530s machines! (Finally)

December 30, 2007 14:11 by TheLostBrain

1/31/09 Update Begin

New AllRaid packages available for Dell's Inspiron 530/530s 1016 bios releases!

Keep in mind that if you've already running the standard Dell 1016 bios you'll need to use the DOS based flash method as the windows flash utility won't allow you reflash w/ the same BIOS version.

To make this process easier checkout my page on making your USB flash drive DOS bootable.

Enjoy! ;)

1/31/09 Update End

7/18/08 Update Begin

Finally back from the Honeymoon and guess what! The wife's pregnant! Woohoo! :)

How about we celebrate with another release! ;)

New AllRaid packages available for Dell's 1015 bios releases!

(Released for Vostro 200, 400 and Inspiron 530/530s)

(Skipping the 1014 "Vostro only" release unless someone specifically requests it.)

Enjoy! ;)

Another quick announcement! There is BETA release for the new Vostro 410!
While the modification on this bios was just as clean and straight forward as
the others please keep in mind this is BETA BETA BETA! I don't anticipate any
issues at all but I have a no way of testing this one myself as I do not have a Vostro 410!
If you flash to this bios and you have success please post here! Who will be the
first brave soul to try her out? ;)

7/18/08 Update End

4/11/08 Update Begin

New AllRaid packages available for Dell's 1013 bios releases!

(Released for Vostro 200 and 400)
(Most current Inspiron release from Dell is currently 1012)

Enjoy! ;)

4/11/08 Update End

3/18/08 Update Begin

New AllRaid packages available for Dell's 1012 bios releases!

Also, if any of you are currently running say... a Vostro 200 bios on an Inspiron 530 or vice versa, etc. please let me know.
I know hypothetically this should work as the hardware should be exactly the same between machines.

I may do some testing on this and if it does prove to be the case than you'll most likely start seeing a single unified AllRaid release rather than one for each system, etc.

This would allow everyone to have the most up-to-date feature set regardless of which machine you have.

3/18/08 Update End

3/1/08 Update Begin

New AllRaid packages available for Dell's 1011 bios releases!

You may notice that there are only 1011 AllRaid packages for the Vostro 200 and 400. This is simply becuase I can't seem to find a 1011 bios for the Inspiron 530/530s on the Dell site. If you have a 1011 bios for the 530/530s please shoot it over to me and I'll patch it and post it here as well.

Other notes:
1) Made some changes to the file names and directory structure inside the packages to make things simpler.
2) Replaced the awdflash command line switches with the ones that TM posted
(No more MAC address getting reset!)

Also, all of the original 1010 packages have been redone to reflect the new filename/directory structure changes and the corrected awdflash command line switches.

3/1/08 Update End

So, let me guess... You've purchased a Dell Vostro 200/400 or Inspiron 530/530s with plans to run Raid 0 or Raid 5...Only find out after it arrived that it only supports Raid 1, eh?
But then you say to yourself... "This thing's got an Intel ICH9R... and that controller supports Raid 0, Raid 5, etc. what the heck!?"

What the heck indeed... Well, you've come to the right place. Below you will find bios updates for your system that will re-enable the full Raid capabilities of your ICH9R.

While the update process is very simple and safe I still highly recommend that you take the time to read all the instructions and disclaimers before attempting it.

If you have any questions or comments be sure to post them here, etc.

Let's get started.

Please keep in mind that you'll need to reinstall windows if you go from No Raid to Raid 0, etc. - Otherwise you'll just bluescreen upon startup after making the switch.

(Keep in mind that simply flashing the bios to include the full raid support will not make your current windows installation unusable. It's when you actually go into the bios and change the "SATA Mode" BIOS option from IDE to Raid and/or re-define your Raid Containers in the Intel Raid Configuration (CTRL-I at bootup)... now you'll get the bluescreen when attempting to boot up into your existing XP Installation.)

To get started you'll need two things:

1) The AllRaid package itself:

Vostro 200
AllRaid-Vostro-200-1010.zip (493.37 kb)
AllRaid-Vostro-200-1011.zip (496.82 kb)
AllRaid-Vostro-200-1012.zip (As of 3/18/08 there is no 1012 bios for the Vostro 200 line on Dell's site! If you have one let me know.)
AllRaid-Vostro-200-1013.zip (496.97 kb)
AllRaid-Vostro-200-1015.zip (500.09 kb)

Vostro 400
AllRaid-Vostro-400-1010.zip (493.37 kb)
AllRaid-Vostro-400-1011.zip (496.10 kb)
AllRaid-Vostro-400-1012.zip (As of 3/18/08 there is no 1012 bios for the Vostro 400 line on Dell's site! If you have one let me know.)
AllRaid-Vostro-400-1013.zip (496.99 kb)
AllRaid-Vostro-400-1015.zip (500.25 kb)

Inspiron 530/530s
AllRaid-Inspiron-530+530s-1010.zip.zip (493.39 kb)
AllRaid-Inspiron-530+530s-1011.zip (As of 3/1/08 there is no 1011 bios for the Inspiron 530/530s line on Dell's site! If you have one let me know.)
AllRaid-Inspiron-530+530s-1012.zip (496.22 kb)
AllRaid-Inspiron-530+530s-1015.zip (503.62 kb)
AllRaid-Inspiron-530+530s-1016.zip (503.76 kb)

BETA BETA BETA Vostro 410
AllRaid-Vostro-410-BETA-103.zip (491.60 kb)
Not for the Faint of Heart! This is untested BETA! While it's unlikely... it could fry your machine! If you're concerned please read through the more recent (>7/18/08) posts below to see if anyone's already successfully flashed to this release.

2) The Windows F6 driver disk:

Intel-raid-f6-driver-disk-32bit.zip (200.34 kb)
(Use when installing a 32bit OS)

Intel-raid-f6-driver-disk-64bit.zip (228.36 kb)
(Use when installing a 64bit OS)

The details of how to flash are available in the included "readme.txt" file but a quick overview:

NOTE: Like any bios update DO NOT turn the power off during the update process! All the usual "I will not be held responsible” jargon applies here! So in other words… If your machine dies in direct relation to running any of this I won't be held responsible

Now then....

After extracting the AllRaid package you'll find two batch files:
WINFLASH.BAT
DOSFLASH.BAT

The first (WINFLASH.BAT) will attempt to flash your bios right from within Windows using the Dell Winflash utility. This is very easy and I've successfully used this method multiple times from XP. Running the batch file will bring up the flash window were you will confirm that you want to continue with the flash... you can opt to backout at this point if you wish. (As for Vista... When I attempted to run it from Vista it says something about "Load driver failed"... So I'll have to assume at this point that Vista is not supported by this version of WinFlash. Please leave comments if you find out different, etc.)

You'll run the second (DOSFLASH.BAT) if you're flashing from a clean dos boot. Please keep in mind that as soon as you run this it will IMMEDIATELY begin flashing the bios... so don't run it until you're ready.

If you decide to flash from DOS you may want to check out my walkthrough on making a DOS bootable flash drive! ;)

That's pretty much it! You've now got support for all of the Raid options available to the ICH9R chipset (Raid 0, 1, 5, 0+1). Please keep in mind that Raid options shown in the Intel Raid Configuraiton (CTRL-I at bootup) are governed by the number of drives you have installed in the system. So with only 1 drive installed you'll not see an option for any Raid. With 2 drives you'll see Raid 0 and Raid 1... and with 3... you get the picture.

Please keep in mind that in order to access the Intel Raid Configuration (CTRL-I at bootup) you'll need to change the "SATA Mode" BIOS option from IDE to Raid. Doing this will cause your current XP/Vista installation to blue screen at bootup...but you can set it to verify the available raid options and then simply set it back to IDE until you're ready to reinstall Windows, etc.

One last tip... When reinstalling Windows be sure to use that F6 Driver Disk and when prompted be sure to choose the option that has ICH9R Raid in it... I think it's the last one in the list? You'll know if you chose the wrong one because you'll get a bluescreen when it attempts to reboot midway through the reinstallation.

Also!!!! Keep in mind that if you define a Raid 0, 5, or 0+1, etc. configuration... you do NOT want to update to a more recent DELL bios release!!! Remember, the Dell released bios does not have support for those raid types and I can only imagine that flashing to it would then break your raid containers, etc. If a new bios is released that you want just shoot me an email... I've got the modification process down to a simple science so I can do it pretty quickly and then just repost here, etc.

That should do it! Have fun with your new raid support! Please post any questions comments right here so others can benefit, etc.

-TheLostBrain

One of the Vosto 200's at work with Raid 0 configuration:

3/19/08 - RECOVERD COMMENTS
(Recovered from Google cache! Thank God for Google!)

January 9. 2008 06:01

Is it possible with further work you can change other settings like memory voltage? being limited to 1.8v is frustrating. New memory moduals require anywhere from 1.9 to 2.2 or more volts.

jeff

January 9. 2008 11:03

Sweet! that turns the Vostro 200 into something of a bargain given the new years price promotions Dell are currently running. I'm now very tempted!

James

January 9. 2008 16:07

Did you enable AHCI in the bios?? Would be nice.

John O

January 9. 2008 16:27

>> Did you enable AHCI in the bios?? Would be nice.

All I've done at this point is simply swap out the the Intel Matrix Storage Manager Option Rom... I *may* be able to "enable" it though.. will need to take a look tomorrow.
Will let you know.

TheLostBrain

January 9. 2008 17:03

It would be super awesome if you could enable AHCI!

Btw, is there anything in this BIOS limiting the memory to 3.5GB? I've installed 4 2GB DIMMS. The BIOS sees 8GB of RAM, but Vista 64 and Linux still only see 3.5GB of RAM.

oh yes!

January 12. 2008 17:52

>> It would be super awesome if you could enable AHCI!
>> Btw, is there anything in this BIOS limiting the memory to 3.5GB? I've installed 4 2GB DIMMS. The
>> BIOS sees 8GB of RAM, but Vista 64 and Linux still only see 3.5GB of RAM.

Didn't have much luck at enabling the AHCI at this point...but will try again as I have time.

As for the RAM limitation you're seeing... Unfortunately this appears to be a limitation of the Vostro itself (4GB Max on Ram :/) ... and it looks like others out there are experiencing the exact same problem with windows only showing ~3.5GB. Check the following link (Once you have the page up...hit CTRL-F and search the page for: 8gb )

forums.slickdeals.net/showthread.php

TheLostBrain

January 12. 2008 21:52

Congrats for the work you've done!

One thought, a bit unrelated. I think the Vostro 200 and 400 have the same hardware, the difference appears to be only in what the Vostro 400 can handle, CPU wise. So I wondered if it's possible to flash a Vostro 200 with the 400's bios to allow quad cores to work on the 200.

Does this seem likely do you think?

Dan

January 13. 2008 12:16

Nice work. Thx

Nicola

January 14. 2008 01:48

We assumed that we could use RAID 0 with Vostro 400 - but Dell tells us that this is not possible - so your work-around seems very agreeable as we need to save time when working with Vista, and this is just my problem!

How can I upgrade the BIOS when using VISTA? I have done it OK on 1 XP machine with no problem. But as you say - the BIOS update on VISTA does not work. I have tried to start the machine with DOS Start-up Disks for XP, ME, 96 and Dos6.1 with no success. It cannot find the files I have put on Z on the bootable CD.

Any hint would be much appreciated!

Anders

January 22. 2008 11:24

Really appreciate the work you put into this!

I have a question regarding loading the Matrix Storage Manager with P6 off an XP Pro Install disk. I plan on ordering an Inspiron with the 12-1 card reader rather than a floppy. The readme file for the Matrix prog says "* Note: For Windows Vista you can use a floppy, CD/DVD or USB.". Will a USB flash card not work with XP here, or how about a USB floppy drive?

Jason

January 23. 2008 03:14

Question:
I have a question regarding loading the Matrix Storage Manager with P6 off an XP Pro Install disk. I plan on ordering an Inspiron with the 12-1 card reader rather than a floppy. The readme file for the Matrix prog says "* Note: For Windows Vista you can use a floppy, CD/DVD or USB.". Will a USB flash card not work with XP here, or how about a USB floppy drive?

Answer:
Yeah, sucks but XP is limited to Floppy for F6 driver loads. You can try a USB Floppy but I've not had much luck myself with it. I actually initially tried using a USB Flopply to do one of the machines at work and it just hung after starting to copy off of it. You may have better luck though. FYI: I actually wound up reading up on how to add the F6 driver directly to XP SP2 CD itself and then it just worked w/o the need to specify an F6 disk.

TheLostBrain

January 25. 2008 07:27

Amazing, simply amazing. I now have RAID 0 when I was starting to give up hope! You truly deserve major kudos on this one TLB!

Now....being greedy here...why does this BIOS report 4G of memory, yet even 64 bit OS's report no more than 3.25? There has to be an advanced setting *somewhere* right?

*crosses fingers*

Anyway, excellent work! Off to get some shut-eye

Joel

January 28. 2008 20:07

AWESOME!!!! Works perfect under Vista Business in my inspiron 530, was able to set up a raid 0 with 2 hd in a breeze. Before this I was about to return the system since I was pissed at how dell cripples the bios. Now there are 2 things that I would die for if you can implement:

1) Option to raise the Fsb to 1333 mhz (so my quad core can run at 3.00 ghz.
2) Addressing of more than 4 gb in the bios, I hate dell for not allowing this when the chipset is perfectly able to!

For any of these 2 things you'll get my longlife admiration! Thanks!!

Inaki

Inaki

January 30. 2008 12:03

Tried to run the firmware updater from within windows on a new vostro 400. It says that the firmware versions are the same, and will not proceed. Any thoughts? I'm trying the dos version as we write this.

bob

January 31. 2008 06:43

Great work !

May i ask you if you can allow some overlocking option in a modded bios for VOSTRO 200 ?
My e4400 can do better than running @ 2ghz but dell bios are killing us.

The FOXCONN G33M original bios allow it, but will it work on G33M02 ? I don't know...

sebby

January 31. 2008 09:20

Bob,

Were you successful getting the bios update through DOS? I haven't set up a RAID on an Inpiron yet, but I did setup one without and went through all the updates on Dell's site including the newest BIOS and got a message like you did. All the machines built after late Dec have the 1.0.10 bios installed and I think that'll be a problem trying to get this modified bios with the same ver. number to load. Again, interested to hear if it worked loading through a DOS boot. Thanks.

Jason

February 4. 2008 13:22

Notify me when new comments are added

Jason

February 4. 2008 14:19

Tried this bios update on a brand new Vostro 400. After flashing and reinstalling win XP Pro cannot get the onboard network card to connect to anything. It will repair and get an ip but will not work otherwise, also when you install the chipset utility from Dells website none of the usb ports seem to work leaving your system useless a reinstall of windows is necessary. Do you know of any way to reflash the bios back to the original 1.0.10. I have tryed several different ways and it tells me that it cannot flash because bios is the same version, any help would be appreciated as this computer is now a paper weight.

Rich

February 4. 2008 15:19

Rich,

Did your Vostro come from dell with BIOS version 1.0.10 installed? If so, how did you get the modified version to load? You should be able to reflash the dell version back the same way unless Dell packages the files in a way that's different. I've got a new Inspiron on it's way to me FedEx now, but im hesitant to mess with this raid bios unless I can go back in case of problems.

Mike, do you know a way to remove your modified bios and replace if necessary as in Rich's case? Thanks

Jason

February 5. 2008 10:59

Bob and Rich, did either of you solve your flashing problems? If so please post how you got it to flash with same version numbers. I'd appreciate it, thanks.

Jason

February 5. 2008 22:04

TLB, can you also post a bios flash file of the original Dell 1.0.10 that will work to reset back to the orignal over yours. Currently the file dell supplies won't let you reflash if it detects the same version number. This would be great to have in case the machine goes wonky like in Rich's above. Much appreciated!

Jason

February 5. 2008 23:47

Joel,

Try loading the NIC drivers from Dells site:

ftp://ftp.us.dell.com/network/R159293.EXE

Let us know if this works.

I'm not sure if a one can reflash Dell's bios back on under DOS as the application is different than TLB's.

btw: other than the NIC not working is everything else working with your RAID and Windows?

Regards

Jason

February 6. 2008 01:36

If you use the floppy and flash via dos, you should be able to overwrite the same version. This worked for me going from DELL 1.10.0 to TheLostBrain's version, so I would assume the reverse is also true.

I also cannot use the onboard NIC after flashing. TLB, how did you get this to work?

Joel

February 6. 2008 06:11

Thanks for the NIC fix Mike. The problem that many of us are having is that the bios flash won't work if our machines were already loaded with 1.0.10 from Dell (anything built since late Dec). Running the flash updater through windows just gives a message that the version is the same and will not flash. That's the reason people starting flashing in DOS. Is there a workaround to make your modified flash file work through windows in this circumstance? Thanks

Jason

February 6. 2008 06:54

Rich, could you give us an update on your USB problem? Did you resolve it?

Jason

February 6. 2008 08:02

New update on the NIC issues that DOS flashers have been experiencing! Read the "2/1/08 UPDATE" update at the top of this page.

-TheLostBrain

TheLostBrain

February 6. 2008 18:43

Rich, thanks for the update!

Jason

February 6. 2008 19:27

Hi TheLostBrain

Can you check or do you know if flashing the inspiron 530 bios with the foxxconn g33m motherboard bios will enable 8gb memory support? The motherboard looks exactly the same as the one in the inspiron.

Enabling 8gb support on the inspiron would be amazing, as I already overclocked my quad core q6600 via the bsel mod (really easy!) now running at 3.0 ghz and got raid 0 thanks to you. All I need is more memory, 3gb is not enough!.

Huge thanks

Inaki

Inaki

February 6. 2008 20:23

The USB issue I was experiencing was a install problem, I did another clean install and everything is OK. No more problems with USB, so go ahead and flash away.

Rich

February 6. 2008 20:45

Well the good news is the Inspiron I ordered showed up today with 1.0.7 installed, so I won't have any issues doing a windows flash of the RAID bios. The question is do i want to . I really need to know if anyone is experiencing the USB failure after installing the Intel chipset from Dell's site after a clean XP Pro install with RAID bios. Rich hasn't posted back about his USB breakdown and there is no way to email him on here. If I get hung up with the thing I can't reflash to Dell's 1.0.10 to fix the USB because the application would allow reflash of same version. Rich's USB issue may not be at all related to this new bios, but his configuration is setup exactly like mine and it's got me worried. I feel like im at the poker table ready to go all-in and i'll either end up with cool RAID setup Inspiron or a $900 paper weight. Ghe.

Jason

February 7. 2008 17:00

No Soup For You!

Well I ran into a problem. The WinFlash won't flash the bios, it says "The BIOS Bin file was not for this system!" I did look again at the case, it is an Inspiron

img444.imageshack.us/img444/9862/biosas8.jpg

Anyone know what the problem might be? Thanks

Jason

February 8. 2008 06:16

Regarding the 2/1/2008 MAC address update, I hit this problem when flashing from DOS. However, it is possible to re-program the MAC address back to it's original setting using a linux utility called ethtool.

I used the Dell supplied bootable Ubuntu 7.10 DVD to boot into linux and used some 'ethtool -E' commands to update the NICs EEPROM. I don't have the exact commands to hand but I may be able to dig them out.

February 8. 2008 14:08

Help!!

I had everything working perfect on my inspiron 530 until I decided to update the intel matrix software application to the latest version. After it finished it asked me to reboot, which I did, and then windows vista crashes upon loading. I also can't get to a freaking system restore because when I insert the vista installation dvd and go to the repair system option the idiot starts looking for an installed operating system and hangs in there looking for the operating system. I can't access the option to load the raid drivers for the hard drive because I have to wait until it finishes searching for the op. system. I left it searching for a long time to see if it would stop but no luck so far. Does anybody have a solution for this??

Thanks!!

Inaki

February 8. 2008 17:00

This is interesting. As I was searching around the Dell forums I came across posts suggesting that the Inspirons and Vostros at some point as late as last month (see link) came with at least RAID 1 support from Dell. I checked and no RAID options are in any of Dell's purchase configurators now, although some do option for 2nd HD. I'll be happy just to get a RAID 1 going on this since the modified file here won't work for me. I PM'ed some people on Dell's forums about their setup and if anyone here knows how Dell was running the RAID 1's please let me know. Thanks

www.dellcommunity.com/.../message

Jason

February 9. 2008 08:36

More Problems!!!

This has become a nightmare. I reinstalled vista 32 bit business on the Inspiron 530 after it wasn't booting, took the time to reinstall all the software + all the updates, after several reboots of everything going OK I rebooted one last time after installing the Zune software for my Zune player and I can't get into Windows by any means (no safe mode, etc). WORSE I CAN'T EVEN GET TO RUN THE RESCUE DISK FROM THE VISTA DVD BECAUSE it throws a BSOD with code 0x0000C1F5. CAN'T DO ANYTHING!!!

The only way to bypass this BSOD and be able to install something is by changing the option from sata to ide in the bios, but then I would have to wipe everything clean and I have data that I want from the hard drives!!!. Is there a way to reflash the bios and see if this will go away? Anybody have any ideas??

Thanks

Inaki

February 9. 2008 17:27

Bios 1.0.11 released. So update from 1.0.10 is possible.
Please update the package.

Frank

February 11. 2008 05:08

thanks for your work. is there anyway to unlock any overclocking features on this board?

simspot

February 11. 2008 19:04

Thank you for your work.
Can you share how you modified the bios file?
Did you just replace the Intel Raid module with a full version? Is there any other modifications for other modules?
Where did you get the full RAID module?

Roger

February 22. 2008 20:28

I had the same problem as Jason - "The BIOS Bin file was not for this system!"

Technosquid

February 23. 2008 19:10

Thanks for this BIOS. I received four Vostro 400 and really needed to use RAID 0 in two of them. Since they came with BIOS 1.0.10, the only way to update to All-RAID was to do it in DOS. In the first one I use the usual method and everything worked OK, included the expected MAC address change to FF-FF-FF-FF-FF-FF. I update the second one removing the /cc switch in awdflash, and even so MAC address was deleted. RAID and BIOS worked OK. So I guess /cc is not guilty, or at least doesn't carry all responsability. I wish to see All-RAID 1.0.11 very soon! Thanks again.

Darven

February 24. 2008 22:18

To everyone with the problem getting Vista to recognize over 3.26 GB: I updated my x64 Ultimate Vostro 400 to SP1 today and it now recognizes the full 8 GB that I'd installed.

Howard

February 24. 2008 22:46

Well after getting all excited about Vista reading the full 8 GB... It's only reporting it in system info, it's still only utilizing 3.26. Stupid Dell!

Howard

February 28. 2008 16:15

Unlocking overclocking options would bring this BIOS to new levels of coolness making the Vostro 400 one bad ass system at a great buy.

Joe

February 28. 2008 20:47

Anyone tried the DOS patch and also fixed the MAC address? Is it the permanent solution? Or that means, after it changes to FFFFFFFFFF, every time I install Windows, I'll need to configure the MAC manually?

Thanks

February 29. 2008 13:38

Hi we have a Vostro400 which we have had quite a lot of problems with. We therefore updated the bios - and later had one of the disks replaced. Now that we have to do a "clean install" we would like to run Raid 0 - but we cant do it with the bios from Dell. We then found your post and thougt this is what we need. But unfortunately we the new bios will not accept your "raid-bios" since it finds that is is newer ie. version 1011 - and your version is 1010. Dell finds that this is entirely our own fault since we want to use the Raid on the machine??? Do you know of a way to force a bios-downgrade? Will it be possible for you to upgrade the new bios to support Raid 0. I have attached the new bios and changed the filetype from .exe to .ex_. Thanks in advance /Bo.

Bo Glode

March 1. 2008 14:54

OK guys, I have resolved the NIC Card reset (FF-FF-FF-FF-FF-FF) issue! You may want to change the command line in DOS_Update.bat to be the following:
@ECHO OFF
awdflash bios.bin /cc/cd/cp/py/wb/sn/E
I tried to open the DELL BIOS update package and found those parameters they use. It's a little different from TheLostBrain's. I tried this DOS update and it works well. My NIC still contains the default MAC Address. =)

Enjoy!!!

March 2. 2008 10:31

Awesome work TM!

Everyone here send some major kudos to TM for finding and testing the correct command line switches!

I've been so busy with work lately that haven't had time to test, etc. so this is a major help!

I'll be releasing the new 10.1.11 bios with full raid support tomorrow afternoon/night... and will be sure to include the fixed dos_update!

Thanks again to TM!

TheLostBrain

March 3. 2008 01:45

No problem, TheLostBrain

After running your BIOS patch, I am enjoying RAID 0 and now going to buy another HDD to be my RAID 5. =) Thank you for that too.

And I guess for those people who run into the limitation of 3.26GB RAM, I think even though 32 bits Vista SP1 can report full 8GB, theoretically they may still be able to use 3.26GB (as you may see in Performance tab in Task manager saying 3.26GB still... So I am not sure it's really using PAE)... I don't know. Perhaps you guys want to try 64 bits Vista which shouldn't have this 32-bit memory address limitation?

See:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/946003

As a result, I don't think any BIOS update will be able to help on this issue then, guys.

March 3. 2008 20:46

i'm vostro 200 bios is 1.0.10
i want go to bios full raid 1.0.10 .
but no opertion
are you now bios full raid 1.0.11?
i very very thank you

cloud

March 3. 2008 23:51

New AllRaid Packages available for both the new 1011 bios and the original 1010 release as well!

Have fun!

TheLostBrain

March 4. 2008 07:56

o~~~~ no
new vostro 200 bios error
"bios binary file check sum error"
plese age

cloud

March 4. 2008 12:38

Interesting... Hmm... I'll take a look first thing tomorrow while at the office (No Vostro's here at home).

TheLostBrain

March 5. 2008 10:47

Hi,

I have a Vostro 400 with 1.0.10, I boot from a usb stick but get the following error when I run dosflash.bat:

"bios image file check sum error"

I have tried allraid-vostro-400-1011.zip and allraid-vostro-400-1010.zip but both give the same error.

Any ideas?

March 5. 2008 20:06

Excellent work, TheLostBrain!!! my vostro 400 is in production... I can't wait

1. RE: "You can try (to install XP F6 driver loads using) a USB Floppy but I've not had much luck."

-- See this, "Using a F6 Driver with USB Floppy, This is the fix for using USB Floppy drives for F6 drivers in Textmode":

www.msfn.org/.../F6-Driver-USB-Floppy-t82711.html

2. RE: "DELL's only address 3.25GB of RAM in a 64bit OS"

-- See this, "Warning for potential Vostro 400 customers":

boardreader.com/.../...stro_400_custome_58479.html

3. As far as this thread comprises installation instructions, it's become hairy...
- what version do I want to flash?
- does it depend on the bios version that is installed?
- from where, dos or windows?
- what can go wrong, MAC, USB?
- how do I fix those things?
- how can I roll back the bios flash?
- does it depend on the bios version that is installed?

4. I want to upgrade the RAM when my Vostro arrives. DELL wants $70 to add a gig of PC2-6400 DDR2 800mhz.
- why does vostro come with 800mhz ram... is it really going to run noticeably faster than 667mhz?
- ram runs dual channel. read a user recommend to install 2x2gb to eave room for more ram in a future 64 bit OS after the addressable ram constraint is resolved.

Thanks again,

James

james

March 5. 2008 20:45

waiting new bios vostro 200 1.0.11

cloud

March 5. 2008 22:09

I would like to flash my bios to enable RAID0 but I don't understand the last tip with the F6 driver disk.
Indeed I would like to make a ghost of my current disk, then enable raid0 and at last put the ghost image. I don't know when I have to use the F6 driver.
Can you explain a little more this tip.
Thanks
Cyril

I'm using a vostro 200ST with vista at home and the same with xp at work

Cyril

March 6. 2008 05:04

Cyril,

I guess you mean this:

2) The Windows F6 driver disk:

Intel-Raid-F6-Driver-Disk.zip (200.34 kb)

I'm no expert, please, someone correct me if I am wrong, but, this is the driver for the disc controller that enables RAID. during your new windows install, you'll be prompted to press F6 to install any drivers that might be needed for the windows installation to continue; at which point you should press F6 and insert the floppy containing the unzipped "Intel-Raid-F6-Driver-Disk".

Regards,

James

james

March 6. 2008 09:16

New news...read above. Updates tomorrow.

TheLostBrain

March 6. 2008 09:49

I'm currently working with someone @ Dell Executive Escalations (emailing michael @ dell dot com will get you a call back) to figure out what the true reason the RAM is limited to 4GB (and only 3.25-3.5gb is actually usable.) My bet is that there's no memory remapping option in the BIOS. The Intel Bearlake chipset on the Vostro 400 supposedly supports 8GB of RAM according to SiSoftware Sandra.

I recommend anyone who has a gripe with this issue to email michael@dell.com

Giorgio G.

March 6. 2008 11:05

Giorgio G:

Yes, no memory remapping, as stated in, "Warning for potential Vostro 400 customers." I think they are afraid of what the public would do with all this low-cost computing power... remember, this is an election year!

James

james

March 6. 2008 11:34

Excellent work we succeeded downgrading the bios from Dells version 1.10.11 to your 1.10.10. All we had to do was to perform the downgrade from Dos. After that following your instructions RAID 0 is finally up and running. However this was before the tip from TM hence we have mac-address ff-ff-ff-ff...

Question: Will an upgrade using the new update from TM set the correct mac-address (it is only set from Windows now!) or is there another way to set the mac-address in cmos?

Question: Will updating the bios from 1.10.10 to 1.10.11 be possible without having to reinstall the machine?

Great work by the way

/Bo.

boglode

March 7. 2008 03:16

Ugh. I can't find anything that will allow me to mod the BIOS (1.0.11 image file.) All the BIOS tools out there seem old / outdated.

Giorgio G.

March 7. 2008 22:44

Excuse me for my ignorance, but what's the difference between this bios and the raid option already in the factory bios? (I haven't tried it yet). Thanks.

Derek

March 8. 2008 05:04

In the factory bios you only have access to raid 1 (mirroring). This bios allows you to use raid 0 and raid 5 if you have 2 or 3 disks
cyril

Cyril

March 8. 2008 10:05

Ok, finally got 'em all up again.

Have fun.

TheLostBrain

March 10. 2008 07:22

Hey...

I have a Vostro 400 which suffered HDD mechanical failure last weekend. Dell support sent me a new factory imaged drive which I've finally got everything re-installed and configured. (All the software that we already owned but did not come pre-installed on the machine - QuickBooks, Office, etc.)

Thankfully, we had our critical files backed up to a network drive (which gets mirrored to an offsite location nightly).

Now, the question I have, is it possible to implement a RAID 1 without wiping the contents of the drive? I already have the drive Imaged (using Acronis). Can I use that Image restore after the RAID array is created? I have a feeling that won't work.

Any help/advice in this situation is greatly appreciated.

Thank you for your time.

Kris

March 11. 2008 23:26

Kris
yesterday i made several attempts to implement RAID0 on my computers:
this is my conclusion:
if you're on windows XP the ICH9R driver should be the good one so you can just activate RAID0 or 1 and then put your image on the volume.
If you're using vista, the driver which is pre-installed on dell systems is not the good one so before making the image you have to update the driver. If you've already done the image, you need to restore it with the IDE conf, then update the driver, then make the image, then change to raid conf and at last put your image on the volume. More complicated with vista isn't it? (but it's only due the pre-installed driver's version)
hope it will help cause I didn't sleep much last night...
one last thing: if you want to use raid 1 you don't have to use lost brain's bios update because dell's bios already allows raid 1.

Cyril

March 12. 2008 11:57

Cyril

Thanks for that information! I am using XP Pro and only wanted to do plain vanilla raid 1 mirroring.

Thanks again!

Kris

March 13. 2008 23:09

Really appreciate all the work everyone has been doing to get this working. A shame Dell isn't.

All the comments added make it a bit confusing whether all the problems encountered are solved in the update at the top of the page dating 3/1/08 (and thus in the programs I can download above).

I read the MAC issue is solved, I am not sure about the USB issue (and to be honest, I don't understand if this is a problem with a USB disk drive or also with USB sticks and if this is a problem when using Windows after updating the bios or only at applying this bios update).

I read somewhere there is a problem with an host controller, maybe that's why dell disabled the raid0 option?
Perhaps that's why Kris said to have the correct driver?
How do I know if I have the correct ICH9R driver? I let my computer update, and I have in system management 2 different ICH9 Host controllers (2port controller2-2926 date 5-2-2007, driver8.3.0.1011 and 4 port controller1-2920). How do I update them (driver update update in this screen?) and do I have to back them up and install them after bios update?

Finally, I have just 1 dvd player/burner. Can I put a ghost image back (from DVD) instead of making a complete new install? If so, when can I insert the cd with the F6 cd (I am running Vista). Do I first put the ghost image back, get that dvd out, put the F6 cd in and then reboot?

Thanks in advance.

Wim

March 14. 2008 20:44

Thanks for updating the AllRaid packages, re-flashed the bios no problem.

One thing is you should post a link to the 64-bit F6 driver disc files, as the one linked above won't work for 64-bit Windows installs (well I tried Vista 64 and it didn't like it, finally found a 64 bit driver disc on the Intel site). Let me know if you need a zip of the 64-bit driver files.

March 15. 2008 12:19

Vostro 200 Raid 0 128kb stripe, up and running well without a hitch.

Bios 1011 DOS Flashed
Vista Business

Sweeter than dutch apple pie.

You have made the crippled walk again, many thanks.

John O

March 17. 2008 19:38

From the notes of the 1012 BIOS release, it looks like they've fixed the problem for memory mapping for up to 4GB.

Baktash

March 17. 2008 21:08

There has been a new BIOS release for the 530

support.dell.com/.../download.aspx

Lee

March 17. 2008 21:31

Looks like the 1012 bios was just posted for the Inspiron 530. Any chance you can update your bios with this? http://ftp.us.dell.com/bios/530_1012.EXE

Baktash

March 18. 2008 16:48

>> If I updated my 530 with the 1012, will i lose raid0 function? I have the moded bios that runs raid0

Yes. I've tried this myself in the past and it will list your logical raid drives/containers as "invalid".

I was able to simply flash back and nothing was harmed however.

I will be doing the 1012 at some point today/tomorrow.

TheLostBrain

March 18. 2008 18:37

If I updated my 530 with the 1012, will i lose raid0 function? I have the moded bios that runs raid0

kung pow

Tags: vostro 200, vostro 400, inspiron 530, inspiron 530s, raid, bios, hack, modification
Categories: Tech
Actions: E-mail | Permalink | Comments (220) | Comment RSS RSS comment feed

Comments

April 8. 2008 08:25

"the bios bin file is not for this system!" when you click on update.

kung pow

April 8. 2008 12:10

Comments recovered from Google Cache! Thank God for Google!

TheLostBrain

April 8. 2008 13:32

Woah!! Comments just got wiped out! (All 75 of 'em!)

If you had questions, etc. just post them again.

Question:
Has anyone successfully flashed the allraid bios 1012 in a 530?
Winflash doesnt work and i must be doing something wrong in Dosflash as i cant get it to work as i did with the 1010

Answer:
Are you getting any errors, etc.? What's it say when you try to flash from both win and dos based flash methods?

TheLostBrain

April 8. 2008 18:07

I actually called to complain with the DELL tech support last week for the 4GB memory issue and they called me back with a promise to release a new version of the BIOS because they admitted that the current version of the BIOS doesn't do well for memory mapping over 32 bits. Very impressed that they actually do what they said, in just a week time frame.

Thank you again TheLostBrain for releasing the great BIOS!!!

April 9. 2008 00:59

I installed the Dell 1012 bios and vista 32 bit is still seeing only 3.25 GB of ram.

I tried using this modified bios, but it wouldn't let me flash it in vista (btw in order to flash in vista, you must unzip the file first).

I will try using the dos method tommorow.

Has anyone gotten the OS to see over 4GB of ram? I have 6GB installed and 6GB shows up in the bios, but only 3.25 in vista. I think I will be using my downgrade rights and getting 64bit XP.

Russ

April 9. 2008 11:53

I am using the new BIOS from dell. The bios sees 6GB, but Vista still uses only 3.25. I tried enabling awe with no luck.

Russ

Russ

April 9. 2008 12:37

you can get it 'see' more than 4GB with the new BIOS from dell.

simspot

April 11. 2008 11:33

Anybody gotten the Vostro 200 to see > 3.3GBs from within Windows/Linux?

JoseQ

April 12. 2008 19:02

Nevermind. I used the flash drive with a newer version of dos and it worked just fine. Sorry for the false alarm.

Gary

April 12. 2008 20:26

Hey TheLostBrain, thanks for all your hard work. I'm trying to get the new 1012 to install on my 530 using a hard drive I formated with an old version of dos but it just says "The File Size does not match!" and errors out. What am I doing wrong?

Thanks,

Gary

April 13. 2008 03:19

how do i splice the f6 files onto an xp install disc? i do not have any form of a floppy at my disposal.

derek

April 13. 2008 04:13

pt2.

i think i might have hit all the possible hurdles anyone could possibly conceive of while trying to do this.

1. my bios version is already 1012 so i cannot winflash the bios to allraid. getting error message that cannot flash same version bios.

2. i don't have a floppy drive so i had to resort to creating a boot disc to boot into dos for a dosflash, and i had to slipstream the raid controllers into the winxp cd for the impending install.

3. boot disc created and booted into dos but cannot launch dosflash because the file was not found (ntfs/fat issue?).

4. all the references on the net indicated that sp2 should also be slipstreamed into the winxp cd in addition to the drivers. hit a mountain of error messages when trying to do this. Eventually gave up on slipstreaming sp2 and just stuck with the raid drivers. now i cannot even test if the CD generated works.

net movement on this issue: 0
time spent: 5-6 hours

am i full of fail or what.

great edu though and alot of helpful comments.

derek

April 13. 2008 10:20

the full raid update in the 10.0.11 is for full rade 10.0.10 i cant find the new one

Brian

April 14. 2008 00:32

This is great. Finally had time to set everything up after the 1012 flash on the Inspiron 530. It is now running 3 x 320GB harddrives in a RAID 5, Wish this sucker had more SATA ports. The bios obviously sees the 2 missing ports, but they're nto on the motherboard, so sad, hehe

Baktash

April 14. 2008 00:53

Question:
the full raid update in the 10.0.11 is for full rade 10.0.10 i cant find the new one

Answer:
It was just a typo in the winflash.bat file. I've update it to reflect the proper version number. Thanks for catching that.

-TheLostBrain

TheLostBrain

April 14. 2008 00:54

Hey, odd request, but can you pick through the Vostro 400 BIOS and add the microcode that allows it to support the C2Q Q6600 CPU to the allraid BIOS?

JoseQ

April 14. 2008 01:56

Very happy to report, the allraid 1012 bios for Inspiron installed well on a Vostro and I can now see all 8 gigs of RAM from CentOS 4 32-bit!

JoseQ

April 14. 2008 02:43

Question:
It says i can not overwrite the bios with the same version

Answer:
Hmmm... Do you have a Vostro 200?

TheLostBrain

April 14. 2008 03:34

I installed the 1012 release on a Vostro 200 succesfully. I'm installing OS to verify memory remap...

JoseQ

April 14. 2008 03:36

it says i can not overwrite the bios with the same version

brian

April 14. 2008 13:02

I updated to the 1012 release because I thought it was supposed to fix the issue with windows seeing less than 4gb. Now my bios shows 4gb but windows still shows only 3.25. Also, I didn't get a chance to use the F6 utility, was I supposed to run that in DOS or only when reinstalling windows for RAID0?

James

April 14. 2008 14:16

yea i have a dell vostro 200 and it says i can not install the same version bios

Brian

April 14. 2008 15:36

current progress...

so, i gave in and got a floppy 3.5" drive hooked up. the dosflash seems to have worked. booted into dos and typed in "dosflash" at the cmd prompt. got a little graphic come up that made it look like something happened. rebooted and in bios changed the setting for "integrated peripherals" from ide to raid. rebooted and at the dell splash screen tried to hit <ctrl-I>, nothing happened. went into boot menu and booted from the xp cd. pressed f6 to load 3rd party drivers and chose the ICH9R raid. after the xp install preloaded all the drivers i got the prompt to hit <enter> to continue xp install. computer is frozend. attempted the xp install a handful more times. no cigar. i gave up.

my question is...how do you know if the "AllRaid" bios flash was successful or not???

derek

April 17. 2008 09:23

Dell 530 came with 1012 bios already installed. If i run winflash it throws an error of same version and wont install. Any insights?

Code187

April 19. 2008 12:43

Ooops... Dell 530 here....I already have v1012 so I can't Winflash to same version. Tried to Winflash back to 1010 but that was a no go.

So... this leaves a DOS flash from a floppy as the only option? System does not have a floppy but I can cobble one in as I have had to do before.

Can a USB Flash drive be used as a floppy with current AllRaid download?

Thanks! Great work!

Muad Dib

Muad Dib

April 19. 2008 15:31

Duh...
Never mind! It was right in front of me, just too late at night to be alert.

Creating and booting from flash drive works like a charm!

Thanks!

Muad Dib

April 19. 2008 22:40

Great work! I'm running the Inspiron 1012 BIOS with your patches on my Vostro 400, for reference, with absolutely no problems. A friend has the Inspiron 530, and we compared the mobos, and they both had the *exact* same revision and model information printed on the PCB. So cross-flashing is NO problems!!!

Now it occurs to me that since the Foxconn G33 spec'd in these systems technicall supports 10/100/1000 (gigabit) ethernet, it *should* be possible to enable it on these machines via microcode update.

Any thoughts?

Keep up the awesome work!

Politbureau

April 20. 2008 14:40

Had a chance to fiddle with my system, thought I would summarize my results...

- Inspiron 530 BIOS works 100% on Vostro 400
- 1012 BIOS (mostly) fixes 4GB RAM addressing issue
- New packages do not affect MAC address
- The Q6600 that came with my Vostro was a G0
- Bsel "single piece of tape" mod works 100%
- My Q6600 runs at 3GHz no probs - 6h of Prime so far
- Q6600 + 4GB RAM + 8800GT + 2x Raptors is no probs for PSU
- Vostro needs 1 more PCIe x1 slot...

Cheers to LostBrain for the great work!

Politbureau

April 22. 2008 19:26

I have an inspiron 530 - I've been running your bios Vostro 400 1.0.10. I just upgraded to your inspiron 530 1.0.12

Raid 5 still works and no issue with MAC address
Inspiron 530 E6650, 2gb pc2-6400 RAM, 3x320 sata drive, stock powersupply, 8600GT video card.
Windows XP -SP2

Thank you, You ROCK!
Any other updates?

Titus

titus

April 24. 2008 21:15

Dell just released Vostro Bios version 1.0.13 ...

Arthur

April 26. 2008 13:10

Just updated my Vostro 400 to 1.0.13 and Vista x64 is showing/utilizing the full 8GB of memory. Good stuff!

Howard

April 28. 2008 16:47

New AllRaid packages available for Dell's 1013 bios releases!

(Vostro 200 and 400)

Enjoy!

TheLostBrain

April 29. 2008 07:49

Fantastic

Imaged my system using Acronis to usb disk

flashed with you 530 1012 bios.

Set to RAID 0

Created striped volume

Restored OS using universal restore which picks up the RAID drivers.. all done within an hour.

Nice one, thanks

Yours
Phil

phil

April 29. 2008 11:08

Is there a RAID bios for Dell SC440. Can it be created?

Greg

April 29. 2008 22:42

I just ordered a 530 with a Q6600, intending to use it with Xen and/or VMWare with VT extensions enabled. I saw on another forum that this BIOS also supports enabling VT extensions, but don't see anything on this page - can someone confirm that it will make it possible to enable VT.

Glen

May 2. 2008 05:22

I just placed an order for an Dell 530 a couple of days ago. With the latest BIOS update, does it address the problem with utilizing more than 3.2GB of RAM?

I saw Howard post saying his is recognizing and utilizing all 8GB. Is that true across the board?

Thanks to everyone for their help!!

Ryan

May 2. 2008 21:37

Nothing to do with lost brain's great work but is someone facing the same issue as me during the boot sequence (in the raid menu)?
disk 1 "error occurred(0)" (in red)
disk 2 "Member disk(0)" (in green)
I have 2*500 Go (Samsung) in RAID 0 mode (but i think it would be the same in raid 1 mode). My system is a Vostro 200

Cyril

May 6. 2008 02:42

I have a problem with flashing with this Allraid BIOS 12.
My system is 530 with Q6600 and current bios is 10 and Vista Home Premium.

I downloaded the package: AllRaid-Inspiron-530+530s-1012.zip
After unzipped, launched the Winflash.bat then click Update, I was informed with a dialog box saying "The BIOS bin file is not for this system."

Any bright idea?

Thanks,

Vince

May 9. 2008 04:48

I have a vostro 400 and i want to just run raid1, but after i add the HD and enable raid, i just get blue-screens and restarts. I can't seem to install the driver when not in raid mode. What do I need to do?

john

May 14. 2008 14:09

Has anyone tried the Vostro 1.0.13 bios on a 530?

Jay

May 15. 2008 21:17

Is there anyway to apply the Windows F6 driver disk: Intel-Raid-F6-Driver-Disk.zip ahead of time on a working IDE single drive vista 32 OS, remove the drive, configure a two new drives as a RAID1 pair, and image (ghost, acronis, etc) over the old IDE vista image over to the RAID pair without a new OS rebuild ?

I'm just looking for a way not to have to rebuild the OS from base.

Thanks

Brad

May 23. 2008 19:11

While i do not have a RAID configuration on my machine and i am only running 1 drive, I currently have an Inspiron 530 using a Vostro 200 BIOS, so yes, I believe you should be able to release one update package. The motherboard in the 200 is the same as the 530 as far as i know.

Kevin

May 27. 2008 11:58

I didn't need to reinstall VISTA after setting INSPIRON 530 to RAID. Followed this link http://support.microsoft.com/kb/922976/en-us
Simple registry tweak that allows the raid drivers to start.

Mark Wilton

May 27. 2008 12:18

Any chance on making a bios for inspiron 531/531s?

Come on, show us AMD people some love!

To be able to stripe with this system would be friggin' awesome!

Thanks

Steve

May 30. 2008 02:44

Holy... It makes a huge difference! Double our write!

josh C

May 31. 2008 10:23

For those that are complaining that Vista or XP isn't seeing all 4gig of ram, 32bit Vista and XP(what most Dell's ship with) can't see more then 3.2-3.5gig of memory and no amount of bios tweaking will change that. Now if your running a 64bit OS and it's still not seeing all the ram then there's a problem.

And I just want to say for the BIOS, I can't wait to get 2 or 3 Raptor drives running in a RAID 0 To bad I'm already on BIOS 1012, it makes updating a pain.

Psygnosis

June 12. 2008 14:53

Hi, many thanks for your worK.
I would like to flash my Vostro 400 with "AllRaid-Vostro-400-1013.zip" but my bios is already in 1.0.13 version and flash program doesn't want to flash the same version or an older version.

Do you have an idea for my case ?

Thanks

stoopa

June 12. 2008 17:01

Question:
I would like to flash my Vostro 400 with "AllRaid-Vostro-400-1013.zip" but my bios is already in 1.0.13 version and flash program doesn't want to flash the same version or an older version. Do you have an idea for my case ?

Answer:
You'll need to use the DOS based flash method. It will flash regardless of the bios version, etc.

TheLostBrain

June 13. 2008 00:33

Do you think unlocking some of the overclocking features would be possible even if you had the time to spend on it?

Thanks,

Paul

June 15. 2008 20:46

I just got an Inspiron 530 and it has the 1013 bios on it. I'm guessing I shouldn't just try to use the 1012, haha, but any idea when a 1013 for Inspiron will be out?

Casey

June 22. 2008 05:35

Hello

Having read through all of these comments and feedbacks I am impressed by everyone's helpfulness. I just took delivery of vostro 200 with twin disks assuming that setting up a raid was easy. Looking through what you have all said, it's not quite like that as I have to wipe drive c and reinstall windows (the instruction book implies to me that you can set up raid through intel software but having defined the discs as raid the option in setup this option still does not come up on the program list). So here is my question - speaking as a relative novice and fearful of creating a bloomer:

a) is the easier and simplist thing to start again and just wipe drive c and set it up the disks as raid?
b) can anything go wrong that would want to make me regret this?
c) are there better safety alternatives (such as making an image backup and installing that afterwards).
d) there has been lots of mention of flash bios upgrades but is this necessary. The machine is a week old.

Thanks in advance.

Geof

June 26. 2008 21:19

I have the Inspiron 530 with 1.0.10 bios. When I try to use winflash to flash the allraid 530 1012 bios, I get the following error "the bios bin file was not for this sytem!" then it says "no operation" and closes.

Carlos

June 27. 2008 11:07

I haven't been able to confirm yet with Dell whether the 410 will finally support RAID 0 out-of-box. Have you found out this info yet? If so, are you already working on a BIOS that enables AllRAID?

Chad

June 28. 2008 12:15

new 1.0.13 bios out for Inspiron
just wondering if you are going to update

asfww

June 30. 2008 10:10

Could you please include a summary of new/total features in the readme file? it would really help out. Also has the memory voltage been unlocked yet? thanks

Kurt

kurt

July 7. 2008 06:53

there is a new bios 1.0.14 for vostro 200. request update

Christoph

July 9. 2008 06:35

Hi:
Thanks for all your works. for the 8G memory,I use ramdisk4G which can findout the rest of memory but for 32bit system it's only use 3.2G, I put all my virtual memory on the ramdisk, the system seem fast.by the way I overclock my E2140 from 1.6 to 2.66 then my system can watch HD movie. but the power is another issue. 250W for vostro 200, pluse raid0 + overclock + 8G memory . the power supply running in veryhigh temp, anyone can tell me, do you have the same problme with me.
what's your guys power. can i put Q6600 in put my system with 250W power supply .
want overclock version of bios .
as many people asking for the overclock version of biso.
please take a time to make one. I guess overclock is much quick way to imporve the system then raid.
thanks

Black Ops

July 12. 2008 00:06

Hey

I recently bought a pci-e sata card and a WD mybook to run Linux and windows XP from for my inspiron 531. The problem is that when I hook the card and the esata drive up its not showing in the bios or from the boot menu. Can I use your bios for the 530 on my 531 and does the bios allows booting from esata drive and if not is it a restriction by dell not to allow booting from pci-e esata devices.

Any thoughts or ideas would help.

Thanks.

unutoofast

July 12. 2008 01:33

Having just bought a Vostro 410, I can state conclusively that it still only supports RAID 1.

Do you have any plans to produce a BIOS update for the 410 to enable RAID 0? The current BIOS revision is 1.0.1.

Al

Al Barclay

July 14. 2008 23:51

Is there any chance you can hack the bios for the Vostro 410 that was recently released?

Thanks

Brien

July 24. 2008 13:37

Hello,
Dell has published released 1013 Bios for the Inspiron 530.
It would be great if you could make the modfications on that one

http://ftp.us.dell.com/bios/530_1013.EXE

Thanks a lot.
Oliver

Oliver

July 24. 2008 15:18

This all seems pretty straight forward, thanks for the time you've put into this and for consolidating the results/questions. I picked up an Inspiron 530, is it feasible to run a 4 disk RAID 5 with 8gb of RAM on Windows Server 2008? (gee, what do I plan to do with this...)

NullReference

July 28. 2008 13:06

Just getting back from the HoneyMoon! Will take a look at the new bios releases over the next couple of days.

TheLostBrain

July 28. 2008 21:05

Anyone know whether the stock Dell vostro 400 ver 1.0.14 bios work with the new Intel Q9450 quad core? I tried and it just keep beeping on power up.

Is there a readme.txt that list supported CPU?

thks in advance.

wally

wally

July 29. 2008 03:18

the q9450 worked in the inspiron 530 but it was having odd vcores

granted this was with the 1.0.12 bios so don't know what the new one fully supports it

noname

July 29. 2008 17:44

I got a Vostro 410 on the way. Anxious to see your work on the new bios. I assume mine is going to ship with the 1.0.1 BIOS. I'll be checking back routinely, since i haven't seen many sites covering how to enable raid 0 in Dells.

Thanks in advance Braniac

adam

July 31. 2008 08:19

Guys, apparently Dell just issued 1015. I am not upgrading yet..hopefully our friend Lost Brain will make an allraid for it... Plugging and Praying...

ermanno

July 31. 2008 09:50

Hi Lost Brain, I have already updated my bios to the 1012 version through the Dell website. Does that mean that I can't use your file to be able to enable Raid 0? And if so is there a way to downgrade the BIOS so I can upgrade with your file? I think this site is AWESOME and the fact that I can use raid 0 with this machine makes it a great bargain. I paid 410 dollars for the 530. I'm waiting for the raid 0 so that I can install all my progs. thanks a lot!
ermanno

ermanno

August 1. 2008 10:38

Beta Release for the new Vostro 410! Please read the warnings!

-TheLostBrain

TheLostBrain

August 1. 2008 12:04

1015 releases available! Get 'em while they're hot!

-TheLostBrain

TheLostBrain

August 2. 2008 11:54

Just downloaded the "allraid-inspiron-530+530s-1015.zip" and got this error "The BIOS Bin file was not for this system".

Yes my computer is an insprion 530.

anon

August 4. 2008 08:37

Was any of you guys able to install the lostbrain 1015 update? I cant do it through winflash and I have no clue on how to do it through through dos! Any help would be appreciated! Maybe a lostbrain walkthrough will help! If you guys have figured it out you can email me at supermanno@hotmail.com. I would really appreciate it!

ermanno

August 4. 2008 22:53

I tried turning off user account control (UAC) and also "run as administrator" but just like Anon said, it gives the error message "The BIOS Bin file was not for this system". LOST BRAIN HELP!!

ermanno

August 5. 2008 12:27

Anon / Ermanno:

I just re-did the 1015 for the Inspiron 530/530s line. Would one of you guys please try flashing again and let me know? Thanks.

-TheLostBrain

TheLostBrain

August 5. 2008 17:19

Hi,

I tried the 530s 1015 bios through windows and I receive an error message stating the update will not be done because the bios you are trying to update to is older than your current bios.

The new bios is identified as All Raid 1.03 in the win app GUI screen.

My Current bios version is 1015 (dell version)

Regards,

Craig.

Craig Thorpe

August 5. 2008 19:37

TLB I have BIOS 1012 and it still didn't work even with your new 1015 allraid. It identifies itself has a 1.03 version. Did you mess up?

ermanno

August 6. 2008 01:59

I have successfuly updated my Vostro 400 bios to 1015 (from 1013 all raid). I had to use the dos method but that is not a problem when you have a usb key. Thanks a lot Lost Brain.

Stormwolf

August 6. 2008 06:17

Ermanno: Yep... I did mess up. Fixed it. Let me know how it goes.

-TheLostBrain

TheLostBrain

August 6. 2008 06:52

Ermano... Very weird. It should definitely be working at this point. I'd recommend making a flash/thumb drive dos bootable and then flashing from dos. You can find a link to a walkthrough I did on making a flash drive bootable in the main instructions towards the top of the page.

-TheLostBrain

TheLostBrain

August 6. 2008 07:47

TLB thanks for the fix.. however it still doesnt work saying that the Bios Bin file is not for this system... do you think that Dell could have made it so we cant hack the BIOS? Dunno.. let me know.. in the meanwhile I'm going to kill myself..

ermanno

August 6. 2008 16:05

Thanks a lot TLB. I will try the DOS install.. although I've never done it.. By the way.. congrats on your pregnancy.. I got married in Dec. and got her pregnant on the second week of January... so.. not on the honey moon.. but close..! hehe! See ya!

ermanno

August 7. 2008 04:02

I tried to install the 410 beta. My machine was already at 1.0.3 and the flash utility says that I am trying to upgrade to the same version and quits. Anyway to force it through?

August 8. 2008 02:04

we had the same problem. I think we tried everything to make the "downgrade" from Windows - this is not possible. You have to perform the bios-upgrade (to an older version) via a boot-disk. If you perform the downgrade during boot-up it will work.

Good luck

/Bo.

boglode

August 10. 2008 22:22

Sooooo....
Under System Information I show:
Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 8.00GB
Total Physical Memory 3.99GB
Available Physical Memory 7.26GB

Any ideal why it claims the total physical memory is 3.99gb? You'd think the total physical memory would be less than the available physical memory...

NullReference

August 11. 2008 00:12

TheLostBrain,
My setup is 64 bit Windows Server 2008:
8gb RAM (showing 6600mb free)
Four 500GB Hard drives with RAID 5 (1.36tb free)

I didn't install the F6 driver when I installed Windows but everything is running fine, should I install it now?

Everything went very smooth, I copied the Windows install files from my iso to my 4gb USB drive following these instructions:

www.jesscoburn.com/.../

Seriously, everything went exactly as expected.

NullReference

August 11. 2008 08:35

Vostro 200/400 users:

Was just reading through the Dell bios release change logs and just noticed that release 1.0.12 was where Dell fixed the memory remap issue to allow for proper recognition of 4GB Ram or higher.

However, this release was only made available to the Inspiron 530/530s line. I don't see any mention of this same fix in any of the Vostro 200/400 bios releases.

Can anyone confirm that they are still NOT able to see all 4GB/8GB under a 64bit OS on a Vostro 200/400 using the 1.0.15 AllRaid Vostro 200/400 bios?

If this is the case I believe I can fix this. Let me know.

-TheLostBrain

TheLostBrain

August 11. 2008 17:11

TLB both raid drivers are for 64 bit when I download them. Did you mess up?

ermanno

August 11. 2008 21:36

ok disregard i had to do it via dos.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE add overclocking options from the foxconn motherbaord bios.

god please please please. i will be happy to throw you a donation if you do that!!

Lestat

August 11. 2008 23:24

this doesnt work. period.

your using the foxconn bios for the 1015 vios and you cant do that.
the foxconn bios is a 2mb bios while the dell bios is only a 512k bios.

i am not sure what your thinking, and why you think it will work cuz it wont.

you try to flash it and it says directly that "this bios is not for this board"

so now what ?

Lestat

August 12. 2008 00:37

Owners of the new Vostro 410: Can one of you guys crack open your case and get me a model number off your motherboard. Trying to figure out if it's the same board again (Dell/Foxconn G33M05).
Thanks!

-TheLostBrain

TheLostBrain

August 12. 2008 01:20

yeah thats wierd the one where is aid it didnt work was first, then the one where i said disregard.

not sure why it shows it in reverse order.

yes DOS flash because i was in windows Vista.

given that you were able to inject the new raid rom i am fairly confident that you'd be able to add some overclocking features.

are you able to see HIDDEN bios options? if so then check them to be enabled in your bios tool. and see if that does anything.

i'm happy to be a guinea pig..

Lestat

August 12. 2008 02:25

Lestat: Not sure which of your posts came first there..(I really need to setup a forum, etc. instead of this blog page). So did it wind up working for you via a DOS flash then?

-TheLostBrain

TheLostBrain

August 12. 2008 04:22

Ermanno: Looks like both links were pointing to the same place. Try it now and let me know what you find.

-TheLostBrain

TheLostBrain

August 12. 2008 04:51

Its working now TLB. I had already downloaded it from a different site though. I got it figured out, and I'm pretty excited considering it's the first time I do all of the above (flash, install raid drivers, and raid 0..) I now have an awesome RAID 0 on my Dell 530 which BTW it cost me 410 dollars.. I know you all are jealous...

ermanno

August 12. 2008 09:01

"I now have an awesome RAID 0 on my Dell 530 which BTW it cost me 410 dollars"

ha i got ya beat, mine cost 380 - with the latest round of 15% off coupons they can be had for much much less on the refurb site.
Intel E8300 (2.66ghz), 2gb ram, 320gb hard drive (which is now Raid 0 2x 320gb)
then i added an 8600GT low profile

too bad no overclocking

Lestat

August 12. 2008 11:23

Just curious as I see a lot of requests for overclocking features in the bios. Are you guys not familiar w/ the BSEL mod to OC your CPU? Or, is that method simply not giving you everything your after, etc.?

-TheLostBrain

TheLostBrain

August 13. 2008 00:21

flashed bios in dos and the tools works smoothly.(used usb stick)
Great tool.Thanks.

btw, i got my vostro 400 as brand new for $229. (ebay price - $75 courtesy coupon from ebay) haha,
config- e8300, 1G RAM, 160G HD, 8300gs
now, e8300, 5Gram, 480g HD, 8800gts

August 13. 2008 09:50

Hi TLB

I am definetely interested in a non BSEL way to overclock, but most important is the memory options, like voltage, max module size to 4x2gb etc. Is there some way I can help? I have some experience reading/writing assembler/machine code, but I have never dissasembled or done any bios stuff. Email me if there is something i can do. I have a vostro400 w Q6600

kurt

August 13. 2008 11:24

@ TheLostBrain

not sure about the other guys but i am quite aware of the bsel mod and was involved in it back when it was discovered over at xtremesystems.

the bsel doesnt work with the 1333 bus chips most of the time.
or those it does the motherboard must support the 1600mhz cpu's. which neither the Vostro nor the Inspiron do..

Lestat

August 13. 2008 11:45

To Vostro 410 users: Has anyone flashed to the Beta AllRaid Release yet? If so please post your results, etc. so we know if it's working 100% Thanks!

-TheLostBrain

TheLostBrain

August 13. 2008 13:41

Chris: Depends on what kind of motherboard is in your Vostro 410. If you want to crack open your case and post the model #, etc. I might be able to help.

-TheLostBrain

TheLostBrain

August 13. 2008 14:22

I had a chat with Dell yesterday and they told me that >4GB Ram aren't certified for the Vostro 410.

Is this still the case?
Any chance to fix that?

That would be REALLY great!

chris

August 13. 2008 21:40

I'd like to help, but I didn't buy one yet - because of this.

chris

August 14. 2008 00:28

Found something:

www.computerbase.de/.../attachment.php
The model number is: DG33A01

And something even more interesting:
The 1.0.13 bios release for Vostro 400 apparently fixes the 4 GB issue, as someone in the official Dell forums pointed out.
Although this is not mentioned in the change logs!

Another guy is working with 8Gb of RAM in Centos 64 (bios release 1.0.3 - obviously a Vostro 410!).
So I guess it should also work with Vista 64.

chris

August 14. 2008 02:16

Good work Chris.

Looks like that confirms it for you then (8GB should be good to go). As far as that motherboard goes... definitely a different model from what we have in the Vostro 200/400 and Inspiron 530/530s lines. However, from what you've said it appears to be able support 8GB fine and actually looks to be a pretty solid machine overall. More PCI and PCI-E 1x slots and more drive bays, etc. too. Now go ahead and get it and try out the new Beta AllRaid 1.0.3 release to see if you can get Raid 0 working on it. Let us know if you do!

BTW: You've probably already found it..but in case you didn't:
(Using that model # you found I came across this review... there's a good shot of the motherboard, etc. there as well you can click for a closer shot)
www.goodgearguide.com.au/.../taxid;810864616;pid;6359;pt;1

-TheLostBrain

TheLostBrain

August 14. 2008 16:34

i'll make the update.
not even a Q6600 works on this baord.
no beeps or anything. the power button just stays amber (orange)

well looks like i need to find an E8600 or E8500.
(and i have an E8200 not an E8300 as i mentioned earlier i believe)

Lestat

August 14. 2008 16:54

why the hell does this damn website list my posts in reverse order.

man dud eyou really need to get a forum going...

PHP is free man, use your hosting for a forum. its a piece of cake to setup.

Lestat

August 14. 2008 17:50

has anyone tried a quad core in their Inspiron 530/530s ?
wikipedia has a note that the foxconn G33M01 mobo used in the 530/530s for dual core cpu's wont work for quad cores because its so stripped down.

i find that to be incorrect given my knowledge of other pc's.

they claim for the 530 system that dell uses quad cores in that they are not using the foxconn motherboard, but infact are using a different booard.

can anyone confirm or deny for me whether or not the 530/530s with the foxconn mobo works for quad cores ????

i'd sure appreciate it!

thanks!

Lestat

August 15. 2008 09:52

TLB,

Thanks for the great works. I am planning to get a Dell 530 system. It would be awesome to have RAID 0 on it.

BTW, would you mind to share with us how you mod the bios files?

--Lamsao

lamsao

August 15. 2008 14:37

I overclocked my q6600 from 2.4ghz to 3ghz with bsel mod (Fsb 1333mhz), is there anything else i can do to get more speed ?

Stormwolf

August 16. 2008 03:00

Hi Stormwolf

Well on locked BIOS motherboards like ours the next step would be to push the OC a bit further via a software overclocking utility. However, unfortunately we are also prevented from doing this because our PLL chip (chip that controls timing, etc.) has no system management bus connection and thus can't be accessed. :/ (This is also the same reason why adding overclocking features to the bios isn't really feasible.)

Moving forward there are only a few real possibilities and all of them hardware. One, (if you're REALLY good w/ a soldering iron) you could completely replace the PLL chip)... Otherwise there are some interesting voltmods, etc. that have been done in the past by lightly bridging a resister's contact points with pencil lead (the more lead the less resistance and thus more voltage, etc)... All of these mods are highly intrusive though and quite dangerous to the board if there is even the slightest error.

In reality you would only do these types of mods for the enthusiast value they offer...because, otherwise for less effort and possibly even less $ you could just buy yourself a standard Mini ATX board and just replace the locked down one all together. You'd definitely want to double-check the Mini ATX thing though as most Dell boards are BTX I believe. I could have sworn I read some place that they decided to go back to the Mini ATX layout on these machines. Yeah, now that I'm looking at the board I'm 99.9% sure it's standard Mini ATX...but definitely verify for yourself if you decide to replace the board.

-TheLostBrain

TheLostBrain

August 19. 2008 01:16

I have an e520. How can I do this bios hack to get RAID-0? How are you getting a different Intel MSM bios into the Dell bios? Thanks.

thereverend

August 19. 2008 10:07

Lestat, I can definitely answer your question on the Q6600 on the Foxconn board (as I am the one who actually made that entry on Wikipedia).

Dell uses two different revisions of the Foxconn G33 motherboard in the Inspiron 530 series (and also in the Vostro 200/400 line).

The first version is the G33M02 -- which is typically used with all units shipped EXCEPT for the Q6600. This board is also used in the Inspiron 530S and in the Vostro 200. This motherboard has only 6 voltage regulators populated and CANNOT provide enough current to run the Q6600 CPU.

The second version is the G33M03 -- which is typically used with those Inspiron 530's shipped with Q6600 CPU's and with the Vostro 400 line as well. This motherboard has 11 voltage regulators populated and CAN run a Q6600 CPU without any problems.

The motherboard version is silkscreened onto it clearly right on the center of the board and you can easily check to see which you have.

In essence, Dell actually uses FoxConn G33 motherboards for ALL of it's Inspiron 530 line -- but it actually ships two slightly different versions of this motherboard. This is strictly a cost saving measure on their part -- the G33M02 revision is probably a dollar or two cheaper to build. This may not sound like much, but when multiplied by the thousands of units Dell ships, it adds up to a huge savings.

mdburkey

August 23. 2008 03:17

The Lost Brain, I updated to your AllRaid 1015 BIOS but I dont seem to be able to make it work with a PCI to PCMCIA adapter. Whenever I try to boot with the adapter, Vista wont boot. Has that to do with the BIOS? Could you please check into that and let me know? I have an EMU 1616m audio card that I need to run on my Dell 530. I would really appreciate your feedback. If it's the Bios I will probably have to reset and lose the nice Raid 0 feature...
thanks

ermanno

August 23. 2008 18:35

Hello guys, has anyone ever downgraded from TLB 1015 to an earlier Dell version? How do you do it? Any help would be appreciated!

ermanno

August 24. 2008 12:12

Hi Ermanno.

To answer your question. No, it is very unlikely that the AllRaid bios has anything to do with the issue you're having. I only say that because it is literally the same bios w/ only the raid module flipped out for a fully functional one. So, the only thing that would change by downgrading back to a Dell bios would simply be the raid support and nothing else.

However, if you would still like to downgrade just grab the official Dell bios release and throw it on a dos bootable flash drive. Boot up into dos and run the executable. It will extract and run a dos based flash which will overwrite the modified bios. Keep in mind you WILL loose your Raid 0 / Raid 5 configurations (I've tested tested this). You may wish to also checkout the post I did on "making a DOS bootable flash drive". (You can find a link to it back up around the top of this page.)

Good luck.

-TheLostBrain

TheLostBrain

August 24. 2008 22:34

Yes, you are right. I downgraded yesterday and nothing happened... I will probably update it again. It's not as easy as you make it sound. By just placing the exe in the bootable flash drive doesnt do anything. DOS will still tell you that you can't update. What I had to do was downgrade to your ALlraid 530_1012 and then upgrade to Dell's 530_1013. I had to use the BIOS files and not the installer. So that was complicated, and yes after all that.. the adapter still wouldnt work.. So I will probably update it again to the Allraid 530_1015. Now.. what in the heck is going on?? I purchased 2 freaking PCI to PCMCIA adapters and none of them work! Vista just wouldnt boot! So TLB, since you are the expert.. if you have any idea of why that is the case.. please let me know! I tried it all (different PCI slot, reinstall of Vista etc..) Both the Geek Squad and Dell like to dump the responsibilty to each other and I'm getting sick of it as noone will help.. So, my friend.. if you have any tips.. it would be much appreciated.. thanks man

ermanno

August 25. 2008 06:13

Ermano

Yeah initially I would have thought maybe just a faulty / incompatable adapter... but two causing the same exact situation? That's odd. Sounds to me like a resources issue (IRQs, DMAs etc.).

So, here's something you could try:

1) Go into the bios (in chipset settings I think?) and disable everything you don't absolutley need to boot up and test out.
So disable, floppy controller, serial, on board sound, etc.

2) Remove any other pci and pci/express cards (yes even your video card if you're using a pci express card...just revert to onboard for this test)

3) With everything disabled and all other cards out of the system try booting into Vista. If the issue was related to resources it should boot now that most are free.

Of course if this works it will just prove that the issue is resources related...you'll then need to do more "playing around" to get everything working together nicely.

Good luck..let me know how it goes.

-TheLostBrain

TheLostBrain

August 26. 2008 16:45

TLB (whats your name anyway..?)
after hours spent on the computer, and with Dell Support AND the Geek Squad (which by the way kept my computer for 2 days) I came to the conclusion that the Dell Inspiron 530 is not compatible with ANY PCI to PCMCIA adapter... it kinda sucks. Do you think that it could be BIOS related? What I mean is, if Dell does the proper tweaking on the BIOS do you think they could come up with, say, 1016 allowing PCI to PCMCIA cards to work? Or is it only hardware related? I am really puzzled by this. If that's the case who should I contact about it? When I talk to Dell Support they keep sending me to the Geek Squad. I just wanna talk to the guys that make the BIOS! Anyhow.. I'm just a bit frustrated... thanks for all your feeback!

ermanno

August 30. 2008 08:52

Just installed the beta bios on my Vostro 410.
I could reboot and see that raid 0 is now available.
Currently making a disk image and then I will try to enable the raid.

There is one nag: the system now thinks there is a floppy disk inside which it tries to boot from.

pepper

August 30. 2008 10:40

I tried the bios update for the Vostro 410...
Don't try it!
System won't boot at all!
Beeps every 5 seconds...
Not sure why!
Dell says the only thing to do is replace motherboard...

blokbuk

August 30. 2008 11:47

Any info on installing ubuntu 8.04 onto a vostro 200 duel install with vista....Im up and running with vista using Raid 0 and no problems...the ubuntu install cd always see's the two disks independently...I know there is an issue with the vostro's and ubuntu that requires users to set the bios to raid in order to see the drives....but I want to actually use my previous raid array and install ubunto ontop

coralcaves

August 30. 2008 12:46

Hello TLB, i have another question... about ram overclocking on a vostro 400 system( pc4200@400mhz DDR). Is it possible to get higher frequency via software or bios mod ?

Stormwolf

August 30. 2008 13:03

Congrats on the pregnancy !! Gettin' close to the day eh ?

Rocker

September 2. 2008 15:43

Beta version for vostro 410 is working perfectly for me.
Enabled the RAID0 mode with 2 disks and installed Vista. No problems.
HD-Tune benchmark showed ~135MB/s burst speed.

Many thanks!

(NB The floppy disk nag that I reported about before, I could simply fix this by disabling in the BIOS.)

pepper

September 4. 2008 10:38

If any of you guys have a dell inspiron 530 and got it to work with a PCI to PCMCIA adapter will you please let me know? I can't get mine to work. For all of you who are interested please check out this forum. Thanks!

forums.techguy.org/.../...-530-not-compatible.html

ermanno

September 7. 2008 17:29

I bought my vostro400 with ddr2800, 2x1gb. I just added 2x1gb 5-5-5-15 ram, ddr2 800, but the system is showing the memory running at 667mhz (2 x333.3mhz)? Does anyone know if this will be fixed by the allraid bios? or is there a way to force 800mhz(2x400mhz)?

kurt

September 9. 2008 02:11

No you cant run 800mhz.
i am not sure what made you think it would?

The dell systems are locked at a 1:1 ratio (cpu/fsb:dram)
thus if you have a 1333fsb cpu the ram true fsb is 333mhz. so given that the system is locked at a 1:1 ratio the ram can only run at a maximum of 333mhz ie; 667mhz.

you will never make the ram run any faster on a Dell 530/530s unless someone is able to take the foxconn bios and find a way to make it flash onto the dell motherboard.

i have tried and exhausted all known ways of overclocking the stock system including setfsb, rmclock.

the only thing you can do is use a ram timing tweaker such as Memset to change the defualt 5-5-5-15 to possible 4-4-4-12 or 4-5-5-12 or 5-4-4-12.

this is also problematic in that you can not change the vram. (ram voltage) thus lowering the timings usually results in memory errors.

given the ram is locked to 667mhz this increases your chances of running tighter timings at the defualt 1.8v that the motherboard uses.
this can be checked with a DMM on the board directly. you will see that the motherboard gives the ram 1.8v +/- a few 0.01v

this is the price we pay for buying these systems.

the only way to get better performance is to buy a faster cpu such as an E8400/8500/8600

v_lestat

September 9. 2008 10:11

well it was running at 800mhz before i added the ram, and both new sticks are 800mhz, so why would i think it wouldn't worK?

kurt

September 14. 2008 02:42

ok well the the system does change the fsb:dram divider dynamically with the type of ram you use.

probably whats happening, and i speak from experience is that the ram you bought says DDR800 but in reality the ram is DDR2667 its just overclocked to reach 800mhz default.
they use a different SPD so the ram runs at 800mhz instead of the default 667.

so the dell system see's this and says ohhh your REALLY 667 ram, not 800mhz so it run 667.

lastly,

are you running 2x 1gb Sticks of DDR2 800 or are you running all 4 sticks of dDR2 800.

if you are running all 4 sticks then yes i bet you 100 bucks that the system cant handle it so it downclocks the ram to 667mhz.
this is 100% normal for alot of mobo's.
and there is NO way around it.

v_lestat

September 16. 2008 21:56

I should also mention that I used a bootable USB flash drive and then ran the DOSFLASH.BAT command.

After that you don't need to do anything until it kicks you back to the C:\ dos prompt.

Stretch

September 16. 2008 23:49

Successfully upgraded Vostro 410 with BETA version 1.0.3 and now running RAID5.

Big thanks goes out to TLB!!! Keep up the good work!

Stretch

September 18. 2008 18:39

Hey TLB, great work I must say, I have used your bios on one 530 machine with great success. However, I just received a 530N, with the G33M03 and SE0709 motherboard. When I try and use the 530 1.0.15 bios, it states "The file size does not match !" It reads the Flash Type as - WINBOND W25X80 8Mb SPI. Any ideas? I am trying to move the raid 0 install from the old 530 to the new one (has the quad core) so any help would be appreciate. I am willing to do some troubleshooting with you via email/phone, just let me know. Thanks

Dave S

September 19. 2008 16:45

^^^^ Never mind, I figured it out. As an FYI, for those using an Inspiron 530 with the Q6600, you have to use the Vostro 400 bios, because they have a different motherboard than the non quad-core processors.

Dave S

September 21. 2008 07:00

Just been reading all these comments. I have a dell Vostro 410 with the DG33A01 mobo and am looking for a modifyed bios so i can use 4gig of ram on vista 64.

Reading these comments it seems to be possible but only on the original vostro's and inspirons. Is this because of the newish dell bios specifically for those machines?

Anyway would this mod allow me to use 4gig of ram on my Vostro 410 would deffently be willing to give it a try if so.

Keep up the good work

Shaun

September 21. 2008 11:25

I have 3 Vostro 410 with mb DG33A01 and the beta 1.0.3 bios isnt working I get every time a failure code "the bios is not for this mashine" and it quits. Its look like the original bios is 1.0.0

Naruto

September 22. 2008 18:00

For anyone who is interested i had a quick word with a dell representative about the Vostro 410 >4gig issue below is an edited version of what was said.

-----------------------------------------------------------
Shaun Critten: "Will you be releasing a BIOS to support full 4gb ram or more?"

Agent (Ann_Llarenas): "Shaun, as of this time we don't have that available information. But you can always go to support.dell.com to check the available latest downloadable driver or BIOS for your computer."

Shaun Critten: "i see that it has been released for some of your previous computers and feel that it is abit "dodgy" that you sell 4gb of ram for this computer when it can only register 3.25 in a normal setup up in this case 2.8gb"

Agent (Ann_Llarenas): "That's a valid concern. I'm sorry for the inconvenience."

Shaun Critten: "so no idea on when this will likely be fixed, at all?"

Agent (Ann_Llarenas): "Currently we don't know it yet."

Shaun Critten: "could you pass this information on or forward it to someone i am quite happy to be contacted to explain the issue and it is quite widely known in the comunity"

Agent (Ann_Llarenas): "No problem. Please be assured that your concern will be forwarded to the correct department. We appreciate your comments."

-----------------------------------------------------------

I'll eat my hat if anyone actually tries to contact me from dell about this, but thought it would be worth a try. Hopefully this information might be usefull to others.

Shaun

September 24. 2008 07:36

Is there any reason to use the F6 disk posted here as opposed to the one that comes with the latest chipset drivers off of the Dell site? Or is it a more convenient copy of the same thing?

If there is no difference, I'd be inclined to use the latest off of the Dell site to make sure I have all available bug fixes.

Nairou

October 12. 2008 14:25

i was wondering what program you use to open these bioes? i tried modbin 6 but it wont open? if you can stear me in the right direction that would be great! thanks

Joe

October 28. 2008 14:47

Hi, TLB
I just bought Vostro 420 , do you have any plan to hack that bios? I really want RAID 5 support for my video footage.

Thanks, an you are the best.

Yong

November 4. 2008 04:46

Hi Yong.

Looking on the specs page on the Dell site for this model it appears as though it's already supported: "User configurable RAID 0, 1 supported through Intel® Matrix Storage Technology (requires two hard drives)"

I would imagine that Raid 5 would also be included though... have you connected at least 3 drives and verified that this is not the case?

-TheLostBrain

TheLostBrain

November 5. 2008 17:42

Yo Brain,

The 420 only supports 0 and 1, time to start hackin.

support.dell.com/.../sqrg_en.pdf

page 31

internal floppy connector is gone!

John O

November 24. 2008 10:33

I just 'inherited' a Vostro 410 Q6600 at work, and I'm still trying to find out if this machine will support 8GB RAM with Vista x64. Does anyone know? Dell says no, it's a mobo limitation.

Steve

December 1. 2008 09:05

Hey Steve,

I have a Vostro 400 with just the plain old Dell 1.0.11 BIOS, and it sees all 8GB of RAM I've stuck into it. I'm running Windows Server 2008 64-bit, and it's reporting 8GB too. All is good!

I've haven't tried any of Lost Brain's BIOS's because I don't need the extra RAID right now.

(This box came with a different BIOS (can't remember which one...maybe 1.0.00?) but I got the new one from Dell.)

qmacker

December 1. 2008 20:05

Hey Steve,

I have a Vostro 410 Q6600 and it doesn't even support 4gb when you add a graphics card with a decent amount of ram.

I have brought a graphics card to keep me going for games untill i can buy a new system of my own seen as this is a work machine.

However the 3gb it came with works fine normally but the gfx card in and won't boot past bios which registers 2.8gb if i take one of the 512mb sticks out bringing it down to 2.5gb (not in dual channel then as well) it will boot fine.

Its pritty darn awfull that dell sell this machine with 4gb which won't get registered to, and yes i have Vista 64bit installed. The bios for some reason physically won't register any more.

Oh well it keeps me going for now, but in desperate need of being able to install at least the 4gb which dell says you can. Its like the bios is 32bit and not 64bit or something.

I have phoned dell and complained to which they said my comments were very valued and heared nothing since. This was over a month ago. What a surprise....

Shaun Critten

December 8. 2008 21:12

which version should be used for Vostro 200 bios version 1.0.5?

David

December 9. 2008 02:59

Anyone have any headache free success doing this with a Vostro 400 and 1010Bios. I have 2 vraptors on the way and am having reservations. Also don’t have a floppy in that Vostro. Is a floppy necessary?

HoverRoundBetaTester

December 10. 2008 18:17

A floppy isnt necessary, you can flash with a bootable usbkey (instructions are on the top of this page) or in windows.

stormwolf

December 22. 2008 00:51

Any chance you can do this for a DELL PowerEdge 840 (ICH7R) 82801GR?? Kills me to have 4 SATA ports and a RAID chipset and no RAID support in the BIOS. Would just LOVE to have that native, but hacked will do too Also, if you feel like showing me *how* to do it myself, I am also willing to do that.

Thanks,

Joel

January 5. 2009 15:41

The Inspiron 530 just had the 1.0.16 BIOS release adn I was wondering if you're going to mod it too?

Chris

January 16. 2009 15:09

LostBrain,

First and foremost, thank you for your efforts in freeing the world of artificially imposed restrictions.

To v_lestat, et al, what tool are you using to verify the DDR2-800MHz memory, when installed in a machine, is really only running at at 667MHz?

For instance lets use CPU-Z as an example. Which screens/tabs would indicate the actual FSB, FSBRAM and memory speeds in use?

Thanks!

Muad_Dib

January 18. 2009 05:52

Hi,

Found your site from here:
www.engadget.com/.../

Someone claimed that by using your BIOS 1.0.15, he is able to get more than 4GB visible to 64 bit OS. Is the above possible with your latest BIOS? If yes, will this then also work when I use Windows XP with /PAE enabled? I have a Vostro 200 with G33 chipset. I am trying to setup to use 8GB memory (for VMWARE).

Currently, I am running with 1.0.15 from DELL and on XP, it doesn't show all 8GB

Please let me know.

Regards,
Vinayak

Vinayak

January 22. 2009 07:01

Here's the deal. The Intel G33 chipset on the motherboard of the Vostro 410 will only support 8GB of RAM. The RAID 5 Hack works well with this and four 1TB drives. I now have the Vostro 420 which has the Intel G45 chipset on the motherboard and it supports 16GB of RAM which is better suited for my Server 2008 Enterprise X64 Edition which will parent 9 virtual 2003 standard edition x32 R2 servers. I just don't think that the G33 RAID 5 hack will work on the G45 and I don't want to risk gooning up the BIOS to a state that is unrecoverable. Does anyone have a new, working RAID 5 hack for the Vostro 420 G45 chipset?
Thx - John

John

January 23. 2009 15:18

I successfully updated BIOS v.1.0.15 on my Vostro 400, setup RAID1 and used Windows F6 driver disk 64 bit during the OS installation, but I was not able to install Windows 2003 server x64, still getting the blue screen. Does anybody install W2K3 x64 on Vostro 400 with RAID1 configuration?

Thank you,

Serhiy

Serhiy

January 26. 2009 07:49

Any chance of getting an ALLRaid BIOS for an Inspiron 518?? Thanks!

Mike

January 29. 2009 13:11

The form on your Contact page doesn't work, so I'll beg here...My Inspiron 518 is only capable of RAID 1, and I want RAID 0. Think you can help out?? Thanks!!

Mike

February 5. 2009 21:20

Serhiy,

Does the install complete 100% or does it get about half-way and then blue screen after a reboot that's part of the install itself?

I ask because of this excerpt from above:

"One last tip: When reinstalling Windows be sure to use that F6 Driver Disk...

*******and when prompted be sure to choose the option that has "ICH9R Raid" in it.********

...I think it's the last one in the list? You'll know if you chose the wrong one because you'll get a bluescreen when it attempts to reboot midway through the reinstallation."

-TheLostBrain

TheLostBrain

February 5. 2009 21:39

John (who posted on January 17. 2009 01:01),

I'd love to know if you took the plunge and got those 16GB of RAM to work on your Vostro 420 with the Intel G45 chipset?

If anyone's interested, I've got a Vostro 400 with LostBrain's AllRaid-Vostro-400-1015 BIOS, and it works beautifully. SBS 2008 sees the 8GB of RAM I've got in it nicely.

qmacker

February 5. 2009 23:11

Vinayak

I've not tried on XP (32 bit) with /PAE. However, I'm running 8GB on a Vostro 200 at the office w/ Vista 64 and don't have any problems.

I'd recommend the 64bit versions of XP or Vista.

-TheLostBrain

TheLostBrain

February 6. 2009 00:47

What's up guys. I've been so busy lately w/ trying to move and preparations for the new baby on the way that I've slacked quite a bit on checking on the site.

Thanks to Chris (via the board) and Tiansi and Johnathon (via email) for letting me know that Dell had released a 1.0.16 for the Inspiron 530/530s. Went ahead and released an AllRaid 1.0.16 for it.

-TheLostBrain

TheLostBrain

February 6. 2009 17:22

Congrats on the new edition to your family.

I also would like to see the 4GB limit on the Vostro 420 be lifted. Are there plans to modify the bios on these?

proxybox

February 6. 2009 19:19

I would also like to see the 4GB limit on the Vostro 420 modified via the BIOS modification. According to Intel, the G45 express chipset can handle a maximum of 16GB. Any plans? Thanks!!!

proxybox

February 8. 2009 16:27

Hi, I understand "life happens" sometimes. Do you think you could follow up with a list of instructions on how you patch the DELL BIOS? Then the more tech savvy of us could do it ourselves, and need not worry if you get hit by a bus and we need to upgrade to 1.0.17+.

Garen

February 9. 2009 16:29

This site's an awesome find. What a bummer. I just got a Vostro 420 and 4 hard drives only to find out it's Raid 0 or 1, not 0+1. I have a Vostro 400, but it'd be a bit of rigging trying to fit 4 drives in there. Great work, TLB, much appreciated.

Adam

February 14. 2009 09:50

I also vote for a quick outline for how you merged the RAID5 BIOS.

I have a Vostro 420 and the case and motherboard board will support 7 drives internally without modification. This breaks down as 6xAHCI and 1xATA but all are SATA.

Only RAID 0/1 are supported by the default 1.0.3 BIOS, which amazingly displays EVALUATION ONLY, NOT FOR RESALE during boot.

I would love to get RAID5 enabled on this BIOS. And I'd do it myself if someone points me in the right direction.

Ann Ominous

February 15. 2009 04:23

Ok guys, for those requesting it...

When I get some time this week / weekend I'll do a detailed post on how I'm adding full Raid Support to these BIOSs. I think you'll find that it's actually a pretty simple process.

-TheLostBrain

TheLostBrain

February 16. 2009 21:44

Fabulous news that you might be able to share your BIOS hacking knowledge!

Now, if I could just add Virtualization and get all 7 SATA ports to support AHCI, I could have quite a nice server with a RAID1 system and a RAID5 data (5 drives).

Windows software RAID - even with Windows Server 2008 - remains pitiful. There seems to be a lot of missed opportunity for parallelism and data caching. Still think it would work better at the OS level rather than in the driver though.

Ann Ominous

February 19. 2009 01:02

Anybody know if after installing any of these modded BIOS's, the memory limit was removed? I updated my Dell Inspiron 530n BIOS to 1.0.16 but i still can't get 6gb of DDR2 working. it only recognizes 4gb (2 2gb ddr) but I'm trying to add another 2gb (2 1gb ddr2 and it just beeps twice and doesn't post. I was thinking about trying to downgrade my bios to 1.0.12 or 13 when Dell first fixed the 4gb limit. any ideas?? thx!

Oden

February 19. 2009 23:07

Oden, I'm far from an expert on any subject, but I haven't heard of a computer not posting due to too much RAM installed. I'd sooner think of other possibilities, such as the RAM being defective, not seated properly or contacts dirty. If you haven't already tried, I'd see if the 2x1GB sticks will boot on their own on that motherboard and re-check they're all snapped in properly.

Adam

February 20. 2009 07:09

thx for the reply Adam. Ive actually been successfully using the 2x1gb sticks with 2x512mb sticks that came with my inspiron 530. i even tried the new 2x2gb sticks with the 2x512's and it wouldn't post either. i could post with 1gb, 2gb, 3gb and 4gb of memory but once i put more than that, 2 beeps and no post (the new memory is the same OCZ brand as the 2x1gb sticks btw).

i think i'm going to try installing brain's modded bios anyway but was wondering if anyone had similar issues.

Oden

February 22. 2009 03:36

The Inspiron 530 just had the 1.0.2 BIOS release!!

yhjtc

February 27. 2009 04:24

I stumbled upon this site while surfing another problem. I've a Vostro 410. Would you know why the PCIe x1 slots cannot be used with an x1 graphics card (the card is known working, and will work in the x16 slot)?

Is this something that could be included in a BIOS hack?

...come to that: how do you do these? TIA.

davis.br

February 27. 2009 10:45

why would you want to connect a graphic card into the pcie x1 slot ? what kind of shitty card is that ?

bobbé

March 5. 2009 00:37

Thx for all your efforts and congratulations on the new baby.

the_bug

March 10. 2009 05:09

Does anyone have a working RAID 5 bios for the Vostro 420?

sean

March 15. 2009 02:59

If anyone is interested, I have what I believe to be a working Vostro 420 BIOS v1.0.3 with Intel ICH10R/DO 8.5.0(1030) Matrix Storage ROM. It appears to have all raid levels available. I am currently installing XP on 3x160GB RAID 5.

sean

March 15. 2009 06:02

Of course we'd be interested.

Tom

March 15. 2009 12:56

I'm very interested in a Vostro 420 RAID-5 capable BIOS.

Ann Ominous

March 15. 2009 22:33

Is there any way you could check and see if you could do this to a Vostro 1700? It has 2 SATA drive bays and can handle 2 drives. I have read that it has the capability but it is just disabled like the desktops. It would be great to have the drives mirrored for redundancy.

Thanks

Bob

Bob C

March 15. 2009 23:57

If I understand it correctly, your process was: using mmtool on the original Vostro 1.0.3 BIOS, you replaced the ICH10 OROM with the one from tormento's Intel BIOS link. I assume that hex workshop was only used to identify the ICH10 OROM.

And thanks again. I'm going to test it out as soon as I can reproduce the BIOS. Teach a girl to fish...

Ann Ominous

March 16. 2009 00:20

Before I install this (can you quickly say what modules were added to the original BIOS, and the tool used?

Did it work for you on the first try, or did you have any debugging passes? I'm willing to try to add a few more things (e.g. virtualization support) but I would like some idea of the probability that I'll brick it first.

Thanks !

Ann Ominous

March 16. 2009 01:54

For those interested in pursuing this on their own, I used the following sites for reference:

forums.mydigitallife.info/showthread.php
Thanks to Solor's post

The New Rebels Haven BIOS Tools Page
www.rebelshavenforum.com/.../ultimatebb.cgi

For pointing me mmtool and hexworkshop

and finally
forums.mydigitallife.info/showthread.php
tormento's post for the Intel ROM link

sean

March 16. 2009 03:45

Almost forgot, I'm running the latest Intel Matrix Storage Manager Driver 8.7.0.1007 Get it here:

downloadcenter.intel.com/Product_Filter.aspx

sean

March 16. 2009 05:41

Here's a link to a zip with the bios and the winflash.exe. This will run from a command prompt in windows, just like the official DELL bios, but you have to specify the file name after the winflash command.

rapidshare.com/files/208557401/bios.zip.html

Let me know if there are any issues.

sean

March 16. 2009 09:10

I would be interested in the virtualization support as well. Do you know if VT has to be enabled in the bios for ESX to detect it? Or is it enough that the CPU supports it?

sean

March 16. 2009 11:01

Ann, you are correct on the process. The only issue I had was figuring out that you had to extract the module decompressed to read it in hexworkshop. I also had to delete the original module first before inserting the new one. Worked on the first try after figuring out the tricks. The hardest part was actually finding the Dell .rom file, which it turns out is extracted from the .exe in a temp folder. I tried all kinds of crazy ways to extract that .exe and then realized the file was there all along.

sean

March 16. 2009 11:19

One issue with WinFlash.

The one that comes with the standard Dell BIOS (and seans) does not appear to run on Windows Server 2008, but simply exits silently, admin rights or not.

Ann Ominous

March 16. 2009 12:42

Success (after installing Windows XP on a spare drive just to update the BIOS).

Using sean's modded BIOS (Dell Vostro v1.0.3 + ICH10R/DO v8.5.0 (1030)) I now have a Vostro 420 with 6 drives (2x250GB RAID1, 4x500GB RAID5, 1x500GB ATA) running Windows Server 2008 x64 with the latest Intel Matrix Storage v8.8.

Throughput on RAID5 is ~200MB/s before turning on cache. It would probably improve with a 1333FSB processor, but this was a lowend system as the BIOS does not support virtualization.

Ann Ominous

March 18. 2009 12:38

Bob, I would be less inclined to mod a bios for a machine I don't actually own. There's much better chance of bricking yours since I wouldn't be able to test it. That being said, it's relatively easy to do yourself, if you read through some of the links I posted. Individuals modules are easy to do. I'm not sure how easy it is to add something like VT support. Hopefully Ann can figure that one out.

sean

March 18. 2009 16:43

The Inspiron 530 just had the 1.0.18 BIOS

yhjtc

March 19. 2009 19:02

Systems: Dell Insprion 530/530s
Version: 1.0.18
Build Date: 02/24/2009

Fixes/Enhancements:
1.Update new BIOS Power On Logo.

Gee, I'll get right on that update for the new Logo.

Garen

March 20. 2009 01:36

Has anyone modified an Optiplex Dell BIOS?

It appears that the Vostro BIOS are quite easy to modify with MMTool. Previous Phoenix based Optiplex BIOS are another story. I can't find any way to open older Dell BIOS files, including a PowerEdge SC420 (E7221), GX520 (G945), and a recent Precision 390 (975X). The Phoenix BIOS Editor 2.2 fails with the message: No BCPs found!

Any insight into how to mod a Phoenix based Dell BIOS would be greatly appreciated.

I have a couple of GX520/GX620 SFF boxes with Celeron D's and spare C2D's sitting around that technically work but for lack of a BIOS update. They would make nice hackintosh.

See Theodric's post for C2D feasibility:
www.insanelymac.com/.../index.php?showtopic=53146

As for VT support, my original plan was to mix & match some code snippets from a Q45 Optiplex BIOS. But that requires more knowledge and involves more risk than MMTool module swapping. So it's on hold until the lower hanging fruit are picked.

Ann Ominous

March 23. 2009 02:16

Good news! I actually got ahold of a Vostro 420 with a Q6600 and VT is already there! v1.0.3 bios. I think the problem is that a lot of people (me included) are getting systems with the Q8200 which DOES NOT support VT! Blame Intel!

sean

March 23. 2009 07:15

Thanks for the VT info Sean. I confirmed with several tech people within Dell that VT was not available on the Vostro 420, but obviously testing it (with a VT enabled processor) is more accurate than any tech support.

So now I can get a VT enabled CPU and reinstall everything to take advantage of this little bit of information... :-/

Ann Ominous

March 26. 2009 21:34

new bios for inspiron 530 is released, 10.0.8. could you modify it and update for us
thanks pretty.

Zesheng He

April 3. 2009 14:51

Many thanks to Sean for:
* Experimenting with this stuff
.
* Posting his results.

* Explaining his processes.

Sean (and others),

Do you know
the brand/model# of the vostro 420 motherboard?

What other dells does it go into?

tomw

April 7. 2009 16:51

Similar to the vostro and inspiron PCs, the dell Poweredge PCs have the ICH7R chip on board, but there is no RAID option in the bios. Do you know how the bios can be altered to support the RAID function that is there?

You'd be a personal here to a whole new crowd if this were possible.

Very nice work to date; very impressed with your achievement.

majeed

April 8. 2009 09:49

majeed: Poweredge PCs have the ICH7R chip on board, but there is no RAID option in the bios

You will need to be more specific about model numbers. The PowerEdge SC420 has BIOS RAID.

But the basic problem remains that the knowledge required to hack Dell Phoenix BIOS is mostly unpublicized.

Ann Ominous

April 9. 2009 12:46

I should also add that VMware has added support for ICH10 in the latest release of ESXi. I'm not sure if that means it supports RAID or not. If I get a chance I'll test and report back. Sorry for the slow reply's, my 420 is production now so I can't play again until another one shows up.

sean

April 9. 2009 14:40

Tom, I will check on the mobo the next time I have a chance.

sean

April 19. 2009 01:46

Thanks Sean, for the offer.

Hope to hear from you soon.

tomw

April 20. 2009 13:17

Just went to try the allraid-inspiron-530+530s-1016.zip on my Inspiron 530. Ran WINFLASH.bat, hit the ugprade button, and it comes back with an error that says:
"The BIOS Bin file was not for this system!"

Looks like others (Jason, Technosquid) already ran into this and posted a screenshot here: img444.imageshack.us/img444/9862/biosas8.jpg

Did anyone get past this issue?

Garen

April 21. 2009 02:46

Vostro 420 mobo is G45A01 rev a00

sean

April 25. 2009 01:54

Hi,

I just ordered a Vostro 420 and was looking at Virtualization and RAID options including ESXI. If I understand what I've read here a Vostro 420 w/the Q8200 processor will not support ESXI?

Is VT required to run something like VirtualBox?

Thanks,

Kevin

Kevin

May 12. 2009 06:14

Congrats on your blog! Many have been reading it.

Die Partnersuche

May 15. 2009 16:30

Hello,

by Dell goves a new Version for Inpiron 530 s

1.0.18

I can´t find the changelog by dell.

LG Seppel

Seelo2010

May 15. 2009 18:11

Does anyone even have a Beta Vostro 420 BIOS to test out. I really want to do a RAID 5 config on ours. I have 5 Vostro 420's I can test on. Or does anyone have the instructions. P.S. Great job on all your work TheLostBrain

Jason

May 17. 2009 11:16

You should stop hacking dells.....

Cigar

May 17. 2009 21:13

This guy is a DOUCHE, hacking a vostro, just buy a real machine... Just total FunkNasty!!!

cigar

May 21. 2009 13:04

Has anyone tried the 530 bios available at http://www.biosmods.com/showthread.php?tid=80 ?
IT FEATURES FULL OVERCLOCKING AND HAS ALL OPTIONS UNLOCKED!!!

biosmods

May 22. 2009 12:47

@biosmods

I tried to sign up to post a request for a Vostro 420 BIOS which is an AMI VG28 ROM. The site is not allowing you to register saying 2 new accounts have been created from your IP in the last 24 hours which is a glitch because I remote desktop'd into 3 of my sites which are all different IP addresses and it gave the same message.

BIOS v1.1.4 can be found here: http://ftp.us.dell.com/bios/Vx20-114.EXE

I'm assuming when you say all options unlocked you mean RAID 0/1/5 as well?

Jason Mack

May 23. 2009 18:57

Got a request here for an RAID update on the Inspiron 530/530S 1.0.18 BIOS: http://ftp.us.dell.com/bios/530_1018.EXE

I know the bootup logo was apparently the only change on this one, but it would be greatly appreciated.

TheLostBrain, you rock for giving us the RAID 0/5 options that Dell, in its infinite wisdom, decided to leave out!

(Have my Inspiron 530 media box running in RAID 0...love it!)

talon_262

May 29. 2009 09:57

I stumbled across your website after buying a third hard drive and finding out that I am unable to migrate my exisintg Raid 1 (mirror) to Raid 5 as it's disabled in the Dell bios (thanks Dell <NOT>. I have a question.

1) I have upgraded to the Dell 530_1018 bios (latest release)and already have Raid 1 mirroring successfullly working. If I Dos Flash and downgrade to your 530_1016 will this break my existing Raid 1 container?

Richard

May 30. 2009 11:23

Well I went ahead and Dos flashed the bios down to the thelostbrain 1016 from the Dell OEM 1018. It worked just fine however I assumed it would add the extra space to the existing 500mb volume thus creating a single 1gb when I migrated from Raid 1 to Raid 5,it did not I created a 2nd Raid 5 volume and have access to all the space. It would be great to have an updated 1018 bios, I kinda liked the splash logo...however the trade off is WAY more than equitable. THANKS !!!!!

Richard

June 12. 2009 00:19

Hey guys,
just a quick random post, you all seem to be doing quite well with all this i was just wondering how easy it would be to do the same for HP compaqs that use amibios, as it uses the ICH9R southbridge but bios doesnt allow raid options even though an identical Asus IPIBL-LB board does allow RAID????

any help info would be much appreciated, thanks

Lex

June 13. 2009 10:29

I'm going to try flashing my Vostro 200 slim tower with the 530 bios with overclocking options. Do you think it will work? Is there anything I should be aware of before I try it?

I think it may work because the motherboards appear to be the same; custom Foxconn G33M02.

axonhammer

June 13. 2009 11:44

Sorry, I meant to say Vostro 200. Also, the bios I used is the one found here:

http://www.biosmods.com/showthread.php?tid=80

axonhammer

June 13. 2009 13:43

Just flashed a 530 overclocking-enabled bios to my Vostro 220. It works, but is a bit glitchy; the screen stays blank, and no dell logo or shortcut keys appear if I keep the monitor plugged in. At first I thought it was dead, but apparently not:

If I disconnected the monitor before hitting the power button, and then plug in the monitor, it seems to work fine, and I get access to all sorts of overclocking options in the bios.

axonhammer

June 22. 2009 03:29

Jason: Anyone have a Vostro 420 BIOS with RAID5?

I can confirm that Sean's Vostro 420 BIOS with RAID5 support works well. I have 4x500GB in RAID5, 2x250GB in RAID1 and an extra 500GB just because it fits.

See my March 15 post.

Ann Ominous

July 2. 2009 03:21

Great work done by you man. Keep up the good work. Appreciate your efforts

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July 4. 2009 06:20

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Raid 0, 1, 5 and 0+1 support for Dell Vostro 200 / 400 and Inspiron 530 / 530s machines! (Finally)

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