MR9800 unlocking pipes - Page 5

ok, hard mod complete and atitool still reports 8 pipes..... DAMN!!!

ok wardo, so the next course of action would be to try either flashing the bios or forcing the drivers.

I would say forcing the drivers is a good first step as its a lot safer.

We need to get a definitive answer on a bios that will work. Now how do we find that out...

You did the hard mod? Did you scratch it down to the copper?

i will force drivers, i am not willing to force bios since i am not as savy as most on this forum, ive seen too many suicide flashes....

yes, i did all of the sequences in that link you posted. nadda damn new pipe!

Well you are half way there, now we just need a modified bios that will work with the card. Keep your card with the pipes attached, cause ya neva know~!

well im still here...great to see others taking on this challenge. Here are some facts.

the MR9800 did NOT always have the laser cut. My first and second ones did not have it, therefore reconnecting these ARE essential to a successful pipe restoration, but this is not the answer. I havent checked my new one to see if it has the laser cut.

The pipes are disabled another way.

The MRX800 bios is a one way ticket to a dead card, there is some code in there that the MR9800 doesnt like (probably the PCI-E).

Here is what I think will work.

Finding in the DESKTOP X800 Pro AGP bios, the area of code that controlls the output ports (VGA, DVI-I, etc) and change these in code to match the MR9800's output ports.

Once you have the video ports cracked, then you need to change the Device name and memory clocks in RABIT to match that of the MR9800 so you dont fry it.

Then you will have to boot the system to windows and force install the desktop X800 Pro Driver (forget about ever using powerplay again) and that should give you 12 pipes.

I am not a coder and I dont fully understand the code in the bios' so I havent been able to crack it.

I DID GET 9 PIPES!!!! Thru ATI Tool!!! here is how...

There is a way to force flash a bios with FLASHROM (NOT ATIFLASH!!!) i think v 2.37.

the command is flashrom -f -p 0 <bios.rom>
this will flash any bios to your card...

NOW!!!! here is a good one.. I played with flashing only a certain part of the desktop X800 bios with another special command.
flashrom -f -a 0 <bios.rom> ####

#=line number

I looked at the X800 bios and found a spot where they were really closely coded (around line 1536) and flashed from there and got video and 9 pipes. I ran this way for a week.

THe command!!!---
flashrom -f -a 0 x800.rom 1536

dont necessarily use my number... look at the code yourself and find a good place to flash...

BIG HINT>>>>>> DONT FRY!!!!

Something bad happens in the line 600-700 area.. killed me...

well you know what I know now lets crack this beeeatch...

Hey Whack glad to see you still with us I was beggining to think you were dead, or worse given up

yes!

I wish i had a mr9800 now so i could help out. I'll be getting one in a month or so.

Did anyone check the bios of the X800XT's and the 9800's to compare where the pipes can be unlocked?

I wonder if there is a simple setting that allows you adjust the number of pipes in the bios...

THE WHAC IS BACK! i'm feeling better now... you're definately right, jumping the laser cut alone will not get the extra pipes. I however am not in a position to suicide flash my card, i got my card off ebay and do not have a warranty on it. i don't mind trying out any drivers that someone would want to send my way though.

Considering that whac's first 2 cards did not have this cut in it, is it possible that they have dissabled the pipes differenlty then they did in previous cards?

I dont think the lasercut has anything to do with us trying to go to 12 pipes....

the X800 pro is known to have a lasercut in the exact same place... the X800pro is 12 pipe so this would tell me that the lasercut disables only the last 4 pipes.

this also tells me, since ati is known for using GPU's with bad pipes in lower configurations, that maybe some of the lower end dies are getting to our mr9800 boards.

oh and one more thing, the updated memory on these cards suck.... cant go over 400...

I can hit 450 ish

Edit: Just ran ATI Tool and got an error in the memory at 451 After that error it bumped the memory speeds to 448 for a final clock of 459/448

Edit after about 2 minutes it found an error at 448 on the memory. So........ I guess 440 would be good to run.

If only I had artic silver on this biotch....


How hard is it to take the video card out to see what memory I have?

Its sort of a pain, but its nothing but screws really.

You should be able to see the memory brandings without tearing the machine apart too much.

showman, if you are slightly mechanicaly inclined pulling you video card out of this beast is nothing.. i can pull mine out and put it back in a matter of 10 minutes. VERY easy

If i'm able to do my timing belt then I can do this, just needed to know how hard the job is....

What exactly do you take apart? what order?

I think whac is really on to something. Back in the day when we were trying to suicide flash our cards, did we only use pci-e??? Getting into the agp (the x800 pro i think he said) we could have much more success. This could be huge. I know I am not the most savvy in this area but shouldnt we try this???

Well what would happen if X800 Pro bios were flashed to the 9800?

hrmm.. someone cook up a BIOS quick! Dell just sent me the RMA box. I can at least test a bios to make sure it doesnt crash so that someone with the hardmod can try it.

you da man thom! always thinking of the team!