Insyde BIOS modding (dv4,dv5,dv6,dv7 at least)

[chrisys32]

ok, lol, i found it on this forum, stupid me.. you can find EzH2O 2.1.0.13 here Acer Laptop with Phoenix BIOS: Enable Virtualization (Test Machine: Acer Aspire 9420)

[chrisys32]

zchef2k: v2.1.0.13 can open bios (at least mine) but can't emulate setup utility and option OEMDS is unavailable so...

[etiko]

sorry i quit, i can't do any change on bios options! it not work for me, and i dont try anymore, only time lost LOL!
have luck trying

[dougdude9]

HUGE help requested!...

I will keep a very long story short. I have a dm3... HP DM3-1039wm to be exact. I needed to get into the bios to turn on virtualization. Since I bought the laptop used, I didn't know the password to get into the bios. I tried many things, but the only thing that got me in was using PC CMOS Cleaner 2.0 or 2.4 (not sure which). The CMOS Cleaner cleared the password for me and I could get into the bios now. I thought all was well, but now my wireless device will NOT turn on. When I hit the button on the right of the laptop, it stays amber instead of turning to blue. In windows seven it says I need to turn on my wireless. I have tried uninstalling wireless, updating drivers, disable and enabling in Win7.

So you ask why am I posting this wireless problem here. The reason is because I believe my wireless device is disabled in the bios. I think this because it was working fine until I used the cmos cleaner. After using that, it won't turn on. Unfortunately I can't get to the setting to turn it on because it is hidden.

Can anyone help me? I need to be able to turn my wireless device on in the bios for dm3-1039wm.

Thanks,
Doug

[User Retired 2]

After using that, it won't turn on. Unfortunately I can't get to the setting to turn it on because it is hidden.

Can anyone help me? I need to be able to turn my wireless device on in the bios for dm3-1039wm.

Try removing all power from the unit, battery and AC and hold down the power button for 30 seconds to clear the bios vram and reset defaults. Turn on and test.

If that fails consider putting a piece of cellophane tape over pin 20 (W_DISABLE) of the wifi mPCIe card. That will keep the radio on permanently, giving you working wifi while you investigate why your bios is disconnecting the radio.

Flashing the latest bios version might also help you.

[dougdude9]

Thanks for the reply. I will try the holding the power switch for 30 secs with it unplugged and battery out.

I have already tried flashing to latest bios.

I will post back by results.

A coworker of mine has the same latop, so I might try usin the fla$hit util to get his bios and then dump it on mine.

Thanks,
Doug

[dougdude9]

Try removing all power from the unit, battery and AC and hold down the power button for 30 seconds to clear the bios vram and reset defaults. Turn on and test.

Tried the above and no dice. I held it for at least 2 minutes with battery removed and no ac adapter.

A coworker of mine has the same latop, so I might try usin the fla$hit util to get his bios and then dump it on mine.

Did the above as well. Grabbed his bios and flashed to mine. Still won't work. I just wish there was a a way to know for sure if the bios has this turned off.

Can anyone help?

Thanks,
Doug

[zchef2k]

HUGE help requested!...

I will keep a very long story short. I have a dm3... HP DM3-1039wm to be exact. I needed to get into the bios to turn on virtualization. Since I bought the laptop used, I didn't know the password to get into the bios. I tried many things, but the only thing that got me in was using PC CMOS Cleaner 2.0 or 2.4 (not sure which). The CMOS Cleaner cleared the password for me and I could get into the bios now. I thought all was well, but now my wireless device will NOT turn on. When I hit the button on the right of the laptop, it stays amber instead of turning to blue. In windows seven it says I need to turn on my wireless. I have tried uninstalling wireless, updating drivers, disable and enabling in Win7.

So you ask why am I posting this wireless problem here. The reason is because I believe my wireless device is disabled in the bios. I think this because it was working fine until I used the cmos cleaner. After using that, it won't turn on. Unfortunately I can't get to the setting to turn it on because it is hidden.

Can anyone help me? I need to be able to turn my wireless device on in the bios for dm3-1039wm.

Thanks,
Doug

Make sure the wireless card is still seated correctly in the socket.



-Z

[dougdude9]

Make sure the wireless card is still seated correctly in the socket.

Yea, I did that too. Actually reseated it.

It is an odd setup. When I took the cover off to see the wireless nic, there appears to be a cmos battery (I think it is anyway, it has some sort of plastic wrap around it, but it certainly is the shape of one) with 2 wires coming from it that hook onto the wireless card. Then there is another set of wires from the battery that plugs into some sort of very small port. I removed all the wires, reseated the card, and moved them back. It still didn't make a difference.

I'm still leaning towards the PC CMOS Cleaner did something in BIOS and that something is hidden from me.

Idiot HP support says I have to put the pc back to default... as in reload Win7 Home Premium on it even though I already reinstalled the OS with Win7 Ultimate. Win7 Home Prem. is not going to make a difference. They will not take the pc back for repairs unless it is back to factory defaults which is having Home Premium on it. So, I had to order a disc from them. I'm so irritated with them. They don't seem to understand that I already reinstalled the OS.

Anyway, I guess I will be installing home premium when I get the disc, then I will call them back and say "TOLD YOU SO!!!" Then they will have to take the computer back and fix it or replace it.

The only other option I have is if someone knows a hidden setting in the bios and can tell me how to change it.

Thanks,
Doug

[raidenii]

I've had a look at the extra BIOS menus, some work some don't. IMHO I feel rather than it being a secret setup it's more like left over and sometimes broken code that was easier and more cost effective to leave in there disabled.

1. Trying to use the custom save or custom load seems to crash the BIOS.
2. Some options don't lead to anywhere.
3. Probably the most important menu "power" is missing along with "advanced".

I guess with 1 & 2 this isn't the best way to do this although we could be a bit more selective and try to only enable options known to work. Maybe there is a better solution involved with Opcode 0x27 "EFI_IFR_VARSTORE_DEVICE" but since I know nothing about EFI and in particular "forms" I don't know what that is. Alternatively maybe software could be written to allow changing the variables from Windows Linux DOS etc. but seems like a lot of work.

Regarding 3, these menus seem like they should be present without having to do anything with suppression code. Using the dumped setup.txt file from Danny, the only difference I see between these menus and others is the class code. Maybe this needs to be changed from 5 to 4 or less.

Danny, you remember the suppression code discussed in an earlier post "what is Opcode 0x27", well if we go through the decompressed BIOS file these appear in the forms section. So if we look for the suppression code which is IIRC "0A 03 00" followed by Opcode 0x27, "27 02" this As far as I know means suppress if EFI_IFR_VARSTORE_DEVICE is true. I don't know what "EFI_IFR_VARSTORE_DEVICE" is but it seems to be returning "true" so the menu is suppressed. By changing the 27 to 47 we now have "47 02" which is "EFI_IFR_FALSE" which returns false to the suppression query and therefore no suppression. Doing it this way does not change the size of the section so making it easier to patch. Just need to make sure that we are changing it at the correct places.

Hi 0.0,

I've tried using WinHex to replace 0a03002702 to 0a03004702 by opening the BIOS in memory using ezH2O, however the change doesn't save after closing it. Could you please show a more detailed way? Thanks.

BTW, noted that two of the menus - in my dv5t are Power and Debug have the class no of 1-5, I wonder if there is anyway to change this number to 1-0 so that they would be the same as the ones already appears.