[Softmod] AMD 6970m -> FirePro M8900 *UPDATE* 6990m works too!

[svl7]

I don't think so. I think it might be a driver issue... I'm not sure whether the FirePro supports this feature. Do you have the HDMI audio driver installed? If not try installing it, if it doesn't install, you might need to modify some files to get it installing. What kind of notebook are you using?

[Rider06]

Hello guys!

I am new to this forum so please bare with me.

I bought a couple of months ago a Sager NP8170 which is equipped with an ATI/AMD 6990M.

The reason i bought this huge laptop is to use it as a desktop replacement, since my work consists mostly in working in architectural programs, be it Revit, AutoCAD, ArchiCAD etc...

The problem is that i cannot use it propperly, since none of the programs recognize the graphic card, therefore everything moves incredibly slow.

I was gonna sell the laptop but a friend suggested that I try and softmod to a Firepro m8900, hence the reason i'm writing now.

The problem is that i have no experience whatsoever with modding so I'm asking any of you to please tell me how exactly to do it.

I understand that i have to uninstall the current drivers and get the 8900 drivers but even after reading every post here i'm still quite confused and i wouldn't want to mess it up.

Thanks for reading this if you did and thank you in advance if you will answer.

Also check out the attached jpeg maybe it will give you more insight.

[svl7]

Hi Rider06, welcome to T|I!

There's a detailed guide for flashing the VBIOS in the first post of this thread, just follow all the steps. All you need to do is downloading the attached VBIOS and follow the flashing guide in the spoiler.

If you've never done this before, I recommend printing the guide, writing it down or whatever so you can follow each step during the flashing procedure.

Let me know if something is unclear.

[Rider06]

Hi again,

So, i tried to do the installation using the guide on the 1st page since i found some time for it today.

I used the hp tool for the bootable USB, i copied the files to it's root dir. I then restarted and booted from the USB drive.

This is where i encountered some problems: while trying the "atiflash -cf M8900.bin" command, i got back the checksum of 8500 instead of 8900. Also, i was prompted with the 0FL03 message.

I have looked into the atiflash errorids and for 0FL03 this is what they specify:

0FL03� Error in checksum ------------------------

For a BIOS image file: - Check that the checksum you specified on the command line is correct.

- Check if your BIOS file has been corrupted. For the board BIOS: - Check that the checksum you specified on the command line is correct.

- Try programming the BIOS again. For the board ROM: - Check that the checksum you specified on the command line is correct.

- Check that the size you specified on the command line is correct.

- Verify that the extra non-BIOS contents of the ROM are correct.

- Try programming the BIOS again.

Even though the checksum was not as expected i tried the next command as well "atiflash -p -f 0 M8900.bin" and i got back a message - Error 0FL01, adapter not found. 0FL01 specifications:

0FL01� Error programming ROM ----------------------------

- Check that the command line arguments you passed are correct.

- Check that the BIOS image file specified exists and isn't corrupted.

- Check that the ROM isn't write protected.

- If a parameter in the BIOS image file differs from a parameter in the current ROM image (e.g. SSID), and you're sure you want to program the image, specify the -f (force) flag on the command line.

This is what i have so far, svl7. Thank you for your response.

I might have done something stupid myself, but if you have any suggestions of how to get out of this, i will be very grateful.

[svl7]

Hey, sorry about the checksum, my mistake... I forgot that atiflash takes the checksum across the whole document, so it's really 0x8500, I'll correct my mistake in the first post.

0x8900 is the checksum for only the VBIOS, but there are some additional bytes... my bad.

At the moment I don't know what's wrong, maybe try it again with "atiflash -p 0 -f M8900.bin", though as far as I remember the order of the specified parameters doesn't matter.

Did you use the latest version of atiflash? (3.95 if I'm not mistaken)

[Rider06]

Hi again!

I took the latest atiflash (thanks for the heads up) and the vbios part worked, but now the system will not recognize the video card. I tried using the latest M6600 driver and it still doesn't work, it doesn't even detect the card.

I uploaded a screen from gpu-z here http://gpuz.techpowerup.com/12/05/28/44n.png

Should i try and install an older version of the 8900 drivers? Do you have any recommendation?

Thanks again

[svl7]

Something's weird, did you have your GPU drivers (6990m) uninstalled when you saved the GPU-Z screenshot? Cause it still shows Clevo as subvendor... but it should be Dell.

[Rider06]

Yeah the problem is that whenever i try to install any of the Dell drivers the catalyst will only give me the option to install yet another manager and some audio hdmi driver.

If i try and install with the drivers from AMD it still doesn't work, and it also shows it as 6990m after i install them.

I am completely bedazzeled now i think i've restarted the pc 20 times in 1 hr just installing and uninstalling.

Should i try to do as in the 1st post spoiler and edit the driver like on the alienware? Any other taughts are welcome.

[svl7]

So you uninstalled the drivers and it's still showing Clevo as subvendor?

Yeah, try modifying the drives as described in the first post. My M15x has no switchable GPU, so it was never necessary. Make sure to use the proper subsystem ID, you should be able to find it in the device manager -> display adapters -> details tab -> hardware IDs (drop-down menu)

[Rider06]

I am not sure how to change to the proper subsystem ID since this is all i have here. I'll give it a try with the driver modding part. Regarding that, i can see that there are 2 of each .inf, .msi and .cat. Should i edit both .inf files and both .msi files?

[Rider06]

Ok, so i changed all the files necessary and still when i fire up the catalyst in order to install the driver i do not have the option of installing it as you can see in the attached picture. Therefore, that didn't work either.

Edited May 28, 2012 by Rider06

[svl7]

It seems you still have some of the AMD software installed, remove all of the AMD drivers stuff (including the download manager) and then clean up the registry with CCleaner.

Then try again.

[Rider06]

Yeah i just downloaded 5431233431 versions of the driver, out of which the latest one will install but it's still no use because in GPU-Z it was not detecting it as a 8900m, but as a radeon 67xx. I have uninstalled everything, even went in safe mode, used cc cleaner, took everything out of the registry and so forth.

Now i was reading the whole discussion again and i realised that i also have an i7, therefore there's probably issues with this thing. I understand that i should install an older version of a driver for dell which one of the users posted here, but i cannot find it anywhere and the website megaupload is not up anymore.

So, to get this straight, should i install an older hybrid driver and install ON TOP a new driver?

I am completely doomed, i've spent more than half a day tinkering with this and i really need this laptop to work properly tomorrow morning. [cry for help]

Thank you for replying

[svl7]

I'm sorry, I'm really not experienced when it comes to systems with switchable GPUs...

If you want to try an older version of the driver, here are two (both from Dell):

Version A00 8.80.7.2

Version A01 8.851

(I assume you're using Win7)

[Rider06]

Ok, i've given it 2 more tries and still nothing. I think this has taken me way too much time with 0 results. If anyone has any clue on how to do this with a 6990m while also having an i7 in the system, please reply. I will try it again one of these days and see what happens then. I completely missed the part where someone else specified they had issues while using the i7 gpu so i was sure that this can be done. I just hope that someone smarter than me will be able to go through and explain it to me/us as well.

Thank you for everything svl7, i will keep you posted if anything changes.

[Holydanoxx]

Hey guys im kind of new, so, i have a couple of questions, as i see slv7 is kind of expert with mobility graphics cards, so here are my questions, Can i swamp an FirePro 8900M to my alienware M17x r3 it has a 6870m?, and the think is that i flash the vbios of the FirePro 8900M to the 6970M, but somehow i dont see anychanges, it has the drivers of a 6970m, and all is working fine..., well the think is that i have the Alienware M17x R3, and i also have a Dell Precision M6600, so i want to swamp their VideoCards can i do?, should i do it?, how can i make the Dell Precision works better in gaming than the Alienware?, please if you know something tell me, ill be really greatfull

[mw86]

Ok, i've given it 2 more tries and still nothing. I think this has taken me way too much time with 0 results. If anyone has any clue on how to do this with a 6990m while also having an i7 in the system, please reply. I will try it again one of these days and see what happens then. I completely missed the part where someone else specified they had issues while using the i7 gpu so i was sure that this can be done. I just hope that someone smarter than me will be able to go through and explain it to me/us as well.

Thank you for everything svl7, i will keep you posted if anything changes.

Rider what options are in your bios. I have M18x w/ unlocked bios exposing IGP/Discrete graphics options. I can select my IGP or PEG for direct boot but additionally i can disable the IGP so that its not detected in anyway... and this is on i7. Mine sitches with Muxed technique and M17x R3 is Muxless I think so its switched without restart. can you find any options to set IGP to completely disabled and make the PEG only?

[Rider06]

Hi guys!

So, after all the hassle, i have managed to make my autodesk experience easier, even though gpu-z does not recognize my gpu as a firepro8900m, but rather as a radeon 6900 series.

Even though this happens, i installed the latest firepro drivers, which i downloaded straight from their website. By doing this, Revit still does not recognize my graphic card but it works more then excellent. It's surprising, because with the original 6990m bios and driver it was moving incredibly slow and now it's the complete opposite.

I have to mention that i have not looked into the answer mw86 posted, since i didn't need any more enhancement done. The only drawback of this softmod is that it makes my start-up take a bit longer and some of the games do not work as well as on the 6990m, but that was the expected result anyway.

If someone wants to give it a try, they should go for it but keep in mind it might be different for your brand and configuration. I did this on a Sager/Clevo laptop and the only problem i encountered was that after i followed all the steps i could not make it believe that it's really a firepro8900m in order to get the most out of the autodesk optimisation experience, but it still works very well.

[svl7]

Cool that you got it working Rider06!! The FirePro drivers are not optimized for games, and even though it works, they'll struggle in demanding and more recent games.

Hey guys im kind of new, so, i have a couple of questions, as i see slv7 is kind of expert with mobility graphics cards, so here are my questions, Can i swamp an FirePro 8900M to my alienware M17x r3 it has a 6870m?, and the think is that i flash the vbios of the FirePro 8900M to the 6970M, but somehow i dont see anychanges, it has the drivers of a 6970m, and all is working fine..., well the think is that i have the Alienware M17x R3, and i also have a Dell Precision M6600, so i want to swamp their VideoCards can i do?, should i do it?, how can i make the Dell Precision works better in gaming than the Alienware?, please if you know something tell me, ill be really greatfull

Hi, and welcome to T|I! Yes you can, and the flash to a 6970m should work just as fine as the other way, especially with your Dell card. As far as I know the only hardware difference between the M8900 and the 6970m is the missing CF connector. So it should actually work fine for gaming when you keep the M8900 in the precision.... did you already try flashing?

Edited June 3, 2012 by svl7

[Holydanoxx]

Yes i have it, i follow the post for flashing vbios from a 8900m to a 6970m, but i dont know if i did it well, cuz i dont fell it like that in the games, my 6870m give more performance than the flashed m8900, but in the dell bios, the video adapter appears as a firepro m8900, thats okay? or i did something wrong?

[Holydanoxx]

Can anyone tell me how to flash my firepro 8900m to a 6970m, and tell me how can i know if i did it well?

[moral hazard]

Could this ever be possible for the 7970m?

Or is there no firepro version of it out there (I searched and couldn't find one)?

[svl7]

I never heard of a corresponding FirePro version, but it might come soon with the new Dell Precision series.

Anyway, if you look at GPGPU and CAD benchmarks, the performance of the 7970m is already top notch, it simply destroys a 680m.

[moral hazard]

but it might come soon with the new Dell Precision series.

I hope so.

Anyway, if you look at GPGPU and CAD benchmarks, the performance of the 7970m is already top notch, it simply destroys a 680m.

Yes it is a really good card

[Chaosstorm]

Ok, so I flashed to m8900 bios to my clevo card, but it still says amd radeon hd 6900m series.

It does have firepro catalyst control center.

And modifieing the driver posted on the 3rd page here, doesnt work for me because I cant find the line in notepad.. (as if it isnt there..)

And manually installing the firepro drivers results in a "this driver is not for for your windows vista" Kinda strange since I'm on windows 7x64 and that driver should work on vista/7.