Trying to mod my DFI Award BIOS - need guidance

Discussion in 'Windows Vista' started by ezhik, Oct 31, 2007.

  1. ezhik

    ezhik MDL Junior Member

    Oct 23, 2007
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    #1 ezhik, Oct 31, 2007
    Last edited by a moderator: Apr 20, 2017
    I put in a request for mod, but thought I'd have a go myself. I'm getting a bit stuck, here's why.

    I've got my favourite BIOS for the DFI NF4, it's an award BIOS version 704-2bta, so I use cbrom and add Iasus.bin and this is how it looks:
    Code:
                  ******** 704-2bta.bin BIOS component ********
    
     No. Item-Name         Original-Size   Compressed-Size Original-File-Name
    ================================================================================
      0. System BIOS       20000h(128.00K)  132DBh(76.71K)  704-2BT.BIN
      1. XGROUP CODE       0F7D0h(61.95K)   0A6FFh(41.75K)  awardext.rom
      2. CPU micro code    02000h(8.00K)    00390h(0.89K)   CPUCODE.BIN
      3. ACPI table        061C9h(24.45K)   0204Ch(8.07K)   ACPITBL.BIN
      4. YGROUP ROM        0B0C0h(44.19K)   04C3Dh(19.06K)  awardeyt.rom
      5. GROUP ROM[ 0]     07BF0h(30.98K)   03351h(12.83K)  _EN_CODE.BIN
      6. SETUP0             021B0h(8.42K)   00EC4h(3.69K)   _ITEM.BIN
      7. OEM0 CODE         0C2B0h(48.67K)   00A11h(2.52K)   BSMICODE.ROM
      8. PCI ROM[A]        0C000h(48.00K)   064EDh(25.23K)  NVRAID.ROM
      9. PCI ROM        0D800h(54.00K)   07088h(28.13K)  NVPXES.NIC
     10. PCI ROM[C]        0F000h(60.00K)   07469h(29.10K)  5216.bin
     11. LOGO BitMap       4B30Ch(300.76K)  059D5h(22.46K)  LPLOGO.BMP
     12. OEM1 CODE         00090h(0.14K)    000AFh(0.17K)   MemSetup.rom
     13. OEM2 CODE         17BC8h(94.95K)   09B76h(38.87K)  MemTest.rom
     14. OEM3 CODE         14668h(81.60K)   0827Fh(32.62K)  CPUTEST.rom
     15. GV3                037C1h(13.94K)  0101Fh(4.03K)   AGESACPU.ROM
     16. ISA ROM[1]        00400h(1.00K)    00335h(0.80K)   Iasus.bin
    
      Total compress code space  = 5C000h(368.00K)
      Total compressed code size = 56BC4h(346.94K)
      Remain compress code space = 0543Ch(21.06K)
    
     *** NVMM 4.052.0805/20/05 ►♥ * Start Offset => 0, End Offset => 4b00 ***
    
    Great I see Iasus.rom is there, item 16.

    When I flash this modded BIOS and restart the pc there is an error message saying I have a checksum error. I can ignore it (press F1)and continue, then Vista boots and activates, hooray! But, the BIOS is bad and hasn't loaded NvRaid, so my RAID disks are absent. If I restart and try to get into setup (press delete) then it hangs at the NvRaid detection message and I can't get into setup.

    So I'm a bit dissapointed at failure. I do have a BIOS for this board already been modded here, so I decide to look inside and see if I can help myself to any tips, here is this BIOS:
    Code:
                 ********  0406bta.bin BIOS component ********
    
     No. Item-Name         Original-Size   Compressed-Size Original-File-Name
    ================================================================================
      0. System BIOS       20000h(128.00K)  134D6h(77.21K)  0406BTA.BIN
      1. XGROUP CODE       0F830h(62.05K)   0A758h(41.84K)  awardext.rom
      2. CPU micro code    02000h(8.00K)    00390h(0.89K)   CPUCODE.BIN
      3. YGROUP ROM        0B0B0h(44.17K)   04C21h(19.03K)  awardeyt.rom
      4. GROUP ROM[ 0]     07B90h(30.89K)   0336Bh(12.85K)  _EN_CODE.BIN
      5. SETUP0             021C0h(8.44K)   00ED2h(3.71K)   _ITEM.BIN
      6. OEM0 CODE         0C2B0h(48.67K)   00A11h(2.52K)   BSMICODE.ROM
      7. LOGO BitMap       4B30Ch(300.76K)  059D5h(22.46K)  LPLOGO.BMP
      8. GV3                0475Dh(17.84K)  01216h(4.52K)   AGESACPU.ROM
      9. ACPI table        0633Bh(24.81K)   021DCh(8.46K)   acpitbl.bin
     10. OEM1 CODE         00090h(0.14K)    000AFh(0.17K)   MemSetup.rom
     11. OEM2 CODE         179B8h(94.43K)   09E67h(39.60K)  MemTest.rom
     12. OEM3 CODE         14668h(81.60K)   0827Fh(32.62K)  CpuTest.rom
     13. PCI ROM[A]        0C000h(48.00K)   06FFDh(28.00K)  NvRaid.rom
     14. PCI ROM        0E800h(58.00K)   07773h(29.86K)  NvPxes.nic
     15. PCI ROM[C]        0F000h(60.00K)   074FFh(29.25K)  5403.bin
     16. EPA LOGO          021B4h(8.43K)    00264h(0.60K)   XBios.epa
    
      Total compress code space  = 5C000h(368.00K)
      Total compressed code size = 5865Ch(353.59K)
      Remain compress code space = 039A4h(14.41K)
    
     *** NVMM 4.054.0811/09/05 ◄♥ * Start Offset => 0, End Offset => 4b00 ***
    Now in this BIOS there is no Iasus.bin, yet Vista is activated, so I think the asus royalty code must be contained somewhere else, inside another file. If I knew which one I could sap it into 704-2bta.

    I have also tried the ISA1, 2 and 3 methods and still it makes a bad BIOS hanging at NvRaid.

    Can anyone give me a clue to get my prefered BIOS working? I have tried swapping a few files from 0406bta to 704-2bta but I'm stuck.

    I do have a BIOS saviour, so the bad BIOS I made doesn't cause me any problem.

    What should I try next?
     
  2. ezhik

    ezhik MDL Junior Member

    Oct 23, 2007
    76
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    Ok I've fixed it now, found I needed to a add a SLIC to the ACPI table.

    If you were thinking of replying to help me there is no need now, I made a good BIOS and Vista is activated.
     
  3. Yen

    Yen Admin (retired)
    Staff Member

    May 6, 2007
    13,129
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    Just for my interests:). At Isa mod: Have you tried to load the setup defaults to fix the raid issue? Or to clear cmos? Did you use the latest cbrom 1.82?

    Anyway you did it well. You have done your own mod!

    Yen
     
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  4. ezhik

    ezhik MDL Junior Member

    Oct 23, 2007
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    Yes I used cbrom 1.82, and cleared cmos, loaded defaults before and after flashing - this is the procedure on the Lanparty, as I guess you know from the question!

    I think this is why the 0406 BIOS already posted here had been modded by SLIC table into ACPI and not the Isa method, probably didn't work for that one either. Was a good thing for me to look and see what had been done.

    Having a DFI I got used to trying different BIOS when I first built the pc, but now I settled on one that gives me best speed and stability, I wanted to keep it with an OEM mod.

    I got all the info I needed from this site, great work from you guys.
     
  5. badsector

    badsector MDL Novice

    Aug 12, 2008
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    #6 badsector, Jul 31, 2009
    Last edited by a moderator: May 23, 2017
  6. ws2k8

    ws2k8 MDL Novice

    Aug 15, 2009
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    #7 ws2k8, Aug 15, 2009
    Last edited by a moderator: May 23, 2017
  7. Saint

    Saint MDL Novice

    Jun 22, 2007
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    #8 Saint, Aug 15, 2009
    Last edited by a moderator: May 23, 2017
  8. bigbloke

    bigbloke MDL Novice

    May 11, 2009
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    i used andy's tool with the 02+02 option to mod my 704-2bta. i can upload it if anyone still needs it.
     
  9. grodri02

    grodri02 MDL Novice

    Oct 23, 2009
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    Hey, can anyone send me the SLIC 704-2bta bios...all links are broken. Thanks!
     
  10. 911medic

    911medic MDL Guru

    Aug 13, 2008
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    I can make one if you get me a link to the factory bios you desire.....:D

    or make a request in the request forum..
     
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