M17X R4 UPGRADE - bios issue

[Maik]

Hello everyone, thanks for taking the time to review my case.

 

I own several M17X R4 laptops and I went to upgrade them this summer.

I have succesfully upgraded all components excepts the GPUs. Here is where it gets tricky:

 

I have succesfully unlocked BIOS in 1 of them only. However the other 3 are getting bricked every single time and I have to recover them via CH341A method. Those 3 motherboards are the model: 0THTXT. They come with A11 locked bios. Does anyone know where can I find the right unlocked BIOS? 

Im not worried about INF files for the gpus.

 

The objetive is to install the GTX1070 which I already have in my possesion. Moreover, has anyone tried to intall a quadro RTX 5000 (110W)? i do not worry about heatsink, i have that figured out. Im more worried about compatibility challenges and power limits.

[Maxware79]

I don't think you need the unlocked BIOS to run the 1070 in the M17x R4, even though many people originally thought you needed to.

From memory it was only the 18" systems that needed to be unlocked so you could switch the system to SG mode, which wasn't a default option in the M18x or 18 BIOS and is a requirement to run the 1070 as there was no eDP display option.

If you have the 120hz eDP display then the system is set to PEG mode by default and the 1070 works perfectly. This is the best option

If you have the 60hz LVDS display then the system is set to SG mode by default and the 1070 works by piggybacking off the Intel graphics. 

 

I'm not sure why you're having BIOS update issues. There is another way to un-brick the R4 (with a bootable USB drive in the e-sata slot) but it sounds like you're pretty good at reprogramming the chip. I've never been good at the CH341A. 

 

[Maik]

Hey Max,

I do have have 60hz, it was my understanding that SG mode was a guaranteed blackscreen on the GTX 1070, so switching from SG to PEG, the dGPU could output video to the LVDS panel if the motherboard and BIOS support routing the dGPU’s LVDS signals correctly, and that is why I wanted to unlock the bios, since it is a hidden feacture (my understanding, I havent found a mb physical routing).

 

I did the e-sata recovery but got instead infinite bips every single time. I only managed to unlock my 120hz laptop bios, non of the 60hz laptops, so it must be a specific bios. (no clue what i installed lol). I have been cheedking around and I have seen an old ssj92 post sharing some bios. I´ll probably will give a try this weekend if the card doesnt work on SG Mode.

 

Anyhow, I’ve been digging through this forum since few days, and wow. This community rocks hard, I feel like a kid in a candy store walking among giants. I used to think that moving up to a GTX 980 was a big deal, and that installing a T1000 or a GTX 1070 was as far as I could go on a M17X R4. You guys have sparked my latent nerd skills that need to be awaken and polished once more. Thank you everyone!

 

 

 

[Maxware79]

@ssj92 would know more but I'm 99% sure that the unlocked BIOS wasn't required on the AW17 so it should be the same with the M17x R4. It has been a few years since I was deeper into all of this though.

 

With the 1070, I believe you will get a blackscreen if you switch the 60hz machine to PEG, only the 120hz system will work in PEG as the display is linked directly to the dGPU and completely bypasses the CPU. When the 1070 came out we thought it would only work with the 120hz eDP displays but then people tried them in the LVDS systems that had Optimus (SG Mode) and they worked, but not quite as well as the eDP systems. 

I never tried a 1070 in my M17x or 17, I only put it in my M18x R2. These have LVDS displays and would give a blackscreen and beep codes if in PEG or iGFX modes, hence the need for the unlocked BIOS in these. 

 

The NotebookReview forum was the pinnacle of good information back in the day but that was closed down a few years ago. You can still look through the NBR archive on here though. There is a huge amount of good info in there. 

 

https://www.nbrchive.net/

 

[ssj92]

18 hours ago, Maik said:

Hey Max,

I do have have 60hz, it was my understanding that SG mode was a guaranteed blackscreen on the GTX 1070, so switching from SG to PEG, the dGPU could output video to the LVDS panel if the motherboard and BIOS support routing the dGPU’s LVDS signals correctly, and that is why I wanted to unlock the bios, since it is a hidden feacture (my understanding, I havent found a mb physical routing).

 

I did the e-sata recovery but got instead infinite bips every single time. I only managed to unlock my 120hz laptop bios, non of the 60hz laptops, so it must be a specific bios. (no clue what i installed lol). I have been cheedking around and I have seen an old ssj92 post sharing some bios. I´ll probably will give a try this weekend if the card doesnt work on SG Mode.

 

Anyhow, I’ve been digging through this forum since few days, and wow. This community rocks hard, I feel like a kid in a candy store walking among giants. I used to think that moving up to a GTX 980 was a big deal, and that installing a T1000 or a GTX 1070 was as far as I could go on a M17X R4. You guys have sparked my latent nerd skills that need to be awaken and polished once more. Thank you everyone!

 

 

 

I saw you joined the AW club which has unlocked bios. 

 

Try flashing A11 stock first, then flash A11 unlocked. There's readme file. 

 

For A15 same thing, first flash a15 stock then a15 unlocked.