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XPS Gen2/M170 + 7900 GO/GTX It Fits With A Simple Mod But... - Page 13

post #241 of 382
7/16/06 at 7:58am
What really scares me ATM is the fact that corn hasnt posted in this thread for awhile, if anyones going to beat this it will be him!!!!!!
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post #242 of 382
7/16/06 at 8:01am
The new replacement lappy arrived. It is a refurbished. Everything works great. Althought it has a Samsung screen, but the quality isn't bad at all. Only thing I notice is that 7900GS isn't ask good as 7800GTX unless u OC it. I probably call Dell on Monday again to indicate the issue and hopefully they can change to 7900GTX.

One thing I found that I think M170 has a slice better build quality than M1710.....and 3945's receive rage isn't as good as 2200 and no way I can use other type of mini pc network card...
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post #243 of 382
7/16/06 at 1:08pm
I'm sure its well known but heres the link anyways...7900GTXs on Ebay from a reputable seller:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Nvidia-Go-7900-G...QQcmdZViewItem

In case we have any other brave souls that have $600 to throw around....
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post #244 of 382
7/16/06 at 3:00pm
Thread Starter 
Mr Toad anything new on this front with your bios freind?


Quote:
Originally Posted by MrToad
The person I contacted about Dell BIOS decompression answered me a couple of days ago.

He managed to "unpack" the dell BIOS update program np:



He also pointed out a problem with this... after decompressing the different modules that form the BIOS image, finding the data we need to patch (the best way to do this I'd think is comparing the BIOS of the laptop that supports "natively" the card and our bios and see where and how the ID's are stored, and then export the relevant entry to ur notebook's bios) we still have to "build" it again and in a way that the supplied flasher will accept it.

BTW, if someone has contacts in the University of Florida this is the right time to use them, check the Projects 2003-2004 page and tell me what can you see there...

Having access to the people that were involved in this project would be the key that unlocks these BIOSes...

Bear in mind that kidnapping and torturing them is illegal in most countries (why did I suggest that? silly me...).
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post #245 of 382
7/17/06 at 8:56am
just wait
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post #246 of 382
7/18/06 at 7:05am
anything new?
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post #247 of 382
7/20/06 at 6:42am
Nobody interested in this any more?
all give up?
hey guys
cheer up ~
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post #248 of 382
7/20/06 at 6:44am
Ok I'm clinging to straws now, but is it possible that in the latest bios's from dell they have delibirately excluded the 7900gtx from working??
If so could one of the older bios's work, perhaps the AO1 or 0, they might have some sort of compatibility mode, or might not see through the changing of the cards id?

These ideas are probably total rubbish, but im getting desperate!!

Give up, Noooo
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post #249 of 382
7/20/06 at 4:17pm
Thread Starter 
Well, that is an interesting thought. I will try it.

I will use the older bioses and see what happens.....

Quote:
Originally Posted by starbuck
Ok I'm clinging to straws now, but is it possible that in the latest bios's from dell they have delibirately excluded the 7900gtx from working??
If so could one of the older bios's work, perhaps the AO1 or 0, they might have some sort of compatibility mode, or might not see through the changing of the cards id?

These ideas are probably total rubbish, but im getting desperate!!

Give up, Noooo
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post #250 of 382
7/21/06 at 12:29am
Let's keep it alive guys. I wish I had the skills to help out in this case. Sorry just an normal computer user who would love to upgrade to the 7900 gtx.
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post #251 of 382
7/22/06 at 5:13pm
Judging by this thread quick sink down the forums, people are losing interest,

so i am jsut going to keep bumping it to the top, and to quote
Quote:
We will not go quietly into the night. We will not vanish without a fight. We will live on. We will survive.
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post #252 of 382
7/22/06 at 6:20pm
I'll up you one on that: A 100 bucks for whoever can get it working!

(as long as Paypal is accepted)
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post #253 of 382
7/22/06 at 8:35pm
I haven't lost interest, but disgracefully I have nothing new to add.

I can't make tests myself because a slip means having a very expensive paperweight, unless someone has schematics on how to make a "hat" to reprogram the BIOS chip in case I brick it in the process.

Therefore working on patching blindly a compressed BIOS image via hex editor is out of question.

From the two people I have directly contacted about this issue that had extensive knowledge of ASM, C++ and BIOS one never answered and the other ceased contact.

My endless google sessions have yielded nothing concrete. The closest I've been is finding out that in 2004 Dell outsourced a BIOS editing tool to the University of Florida. My attempts of finding someone with access to that particular university or people involved in the project have been unsuccesful.

That doesn't mean I've given up or lost interest. It only means I've progressed nothing.
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post #254 of 382
7/22/06 at 9:19pm
Hey, all.....

I am currently at work and cannot access a link that I found:
http://bnobtc.pix-art.com/bnobtc-v5.rar

Look for a download called BNOBTC (should be 64,40 MB)

It supposedly has the Phoenix BIOS Editor tool in the package. Someone can give it a try and post back....
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post #255 of 382
7/22/06 at 9:29pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by sleey0
Hey, all.....

I am currently at work and cannot access a link that I found:
http://bnobtc.pix-art.com

Look for a download called BNOBTC (should be 64,40 MB)

It supposedly has the Phoenix BIOS Editor tool in the package. Someone can give it a try and post back....

BNOBTC stands for Borg Number One Bios Tool Collection, and that's a door cornholio has already knocked on.

He even spoke with Borg Number One directly.

Disgracefully the Phoenix Bios Editor (which both cornholio and myself have, among another bajillion people out there) won't work with Dell BIOSes.

Moreso, BNO aparently has discontinued his work with Dell BIOSes, so has hi russian friend.

Thank you very much for your input though ^^
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post #256 of 382
7/22/06 at 9:30pm
Sorry about that....

Strange that Dell's BIOS (basically a modified Phoenix BIOS) wont work with the editor....

Oh, well
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post #257 of 382
7/23/06 at 4:18am
Quote:
Originally Posted by MrToad
BNOBTC stands for Borg Number One Bios Tool Collection, and that's a door cornholio has already knocked on.

He even spoke with Borg Number One directly.

Disgracefully the Phoenix Bios Editor (which both cornholio and myself have, among another bajillion people out there) won't work with Dell BIOSes.

Has anyone compared the Dell BIOS to a Phoenix BIOS that works with the editor to see if it's just a different header at the beginning of the BIOS file?
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post #258 of 382
7/23/06 at 4:26am
I think donjuan is on to something here....

Some1 with info pls respond
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post #259 of 382
7/23/06 at 6:13am
Quote:
Originally Posted by donjuancarlos
Has anyone compared the Dell BIOS to a Phoenix BIOS that works with the editor to see if it's just a different header at the beginning of the BIOS file?

Yes.

Dell BIOS use a different compression algorithm.

The tools will fail to decompress it.

Is an educated guess that this algorithm is a variation of LZ.
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post #260 of 382
7/23/06 at 6:37am
Dp you get any beeps as the comuter starts up, do you get any beeps normally, i cant remember? If you do have a look at this:
http://bioscentral.com/postcodes/dellbios.htm

Again i really dont know what im on, be have a look
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