" usual http and tinyurl d8lzzye
     
  11. BeemerBiker

    BeemerBiker MDL Novice

    Dec 11, 2012
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    #33 BeemerBiker, Dec 22, 2012
    Last edited: Dec 22, 2012
    Thanks tqhoang!

    I had minor problem and also great success!

    The Bad News: I thought I would try the $39 Windows 8 so I ran that download qualification program from Micro$oft. Unfortunately, the Pentium 4 in my Latitude C840 does NOT have that NX bit instruction so Win8 was impossible.

    The Good News: I was able to activate Win7 though it took me several days of poking around threads here and attempting to download links that were really old and broken. The following success

    1 - Got that genuine dell win7x32 oem cd iso from dell.com I just picked the home premium as I am not greedy.
    2 - installed that bios with the m09 module you gave me.
    3 - got the 2.0 cert from the "2.1 slic and 2.0 cert" repository. The "dell-dell.xrm-ms"
    4 - got the 6RBBT-x-x-x-x-x dell key from repository here
    Ran the slmgr.vbs -ilc on that dell.xrm-ms
    Ran the slmgr.vbs -ipk on the 6RBBT---- key.
    CHECKED AND SURE ENOUGH IT WAS ACTIVATED.

    BTW, there are two vendors that make PATA SSD. Transcend and KingSpec. I got the KingSpec 128gb. It boots up slower than the original 80gb disk (which has a problem and occassionally does not boot). So even though the SSD boots up slower, I am going to keep it. The problem seems NOT to be the KingSpec disk. Very clearly the C800 bios seems something wrong and the light corresponding to the SSD access stays on solid for about 30 seconds then the system boots up into win7 just fine. Everything works fine after booting and the disk is clearly faster than the failing 80gb original. There must be some timeout problem in the bios boot and looking at the cmos I dont see any options like "1 second delay" etc, that some of my disktop bios's have so I assume the problem is the Dell C800 thinking the SSD responds too fast and has a problem. This is just a guess.

    Thanks again!

    Anyone from Micro$oft reading this post, I would have abought win8 legally if it had installed on my C840. According to what I read, the NX bit is used mainly by antivirus vendors. So what is wrong with a 3rd party antivirus that takes the place of the NX bit? Microsoft caused the problem themselves.

    [EDIT] - Want to clarify the slow bootup. I power up and when I see the F2 and F12 prompts I press F2. Fully 30 seconds have passed (since power on) before the cmos finally shows up. I press ESC to quit bios and LESS THAN 2 SECONDS LATER the windows progress bar shows up and 3 seconds after that is the windows login window. If I dont press F2 it STILL TAKES 30 SECONDS so that would indicate a problem with power up. Ihave set the cmos to minimum diagnostics and it is still 30 seconds. Since the LED for the disk drive is steady for about 25 seconds I can assume there is a hang in the bios on power up because of the SSD. Maybe a race condition that times out.
     
  12. BeemerBiker

    BeemerBiker MDL Novice

    Dec 11, 2012
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    #34 BeemerBiker, Dec 24, 2012
    Last edited: Dec 25, 2012
    Made progress on the slow boot!

    I pulled the PATA SSD out of the main drive slot and put it into an adapter and stuck it into the modular bay. This solved the long boot up and my C840 now boots to win7x32 in 8 seconds. Unfortunately, 2 of those 8 seconds is a prompt to display "Optical drive not found". I have lost my optical drive! It seems the slave does not work if the master is not present. Hmm - no pun was intended by that statement.

    Anyway, modbin6 does not work in Dell bios. but Dell has an old client configuration utility and a new CCTK as explained somewhat at this wiki hxxp://no_short_urls_allowed/cveszaz I dont know how to use their utility, maybe somebody here does. I did try that modbin6 but clearly it is not designed for Dell's version of the bios.

    Thanks for looking!

    [EDIT] The best I can do is to slightly pull out the internal optical drive as it has a handle that pops out makeing replacement easy. I first press the ON button and then PUSH the optical drive back into the C840. The delay between the ON and PUSHING the drive back in is enough to fix the timeout (bios race?) problem and my laptop boots up in about 7 seconds. This allows me to keep the 2nd battery in the laptop. I looked thru the options in dell's bios editor (that client utility) and didnt see any option to set a 1 second delay like some desktop bios have. I am also looking at a CD/DVD firmware site to see if there is something available to delay the power up of the optical drive. I may try swapping master and slave on the controller and see if that helps. The SSD drive jumpers are documents but not the optical which appears to have no visible jumpers. Possible another model SSD might have better results, but the KingSpec PATA one I have seems to have the best reviews. I also verified that I do not have a "fake" kingspec by running the validator at the kingspec website.
     
  13. urie

    urie Moderator
    Staff Member

    May 21, 2007
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    @ BeemerBiker if this is Dell OEM:SLP dvd no need to do
    Those commands already run from script in Sources\$OEM$ folder
     
  14. BeemerBiker

    BeemerBiker MDL Novice

    Dec 11, 2012
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    Yea - I am sure you are correct. When I went to the Dell site they actually had a link to the m$oft repository and I didnt notice I was not on dell anymore when I downloaded so I didnt get an actual Dell DVD. I just got my Wireless N card in from China in todays mail. It took 7 days to ship and cost under $7 USD INCLUDING POSTAGE and worked perfectly on my C840 so I am very happy with my early holiday gift to myself :rolleyes:
     
  15. urie

    urie Moderator
    Staff Member

    May 21, 2007
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    @ BeemerBiker, in that case it should be retail dvd did you not get a key with it if so you can install it on another machine ?
     
  16. paro44

    paro44 MDL Novice

    Jul 17, 2008
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    Can someone please upload the BIOS file again? Thanx.
     
  17. paro44

    paro44 MDL Novice

    Jul 17, 2008
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    Yes, it would be nice if you can upload it again. I have seen that there is a tool to do it myself, but it is better to have a working solution. Thanx