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M18x R1 - A05 with RST OROM 11.5


svl7

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Patched this together on request, M18x R1 BIOS A05 (unlocked) with the RST 11.5 OROM.

The orom comes from the station-drivers site, not sure whether it will work fine with the M18x, though I don't really see why it shouldn't.

Btw, something's weird with the original orom in the R1 BIOS, the checksum is wrong... confusing.

Anyway, here's the BIOS, let me know how it performs. Also remember to use the latest RST driver for this ROM.

Flash with your favorite BIOS utility or the tools provided by Dell.

As always, use at your own risk.

 

Download link:

 

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Patched this together on request, M18x R1 BIOS A05 (unlocked) with the RST 11.5 OROM.

The orom comes from the station-drivers site, not sure whether it will work fine with the M18x, though I don't really see why it shouldn't.

Btw, something's weird with the original orom in the R1 BIOS, the checksum is wrong... confusing.

Anyway, here's the BIOS, let me know how it performs. Also remember to use the latest RST driver for this ROM.

Flash with your favorite BIOS utility or the tools provided by Dell.

As always, use at your own risk.

going to flash this in a few minutes.

edit:

well that didnt turn out well.

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According to info here (there's an extracted orom as well), 11.5.0.1582 is the final version for 11.5 series. Maybe using the latest one would make a difference? If it worked for that guy on older P55 (and further confirmed Z68), why wouldn't it work on HM67?

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Why it won't work? As I said, wrong orom, apparently the M18x R1 orom has a different device ID than the one used in the R2 or the one I put in there... missed this, I actually thought there was only one kind of Intel Raid controller...

I'll put up an R2 version later, but I haven't found a proper orom for the R1 so far.

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Here is the Device ID for the M18x R1 Intel® Mobile Express Chipset SATA RAID Controller:

PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_282A&SUBSYS_048F1028&REV_05

PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_282A&SUBSYS_048F1028

PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_282A&CC_010400

PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_282A&CC_0104

What is the Device ID for the M18x R2?

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R2:

PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_282A&SUBSYS_05501028&REV_04

PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_282A&SUBSYS_05501028

PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_282A&CC_010400

PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_282A&CC_0104

...so device ID is not an issue. According to a piece of info in this article/compendium, all mobile onboard Intel controllers have the same ID and will work with orom of any version.

sv7, follow the link above. You can find oroms of all major revisions there, including final 1582.

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You're right, it seems there are two device IDs in the orom, 2822 and 282A, I've only seen the 2822 since it's the first one there, I didn't expect a second one, and in the original R1 orom, 282A is the first ID and in the R2 one 2822... so I thought they were different.

Anyway, in this case it should work... weird. Make sure to uninstall the IRST drivers before updating, but actually it shouldn't make a difference...

I'll put up an R2 version later.

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Hmm, then I wonder why it didn't work on the R1 then?

no. no brick. it just wouldnt read the drives anymore. once i flashed back. they read and booted fine.
Am I correct in assuming you had to do a blind flash recovery from USB? Is there a DOS based Insyde BIOS utility included in the Dell tool, or only Windows based?

When you flashed it did the RAID Utility at first boot show the newer version? Did you try the Ctrl+I and it did not see the drives in the RST setup utility, or did not see the drives after booting beyond that point? Just curious if there was any chance that the RAID membership created with an older version of RST somehow did not play nice with the new OROM.

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No need for blind flashing, if the drives don't get recognized you still have an image and you can still boot into DOS. So yes, either use a DOS version of InsydeFlash, or the USB recovery method.

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I've looked around using Google and I don't see a DOS version of InsydeFlash available anywhere. I know there has to be something out there, just not sure what. Would be good to have in the tool box to do a flash outside of Windows without having to do a the USB recovery/blind flash method.

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I've looked around using Google and I don't see a DOS version of InsydeFlash available anywhere. I know there has to be something out there, just not sure what. Would be good to have in the tool box to do a flash outside of Windows without having to do a the USB recovery/blind flash method.

Well, for R2 a DOS version can be downloaded directly from Dell: Dell Dell Alienware M18x R2 System BIOS, A03

For R1, I'd like to know this too. Prolly some recent version of flashit for insyde.

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No need for blind flashing, if the drives don't get recognized you still have an image and you can still boot into DOS. So yes, either use a DOS version of InsydeFlash, or the USB recovery method.

didnt even think to see if any thing else worked. guess we shall find out after brother fox flashes. :D

I've looked around using Google and I don't see a DOS version of InsydeFlash available anywhere. I know there has to be something out there, just not sure what. Would be good to have in the tool box to do a flash outside of Windows without having to do a the USB recovery/blind flash method.

just keep your favorite file on the same dos bootable flash drive. that way if dos booting fails, just blind flash and 2 minutes later..back to where you left off.

That's the latest 'Flash it' DOS utility I have for Insyde BIOS... not sure whether it will work for the R1.

The R2 update comes with a DOS utility, as mentioned above.

i may give it a try just to see if it works.

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I will want to try a03 w/ updated orom as well.

To make sure I am ready for anything, blind flash goes this way: batter out, power cord out, a usb stick with "M18R2.HDR" (renamed *.fd) into the e-sata port, [END] pressed and held, power cord in, [END] released, *beeps*, done?

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