Sony Vaio VGN-AR61E Phoenix BIOS (R2080J8) - SLiC 2.0

Discussion in 'BIOS Mods' started by itsmemario1, Apr 9, 2014.

  1. Yen

    Yen Admin
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  2. Yen

    Yen Admin
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    #22 Yen, May 13, 2014
    Last edited by a moderator: Apr 20, 2017
    I had a look at it: The way I modify if the module to be reintegrated results to a too big file is to find pure text strings and to 'space' them (replacing by 20h bytes).
    Your provided TEMPLAT00.ROM has one place:

    Code:
    Offset      0  1  2  3  4  5  6  7   8  9  A  B  C  D  E  F
    
    00006240            C3 01 00 50 43  49 20 53 43 53 49 3A 20      Ã..PCI SCSI: 
    00006250   4C 53 49 20 4D 50 49 20  42 6F 6F 74 20 53 75 70   LSI MPI Boot Sup
    00006260   70 6F 72 74                                        port
    I tried to modify it this way:

    Code:
    Offset      0  1  2  3  4  5  6  7   8  9  A  B  C  D  E  F
    
    00006240            C3 01 00 50 43  49 20 20 20 20 20 20 20      Ã..PCI       
    00006250   20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20  20 20 20 20 20 53 75 70                Sup
    00006260   70 6F 72 74                                        port
    And it could be reintegrated to OP's provided dumped BIOS. I know it is not the cleanest way but IMHO the safest. IT works also fine when emulated with PBE.

    There is a gap module at C03D0h, Gap3. This gap module could be reduced in size (15 bytes), the gained space used to move the modules which are after the TEMPLAT00.ROM module, which are:

    Code:
    B13FC Module TEMPLAT00.ROM Size 14124 Original size 34384 0 2 20 14370001
    B4B28 Module LOGO01.ROM Size 14013 Original size 149886 0 2 20 A5360001
    B81E5 Module ACPI00.ROM Size 9473 Original size 21943 0 2 20 E9240001
    BA6E6 Module BIOSCOD04.ROM Size 8334 Original size 13104 0 2 28 80000C6
    BC774 Module BIOSCOD05.ROM Size 5558 Original size 7280 0 2 28 80000C6
    BDD2A Module BIOSCOD03.ROM Size 5433 Original size 10288 0 2 28 80000C6
    BF263 Module BIOSCOD07.ROM Size 3363 Original size 5872 0 2 28 80000C6
    BFF86 Module DISPLAY00.ROM Size 2667 Original size 3840 0 2 28 80000C6
    C09F8 Module volumedir.bin2 Size 728 Original size 704 42 1 18 1000800
    C0CD0 Module volumeinfo.bin Size 96 Original size 72 0 1 18 5052494D
    C0D30 Module Gap3 Size 127672 Original size 127648 0 F0 18 FFFFFFFF
    To create the compressed module from your modified TEMPLAT00.ROM fp.exe and fi.exe from PBE could be used using the right batch file I could write...
    But that would mean to move 9 modules...
    Or a second way would be to remove the original compressed TEMPLAT00.ROM module, insert a gap module there and place the modified there where is gap3 located by reducing its size even more..
    Both ways would mean to modify the BIOS in a way which I personally only would try if recovery is possible...
     
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  3. ArcticFreeze

    ArcticFreeze MDL Novice

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    #23 ArcticFreeze, May 14, 2014
    Last edited by a moderator: May 15, 2014
    Hello Yen,

    I have divided this very long post into sections to ease reading.

    I tried your method of reintegrating the TEMPLAT00.ROM file ("spacing" some of the non-code text) and it worked. Thank you for this information. It will help me a LOT in the future. I created 2 copies of the recompressed file and they were identical. I am going to get another original version of this BIOS, add the platform data, unpack it, modify it, repack it, and test it in PBE and with HxD (Hex Editor). I am going to do this twice and see how many modifications are made. I will send you a copy of the finished product.

    When replacing the non-code text in TEMPLAT00.ROM, what effect does this have on the BIOS? Does it just change an identification tag within the BIOS image or does it have another effect? If this change is confirmed to be safe, then I could release a flashable BIOS version (I will have you check it first). I could also create a flashable and modified version of my own BIOS (I do not currently know where the SPI chip is or where to connect the USB JTAG-NT wires in case of a brick at the moment so I wouldn't actually flash).

    Thank-you for the information about PhoenixTool and the New/Old Style BIOS's (this explains why I could modify some Phoenix Vaio BIOS's, but not others!)


    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    As for flashing a platform appended BIOS with the platform information from a foreign BIOS, it DOES WORK. I have confirmed this to be 100% true with my own notebook (I tried to backup my BIOS into an image that included the platform data, but the program (against the selected options) flashed my BIOS with the R0030J4 image (Which just so happened to work in my notebook (I didn't shut down my laptop until confirming somewhat that this image could work using a variety of Windows-based BIOS tests, then I rebooted into Windows)) instead... I then was forced to use a hex editor to append the platform data from the foreign BIOS into my own, then reflash it. It will work given the following conditions: 1.) The foreign BIOS is from a notebook within the same series as yours (Ex. My notebook is a VGN-N250E, which is in the series VGN-N. I got the BIOS update from an R0030J4 BIOS, which comes from a VGN-N notebook). 2.) The foreign BIOS MUST come from a BIOS with the SAME CHIPSET as your BIOS. My notebook's chipset is Intel 945GM, so was the notebook's that the foreign BIOS update was intended for. The general rule of thumb is same chipset, same series.

    Some more things to look for when finding a compatible BIOS in addition to the above:
    •Similar BIOS version/name: (Ex. R0070J4 and R0030J4)
    •Same BIOS image size (don't forget to take into account the platform data)

    If you want my BIOS image before (Universal BIOS Backup dump - no platform data) and after appending the platform data (Same image but with platform data from the R0030J4 BIOS and confirmed to be flashable), just post a reply asking for it.

    Tutorial on how to append the platform data (by Mdluser45): ---have a look at post #26--- (I can't post links yet - I need 20 posts first)
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    NVRAM registers (some of my discoveries about new-style Vaio BIOS's, especially the NVRAM - if you are interested read on, otherwise ignore):

    I have almost completely mapped out all of the NVRAM registers from the NVRAM token table that is outputted by symcmos to their respective settings in STRINGS0.ROM and TEMPLAT0.ROM. I have mapped from 00xx to 05Ax so far. 0690 is the last register. By reading rbjack's thread (first post - to find it type "Decode Edit NVRAM Phoenix plus Setup Menu" into Google and click the first result), I have figured out how to find the Manufacturing Defaults for NVRAM and the Standard Defaults for NVRAM (these two default tables show the default values set by the manufacturer and the "standard" defaults (not the manufacturer of the notebook). You can also view the NVRAM token table itself as it appears in the BIOS image (this can let you see what values the NVRAM registers can be set to or how complex a setting is). These three tables are contained within the ROMEXEC0.ROM file in my BIOS when extracted.

    From my own investigation of the BIOS, I have discovered that the set values in the NVRAM token table dump (Default.txt) correspond to the position of the value in the setting's string in TEMPLAT0.ROM, counting in hex numbers (so far, this applies only to the settings which are actually linked to a text string in STRINGS0.ROM). For example: [This example is an excerpt from my BIOS]

    0x1250 00 14 72 07 70 07 CB 3F 0B 40 B5
    0x1260 3F C0 3F FC 00 3E 06 40 06

    .0014.7207 7007.CB3F 0B40 B53F C03F.FC00.3E06 4006.
    [I used periods to separate the sections of the string and spaces to separate specific calls/offsets/etc from each other]

    {starting from the beginning then proceeding in order of byte appearance to the end}:

    •00 14
    00: this string is of the the type "pick field"
    14: This is the length in hexadecimal of this string starting from (and including) "00"

    •7207 7007
    7207: This is the offset (in hex) of the "Enhanced AHCI:" string in STRINGS0.ROM. Convert it to Endian format (0772)
    7007: This is the offset (in hex) of the descriptor for the above string in STRINGS0.ROM. Convert to Endian format (0770)

    •CB3F 0B40 B53F C03F
    These 4 groups of values are an offset jump table to some "execution code" below $PDW in TEMPLAT0.ROM. These can also be called "filler bytes." They control how (or if) the setting appears in the BIOS and various other things. I think they could also be called "function calls." Again, I think Endian format would be required for these offsets (I haven't check them out much yet, but I will probably began doing so). I still have a lot to learn about these. I know that you can nop some of these (I don't know for sure exactly where you would nop them, but I know it involves assembly language, which I have a little bit of understanding of). I am currently investigating this. If you have any extra info about these offsets/values, help would be greately appreciated.

    •FC00
    FC00: This is the register that controls the "Enhanced AHCI:" setting in the BIOS. Enabling it (I have tested it and it fully works on my SSD!) by setting the option [0000] to [0001] in the token table dump and then rewriting it to the NVRAM with symcmos will result in the enabling of AHCI in the notebook. Options for settings' strings with token values appear AFTER the register appears within the string in TEMPLAT0.ROM. Use symcmos and any text editor to accomplish this. I can refer you to some resources that can give you more info if you are interested and do not already know about this.


    3E06 4006
    3E06: This is a sting call to the "disabled" option in STRINGS0.ROM. Convert it to Endian format before using it (063E). As this is the first option visible in this string (options are always after the register in these strings if there is a register value), its representative setting in Default.txt (symcmos NVRAM token table dump) will be [0000].
    4006: This is a sting call to the "enabled" option in STRINGS0.ROM. Convert it to Endian format before using it (0640). As this is the second option visible in this string (remember, the first option starts on 0000), its representative value in Default.txt will be [0001].

    !!For making calls to options or menus in TEMPLAT0.ROM, get the 4-digit offset of the beginning of the option's string, convert it to Endian format, and then put it in a menu or replace another option's call near the top of the TEMPLAT0.ROM file (above the $PDW).

    The tendencies noted about the registers' values in Default.txt and their correspondances to the postition of the options in the setting's string in TEMPLAT0.ROM holds true for all of the registers that I have investigated so far that have appeared normally.


    A list of a few of the options I am now able to change using the NVRAM registers [the reason I listed so many is that I am going to be making a list of these later (I have been using my Nintendo DSi (flipnote studio) to record all of these so far)] (I learned these by using the method listed above). This list is long, but contains very interesting settings, most of which are contained within some BIOS menu, but also some that aren't under any menu. Just skim through the list:

    •All of the memory cache settings in the "MCH Workarounds:" BIOS menu. •Passive TC1 & Passive TC2 Values •DTS Enable •Processor Power Mangement •DTS Calibration •Frequency Ratio •MEF Support •EMA Support •Critical Trip Point •Active Trip Point •ALS Support •FACP - PM Timer Flag Value •Enhanced C-states enable •Fast C4 Exit Support •Thermal Control Circuit •PROCHOT# Enable •DBS Cycling Temperature •PCI Clock Run •Serial IRQ Quiet Mode •BIOS iAMTx [SIZE=2]•Thermal Offset [SIZE=2]•Thermal Monitor Enable [SIZE=2]•AC97 Modem PME Enable[/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE] •Clock Power Management •On-board LAN •Root Port ASPM Support •Timestamp Counter Updates •PXE OPROM •Memory Throttling •TS on DIMM •Port 80h Cycles •Spread Spectrum Clock Chip •!!!!!!PCI Express Graphics Port!!!!!!!!!! •PCI Express Root port settings (such as PCI Express - Root Port 1) •GPLL Power-Down Enable •Azalia - Device 27, Function 0 •a lot of options corresponding to different settings each with the name "Minor Standard" •Vaio Animation Logo •Set Max Ext CPUID = 3 •External Drive Boot •!!!!!VT Feature!!!!! •!!!!!Enhanced AHCI!!!!!! •Fast String Operations (NOTE: "FOR DEBUG ONLY") [SIZE=2]•[/SIZE]Installed O/S •Numlock •Hot-Plug Bus Gap •I/O (this is literally the entire name of the option) •various hard drive settings such as "heads" "cylinders" "sectors" etc. •!!!!Pre-allocated Memory Size (Graphics memory setting)!!!!!! •!!!!!Total Graphics Memory (another graphics setting)!!!!! •BIA Control •GMCH BLC Control (backlight/inverter setting) •etc etc etc


    I have actually tested and confirmed working a couple of these values, so this method does work, you just need to be careful when tracing the registers from Default.txt to STRINGS0.ROM. This method should work on ALL (from what I have seen) new-style Sony VAIO BIOS images.

    If you want a copy of my BIOS and Default.txt to try this yourself, just request.

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



    I will repost the BIOSfiles.rar on bios-mods.com with the modified image once I get the original, redo the mod, and compare the results. The reason for the delay is AP exams and other Finals this week in school.
     
  4. itsmemario1

    itsmemario1 MDL Expert

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    Hey ArcticSml ;)

    This feels like reading a thrilling science book, that Im still trying to fully understand. Cant stop reading though. :)

    Thanks to both of you, for taking the time to let me be a part of this!

    Isnt there a method to find out / test if the laptop actually does support this special emergency recovery method ?
    Like, where would this "method" be declared or stored ?
    Or does only Sony know ?

    Cant I just attach my USB Floppy drive, inserting an empty disk, fulfiling the recovery steps and check if it even trys to access the Floppy drive ?
     
  5. Yen

    Yen Admin
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    #25 Yen, May 14, 2014
    Last edited: May 14, 2014
    Just a 'short' reply since I am @work....:)
    Recovery is a never ending story....there are no unified specifications, each OEM has its own way...and even their support sometimes does not know or does not tell you how to recover, because they want make money (repair).
    Usually a special 'situation' has to be to trigger recovery...mostly to press and hold a special key combination, also the bootblock has code which reads / tries to read a new biosimage somewhere if the current BIOS fails...and only IF it fails...-->fallback, not sure if recovery can be triggered here without a bios issue...(I know one special method at all... to short some pins I guess it was on a Gigabyte board, though)...
    Even if you would be able to start recovery, you will not 100% know that it'll work again when it really has bricked...

    The experiences / statistics (recovery only) I have got last 7 years here are not good for Phoenix BIOSES (compared to AMI and Award)..and even worse for Sony Vaio.
    AFAIK MDL has no post about a success report concerning Sony Vaio and Phoenix BIOS recovery...anyway I can say the mod is safe. (reintegration of TEMPLAT00.ROM).

    @ArcticFreeze
    The attachment link @your previous post here is broken....thanks for all the info....will reply soon again.
    To modify the string does if at all lead to a problem when browsed to there (setupmenu) it is a on screen message which appears 'crippled' (like PCI space space space Support), yes not 100% sure if it is called / used by / from another code, anyway the string appears only there. The code that uses this string doesn't care 20h is just another character, no code here and uses it as it is.
    It never lead to a brick, though, not even to a particular issue....modifying specific text characters (best within the string) is a good way to gain compression space, used it many times without issues.
    To get more info what exactly happens with those text data one would need to run it through IDA disassembler...but worst case would be a freeze of BIOS seup when browsed to there...

    @itsmemario1, both models have the Mobile Intel PM965 Express chipset and the BIOS size is exactly the same, so the conditions are met....(VGN-AR760U mod from kizwan) and yours...although the CPU chipset does IMHO not matter it is the SPI chip that has to fit....the BIOS itself is dumped from and made for your machine / CPU chipset.:)


    Don't laugh, I have no own practical experiences regarding BIOS recovery. I never had a own PC / Notebook with Phoenix BIOS and I never had to recover a bios.
    I bricked one old mainboard myself by flashing a official beta BIOS (support for new CPU), that made me then to buy a new mobo.:biggrin: ..and I don't like Sony, they appear to be restrictive..:biggrin:
     
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  6. ArcticFreeze

    ArcticFreeze MDL Novice

    Apr 22, 2014
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    @itsmeboost1

    So far, I have not found a way to activate CRISIS on the Sony Vaio, nor have I seen any success stories about CRISIS in the months that I really started BIOS modding/investigating. I have even read something somewhere that Sony may have purposely removed CRISIS for some or all of their Vaio machines.

    While this is discouraging, this may not be true for all of the Vaio machines and there may be some hidden way to activate it.

    I am not the best test subject (even though I have been trying for a long time) to see if CRISIS will work. I do not own a USB Floppy Drive. While the USB Flashdrive (2 GB or less) should work, I cannot guarantee that it won't negatively influence the CRISIS program's activation. If you wish to help investigate, I can give you another list of the possible key combinations that I have heard of for various machines.


    There is one final method that should be guaranteed to work if CRISIS doesn't. This method involves programming the BIOS chip itself via the SPI chip at the hardware level. I have done this on one of my gateway modems to mod it with success, but the soldering is potentially dangerous to the entire motherboard (very small parts).


    ----------------------------------------------------------
    @yen

    The attachment was probably removed by an admin or bot because it contained a reference link to a tutorial.
    Here are the directions to getting to the website:
    Go to "forum" dot "notebookreview" dot "com". From here search "GUIDE: How to create a flashable BIOS from a backup BIOS". Click on the thread result with the same name as what you just search for. EDIT: Credits to hippotek for creating this amazing tutorial which has helped me immensely.
    [h=2][/h]
     
  7. Yen

    Yen Admin
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    Strange that the attachment isn't there. No, ancestor(v) would not remove it and the 'admin / owner' fully trusts our work...:)

    Here is the interesting part...
    So the platform.bin actually gets not appended, it is inserted. So to copy and paste the 'excess' of an official wph file into a BIOS dump does not necessarily work. (Flash process does not start).
    Since I am very familiar with the module layout I need to have a closer look...well 'garbage' is no definition..lol...
    itsmemario1's BIOS is 'compatible' to the VGN-AR760U. The mod by kizwan uses the platform.bin from R2080J8F_SLIC.WPH

    So recovery conditions are not the best, not to say the worst (no SPI programmer, no CISIS, no other softrecovery, no spare chip)...
     
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  8. ArcticFreeze

    ArcticFreeze MDL Novice

    Apr 22, 2014
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    Hello Yen,

    What I meant by "appended" was copied and pasted over the data beginning at the start of the hole. I used the wrong word. I used the exact same process as I did with my BIOS on Boost/itsmemario1's BIOS.

    My experience with "adding" platform data to BIOS's: I have only (with my own image) copied the data on the BIOS update image from the beginning of the "hole" to the end of the file to my image (starting at the same offset - the offset where the "hole" started in both images) by pasting over the current data. This resulted in an image which could successfully be flashed onto my BIOS. I will attach a link (within a text file) to the .rar file containing the Before and After images as well as the official R0030J4 BIOS update that I used to "add" the platform data to my R0070J4 BIOS dump.


    You seem to know more about the "platform.bin". If you have time, I would love to learn more about all of the BIOS files, their functions/purposes, and their respective structures. That way, I may be able to make more contributions to the BIOS modding community. I am also just getting into programming (so far I am getting into assembly), so I could potentially help with certain projects in the future. So far, I know what the TEMPLAT0.ROM and STRINGS0.ROM files do and how to easily modify the TEMPLAT0.ROM file. I know some information about the ROMEXEC0.ROM file (it contains a MASSIVE number of tables and one of the tables (BCPNV) is related to the NVRAM token table and a few other tables within (near the end) of the file. I can read the basic structure of the tables. I will be finding out what each of the tables does in the future. Summer break from school is coming up and I will have almost unlimited time to investigate the BIOS. Also, the end of the school year does not contain very much homework. I will continue to post my findings about new-style Phoenix BIOS's.

    Since I do not want to flash my BIOS (No recovery; I have the tools (I think - USBJTAG-NT, soldering iron, wiring), but it would be difficult and dangerous to use them on the motherboard), I have been working on mapping out the NVRAM registers. I still modify the BIOS image to learn more, but as of right now, I do not intend on testing it on my actual notebook even if the image is safe (the flashing process isn't).



    LINK:
    View attachment R0070J4 BIOS file Link.txt
     
  9. Yen

    Yen Admin
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    Unfortunately I don't know much about the platform.bin itself. I guess it's also 16 bit assembly code to instruct the SPI.

    The BIOSes I modified so far were practically all official updates, so I never cared about the platfom.bin itself.
    What I wanted to check is if the correct offset where the platform.bin has to start (to be appended or inserted, does not matter it's just an expression :biggrin:) is there were the last module ends.

    Subjects of biosmoding are to me more wide spread:
    Award BIOS (v4 and v6) / AMI BIOS (core 6,7 and 8) / Phoenix BIOS (new and old style): Modular structure (header format, compression algo, module layout), systembios, types of modules... manual creation / insertion of own modules from modified ones or just new ACPITables.

    EFI : structure, decomposing, module types.

    And generally: ACPIModules, mainbioscode (DMI string area)...as said primary goal and interest that time was to mimic OEM activation, that is actually also the reason why I have started to modify BIOSEs at all. No unlocking, though, but removing whitelists / replacing device IDs there...and also replacement of old OPROMS (on board device ROMs) in the BIOS...

    The thread here is focused on Phoenix setup registers. I have not much clue there since I never had Phoenix BIOS myself.

    Nowadays I have not much time for it, I am just writing this from my lab where I am working..:)
    Anyway I would be glad to share anything I know and I have posted much already here @MDL.

    This thread here is useful for many others since it contains results / knowledge from your hard work, anyway it is very special (as almost anything about a special BIOS matter)...
    As soon as I am at home again and have time for it I will analyze this here even more, as said I am interested in 'generic' structures of BIOSes / EFI. Never had spent much time for NVRAM tables, though. TEMPLAT, ROMEXEC and STRINGS modules of Phoenix BIOSes are unfamiliar to me, I used to modify ACPI and BIOSCOD modules..

    TBH to me it would not be much satisfying not to have the results on flashing...it gets an touch of unfinished work...when I tried to SLIC my own BIOS on March 2007 I had the will to kill my BIOS if needed, lol, but I had a much better situation, the chip was not soldered and was easy replaceable...never needed to, though...but being in your situation I also would think twice about flashing..


    Oh..... and not to forget it is marios thread.....what is your idea to do next, mario? I don't want to forget you whilst only replying to arctic.....:D
     
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  10. ArcticFreeze

    ArcticFreeze MDL Novice

    Apr 22, 2014
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    #30 ArcticFreeze, May 17, 2014
    Last edited: May 17, 2014
    Hello itsmemario1 and Yen,

    @Boost,

    I am going to create a modified image of your BIOS. I will not upload it until I am able to get it recompressed without massive amounts of consecutive bytes starting somewhere past 50% of the file that differ from the original BIOS image. I think that this is just the TEMPLAT module changing its compression to fit the modifications, but I am not 100% sure. I will need Yen's help here I think. I have made an ideal mod with my own BIOS before with only one of the extra BIOS menus (no extra modifications except the 4 bytes that I modified upon repacking (inspected with HxD Hex Editor)).

    @Yen,

    Thank you for your reply.

    My experience is only in the new-style Phoenix BIOS's, but I will be looking into other similar ones in the future to learn more about them (I think that AMI is similar?).

    As for experience with specific modules of the BIOS. I know a lot about TEMPLAT0.ROM, STRINGS0.ROM, and ROMEXEC0.ROM, but next to nothing about the BIOSCOD modules or the ACPI modules :D . We should exchange info. I can tell you about some of my discoveries about the structures of those modules as well.

    For the "platform.bin" file or data: I can read very basic 16-bit x86 assembly language. I can also create somewhat-basic text-based programs in assembly. I will continue to learn about it and see what I can figure out about the platform information.

    Also, where/how did you get the "platform.bin" file?
     
  11. itsmemario1

    itsmemario1 MDL Expert

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  12. itsmemario1

    itsmemario1 MDL Expert

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    #32 itsmemario1, May 18, 2014
    Last edited: May 18, 2014
    (OP)
    I decided to just do it. You guys deserved it. Still Id like to know about the seperate platform.bin flash command.
    (I took the BIOS from post #19)


    1.jpg

    It started. Thanks to my cat I only typed "phlas16.exe"...and cat hit enter :O
    (usually it hits the SwitchOff Button when jumping up to my laptop...phew)

    phlash16.exe bios.wph /mode=3 /s /c

    mode=3 updates BIOS and DMI (is AFAIK default anyway)
    s = silent mode, no beeps during flashing
    c = clear CMOS, important when menus are changing.


    Be sure Ill use "s" command next time, as the beeping was the scariest beeping I ever heard. ;D
    The "c" command needs to be used when I add the intel menu from ArticFreeze, right ?
    Be sure no cat will be near me next time !



    2.jpg


    Beep, beep, Beep, Beep, Beep,...

    3.jpg


    Beep, beep, Beep, Beep, Beep,...


    4.jpg


    Beep, beep, Beep, Beep, Beep,...


    5.jpg


    Beep, beep, Beep, Beep, Beep,...
     
  13. itsmemario1

    itsmemario1 MDL Expert

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    #33 itsmemario1, May 18, 2014
    Last edited: May 18, 2014
    (OP)
    6.jpg

    Success...restarted...went into BIOS to load defaults...entered Windows 8.1 as before. =)

    Thanks...cat ! ;D


    p.s.
    What does "Flash part: S29AL008D" mean ?
    Whats "DeviceID: 5b" ?

    "Mfr.ID : 01" should be manufactuarer ID...so 01 is Sony...No. 1 ! ;p
     
  14. ArcticFreeze

    ArcticFreeze MDL Novice

    Apr 22, 2014
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    Which BIOS did you flash?

    If you flashed the INTEL BIOS, could you take a picture of the menu please?

    Those numbers are identification ID's of your chip. Type in "Flash part: S29AL008D" into Google. Click on the first result (it should be a PDF). I would have posted a link, but apparently the required post count before being allowed to post links has raised from 5 to 20... Your BIOS chip which is made by Spansion, like mine.

    Thank-you for uploading that information about the numbers. Finding this PDF gave me an idea to look up mine. This could be very helpful when trying to reprogram the BIOS with an SPI programmer. The PDF contains a wealth of information about the BIOS.
     
  15. ArcticFreeze

    ArcticFreeze MDL Novice

    Apr 22, 2014
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    Hello Boost,

    It looks like your BIOS could be recovered (given the right tools (programmer), soldering experience, and reprogramming experience). The PDF contains the information necessary for this. Yen might have more experience with this than I do, so it might be helpful if he had a look at the PDF.
     
  16. itsmemario1

    itsmemario1 MDL Expert

    Sep 10, 2012
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    Artic, I flashed the one from post #19. No modifications, just platform.bin added.

    Thanks for that PDF! =)
     
  17. ArcticFreeze

    ArcticFreeze MDL Novice

    Apr 22, 2014
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    Thanks for the info. I am glad that it worked!
     
  18. itsmemario1

    itsmemario1 MDL Expert

    Sep 10, 2012
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    Ya, me too. Even if its only the same BIOS as before.
    Everything is better then a brick. ;)

    Looking forward for the SLIC flash and/or the INTEL menu flash, somewhere in the future. :)
     
  19. ArcticFreeze

    ArcticFreeze MDL Novice

    Apr 22, 2014
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    I will work on the image. The reason that I have not released it yet is that when I repack it, there are a lot of modifications, but they are all where the TEMPLAT module is located. If I unpack the modified image, the TEMPLAT is the same as before. By that logic, however, it should be perfectly safe. I am going to check with Yen first though.
     
  20. itsmemario1

    itsmemario1 MDL Expert

    Sep 10, 2012
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    #40 itsmemario1, May 18, 2014
    Last edited: May 18, 2014
    (OP)
    Nice :)

    I still hope to be able to do the SLIC mod, Yen suggested, then we can head for the brick & the CRISIS flash test. ;)

    Maybe one of you can do a minimal change to the working BIOS. (Or maybe I can do it myself via hexediting or Phoenix Bios Editor ?)
    Like, just changing the word "Main" of the Mainmenu into the word "Moin".

    Then I would have a working BIOS where the mainmenu is called "Main"
    and I would have a working BIOS where the mainmenu is called "Moin".

    Having the "Main" version flashed, I could now try the CRISIS Recovery method(s) with the "Moin" version. And if it would work, id see the "Moin" alternative beeing flashed. :)

    If you advice to do an even more minimal change, feel free to do so. ;)