[Guide] Dell XPS 15 L502X (Early 2011) Snow Leopard Install (possibly L702x too)

[DoiX]

Click on the A07 text. I linked the a07 ftp to it.

 

As for the changelog, i'll post it in a couple of minutes.

 

1. Updated Intel microcode.

2. Added support for i5-2450M.

3. Fixed system may stay in S3 state when doing BIOS update

4. Fixed system can't boot from USB3.0 ODD if set CD/DVD as first boot device in Setup Menu.

5. Fixed Function Key Behavior and Charger Behavior in Setup Menu will be disabled if to do load default and exit without saving.

6. Fixed system does not handoff XHCI controller correctly before enter OS

7. Enhanced compatibility of Windows flash utility, to support BIOS update if only 1GB RAM installed.

8. Prevent OS pop up the warning message to notify user to change battery even if the battery capacity is not less than 40%.

9. Change Intel IGD VBIOS to v.2104 for PSA compatibility.

10.Enhanced compatibility on Lite-On LAT-256M2S SSD for fixing system cannot switch to Delldiag partition after PSA test is done.

 

Pardon the double post.

[TimeWalker75a]

Thanks for the heads up. So its either 3, 4 or 6.. because my Vostro had same changes listed as of A07 which broke sleep. As soon as I replace the USB bus module I can no longer boot USB devices, this entry is gone from boot manager. Replacing bootmanager as well doesn't bring it back

 

According to jkbuha 15z has no sleep issues, so its a good idea to compare 15z A07 to L502x A07 as well as my Vostro's A07. I won't have time for this today.. but will intent to do this tomorrow..

This module comparing/swapping is really a nerve wrecking experience hehe ;/

[DoiX]

Why not 9? PSA stands for power supply adapter afaik. It may affect the system...

 

I anticipate i'll have a couple of days free this week so i'll install W7 and pitch in however i can, i also haven't forgotten about the resolution module we talked on the other forum.

 

What tools are you using to extract and compare modules on windows?

[TimeWalker75a]

PSA is Dell's diagnostics utility called ePSA. You can run it by Fn+Power button from completely turned off state or from F12 boot menu.<br /><br />Vesa resolution is addressed by using vbioses from inspiron 17r se. I have ported 2130 and jkbuha has found how to patch connectors table to fix DP on XPS.<br /><br />I'm using Araxis Merge to compare.<br />

[DoiX]

Wait, i just had an epiphany. The easiest way to determine if the IGPU has something to do with sleep is to get a L702x with 3D panel. I recall that after A12 their sleep gets broken as well, on the non-3d model at least.

 

You could ask Steve from tonymac if sleep is working for him on the latest bios, he has a L702x 3D version.

[TimeWalker75a]

Graphics do not impact this, dell actually downgraded Intel's vbios from 2117 to 2104 .. to get lazy and don't fix their PSA {censored}.

Nothing regarding VGA has changed from A04 to A07 for my Vostro but sleep got broken. I've tried using 2104 vbios in A04 and sleep remains functional.

[mackyreddy]

Sleep works fine on A.12 non 3D L702x, after A.12 dell updated with A.14 from then Sleep fails big time till A.18 its not fixed. I dont know much about the new A.19 bios as i haven't tried it.

[jkbuha]

All - I might have stumbled on something in the Intel VBIOS. The structure seems to support some additional functionality like Optimus configuration and connector information. Could also lead to sleep mode as well, though I'm not that familiar with how Vesa interacts with S3 modes (and what Intel is doing about it).

 

I've posted an updated (hacked) bios v2143 (the most updated I could find) at the usual forum - works fine on my machine apart from the inexplainable loss of 80x25 text mode. If anyone can help me uncover more of the Intel vbios structure it would be greatly appreciated

[TimeWalker75a]

I tried swapping around the vbioses and sleep remains working in Vostro A04, so this issue had nothing to do with this vbios. Most likely positions 3 4 and 6 from the changelog DoiX posted are to blame

[adeebm]

I'd like to point out that I can get a 1920x1080 boot res on chameleon with A06, but with any bios after that, it seems to go to 1280x1024 or something like that. I'm guessing that was a change in VESA resolutions from downgrading the vbios after A06. I'm wondering if swapping in the A06 vbios would fix that issue for later bios versions?

 

--Adeeb

[TimeWalker75a]

It should.

Also it's worth trying to swap it for a newer one, not an older one... since we are using a Gigabyte desktop motherboard VBIOS now it's very likely to support higher resolutions.

[t6590]

@jkbuha i tried to get to you at bios mods but couldnt(server seesm overloaded) could you give me the winflash you use for your modded 15z l511z .i have the same laptop and the winflash i use keeps giving me "error parameter" i tried with your A11 and A12 mods but nothing .....could you tell me what i am missing.

[jkbuha]

hmmm it's the same winflash that's packaged into the default bios executables.

 

download the A11/A12 bioses from dell, run it and before the flash confirmation message comes up copy the winflash (and stock bios) files from your temp directory into a safe place.

[TimeWalker75a]

Hey @DoiX,

I was able to troubleshoot .. the module which causes sleep/wake issues for OSX is PlatformSmm.efi and has GUID of CB73C3D9-2F01-4342-AE67-04DDE5264092

If you backport it from A06 to any version higher it will restore proper wake ...

 

Regarding VESA resolutions try the VBIOS @jkbuha has posted .. it's v2137.0 from a Lenovo laptop.. it carries 1366x768 for my LVDS and others (Inspiron 15R for example), so there's a high chance it will support Full HD as well.

[jkbuha]

Yes Lenovo's 2137.0 supports full HD because I'm running twin 1920x1080 (LVDS+DP) screens in OSX. I'm looking for v2143 at the moment but it doesn't seem that a (mobile) version of the vbios has been deployed anywhere yet.

 

 

Will keep y'all posted...

[DoiX]

@TimeWalker, thanks for the heads up. I'll try it this weekend i hope.

 

Does anyone know if it's possible to repair Windows Registry from OS X? For some reason my freshly installed W7 dropped dead the next day. As soon as the window logo disappears i encounter a short bluescreen then reset.

[jkbuha]

use hiren's bootcd with win7. boot & fix/replace registry.

 

just a heads up that i had the same problem and found out that it was because of ESET. just saying

[TimeWalker75a]

Can be due to ATA/AHCI mode failing as well. Try swapping the setting in your BIOS.

I'ts a good practice to disable autoreboot after BSOD occurs to be able to read the code.

[t6590]

@jkbuha i managed to get it working finally..but now after install of osx i still get the system operation not found ...i enabled uefi boot in bios ....what causes this error on dell xps and is there a fix for it.....@timewalker you can also chime in here coz i heard you may have heard the same issue here.

[TimeWalker75a]

Yeah, sure can.

 

You can't format as GPT and run a legacy bootloader (Windows XP/ Chameleon/Chimera/Legacy Installation of 7/8/Ubuntu)

To be able to utilize GTP-formatted hard disk you have to use a UEFI-compliant bootloader, such as Clover-UEFI for OSX and other OSes (which is a little bit finicky for Tiano UEFI, but still works absolutely fine thanks to @dmazar) or Windows Boot Manager (bootmgr.efi) well, for Windows-only obviously.

[Zulakis]

My L702x always immediately reboots when "Starting darwin x86_64" appears while booting from usb. I used pzwiz Mountain Lion guide to do a fresh install, but also got this on my already installed mountain lion installation (Didn't use for a long time because of graphics problems, now wanted to try again)

 

I already tried different Bios Versions (A19 modded, A18, A17) and made a fresh usb stick multiple times. I also tried using only one ram module.

 

Any ideas how I could fix this?

 

Edit:

Got it fixed, I had to use another version of chameleon. r2070 from enoch did it for me.

[t6590]

thank you for the quick response timewalker i will look to try it and report back

[TimeWalker75a]

Anyone using IOWMIFamily for brightness controls?

Mine has stopped working for some reason in 10.8.2 .. I thought it was because of updating to A13, but rolling back to A04 didn't seem to fix it ..

The Fn+F4/F5 won't respond anymore .. I mean they don't adjust brightness any longer, nor the indication appears on screen.

I can set brightness controls from F14/F15 to just F4/F5 from Keyboards Preferences .. but I would like to have it like it was previously..

 

Any thoughts ?

Try this kext here please: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/2573233/IOWMIFamily.kext.zip

It should parse 0xE005 0xE006 WMI scancodes from the respective keys ..

[DoiX]

@TimeWalker, did you compile it yourself? This will sound stupid but... since ML, XCode is {censored} (more than it was before) although some kexts and apps compile without errors they are not complete. I noticed it when i compared a Lion compiled kext to a ML compiled one (same arch, same proj settings). Obviously the ML one didn't work.

 

Now, that kext doesn't work for me. Maybe you should give this one a try: https://dl.dropbox.c...Family.kext.zip

[TimeWalker75a]

I did compile it myself ages ago (prior to having ML installed, so it's not the xCode's fault), I have altered it so that it would read appropriate byte (05 or 06) from the WED output (which is the INFO array).

It worked previously in 10.7 .. and 10.8 if I recall correctly .. but now it just does absolutely nothing. Even debug logging is not showing up ..