Acer Predator G5 modding

Update
Found the vBIOS!
It is NOT stored in the system bios, it is on a separate Macronix MX25U4033E chip!
Default TDP is 78W and with OC maximum graphics score I was able to get was 12200 points in Fire Strike.
I have modded the vBIOS from 78W to 110W, now the max points have increased to 13561 ! Not bad compared to the factory default 11400

3DMark result: https://www.3dmark.com/3dm/32790660?

Was a bit tricky to flash the modded vBIOS.
An RT809F SPI programmer gave validation error when reading the factory vBIOS.
Then we tried an TL866CS which was able to read and save the vBIOS to an 512 kb ROM file.

However when writing the modded vBIOS (256 kb file saved with nvflash) the TL866CS gave write error.
However RT809F was able to write and verify it.

tl;dr: for saving an TL866CS was needed, for writing a RT809F

ps: The new TDP after vBIOS mod (after running 1 Fire Strike test):



TDP is a bit higher than the default 78W

 

Hi everyone,

I am sorry for resurrecting this old thread, but I would like to say thanks to DRevan for this wonderful breakdown of his G5 modding efforts. Recently I had to replace RAM on my own G5 and the process gave me some insight into the inner workings of this model. it seems that the differences between G5 and G9 are forced by Acer ie. backpanel lighting, subwoofer, single M.2 slot etc. I have found another curiosity on the G5 motherboard while I was replacing my RAM, there is a free slim-SATA port (usually used by cd/dvd drives) found on the left of the M.2 slot and there is a strange mounting rack on the back cover where the dvd is supposed to be (the side cover can be removed by removing two small screws in the middle). I have tried with a HDD caddy, and while everything matches the access is blocked by two columns. I have ordered slim-SATA male to SATA female cable online and I'll post an update when I try it.

PS. There are two unused ports nearby, I would appreciate any information about these ports.

 

The one close to the SATA port looks like something for power delivery as it have wide traces, perhaps for powering a storage device?

 

I got my answers on Acer Support Forum,
The left one is SATA port used by my regular SSD, I didn't realize it was the one that connects to tray in the easy access panel. The right one is a debug port used to display system error codes (bios post) but I did't find any hardware that can be used to read it. As for slim SATA port it produces 5v instead of 12v of power, which is enough to power a 2.5" SSD but not enough to power regular 3.5" HDD, besides that there should be no differences.

 

Hello

can you share your unlocked 1.14 bios please i have spi programmer but i can not find unlocked rom

Br

 

Hey DRevan!
It looks like I'm resurrecting a pretty old post but I'm having a lot of issues flashing the bios back onto this WINROM chip (W25Q128FV) It seems like a lot of people have problems when trying to verify with CH341A (including me) It dumped fine, looked good. Went to throw it back on and can't get it to verify on any of the CH341A versions. What was your secret sauce?? I'm beginning to think I've got a bad programmer or just need to run it through flashrom on linux.
Any advise would be great! I'm getting really tired of completely tearing this predator apart lol YOU know the pain I'm talking about!

Thanks,
Seth

 

Í would desolder the flash chip from the motherboard, I never trusted flashing BIOS with the chips in place, because the usual outcome is what you are experiencing, errors while reading/writing.

Its pretty easy to remove the chip with just a soldering iron and fine tweezers.

 

I got home and tested out the programmer and everything looks good, voltages and all. I did a closer look at the chip with a loop and it looks like the clip has damaged the pins. It also looks like there are wires inside the pins. Could this be? Looks like I'll order another couple chips and end up soldering.

 

Hello, i tried to flash my Acer Predator G9-793-79HC with a Mobile GTX 1070 bga card today. The vbios is on a MX25U4033E Chip.
I used the CH341A with a 1.8V adapter.
I used the stock vbios firmware and edited with mobile pascal tdp tweaker.
I unprotected the chip, erased everything, and wrote my edited vbios to the chip. The veriffication was also okay with AsProgrammer.
But i forgot to set the protection bits on again.
The pc is booting (Acer Bios sound works), but no video at all on the laptop display even on a external monitor.
Its a big thing to set the protection bits on again? Or do i have a another Problem?
I have a Backup. Should i reflash the original vbios again?


Edit vbios dump from nvflash:
https://mega.nz/file/n49yyCIL#na1RsQjh21C-VpSwc6LuNpAVqck3izLnnBMefT9JoGw
Original vbios dump made via nvflash:
https://mega.nz/file/D89yFIIA#UHq2eWsoBXmTnxR2Dn9YWKvPi4LyhnXqMloptje9LC0
Original vbios dump from asProgrammer:
https://mega.nz/file/Wx9iVKwL#ISQ0sa5UtDFVN9_X8D_bMlBncz9tmOwIoYlhTgUyElA