Comprehensive MSi unlocked BIOS with XMP support thread

Update: This thread will no longer be updated after MU went down. I have moved this guide to a different forum / hosting site. Thank you for understanding.

 

reserved...

 

This is very cool. I appreciate it and can't wait for the 1761.

 

Make sure to include the GX780 with the 780 series please. Great news!

 

Are their BIOS different? If you have it, could you kindly extract it for me and upload it? Use this utility: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=BDT5CEN1 Hit 'Read' and then 'Backup'. AFAIK only the GPU is different. Someone please provide info so we can get him XMP support!

 

im honored to get the chance to test out your modified bios! It works beautifully! Tried to rep again but it asked me to spread rep elsewhere first =)

 

My GX780 has a GT555m and I plan on changing that out for the GTX560m. But here is the bios backup:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=BWBOJIRP

 

Woah, the GX definitely has a different BIOS? I'ts 2,560kb just like the MS-16F2 & 1761 but the GT780 & 683 are 4,096kb. I will be taking a look at the BIOS some other time, I've got to get up early tomorrow.

 

I have 2 versions of the bios 1 for raid and 1 for non-raid. Could be a reason?

 

Shouldn't be, both should be the same size, but it doesn't matter. At this point I wouldn't recommend flashing to the GT BIOS, I'm unsure of how that would go.

 

Couldnt it be that theres more option locked away in that bios than the usual fair? (me being optimistic )

But yeah dont try to flash thr GT version onto yours, god know what could happen if you do.

 

Unfortunately all of these notebooks have the same internal BIOS composition. There are only a few differences between them. I couldn't tell you why the size varies so drastically.

 

Don't know why your image came out at 2.5MB but the one off MSI's site is 4MB and the same as the GT series. You should be fine using the GT780 BIOS.

 

Perhaps the extra space is just "padding" left over for some reason?

 

Well the bios downloads on the MSI site go to the same download location. So it does look like they are the same bios. As for the difference in size, I haven't got a clue either. With bios backup all I did was read and then backup.

I went ahead and tried the unlocked bios and I could not get it to pass. Kept getting "error: cannot read bios"

 

Well I just had fun. My RAM is rated up to 1600 MHz, and it works quite well at that speed, but for fun I decided to bump it up to 1866 and my computer would turn on but no fans would spin and the screen wouldn't even light up. I freaked out and took apart my computer looking for the CMOS battery, but it turns out it's just that cable next to the fan :| so i unplugged that for a couple minutes and then plugged it back in and it reset my BIOS setting. You have to be careful with the new freedom you have in these modded BIOS's.

 

So this new bios allows the use of 1600 MHz memory then says you? Interested says I.

 

Yes. It activated XMP and allows custom RAM speeds. So you can now use 1600 non PnP RAM.

 

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I had the same issues when i went 1066 to 1333mhz.



@ canada2005 i will take a closer look later thanks for trying and updating us.

 

LOL, yeah, you just need to unplug the battery and CMOS battery for 5 seconds and it will reset ^-^.

 

Does it allow to use 1600mhz on every non PnP RAM ? Mine is rated at 1333mhz but using this bios I could boost it up to 1600mhz ? It sounds like magic, I thought that only HyperX RAM could perform that...

 

nope only if the RAM itself does run at 1600Mhz, or else the system wont boot

 

Whoa, this is awesome! Looking forward to any improvements to this. I would totally try getting some 1600MHz RAM, but I don't think the performance increase would really make that much of a difference over 1333...

 

Yeah dont expect any drastic increase in performance. Some of us just want the most we can get from our lappy.

 

Just wanted to say -- holy crap, 231 downloads for the 16F2 in one day!

Anyone with errors, problems, feedback, etc, please post them in this thread so it can act as an FAQ for future people.

I am still waiting on confirmation from more GX780/GT780 owners, do you also get the "BIOS could not be read" error?

 

wow congrats! just curious but how many do you got for GT680/683 one :-\

 

I may have linked this thread on anandtech too

 

I'have GT683DXR , and after updating correctly after a restart using ctrl alt supr, the screen goes black, I can not get into the bios with the procedure described at the beginning of the post (Pendrive with AMIBOOT.ROM rom) The computer only turns on, can turn on the lights and the turbo, but you can not read the USB drive to recover the BIOS: (

 

Did you try doing this:

BIOS flashing / BIOS RECOVERY

 

Which usb slot did you plug the pen drive in? And which file did you use? It didnt happen to me. Although iirc the first boot after bios flash it will turn on for a few secs then shutdown. I have to press the power button for a second time and from there on everything go smoothly.

 

Hi Xonar, or anyone else

Why is my 16f2 barebone bios different to the one you have attached on the first page?

CPUZ id the bios as E16F2IG6 V3.00 by American Megatrends Inc. date Mar 11

Some guy in Headoffice MSI USA sent me two files E16F2IG6.30O & 16F2EG61.422.

One is for the bios the other for the ECI/U.

Is it safe to flash your barebone version by MSI as im finding this AMI is too hard to locate to update in future.
I've attached the file in case anyones interested
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=JU2DV8VS

And then we you go to this webpage

http://www.msi.com/product/nb/GT680.html#/?div=BIOS

it's clearly a AMI bios but with the name E16F2IMS, again different to your original first page post.
How confusing is this lol !

 

So you have two files, both version 3.00.

One is unlocked the other isn't. I am failing to see the difference other than that....

 

Yes i have two files but they are not from here that Xonar has posted as unlocked or originals. (which are E16F21MT.)

MSI USA sent me the above attached files named
BIOS = E16F2IG6.30O
EC = 16F2EG61.422

My question is, why is there so many different Bios files named differently.

MSI clearly mark dont flash non msi to barebones and now im seeing barebone lappy's with different bios names which is getting very confusing for all.

The only thing i can think of is even tho they are the same 16f2 barebone they must be using/running different motherboards

There should only be Barebone ones and original MSI ones.

What's the difference between Xonar 16f2 barebone one (E16F21MT) and my 16f2 barebone one (E16F2IG6) apart from the names.

Anyway thanks for your help, i totally give up on this issue, and will stick to the old saying "if it's not broken just leave it".

 

Well each vendor customises the logo. They will have the option to change certain settings too.

 

You may have to reset the CMOS battery for a couple minutes and let the BIOS settings reset. Looks like your BIOS is rejecting some default settings immediately -- this is most likely your case. Don't panic, it's an easy fix. Open up your notebook, look for the CMOS battery and unplug the cable going to it for a couple min. Make sure your main battery is out of the notebook at the same time too.

Otherwise, the BIOS recovery through USB has been confirmed to work.

@ Bar-Code:

All four BIOS are the same structure internally, which is nice, except MSi likes to make it overly complicated and each notebook needs its specific image (I believe, or else you'll get an error "BIOS image not detected" or something like that)

Barebone BIOS are released to resellers first where they change the splash screen and then they directly give you updates (only if you ask).
Retail (Colorful box art) notebooks are updated via MSi directly on their website.

CPUZ says mine is 6/27/2011 if you were curious.

 

Thanks for that detailed explaination, which makes sense.
Yes i did the update last night to the v3.30o and it also states 06/27/2011.

After seeing MSI just released another bios update dated 06 Oct 2011. I asked the MSI guy in USA again last night if any updates have been released for the barebones 16f2 he sent me another version which was just released marked v3.30P date Oct 11. (not sure what changes have taken place tho)

 

God! im going to kill that guy from MSI USA flashed to the latest bios again and bammm black screen turn on and then off again and thats it.

Could someone please tell me what are the keys to press to start recovery.
i tried the xonar cnl+fn+homepagedown key = nothing.

The computer will not
access the usb drive and only uses the CD drive. Is there a way around
this?

i have tried a bios recovery CD in the cd rom drive at startup, but its not working as the system resets just about every 3 seconds and doesn't have time to read the disc





Any help here would be appreciated please. (using the 16f2 barebone)

 

You are the MAN !!
Thank you for your help, was to open the computer, disconnect the cables was next to the fans , wait 2 minutes and BINGO
It did not take or restore the BIOS via flash drive.
Thank you very much again

 

Home key is PgUp key on keyboard. It really sounds like you just have to reset the CMOS if you're getting 3 second reboots. Very common symptom.

 

nope completly dead! so a replacement has been sent to me MSI GT780DXR i7 Barebones which i can live with

 

That's messed up and you flashed an official BIOS from MSi too. Don't know what to say.

 

wow your lucky then !

 

Guys,

I just checked my bios with CPU-Z and it says: version: E16F2IM7 VER.10A, date: 3/11/2011.
I do have a msi barebone but under Medion brand.
I checked the size of the bios and it is indeed 2,560kb as the one posted by Xonar.

Will it be safe then to flash my bios with the unlocked one V3.0 E16F21MT ? I don't want to mess around with my laptop but as I am getting a 2720qm tomorrow, it might have to be done, I don't know.

thanks for your answers

 

umm actually unless you got XMP ram or want it to be set at a specific frequencies, otherwise no, you wont get any benefit flashing it

 

Hi

Is this working on MSI GT683DX ? Can i flash without a problem ? Got version with i5 chipset HM65

 

Nothing has to be done. If you are not comfortable with it, then don't do it. Otherwise, give it a shot if you need XMP support.

If you have a GT683 then you have HM67 chipset. Flash it only if you need XMP support, otherwise you'll see only risk involved.

 

Ty Xonar !

 

Greetings,

im running a medion MS-16F2 and the bios is kinda crap because there are absolutely no performance settings enabled. I am pretty much sitting at a bios where I can choose the boot configuration ... thats about all I can do right there.
I do not really care about that xmp stuff but rather would like to get some performance options enabled, how does one do that with as little risk as possible?

 

You must have the same bios as mine. Check on CPU-Z what it says about the version and date of your bios: mine E16F2IM7 VER.10A, date: 3/11/2011.

And there's nothing you can do in your bios to improve your laptop, what Medion do you have anyway?

 

erazer 6813

well its not about improving it, its more about getting access to more options.

EDIT: and it would be super awesome to remove the butt ugly medion logo on startup, how ugly is that thing ...

EDIT2: paulow, I just saw you have a 6813 too, also with a 460m, how did you get that to 900? What program did you use?