Insyde hacking - New Vaio Z - Advanced menu in BIOS

[paul3000h]

Further to above post 434 NEW INSTRUCTIONS WINDOWS WAY, to revert back to the original sony bios, for example if needed for warranty reasons, does one simply...

- Reboot the Z to the USB key and
- perform (enter) "Flash t dump.rom /f" process (without the " " and put in the missing i before the t and NO space).

or if using ComputerCowboy post 435 version - perform (enter) FLASHZ1 DUMP.ROM /F

Then uninstall new nvidia drivers and re-install the original Sony version.

ie is the dump.rom that was created in the begining an exact copy of the original bios?
or is it necessary at that begining stage to have also created a file called backup.rom?

I am asuming...
1. the endings /g creates the copy and /f writes it to the bios.
2. the dump.rom created at the start was not changed in any way when the new.rom was created.

[paul3000h]

ComputerCowboy

- perform (enter) FLASHZ1.EXE DUMP.ROM /G process to extract the rom

the red bit is not typed in the command???

When I tried your own (other thread) method my computer would not accept FLASHBIOS (bad command warning) so I had to perform, enter "dir" to see how my computer was labeling FLASHBIOS.EXE it did so as FLASHB~ so I had to use that spelling.

Perhaps it would be useful to add this to your instructions.

[ComputerCowboy]

It doesn't matter if you type the .exe part or not

for example open the command line
type help then hit enter
type help.exe then hit enter
you get the same result

that is a good point about the name, I have edited my post to make the name seven chars before the extension

see updated post and instructions

[pyr0]

It's really nice that you provide a "Hacking Z1 BIOSes for dummies" step-by-step tutorial, but without basic knowledge in DOS and stuff, one should not attempt to do such things. Fortunately, it seems to me that there were no Z's bricked with this yet *knocking wood* but remember, there is NO software BIOS recovery available on the Z1. Sony did NOT include the EL TORITO standard into the Z1 that Insyde BIOSes normally do provide. See successful recovery from a bricked laptop here: OS crashed amid BIOS update, laptop wont boot

This is NOT possible on the Z1.

[paul3000h]

Further to above post 434 NEW INSTRUCTIONS WINDOWS WAY, to revert back to the original sony bios, for example if needed for warranty reasons, does one simply...

- Reboot the Z to the USB key and
- perform (enter) "Flash t dump.rom /f" process (without the " " and put in the missing i before the t and NO space).

or if using ComputerCowboy post 435 version - perform (enter) FLASHZ1 DUMP.ROM /F

Then uninstall new nvidia drivers and re-install the original Sony version.

ie is the dump.rom that was created in the begining an exact copy of the original bios?
or is it necessary at that begining stage to have also created a file called backup.rom?

I am asuming...
1. the endings /g creates the copy and /f writes it to the bios.
2. the dump.rom created at the start was not changed in any way when the new.rom was created.

pyr0

Please could you confirm Is above quote not possible on z then?

[pyr0]

pyr0

Please could you confirm Is above quote not possible on z then?

The quote you provided is correct. When you go through the BIOS hack procedure, the very first thing you do is backup your BIOS with the flashing tool with the command flashbios dump.rom /g (flashbios is the insyde bios flash utility provided here and may have a different name, dump.rom is the original, unhacked flash image - keep it in a safe place!)

If you need to revert from the hacked BIOS due to warranty reasons, you can do so if you flash back the original image with the /f option as described.

Now the answer:
This works on the Z, but your Z must be bootable for that. If you have bricked the Z and it does not boot anymore, needless to say, you can't restore to the factory BIOS anymore.
Some laptops provide functions so you can recover even if the laptop is dead (see the link in my post). This does NOT apply to the Z. If a Z is BIOS-dead, it is doomed - you have to send it in to let them replace your motherboard.

[dawack]

Do the patching:

- Reboot the Z to the USB key.

Don't change any boot options at this point (even though it says something about installing stuff on your hard drive it won't)
Just hit enter at the first menu and enter again at the second menu
then you are at a command prompt

I have followed all the instructions above, but when I try and boot from USB, It just stops at a screen saying "SYSLINUX 4.03 2010 10-22 EDD Copyright (C)1994-2010 H. Peter Anvin et al", with a flashing underscore.

I have tried re-doing it a few times but same thing happens. Any help would be appreciated.

[dawack]

No-one had this issue?

[paul3000h]

I have followed all the instructions above, but when I try and boot from USB, It just stops at a screen saying "SYSLINUX 4.03 2010 10-22 EDD Copyright (C)1994-2010 H. Peter Anvin et al", with a flashing underscore.

I have tried re-doing it a few times but same thing happens. Any help would be appreciated.

at the flashing underscore did you type C: then hit enter ie cd to c:\

or type cd c:\

did you follow instructions EXACTLY? You have sony z1.

[dawack]

Nothing can be typed (well, nothing comes up when you do). I am familiar with the change directory function, but as described, the screen just sits on that screen with the flashing underscore, no matter what is typed.

Edit: Yes, I have the sony Z1.

Edit2: It boots fine from CD, but then I obviously can't write to it.

Edit3: Tried a different USB. All is well.