Question:
BIOS tweaker/unlocker
Does anybody know of any programs via which you can tweak or unlock hidden BIOS settings? Something like TweakBIOS (TweakBIOS is very old)? Need this for an Acer Aspire 3023 with Phoenix BIOS. The reason is that the current BIOS does not let you make any important changes to the laptop.
Answer:
Re: BIOS tweaker/unlocker
I'm not familiar with Acers but notebooks in general do not have rich-in-options BIOSes, nor do they have unlocking options.
I'll be happy if proven wrong...
Answer:
Re: BIOS tweaker/unlocker
Most of my posts on the forum ask this same question. Do a search for them and you'll see the roadblocks I encountered. I am very upset about Acer's lack of support on the "skimpy BIOS" issue. They hide behind the "Uncle Bill doesn't want us to give you those options" reason. If you find an unlocker, please,please notify me. I went so far as to consider hacking the BIOS itself.
Talon
Answer:
Re: BIOS tweaker/unlocker
Hi there Talon_Sr!
I did some google-ing and came across the program Phoenix Bios Editor Pro. It seems to be the official tool from Phoienix. However, when I try to load an Acer Phoenix BIOS image I get an error message, saying (something) like file too short.
There seems to be someone, a guy called Borg Number One, and he seems to have 'compiled' a package called BNOBTC (Borg Number One Bios Tools Collection). Unfortunately he stopped public access to this collection. Have sent him a request, via e-mail, but he never answered me back. Here he is amswering to someone who seems to have sent him 'support' ;).
Anyway, there is a link to a chinese site which seems interesting, but, I really do NOT know chinese, and surfing that site is pure mayhem. Maybe you have a chinese friend who could help us out by reading some stuff from that site and letting us know if there is anything worth of interest?
OT: with regard to your answer , I think that you may be mistaken. There are some tools around that enable you to oc a system directly from Windows, without the need to enter the BIOS. Take a peek at thread. Normally you could use ClockGen to raise the FSB. But you DO need to know the exact PLL that you have on your mainboard. And also, you can OC you video adapter using different tweakers specifically for your GPU.
Answer:
Re: BIOS tweaker/unlocker
Nicolin, thanx for the suggestions. I'm not really interested in overclocking my notebook. What I want to do is be able to boot from a USB fash drive. Oddly enough, the BIOS gives you four USB choices to boot from and ONLY the USB HDD choice will work. My 5672 will not read ANY USB Keys, flash drives, or other USB devices. I have a Corsair 1GB Voyager flash key and it is useless with this impotent BIOS.
Talon
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Re: BIOS tweaker/unlocker
Nicolin, thanx for the suggestions. I'm not really interested in overclocking my notebook. What I want to do is be able to boot from a USB fash drive. Oddly enough, the BIOS gives you four USB choices to boot from and ONLY the USB HDD choice will work. My 5672 will not read ANY USB Keys, flash drives, or other USB devices. I have a Corsair 1GB Voyager flash key and it is useless with this impotent BIOS.
Talon
What BIOS version do you have? What operating system are you trying to boot from on the USB drive?
Answer:
Re: BIOS tweaker/unlocker
risslerp, I have 3224 currently but have also tried it with the 3219 that it originally had loaded. Next question: You name it, I've tried to load it. SLAX, KillBill, WXP, Knoppix, etc. The pre-installed environments are not to blame, because they never even get a chance to fail since the BIOS will not read my USB key. Sure I can boot these PEs from the DVD, but **** it, I want the USB options to work as well if for nothing more than the portability the USB key gives me.
Talon
Answer:
Re: BIOS tweaker/unlocker
I was able to boot DOS up from 2 different USB Flash Keys/Drives. The first was a Lexar Jump Drive 1GB and the second was a SanDisk U3 Cruzer Micro 2GB. For both drives the BIOS recognized them as a USB HDD.
USB HDD: LEXAR JUMPDRIVE SECURE
USB HDD: SanDisk U3 Cruzer Micro
I did not test both at the same time but I'm tempted to see what happens.
OK, I just put both in at the same time. They both turn up as USB HDD: Just like stated above. If you move the keys to different usb slots, they'll rearrange themselves. I guess you can determine the order of the usb slots this way.
This was done on an Acer Aspire 5670 (the older one with the x1400 graphics) and BIOS 3224.
I would try different USB keys.
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Re: BIOS tweaker/unlocker
Thanks for the info risslerp. I will try one of those keys.
Talon
Answer:
Re: BIOS tweaker/unlocker
Btw risslerp, have you tried the U3 software on that Sandisk flash drive? Did it work or have you had bad experiences like those I've been reading about?
Talon