vendredi 29 juillet 2016

Alienware M18xR2 New/Updated BIOS Mods - NOW WITH MAXWELL LEGACY SUPPORT - Testers Needed

Hey Everyone,
Post Updated On April 5th, 2016 @ 1:06PM (EST)

*** APRIL ****
TECH-INFERNO HAS RELEASED MY MOD!
IT IS IN THE DOWNLOAD SECTION!
ENJOY!
(Please donate if you use this!)
I am now working on Legacy Mode for the M17xR4 CPUs, and a few people have asked if I can update the m17xR3-R2-and R1 (I THINK). If there is another bios you'd like to have UPDATED, let me know. I can do ALL the updates that i've done to this (or ALMOST all the updated / enhancements / add-ons / mods to another bios!). So PM me if you'd like another bios updated. Worse case, I can update your bios at least a little bit! I'm happy to help if I can, so contact me and let me know! hope to hear from you soon!
Again, ENJOY MY M18XR2 MOD! MORE STUFF TO COME! (M18XR1 mods will be on T|I's downloads page as well and should be available within the next couple day)
ENJOY!

*** April 11, 2016 ***
(Trying this for a 5th time, the site keeps crashing... *SIGH*)
So, I'm finally releasing the bios either today or tomorrow! TechInferno has been KIND enough to host the file for me! You'll see it's location below in my signature. I would have posted a download link on here, but NBR claims that they have full copyright to any files and tutorials that are posted on here, and to me that is INSANE! So, T|i said they would host, thankfully! You'll notice that the download link is in my signature, so go to T|i and you can download it. HOWEVER, a download link probably wont be available until tomorrow OR tuesday, though it is possible to be up today. But tuesday at the latest, and we just need to wait for them to post it.
Lastly, IF you use this mod, I would ask you that you buy me a keg of beer, as I'm going to need MANY kegs to get rid of the headache this bios has caused me, LoL! Also, thank you to EVERYONE that has supported me on this endevour! Your kind words, encouragement, and support were INVALUABLE (@Mr. Fox , @Raidriar , @Rengsey R. H. Jr., and MANY others) - if I forgot your name let me know and I'll post on here! I believe EVERYONE that has helped deserves to be recognized! Thank you so much!! I am working on getting legacy support for the m17xR4, right now, too. I've added ALL the mods that the m18xr2 has, EXCEPT legacy support, yet. I'm hoping to get it, but MIGHT NOT be able to do so! heh

*** April 8th, 2016 @ 1:16AM (EST) ***
Yet another update - guess it's come to the point where I really do NOT understand where the throttling is coming from, of the GPU's. The DSDT & SSDT tables both really didn't have any kind of FLAGS that slow the card(s) down. I even asked Raidriar to take a look at the tables and see if he could find anything, and he couldn't - EITHER!
HOWEVER - I'm guessing it's GOT TO BE a Driver issue. Therefore, there ar e acouple options. First is trying to disable APCI in the bios AND disabling the Power Management in System within the Device Management, and see if throttling is still done. We can also add the Nvidia Inspector, via command line to "force" the GPU's to work at FULL SPEED. And then when you are not using them, you'd need another shortcut to set them to a slow / idle speed. I'm HOPING this can be done, even if it's a little bit of a pain / chore. At least it would solve the problem, short term, while I look for a final solution! So, that's what's happening.
If ya'll could, please tell me in the thread if you think I should still release this with the throttling that's happening, or should I wait until it's fixed? (Bare in mind if you want me to wait til it's working 100%, it could be a VERY LONG time!) Just wanted to know what ya'll want... (THANK YOU)!

*** April 6th, 2016 @ 5:25PM ***
Just to give ya'll a heads up - I realize this is an m18xR2 thread, but I wanted to let others know that I CAN mod the m17xR4 Bios to give this legacy support as well. HOWEVER, I need testers and will NOT do anything more until I see people actually want it!
On another note, I've included the NEWEST EDID Support, and GOPolicy as well! I've got 4 more modules that need to be updated and modified. Once done, I will have people test and see what happens. I am ALSO looking at throttling issue in drivers & DSDT tables though I dont think it's a DSDT issue, I'm still looking to make sure. Will update you when I have news.

*** April 6th, 2016 @ 1:40AM (EST) ***
Well... I've gone over the DSDT table and had someone else take a look at it, too. Turns out that the nVidia do not appear to be throttled by the DSDT / ACPI settings. It's possible that the DRIVERS are causing this issue, and I will look into that shortly. However, I'm still trying to research and see if there is ANYTHING in the DSDT table that is causing trouble for the GPU's. I'm also editing the DSDT table because I think that may control / allow you to put the AW18 LED onto the m18xR2 (NO GUARANTEE's, but it is possible). I'm also updating a few more modules, too (GOPolicy, TERMINAL, EDID, and a couple more). Once those updates are done AND assuming I can kill the throttling, this modded bios should be released in the VERY near future. I think it'll be a couple of days. IF I can't get the throttling fixed, I'll release the MOD and hopfully ya'll can use and give me ideas or feedback and we can figure things out! Thanks for being patient, it wont be much longer, PROMISE! :)

*** April 5th, 2016 @ 1:06PM (EST) ***
I'm now working on modifying the DSDT (ACPI) tables to stop whatever THROTTLING takes effect. This will, UNFORTUNATLY, take a little bit of time. I don't want to release the bios UNTIL I get the throttling issue taken care of, though it doesn't appear to be much - it's enough to where disabling it will give a performance increase, that's for sure. The real question is, how much of a performance increase will we get, that's unknown, but it's likely to be substantial! (I HOPE) In any case, I've been able to get the ACPI tables dumped, and I also got the tables converted into human readable text (but the conversion did have a few errors, and I'm not sure what the consequences will be from those errors). So, if anyone knows how to do DSDT / ACPI table editing so we can get rid of the throttling, please contact me! I would appreciate the help! I'll keep ya'll posted on the progress (or lack there of)...

*** April 4th, 2016 @ 7:35PM (EST) ***
IT IS CONFIRMED THAT 2x980m GPU's in SLI WORKS on m18xR2 in Legacy mode without 8 beeps!
3DMark2011 Score - 14083 W/980m SLI cable
Running in Windows 7 with bios set to Legacy Mode
(Or bios can also be set to UEFI with Legacy Mode, too)
AW18 Screen is to be tested next. Not sure I can get it to work, but am trying. We will be testing that tonight and I will let you know how things turn out!

*** April 4th, 2016 @ 6:21PM (EST) ***
IT IS CONFIRMED THAT LEGACY SUPPORT for 900 Series GPU's IS UNLOCKED ON THE M18XR2!
The Alienware m18xr2 can now boot in legacy mode with the 900 series GPU's! OR, it can boot with UEFI Mode enabled and LEGACY MODE enabled, too. Both ways have been CONFIRMED working!
We are now testing SLI, and that SHOULD work being the other tests worked!
Lastly, we are testing the mod to see if the AW18 LED can be used on the system!

*** April 4th, 2016 @ 4:30PM ***
CONFIRMED - LEGACY SUPPORT On the 900 series IS WORKING! User CAN boot up in legacy mode, OR UEFI with Legacy Support, in Windows 7, WITHOUT any beeps. Tester also stated that the 980m he's running was tested in 3dMark11 and was able to go through all tests!

Download link will be posted in my signature within the next day or so. Just doing last minute testing and adding some other mods to allow AW18 screens to be used (possibly) and a few other things, too!

Furthermore, a SPECIAL SHOUT OUT to Rengsey R. H. Jr. for having the guts to test my mod. He is either EXTREMELY brave, or totally insane. (I'm guessing there is a fine line between the 2, heh) But his testing was INVALUABLE! We ALL owe him a debt of gratitude, as this mod with legacy support would not have been made without him!

*** April 4th, 2016 @ 1:43am ***
Testing appears to show LOTS of promise. One of my testers stated they see DX12 support. They are in the process of running 3dmark11 to verify support in legacy mode for dx11. Things look really good so far. I hate to get my hopes up but things are looking good so far. If he tells me there is dx11 support in legacy mode, we will be in great shape. I hate to get everyones hopes up, but... looks like it may be working. But i need more testers!!!!

** April 3rd, 2016 @ 4:30pm (EST) ***
**** LEGACY SUPPORT TESTING ****
I believe I may have found the key to unlock LEGACY SUPPORT for the 900 Series Clevo GPU's. If anyone would like to test, please contact me, as I do not have any Clevo 900 series GPU's. But, the mod that I did SHOULD allow legacy support! I can confirm my mod flashes and does NOT cause any harm to the pc (I've flashed it a dozen times now).
TESTERS NEEDED!!

*** April 3rd, 2016 @ 3:15pm (EST) ***
I am now working on, FINALLY, the LEGACY support for the M18xR2! I have a few ideas and am open to ANY suggestions, too! Contact me if you have.

*** April 2nd, 2016, @ Sometime In The Evening ***
Changed the Bios default from PEG to IGFX. Now when someone tests any bios mod of mine, they will not have to Break Down Their System, from what Mr. Fox tells me!

*** MARCH 19th, 2016 @ 11:24pm(EST) ***
CREATED an UPDATE package for the Intel Management Engine Firmware to v8.1.65+
13) NEW support for updating the Intel ME (Management Engine) Firmware from v8.1.xx.xxxx to v8.1.65.1058! If ANYONE would like to test this update, please PM me for a download link!

**NEW Updates As Of March 13**
11) Added NvMe Support (Pure UEFI)
12) Added Support to boot from Samsung M.2 SSD drives

1) Unlocked A11 Bios (SLV7 deserves ALL the credit for unlocking the BIOS!)

The following items are MOD's that I've updated OR added into SLV7's UNLOCKED BIOS MOD
2) Intel vBios Updated from v2138 to v2171 For SandyBridge On-Board Video Card (HD3000)
3) Intel vBios Updated from v2138 to c2171 for IVYBridge On-Board Video Cards (HD4000)
4) ATHEROS Lan & PXE Boot Firmware for Atheros AR81xx updated from v2.0.5.9 to v2.0.6.6
5) CPU Microcode updated from v28 to v29 (2920XM & 2960XM CPU)
6) CPU Microcode updated from v15 to 1B (3920XM & 3940XM CPU)
6b) The MICROCODE for all the other CPU's appears to be the latestest version available, unfortunately! If there is a MICROCODE that has been modded for these or ANY other supported CPU's, please let me know and I will be happy to upgrade them into the bios, too. At the moment though, the 2900 & 3900 series CPU's were the only ones that had microcode updates! (SORRY!)
7) GOP Driver for Sandybridge updated from 2.0.35.1018 to v2.0.1024
8) GOP Driver for IvyBridge updated from 3.0.1018 to 3.0.1030
9) Updated Intel Rapid Storage Technology - EFI RaidDriver (AKA:SATADriver) from 11.6 to 12.9.0.2006 w/ TRIM supported in RAID0
10) Update of Intel Rapid Storage Technology v11.6 (LEGACY OpRom) to v12.9.0.2006 w/ TRIM in RAID0 Supported (Used Modded OpRom to force support of TRIM in RAID0) - I can confirm that TRIM does work in raid0

Raidriar Added the following Mod to my A11 Modded Bios:
14) Patched my Modded A11 BIOS with MSR 0xE2 to disable "Package C-State Lock"
14b) You can download throttlestop by unclewebb, and under c-states....notice how it is locked/greyed out in the Alienware 18.... It should NOW be unlocked in the m18x R2!

Thanks,
Swick

Link to the A11 Bios -
(Download link will be in my signature. I'll upload the new MOD ASAP!) Will post here when it's uploaded.

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Alienware M18xR2 New/Updated BIOS Mods - NOW WITH MAXWELL LEGACY SUPPORT - Testers Needed

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