This is no request thread! HP COMPAQ bioses, how to modify the bios?

[Gryzor]

judging from the test I've been doing: hp pheonix bios 360AF3E.WPH per ex can be open by the phoenix tool, and other tools. while Hp rom pack 68MVD.BIN per ex can not be open by the phoenix tool (no BPC) ..

[JetTec]

Good Morning,

i thought you found the Holy Grail, what a pity.

I own a 6715s, so any chance to mod a Rompaq soon?

[tamarinde]

Good Morning,

i thought you found the Holy Grail, what a pity.

I own a 6715s, so any chance to mod a Rompaq soon?

Modding is easy. The problem is the write protection when you are flashing

[Yen]

Okay so what is the difference between a hp rompaq bios and an hp pheonix bios? And even if we are talking about two differnt things at least we'll have a single certralized guide to mod the pheonix based ones. At which point you guys should be glad you've taught someone with no previous knowledge how to modify them sucessfully, at which point I'll start helping with the mod threads, or helping search for this holy Grail of mods... From what I've read is that your having issues with dual slic bios and I found an easy way to mod them. So it may end up helping you guys also... So until tomorrow night, when I get the chance to finalize the guide. I guess we wait and see......

The HPQ bioses are completely different in structure. In fact we cannot really mod HPQ bioses. We can replace an existing SLIC, that's all.
At Phoenix bioses we can decompose the entire bios and mod any code we want to.

Phoenix bioses:

Phoenix old style
Phoenix new style
(Phoenix) Award

These three are really modifiable.

HPQ-Phoenix
DELL-Phoenix
Replacement of uncompressed code (SLIC) only.

[sektion31]

Hi,

I have an HP 2510P. Is that an HPQ-Phoenix BIOS or is it a modable one? There is no hint for the manufactorer in the BIOS.

Is there anything I can provide to help you guys?

[TTAV134]

hi,

Here is the result of my last investigations:

When disassembling an old version of HPQFLash I've discovered an hidden command line switch /mfg , this hidden command and others are still used in newer versions:

HPQFlash.exe usage

HPQFlash [-s] [-u] [-a] *[-v] *[-log -l] *[-mfg -m] [-pPasswordFile] [-fROMCABFile] *[-cBAKUPBIOSFile] [-?]

-u : (silent mode only) microcode update.
-s : Silent mode
-a : (silent mode only) always flash, regardless of date/version comparison.
-p : specify encrypted password file created with the HPQPswd Utility version 2.0 or later.
-f : specify ROM CAB file. Default is ROM.CAB in same dir as exe.
-? : display usage.

Note that there is no space after the -f , -p and -c switchs.

File paths which contain spaces must be enclosed in double quotes.

* Hidden commands:

-l : create more informations in HPQFLash.log
-m : or -mfg ?? to be tested
-c : Backup BIOS file to EFI Partition (-s and -a are turned on automatically when -c switch is used)
-v : ?? to be tested

Please pay attention to the /mfg switch (mfg like Manufacturing) can be equivalent with /X = reset CMOS/ECMOS to factory defaults of rompaq.exe
or, combined with other switches can be a way to override protection.

Please report.

You can also download a patched version of HPQFlash Version 4.2.5.3 http://www.sendspace.com/file/bg0q51, I've use an other approach in this version to override the ROM signature checking.


cheers

[nando4]

I have an HP 2510P. Is that an HPQ-Phoenix BIOS or is it a modable one? There is no hint for the manufactorer in the BIOS.

2510P=68MSP. It's a HP specific non-Phoenix bios in the same series as 68xxx 6510b/6710b/6910p series. We all have the same issues - cannot mod the bios wifi whitelist AND cannot change the SLIC table due to write protection.

Santa Rosa (ICH8M I/O, X3100 graphics) 68M series HP bios

2230S - 68PHU.
2510P - 68MSP. PATA primary HDD and optical drive
2710P - 68MOU. PATA primary HDD. No optical drive. Uses IDE redirection to USB optical drive.
6510B/6710B - 68DDU.
6910p - 68MCU. SATA Native enable in bios. Latest X3100 vbios.

If you want to try to mod the bios can do so. Best method imho is to copy the modded bios file onto a USB floppy as 68MSP.bin, restart holding down WIN+B and let it flash it. Yes, this works with 2510P/2710P/6510B/6710B/6910p as long as you name the file correctly. You can actually flash other systems bios onto yours by naming the ROM same as your series. Only recommended if you are experimenting with different parts of code from different series (eg: 6910b has newest X3100 vbios which HP haven't released in previous series) AND can do eeprom recovery via burner if need to.

Ensure you have a hwdirect dump before trying this. If your modding alters the bootblock recovery code such that WIN+B no longer works, then you'll need an eeprom burner to get your bios back.

TTAV134 - since you have the eeprom burner could you try a similar series DV6000 bios? I hope the keyboard controllers are compatible. If can get a phoenix bios on there instead then have a lot more modding capability. HP have really locked down their business system's bios.

Nando

[Tahunasky]

do you know if the backup option makes a cab file with the signature and ver file in it ?
if so you could backup the one in your laptop that u used the eprom programmer on ???

[engage16]

As I promised, even though we were talking about two different things apparently....

Here's my guide to modifying Phoenix BIOSes from HP but it should work with other Phoenix based bioses... It obviously comes with no promises and no guarantees. I'm in NO WAY responsible if you brick your laptop and cannot recover it...

1. Create a folder on your desktop titled 'Bios Editing' this is where you can save all the file that we need to download to edit a bios...

2. Download the SLIC 2.1 bin collection from here http://forums.mydigitallife.info/att...5&d=1251237712

3. Extract the 'Hp[HPQOEM-MPC-HPQ]2.1.BIN' to the 'Bios Editing' folder created in step 1 (note you need WinRAR or similar program)

4. Download HxD from this location and install it. http://mh-nexus.de/en/downloads.php?product=HxD

5. Download Phoenix BIOS Editor (PBE) from this location. http://rapidshare.com/files/275633826/PBE__2.2.13.zip

6. YOU need to download and open your appropriate BIOS for your computer... Mine is availible here http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/s...818737&lang=en yours will obviously different

7. The HP bios will then extract and begin to run... When you reach the point where it shows the old and new bios versions proceed to step 8.

8.Open HxD and open the HP SLIC from the Bios editing folder you created earlier

9. Open your C:/ drive then the SWSetup folder and look for the SP folder the utility creates (most recent date modified)

10. inside that folder should be two folders one is winphlash and the second is winphlash64. open the one thats appropriate for your OS (the one ending in 64 is for 64bit OSes).

11. Look for your BIOS file, it should end in either .WPH or .ROM and then click and drag that file into HxD

12. Now upto select the tab 'Search' and select Find and search for 'HPQ'

13. A few characters previous to that is 'SLICv' that is the beginning of your marker. Note on the left where the Hex chart is, it has selected '53 4C 49 43 76' when you drag over the 'Slicv' characters. all the edits have to be done in the Hex coding...

14.so now switch back to the Hp slic 2.1 file in HxD and select all and copy it (the hex code on the left starting with '53 4c 49 ........'

15. Then go back to the Bios tab and starting at and including the hex code of '53 4c 49 ...' click and drag down to a length of 176 (at the bottom of HxD window) you shouLd end at "67 BA 1C". And hit the delete key on your
keyboard and accept the changes... Then with out moving the cursor paste the SLIC you copied to your keyboard in the same exact place (accept the changes)...

16. Now you can click "File, save" and close out HxD... And you can also click 'No' on the Winphlash program to close it out from rewriting the bios as it is not fully edited yet.

17. Now we need to open PBE (as Administrator), and open the BIOS file we just edited manually. it should be in C:\swsetup\sw#####\and whichever version you used... (ending in 64 for 64bit OSes)... There will be two options... a .wph and a .wph.bak open the .wph one click okay on all errors that come up

18. a bunch of tiled windows should come up inside PBE. select the 'DMI Strings' one... (this is where we can safely edit a text line so we can rebuild safely)

19. I suggest changing the 'System Product Name'... I changed mine from "Compaq Presario CQ50 Notebook PC" to "Compaq Presario CQ50 Notebook" and i suggest you do something similar... Nothing major just a few letters is best...

20. now click 'file' and select "Build BIOS" and it should come up as "build is okay" you can read the log if you want to.... but then close out of PBE... When asked to save the new ROM select yes and then click save... when asked if you what to overwrite, select yes...

21.Now if you go back to your c:\swsetup\sw##### folder from earlier where you selected the folder for the appropriate winplash version you should notice a file named 'flasher.exe' run it... its going to ask to overwrite a 'bios.bak' file click yes...

21.Let it do its thing and when it comes up with the window "click yes to continue" click yes... It will now rewrite your entire bios... your computer will shut down and you will have to turn it back on (hopefully no issues arise)

22. You should now be running SLIC 2.1 to check that downlad SLIC DUMP TOOLKIT from here and run it as administrator... http://rapidshare.com/files/27625439...mp_ToolKit.EXE the SLIC version will be shown in the top right corner...


All files are property of their original authors, I share no responsibilty if something arises from their use. And I would like to thank Yen, TTAV134, and everyone else here at MDL for teaching me how to do this and all their efforts I pieced together to make a unified guide...

[TTAV134]

2510P=68MSP. It's a HP specific non-Phoenix bios in the same series as 68xxx 6510b/6710b/6910p series. We all have the same issues - cannot mod the bios wifi whitelist AND cannot change the SLIC table due to write protection.

Santa Rosa (ICH8M I/O, X3100 graphics) 68M series HP bios

2230S - 68PHU.
2510P - 68MSP. PATA primary HDD and optical drive
2710P - 68MOU. PATA primary HDD. No optical drive. Uses IDE redirection to USB optical drive.
6510B/6710B - 68DDU.
6910p - 68MCU. SATA Native enable in bios. Latest X3100 vbios.

If you want to try to mod the bios can do so. Best method imho is to copy the modded bios file onto a USB floppy as 68MSP.bin, restart holding down WIN+B and let it flash it. Yes, this works with 2510P/2710P/6510B/6710B/6910p as long as you name the file correctly. You can actually flash other systems bios onto yours by naming the ROM same as your series. Only recommended if you are experimenting with different parts of code from different series (eg: 6910b has newest X3100 vbios which HP haven't released in previous series) AND can do eeprom recovery via burner if need to.

Ensure you have a hwdirect dump before trying this. If your modding alters the bootblock recovery code such that WIN+B no longer works, then you'll need an eeprom burner to get your bios back.

TTAV134 - since you have the eeprom burner could you try a similar series DV6000 bios? I hope the keyboard controllers are compatible. If can get a phoenix bios on there instead then have a lot more modding capability. HP have really locked down their business system's bios.

Nando

hi,

I do not recommend this tuto except if you've made a COMPLETE BACKUP of your eeprom chip (4mo) with an eprom programmer, and not only the 1mo made with HwDirect. If not you brick your laptop for sure.

cheers