Hi!
Next week I’ll mod an Dell Dimension 9200, because a good friend requested it.
It has old AHCI 1.02.23 and MSM 6.0.0.1022 OROMs in the latest BIOS.
The chipset is an Intel P965 with ICH8R.
Due to its very custom Dell BIOS, I’m not sure what MSM/RST OROM to use.
Should I use 8.5.0.1030 or should I try a newer one like 10.1.0.1008?
Regarding the AHCI OROM… The original one shows device ID 8086:2681.
The downloadable version 1.20E has 8086:3B22.
Is the device ID here only a placeholder (universial OROM) or should I patch it to match the old one?
Best regards,
Mr nUUb
The jump from an Intel MSM RAID ROM v6 series to any Intel RST RAID ROM may be too great.
I recommend to try the Intel RAID ROM v8.5.0.1030.
Although I am not 100% sure about that, I would replace the Intel AHCI ROM by the untouched v1.20E.
Please report here, if you succeeded or not.
@mr_nuub :
Hi, hanzzon2 on MDL apparently experimented with different OROMs a few years back and uploaded an updated BIOS, see here.
@k3nny
Thanks for the link dude 
I did some research myself and found a thread on bios-mods.com, but it lacks download links (>link<).
Another thread on bios-mods.com (for another Dell PC): >link<
As described in the second thread I posted, the Dimension 9200 only has IDE and RAID option in BIOS, too. If I set it to RAID, the AHCI and MSM ROMs load and display text …and of slow the boot process down.
The old AHCI OROM needs about 10 seconds or so.
MSM 8.5.0.1030 should be enough for RAID and CD/DVD drives to work. I will experiment a little bit and post my results here.
Following mods are planned:
- integrate Intel AHCI 1.20E
- integrate Intel MSM 8.5.0.1030 (universally TRIM modified)
- integrate Intel AHCI 1.20E + MSM 8.5.0.1030
- remove Intel AHCI 1.20E and integrate Intel MSM 8.5.0.1030
- highest MSM/RST OROM working
Every mod will be done with AndyP’s Mod Tool (without SLIC of course) and the final build (without AHCI, with highest MSM/RST) will be attached to the first post of this thread.
The AHCI uploaded to BIOS modules does indeed support 2681 and many others.
But it is a better practice to have a matching ID. I have uploaded a set of patched ROMs with 2681 ID and fixed checksum. They are marked as v1, v2, v3 because they were found offered as an update on top of lower variant, which is also supported by the higher pointers and jumps to code in newer variants. Don’t expect a speed increase between variants, only bugfixes. In any case, they won’t do any good with your current BIOS configuration.
8086-2681 Intel AHCI 1.20E.rar (31.8 KB)
So I finally tested some mods. Here are the results:
Original BIOS 1.0.3 with MSM 6.0.0.1022
Mod 1: BIOS 2.5.3, MSM 8.5.0.1030
It seems that Dell did update the AHCI ROM to a faster one.
AHCI detection now finishes in 2 seconds.
MSM works.
Mod 2: BIOS 2.5.3, AHCI 1.20E and MSM 8.5.0.1030
BIOS freezes after drive detection.
Mod 3: BIOS 2.5.3, RST 10.1.0.1008
BIOS freezes after loading RAID ROM. It even displays the current RAID configuration.
The BIOS does not freeze if all SATA devices are disconnected.
If you want to test it yourself, just disconnect everything and flash back to a working BIOS using an USB drive (or a floppy, the mainboard has a connector).
The mods were done with AndyP’s Phoenix Mod Tool.
In the advanced configuration check “No SLIC” and “Allow user to modify other modules”.
The EXE file is a universial binary, suitable for DOS and Windows.
Flash it with an USB DOS boot disk (HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool).
Hey!!
In Dell Dimension 9200 Manual it is written that you can find best OROM from Dell. Yes because only Dell gives you best OROM for your model. Just reach official Dell community/Dell website and search your model there. After searching, the full informative page about your model is shown where you will get each detail about every parameter of your device. At that page you will get the BIOS download file, just download it and keep enjoying.
@Xenos_Harrington :
Welcome at Win-RAID Forum and thanks for your contribution!
Regards
Dieter (alias Fernando)