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[M14x R2] - VBIOS mod for higher boost clocks - TEST VERSIONS ONLY


svl7

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  • 4 weeks later...

I am on official A09 and bricked trying a blind to A03. after that i decided to wait until something is done for a A09/A10 bios. would I be able to move to a build such as this using the windows bios flash utility, or does moving from A09 stock now require a blind flash regardless of the target firmware? Thanks beyond measure for all your work btw. truly a friend to the community. been a huge fan since rocking your bios mods on my R1. keep it up!

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I am on official A09 and bricked trying a blind to A03.

Did you flash the stock Dell A03 file or svl7's modified A03? The suspicion is that blind flashing a modified firmware results in a brick.

or does moving from A09 stock now require a blind flash regardless of the target firmware?

This is a UEFI requirement for secure boot. The firmware must be properly signed by a signing key in the Secure Boot keystore. This security check is made by the EFI itself starting with A08. It is possible for end users to install their own keys in the Secure Boot keystore and use these keys to sign EFI binaries which means it should be possible for individual users to sign their own copies of svl7's modified firmware files.

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Did you flash the stock Dell A03 file or svl7's modified A03? The suspicion is that blind flashing a modified firmware results in a brick.

This is a UEFI requirement for secure boot. The firmware must be properly signed by a signing key in the Secure Boot keystore. This security check is made by the EFI itself starting with A08. It is possible for end users to install their own keys in the Secure Boot keystore and use these keys to sign EFI binaries which means it should be possible for individual users to sign their own copies of svl7's modified firmware files.

So would creating my own self-signed keys allow me to move to an pre-UEFI custom firmware using the windows flash utility? I really don't want to blind flash again unless absolutely necessary to get to a custom BIOS. if this is not possible could someone post a link to svl's blind flash instructions? I searched the forums and couldnt find his post with instructions, only others listing instructions they said came from svl's posted instructions- the ones i cant find.

I am on A09 currently on a new board after killing the first one during an attempted blind flash, as such I am hesitant to try again without knowing where I went wrong during my first attempt. I got the beeps, but they never stopped, i left and came back after like 20 or so minutes and it was still beeping so I felt my only option at the time was pulling the plug and crossing my fingers. after that she was done. I do believe I was attempting to move to svl's A03 unlocked instead of stock A03, I just assumed a blind flash would work with either one as long as they are both valid firmwares.

thanks in advance for any more clarification to the process.

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So would creating my own self-signed keys allow me to move to an pre-UEFI custom firmware using the windows flash utility?

In principle, yes it should. In practice, I don't know since I've never done it and I don't have the signing tools to make it happen.

I have done the blind flash with stock A04 with the instructions repeatedly posted. These aren't svl7's instructions; they're Dell's instructions. Ask Google about "dell blind flash" or "alienware blind flash". Add "techinferno" if you want to limit searches to this forum. svl7 has been considerate enough to list the correct file names for different notebook models. The instructions are identical other than that: extract the firmware file to a flash drive, rename it, plug it into the correct port, do the magic startup key sequence, and block your ears for a couple of minutes.

It worked fine. I then installed stock A03, modified A03, modified A04/A05 over that then A09 and now A10. This all on a unit that originally shipped with A08.

It appears that blind flashing a modified firmware results in a brick. I don't know why. Something about the process doesn't like firmware files that have been tapered with. So, for future reference: don't do that.

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I really don't think that flashing a modified firmware per USB recovery method has any influence on the outcoming. It also occured to me that the M14x R2 has by far caused the most bricks by using the USB recovery method to downgrade from A08 or higher - regardless of the bios version which got used.

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Any idea whether the a10 mod is stable enough for general release yet?

Normally happy to act as a tester but ive already had to get my mainboard replaced and its only a month old. Cant be chewed with the hassle of gettibg another one.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

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i am on a10 modded and i have absolutely no problems at all. i even broke my own benchmark record once again with it.

Hi deadbydawn! I would like to contact with u, is it possible? I need ur help to go to a10modded bios from offical a10. I have some question, I really appreciate if u help me, im not an idiot, i read almost everything about this topic, but Im not a computer greek ;)

Thx for ur reply

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Hi deadbydawn! I would like to contact with u, is it possible? I need ur help to go to a10modded bios from offical a10. I have some question, I really appreciate if u help me, im not an idiot, i read almost everything about this topic, but Im not a computer greek ;)

Thx for ur reply

hi there

hmm, i'm not sure if i'm the right person, as i came from a modded bios before upgrading to a10 modded... i'm not sure, you probably have to do the recovery flash procedure and then move to a modded version. but since i never needed to do this yet, i'm not sure if this is the right way. maybe @svl7 can approve my answer or help, if it's not correct.

sorry ;):(

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hi there

hmm, i'm not sure if i'm the right person, as i came from a modded bios before upgrading to a10 modded... i'm not sure, you probably have to do the recovery flash procedure and then move to a modded version. but since i never needed to do this yet, i'm not sure if this is the right way. maybe @svl7 can approve my answer or help, if it's not correct.

sorry ;):(

Thanks for ur reply, i hope slv7 will help me, if he has enough time :)

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Yeah, you would need to go back to unmodified A05 or earlier by using the USB recovery method and then flashing the modified bios the regular way. Just make sure to really follow the recovering procedure properly, quite a few people ended up with a brick when doing this with a M14x R2, I can't tell for sure whether it's due to user error or just random errors during the recovery - all I know is that this method works very well on the M18x R2 (if done properly).

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