L502X modded bioses download (GPU voltages and more!)

[capitankasar]

@yungbenny911
Sharadeos already created a topic for the xps 17 bioses (I think you already posted there), however it has been a while since his last post, also if you want to do it by yourself you will need to:

requeriments:

1 - download the latest bios update from dell (asuming you want to mod the last bios)
2 - get the required bios wph file and the whole flasher folder using the instructions at the fist post of this topic
Modding the L502X bios (The project)
3 - you will need following software
* phoenix slic mod 1.93 (to dissasembly and reasembly the whole bios)
* nbitor (to edit the nvidia)
* a hex editor (optional)


procedure:
1 - get the bios wph file using the methods described above
2 - get the slic mod tool and open the bios.wph, this will disasembly the bios inside a folder named DUMP
it will dissasembly some files, if it only output some little and big files (4 in my case), you will need to find the biggest file and open it again with the slic mod tool. once it extract all the modules again you will need to search for the correct vbios, I think its size is 64kb, you may find some of them, because in the xps laptops there are many hardware configurations and the bios include several vbioses.
you can use nbitor or a hex editor to find the propper one.
4- use nbitor to open and edit the vbios
5- when done, you will need to reasembly the whole bios with the modified module (modified vbios), you will find more info about this at this topic
(UEFI) Dell XPS 15/15z L502x/L511z modded BIOS - and HOWTO
you may need to reasembly twice, or at least I had to do with the rom file inside the wph file, and the wph file itself while moding the xps 15 bios.
6-when done, flash the modified bios.wph and cross your fingers.

if this confuses you , ask Sharadeos for more info or to do the whole task since he already acomplished it.

in a last instance, if Sharadeos dont reply or still missing in action or dont want to pick the task, I can try check your bios, but you will need to send me the wph file and a GPU-Z screenshot from your machine.


edit:
@daryld1988
I got the new drivers, however I didnt noticed any improvement over the current stable values for my card.
:/

have the same issue, OC seems stable testing higher clocks with software like OCCT for hours, but those higher clocks crash with buzzing sound with games like dead space 2 after some minutes.
for that reason I stick with my current stable clocks on all apps. (700/1400/915)

[yungbenny911]

OH! Quick reply... Thanks for that . Unfortunately, i wont be able to do it on my own, because it's a little complicated for me, and this is my only laptop at the moment.I would like someone like you who has worked with bios modding tools to help do it. The other guy has not replied in a long time maybe he's busy with stuff .... so will you help? if you can help do it for me, here is a link to my A16 Bios (winflash folder) extracted with the directions you listed and snapshots of my GpuZ.

Bios modding and Screen shots.rar - 4shared.com - online file sharing and storage - download

Thanks in Advance!

[NeoMesal]

@daryld1988
@CapitanKasar

The same goes for me with the new drivers, fine in most stress tests/ benchmarks but is "crash happy" once I start a game.

[capitankasar]

@yungbenny911

ok, I checked your bios

the structure is almost identical to the XPS 15 one.

all interesting modules are inside this file

F33E367F-41D2-4201-9CB7-AFA63DCCEEC9_0_5.ROM

wich requires to be opened with Phenix Slic MOD

I also located the right module being used as your nvidia bios

the file is 5A35B51E-9A1A-4D88-AEBB-E3DF29DC3F68_1_961.ROM

the file is 64Kb and it is attached at this post (this is just the video module and CANT be flashed directly)

however,I cant get nbitor working with that vbios since Aparently the 550m bioses arent suported yet.

I would need to ask Sharadeos about how he changed the voltages without nbitor support since my hex editing skills are really limited, he also said something about 70.06.32.00.04 (your vbios file) is not avalible yet.

so as for the moment I cant go any farther.

however, you have the video bios, so you can try to handle it or ask someone to mod it, then I can reinsert it back into the main bios and you can test it.

I'm almost sure it isnt that dangerous since the intel IGP will take the video if the nvidia vbios fail to load.


@Matix5

yep, I allways wondered why that still happening, aparently it is stable, but it isnt really, so we have to test manually ("playing" games randomly expecting a crash) till we found the Real stable clocks.

if someone can give a propper explanation it would be highly apreciated ^_^

[yungbenny911]

@daryld1988

ok, I checked your bios

the structure is almost identical to the XPS 15 one.

all interesting modules are inside this file

F33E367F-41D2-4201-9CB7-AFA63DCCEEC9_0_5.ROM

wich requires to be opened with Phenix Slic MOD

I also located the right module being used as your nvidia bios

the file is 5A35B51E-9A1A-4D88-AEBB-E3DF29DC3F68_1_961.ROM

the file is 64Kb and it is attached at this post (this is just the video module and CANT be flashed directly)

however,I cant get nbitor working with that vbios since Aparently the 550m bioses arent suported yet.

I would need to ask Sharadeos about how he changed the voltages without nbitor support since my hex editing skills are really limited, he also said something about 70.06.32.00.04 (your vbios file) is not avalible yet.

so as for the moment I cant go any farther.

however, you have the video bios, so you can try to handle it or ask someone to mod it, then I can reinsert it back into the main bios and you can test it.

I'm almost sure it isnt that dangerous since the intel IGP will take the video if the nvidia vbios fail to load.


@Matix5

yep, I allways wondered why that still happening, aparently it is stable, but it isnt really, so we have to test manually ("playing" games randomly expecting a crash) till we found the Real stable clocks.

if someone can give a propper explanation it would be highly apreciated ^_^

i guess that reply was meant for me "yungbenny911" lol ... it's all good, thanks for trying, i can wait till maybe they can mod my own bios version. my laptop is a 3d model so only the 550m Gpu is enabled. i don't have optimus. Bad luck everywhere :P

[daryld1988]

@capitankasar yea i jus found it to be the case with mine also the interesting thing is that it only crashes with skyrim and batman i tested it with saints row the third this time as i had completed skyrim and it never crashed once at my 830 clock and i played that game for hours

but then i tried running skyrim at the exact same clock speeds and it lasted merely 15 minutes before the dreaded crashing im beginning to think that maybe its the memory installed in our laptops that is causing the crashes because why can saints row the third play so well at higher clocks and yet skyrim and batman cant

[capitankasar]

@yungbenny911
oh my bad, wrong quote , you are right, hehe ^_^ (post edited)

anyway, are you sure you dont have optimus?

about the 3d model you are talking about, I think it is only related with nvidia stereoscopic vision, 3d glashes and stuff like that, but as far I know the L702X also have a intel IGP, I also saw a intel graphics module similar to the L502X while checking your BIOS.

you can confirm by checking the device manager.

if there are two screen adapter devices (one fron intel, and the other one from nvidia) it uses optimus




@daryld1988

yeah, I noticed some games crash more than others, I think dead space 2 is the game most crash when it dont like the clocks, for that reason I usually test the OC with that game ^_^

huh, the momory?

are u talking about ram memory? or nvidia video memory?
I ran several memtest tests before and it seems fine, not sure if it is a memory related .

[daryld1988]

@capitankasar yeah i meant the actual ram sticks in our laptops as iv seen people with the same laptop and who have reported the same problems to dell and dell has always replaced the motherboard and also the ram for some reason which leads me to believe the standard ram may be the issue could you confirm if your ram is the same ram as standard or have you swapped your ram for a newer brand i am still on the stock ram provided originally with the system but i may be tempted to upgrade to a faster 8gb ram

[capitankasar]

@daryld1988

yeah, I has been reading also stuff from people having that issue, but most of them reported the mobo replacement didnt fixed anything I think, others even asked the FAN issues went to worse situation after the replacement.

In my case , one of the first things I did, was replace dell's memory modules (1 x 2GB and 1 x 1GB) with 2x 4Gb, it was a cheap upgreade but worth of it.

I had some crashes with the machine since the begining (old modules)
but after reformat and install OS again everything went fine.

now all I need is a propper GPU OC testing app, since sadly the only valid results I got atm are crashing apps while testing clocks wich overclocking stability apps reported as "stable clocks".

OCCT, COMBUSTOR, and the ati tool artifacts tool didnt helped to detect errors, they only detected some artifacts while raising memory clocks to the max, but didnt crashed or anything.

[daryld1988]

@capitankasar see my memory is still the stock 4gb ram provided from dell i will definately be looking in to getting this upgraded, i had also seen reports that skyrim was more cpu dependent so could also be down to our processors aswell i suppose but what seems odd to me is that saints row the third which is a directx 11 game can run with nearly all settings at high and ultra for hours on end without a crash at clock speeds of 830 and yet skyrim can crash at anything over 773 for me