Modified BIOS to get all cores working, For ASUS/MSI (and some other) laptops.. Options

[Kabyl]

Well, I guess the title says it all, after spending a lot of time reading Documentations, Specifications, Forums.. and hunting for testers , I finally got tehmachacker (thank you) to test a modified BIOS, and as expected, it worked.

This is the issue that intends this mod to fix:
http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?showtopic=78235

Basically, what I'm doing is modifying and fixing errors in the DSDT; removing aliases for the "processor" devices, because the ACPIPlatform kext doesn't like them and treat them as other CPUs.. (it's written for Macs, and Apple doesn't use that in their Firmware's ACPI Tables, actually I don't see why we need them, well..)
I for example change this:

CODE

    Scope (_PR)
                {
                    Processor (P001, 0x01, 0x00000810, 0x06) {}
                    Alias (P001, CPU1)
                }

into:

CODE

    Scope (_PR)
                {
                    Processor (P001, 0x01, 0x00000810, 0x06) {}
                }

Sometimes I have to fix more stuff.. you should know that when you try to compile your DSDT.

So if you want to get a fixed BIOS, you can PM me post your request here, included with:

• a direct link to the BIOS file,
• your PC specs (CPU, Chipset and Graphics Card),
• and a description of the issues.

Don't PM me with requests, post them in this thread.

You will find some of the modified BIOSes here.

Keep in mind that I take no responsibility for a bad flash or if anything goes wrong..

[tehmachacker]

It works like a charm. I must say. Thank You SO Much!!

All 4 cores. everything!!

I don't know what else to say. It just Works.

picture of activity monitor and system profiler now attached. showing al the cores. post yours =P

link to png. http://www.mediafire.com/?jyjc0j8cmmm

heres the tiff

Attached File(s)

 Snapshot_2008_02_27_11_02_53.tiff ( 394.83K ) Number of downloads: 4023

 

[EqUaTe]

'grats mate

[glitchbit]

The Asus G2S-A1 pm965 chipset works!!! It really works! Finally! Kabyl is the man!

Here is the screenshot to prove it!

[tehmachacker]

ooooh. Now im in full vanilla with the new acpi and apic kexts. and working like a mother f%%#ing charm =)Did i Mention kabyl kicks ass?

[antaholics]

glitchbit,
just wondering, what mark did you get for HD? I think it's the biggest thing capping my xbench right now... random uncached writes is only 5~6 score... otherwise everything else (besides threading.. only 1 core) is faster than a real MBP!

[Aidass]

could you do one for f3sr? here's bios: http://dlsvr01.asus.com/pub/ASUS/nb/F3Sr/F3Sr207AS.zip

[glitchbit]

I just put in my old HD with XP to make sure the dual cores work in Linux and XP and they do work still!I will re-run the benchmark when I boot OSX back up and let you know. My CPU did not benchmark that much higher after having the second one enabled which is odd. I guess it was not made for 2 cpus. The threading may have gone up more but I do not know.antaholics, where are the real macbook pro xbench stats? I went to some site but it looked like they had postings of hackintosh "macbook pros" instead, because I do not believe some of the high results I saw.



I installed a new 200gb 7200rpm hard drive btw.

[antaholics]

here's the xbench website:

http://www.xbench.com/

some of the really high results with a * beside it means they didn't do the complete test.
i.e. if someone only did a CPU/GPU/Memory test, it would bench a LOT higher than with the HD included.

I submitted one of my results up, but AFAIK most of them are legit macbookpro's

[Krazubu]

Wow, nice work Kabyl,
Maybe there is some hope for DELL users now.
But what if something goes wrong with the modded BIOS ?

[Chrysaor]

Can you make a modified BIOS for Dell Inspiron 9400/E1705 to get both cores working?

http://ftp.us.dell.com/bios/MP061A09.EXE

[EqUaTe]

Wow, nice work Kabyl,
Maybe there is some hope for DELL users now.
But what if something goes wrong with the modded BIOS ?

This is entirely at your own risk.
If you don't have a way of recovering, or a good knowledge of how to restore from a bad flash, then you probably shouldn't do this.

Can you make a modified BIOS for Dell Inspiron 9400/E1705 to get both cores working?

http://ftp.us.dell.com/bios/MP061A09.EXE

At this time Dell BIOS's are not yet fixable.
It's being worked on.

Patience is the key.

[tehmachacker]

I thought I should post my specs and up the bios. its an AMIBIOS modded from R01-A4 bios. beware you must have this bios. and set everything to default setting before flashing. for me that was pressing f9 to reset to defaults.

Model Identifier: Aspire M5630
Processor Name: Intel® Core™2 Quad CPU Q6600 @
Processor Speed: 2.4 GHz
Graphics Card: 860GTt Overlocked 512MB
RAM: 4GB of patriot viper 800mhz


P.S. sleep works too. Is there anything thats not working?

Attached File(s)

 R01_A4_mod.zip ( 640.9K ) Number of downloads: 447

 

[glitchbit]

I meant to upload the file Kabyl gave me before I left but here it is now.

And like others have said this is at your own risk and Kalyb is not responsible if it screws you over. After saying that though I have tested it for awhile now and it is running 100%, but if you are the first one to try a modified BIOS for any motherboard that is capable of having its BIOS edited, then you take on full responsible if something goes wrong. How do you know if your BIOS can be edited? Well I do not have the list of the companies out there that have editable BIOS but there are tools out there to do this yourself and chances are if you can find a tool that can edit your BIOS then it probably can be edited.

I should also note Asus notebooks have 2 year global warranties (well mine did)... yea take that Apple and Dell!

I flashed from the most recent Asus G2S BIOS update 300 to this modded 300.

1. I first placed the unzipped file alone on a USB jump/pen/thumb drive.
2. Turn it on
3. Find the Asus Flash utility and press enter
4. Press enter on Drive A:\
5. Select the file and press enter
6. The flashing process will start

Also you can downgrade or upgrade to any other flash if you need to.

Attached File(s)

 G2Sas.300_mod.zip ( 568.6K ) Number of downloads: 106

 

[QMax]

Mmmm... I'm a bit scared but I'll give it a chance,

can you please take a look to the attached Asus F9S BIOS please ?

The first is the well working v 302, the second is the newest available (yesterday) v 303.

Thanks, Max

Attached File(s)

 F9S302AS.zip ( 489.46K ) Number of downloads: 37
 F9S303AS.zip ( 489.47K ) Number of downloads: 29

 

[Stellair]

Do you have something for the Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3P

[Kabyl]

PiNcIuSsS and QMax: I will try to do it ASAP (working on something ATM).

Do you have something for the Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3P

Does it have the issue discussed/solved in this thread?
(you might want to check this thread: http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?showtopic=75863)

[jsl]

Well, I guess the title says it all, after spending a lot of time reading Documentations, Specifications, Forums.. and hunting for testers , I finally got tehmachacker (thank you) to test a modified BIOS, and as expected, it worked.This is the issue that intends this mod to fix:http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?showtopic=78235So if you want to get a fixed BIOS, you can PM (not here but on IRC).I will try to make a repository if I get more fixed BIOSes, so that other people will benefit from it (and will get less PMs ).Keep in mind that if you're going to PM me, you're actually taking the responsibility for a bad flash or if anything goes wrong..NOTE: this is not for Dell laptops or nforce based boards.To ASUS (and MSI): guess _now_ I can buy an ASUS laptop (maybe not an MSI board/laptop ), so it would be nice if you fix your BIOSes and save us time and effort..

Is it possible to fix the Asus F8Sa Laptop's BIOS too ? Here is the newest BIOS for Asus F8Sa [url="http://dlsvr03.asus.com/pub/ASUS/nb/F8P/F8SAP301AS.zip"]http://dlsvr03.asus.com/pub/ASUS/nb/F8P/F8SAP301AS.zip

[glitchbit]

I hear that this guy, Anton, may know something about Dell's BIOS compression algorithm anton.borisov{}gmail.com

good luck!

[Kabyl]

could you do one for f3sr? here's bios: http://dlsvr01.asus.com/pub/ASUS/nb/F3Sr/F3Sr207AS.zip

http://rapidshare.com/files/95669021/F3SrAS.207_mod.zip.html

Mmmm... I'm a bit scared but I'll give it a chance,

can you please take a look to the attached Asus F9S BIOS please ?

The first is the well working v 302, the second is the newest available (yesterday) v 303.

Thanks, Max

http://rapidshare.com/files/95670096/F9Sas.303_mod.zip.html

Is it possible to fix the Asus F8Sa Laptop's BIOS too ? Here is the newest BIOS for Asus F8Sa http://dlsvr03.asus.com/pub/ASUS/nb/F8P/F8SAP301AS.zip

http://rapidshare.com/files/95669865/F8SAP...01_mod.zip.html

antaholics:
http://rapidshare.com/files/95669249/F3Svas.207_mod.zip.html

report after testing.. and good luck.

Note: check the Audio section in System Profiler before and after flashing..