Blackyhimself Posted January 8, 2016 Share Posted January 8, 2016 Hi, I think i've bricked my 7970m trying to install an undervolted vbios. I'm running an m15x with a i7 920xm and 7970m and reading through threads on here i decided to try undervolting to get around throttling problems with next gen games. On paper my m15x should compete with PS4/Xbox One but the throttling has been really bugging me so i thought i'd give undervolting a go. Obviously somethings gone wrong because after resetting during the installation i now get a blank screen and the CAPS and SCROLL lights are blinking. I've heard it can be fixed with an m18x but i don't know anyone with one. I've also tried sending a PM to svl7 but he cant receive them (i'm guessing mailbox is full). Anyone have any ideas? I'm happy to pay for help This forum rocks by the way. Its kept my old laptop going strong for years! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatboyslimerr Posted January 8, 2016 Share Posted January 8, 2016 The way you solve throttling is to remove the centre pin from the PSU to remove the power limit but this will stop it recharging the battery. Some of us bought more powerful PSUs just to game on with no intention of needing them to charge the battery. You can also buy an L-adapter and remove centre pin on that. What vbios did you try to flash and how did you try to flash it? Were you using atiflash running off a bootable usb? I have a broken 7970M that you might be able to steal the bios chip from if you possess the necessary skill. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackyhimself Posted January 9, 2016 Author Share Posted January 9, 2016 Hi Fatboyslimerr, thanks for the reply. I've already got the more powerful psu and I don't use the battery anyway (long dead). I thought that the limitation is with the m15x motherboard not being able to carry enough power to both processors (when the cpu is being greedy) rather than the draw from the psu. I'll definitely try pulling the pin if I can get the gpu up and running again. Tacks for the offer of the broken card. I'm not bad at soldering so I could give it a go. Stupid question: which chip is the bios chip? Thanks again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatboyslimerr Posted January 9, 2016 Share Posted January 9, 2016 Pulling the centre pin will not allow your laptop to boot. The two flashing lights you saw were to indicate the system has failed POST due to the video card. You may have soft-bricked your video card. No idea which the BIOS chip is and if you aren't sure either then I wouldn't advise you attempt to replace it. You need a certain competency with soldering to complete such a job. Do you have another graphics card you can try? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackyhimself Posted January 9, 2016 Author Share Posted January 9, 2016 Oh I know the psu won't have anything to do with booting up. I'll was just saying I might try it IF I can get the gpu fixed first. I've done some soldering in printed circuit boards before and I'm fairly sure I can make the switch. I'll just need to do some research and be sure I know which is the correct chip to change. Unless there are any other solutions anyone can think of? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatboyslimerr Posted January 9, 2016 Share Posted January 9, 2016 Where in the UK are you based? I have a 260M I can send you to test. You need to make certain that it is the GPU and not motherboard or other component. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackyhimself Posted January 9, 2016 Author Share Posted January 9, 2016 That's very kind of you. I think I've got my old 260M somewhere so I'll see if I can dig that out and test it first though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H658tu Posted January 12, 2016 Share Posted January 12, 2016 (edited) On Saturday, January 09, 2016 at 11:30 AM, Blackyhimself said: which chip is the bios chip? Spoiler There's a dot 'depression' on the eeprom and an arrow or 'dented' rectangle on the pcb, these identify pin #1 and, thus, indicate the correct orientation of the chip. Both are present in the image; bottom-left corner of the eeprom. Remember to use use a multimeter after re-soldering in order to verify all pins have a proper connection. Edited January 12, 2016 by H658tu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackyhimself Posted January 13, 2016 Author Share Posted January 13, 2016 14 hours ago, H658tu said: Reveal hidden contents There's a dot 'depression' on the eeprom and an arrow or 'dented' rectangle on the pcb, these identify pin #1 and, thus, indicate the correct orientation of the chip. Both are present in the image; bottom-left corner of the eeprom. Remember to use use a multimeter after re-soldering in order to verify all pins have a proper connection. Thanks H658tu, Just to clarify, I was booting with ATIFlash from a bootable USB using VBIOS: Dell7970m-uv-1000v by sv17. I backed up the original vbios, checked the checksum was good (5800) and all went fine until i was prompted to reboot. Pressed Ctrl Alt Del and the laptop reboots but i just get a black screen and blining Caps Num and Scroll lights. I'm pretty sure i can do the solder and I've got a multimeter. I just wonder if there is anything else i should try before first (I'm sure the problem is the video card and not the motherboard etc.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H658tu Posted January 13, 2016 Share Posted January 13, 2016 Right, there's two alternatives: 1. Flash on an SLI/CF (m18x, say) or optimus/enduro system. Since the vbios should be fine aside from the undervolt, then either system will boot without problems; one on the other gpu and the optimus/enduro using the igpu. 2. Force flash. Chance of success is small, considering the blinking leds; most likely indicating failure in the power-up sequence. Anyway, copy this in the root and replace newrom.rom with your own: autoflash ati. It's just a few simple switches in the autoexec.bat, plus a very useful beep.bat which, of course, makes the procedure beep at the right time, indicating 'booted from usb' and 'flash finished'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackyhimself Posted January 14, 2016 Author Share Posted January 14, 2016 I've started a thread asking if anyone with an M18 can spare some time to re-flash for me. I don't know anyone near me with one unfortunately. Tried the autoflash (thank you). No luck i'm afraid. Worth a shot but I don't think the system is booting anything and i suspect the power-up sequence is the problem. I've seen that 7970m bios chips sometimes pop up on eBay (none at the moment). Does anyone know anywhere else i can get one? I do have a broken 6990m knocking about somewhere. I wonder if the vbios chip from that would work? Probably a stupid idea! fatboyslimerr I'll PM you about your offer of your broken 7970m. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H658tu Posted January 14, 2016 Share Posted January 14, 2016 No need buy a pre-flashed eeprom for $25; the one in your 7970m is fine, it just needs the right vbios flashed to it. Either get a programmer or send me the de-soldered chip, will flash the vbios you want and ship it back. Should be no more than $3 for envelope shipping both ways. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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