@kksaleem
Welcome to the Win-Raid Forum!
Which software is needed?
thanks for replay i got that software
Which one?
I was wondering if anyone knows how to show me how to enable all the hidden settings on my motherboard bios?
Where is the connection to extracting contents of a Dell BIOS package (The Thread title is “How to extract contents of this Dell BIOS package”
And do you think it’s wise to ask this question without giving any kind of information which motherboard we’re talking about?
Maybe you want to ask this question in “Bios modding requests” together with a little bit more information:
Oh ok il do that
Please forgive me, I am a newbie trying to mod my Dell Optiplex 3090 to enable Resizable Bar, it says no volumes detected, and exe is not in the file types it reads by default. I am not requesting I am trying to do it myself, just need some guidance on how to open it
Wow this is such a blast from the past, haha. Since mid 2019, the way to extract Dell PFS is via BIOSUtilities (i.e. Dell PFS Update Extractor).
The problem with Dells is that there is no, to very little, direct padding space to work with under the driver Volume (assuming it’s not locked - colored bios regions are a killer).
There’s plenty of space for ME firmware and microcode upgrades, but very little for all other bios drivers. Adding a new feature seems impossible.
If that computer has a mobo blue pin service mode, you’ll want to move the physical pin into service mode, and backup the full bios. Once in service mode, use the applicable ME CSME System Tools. Go into Flash Programming Tool, and admin open up WIN64 and run FPTW64.exe -d backup.bin. If you’re runing the right ME CSME System Tools and you’re blue pin in service mode, you should be able to backup your full bios.
Then you can mess around. Doing this is above my current skill-set. I’m not saying it’s impossible, but adding this option (if not hidden) is a tall order.
@AyieD , if you haven’t already done so, check out Kuri0’s topic, and then her github page.
Her ReBarDxe.ffs seems to be small enough to add, but I would think that you’d have to reduce the underlying Volume free space size by the size of the addition to make room for it. People with Dells have made it work, so it may be more do-able than I thought.
It’s not (present, but) hidden, so it would have to be added.
If you go for it and it works, let us know. Good luck, but don’t push it if you’re not comfortable.
@AyieD
Welcome to the Win-Raid Forum!
Since you were not the first Forum member, who had problems to get Dell’s BIOS installer named *.exe extracted, I have merged your post and the replies with this already existing old thread about the same topic and gave it a short, but hopefully meaningful name.
@lfb6 @plutomaniac @ChrisM
Just for your information
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@ plutomaniac
Regarding biosutilities: I see you changed the structure and made it a python project.
Earlier I was able to ‘compile’ these programs with pyinstaller to a single exe- file. Last time I did this was 28.04.24 and it worked fine. Now I’m no longer able to create working exe- files. Python installation of biosutilities works- I can use the commands specified for singel toole or just throw a file on main.py. I still can compile MCE,
When running pyinstaller I get a exe with around normal size which opens an empty command window which closes after a second without any output. There’s no warning or error in the command window, in the build folder theres a warning about missing modules- but those seem to be Linux related?
My python knownledge is close to zero unfortunately. Do you have a hint how to be able to have these tools running as exe in Windows environment without python installed? I
Same here…
EDIT: I have both Python’s installed, latest 3.x and last build of the 2.x
I haven’t used python freezing utilities in years, so I cannot be of assistance there. All I can suggest is to actually install python and the requirements. It is very easy. Download the latest version of Python 3.12.x, follow the Requirements and run using Main flow.
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@plutomaniac , I downloaded the latest BIOSUtilities, that looks like it was just updated. I ran a new Dell Precision 7550 bios update into dell_pfs_extract.py, and it just ran right through it. It ran so quickly, I couldn’t see any error message - the related command prompt just opens and closes out.
I then ran it through an older 5/26/2024 Dell_PFS_Extract, and had no problem.
Edit 1: Also, I ran both Dell bios types (Precision_7X50_1.34.0.exe and BIOS_IMG.rcv) through the updated Dell_PFS_Extract, and got the same result.
Edit 2: It looks like required files have changed to include pefile and dissect.util. I’m not sure they’re needed if you drag the dell bios directly into Dell_PFS_Extract, but I installed them anyway, and am coming up with the same result. I logged out after installing them, and tried again, but it’s still a no go.
For single filetype py- script you need to put in the separate commands at a python prompt (link) (Windows pathnames with normal slash [or maybe ‘\’, didn’t try])
After having installed biosutilities as a project it’s otherwise fine to just drop the file on main.py (doesn’t matter where main.py is located as long as python directory is in the path)
Thanks for the answer, as written having python installed but in a VM to keep the working Windows installation leaner and avoid having to update another program. So I’ll work with the versions from april, most of the time they work pretty well!
With the older version, if you had Python installed + required packages, you didn’t have to mess with main.py, nor commands. All you had to do is drag the Dell bios into the Dell_PFS_Extract, and it would create an extracted bios folder in the working folder (BIOSUtilities-main). I’m assuming you should still be able to do this - I don’t need to mess with main.py if I’m working with a Dell bios.
Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.19045.5011]
(c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.C:\Program Files\Python312>python -m pip install --upgrade biosutilities
Requirement already satisfied: biosutilities in c:\program files\python312\lib\site-packages (24.11.10)C:\Program Files\Python312>python -m pip install --upgrade biosutilities[pefile,lznt1]
Requirement already satisfied: biosutilities[lznt1,pefile] in c:\program files\python312\lib\site-packages (24.11.10)
Requirement already satisfied: dissect.util==3.18 in c:\program files\python312\lib\site-packages (from biosutilities[lznt1,pefile]) (3.18)
Requirement already satisfied: pefile==2023.2.7 in c:\program files\python312\lib\site-packages (from biosutilities[lznt1,pefile]) (2023.2.7)C:\Program Files\Python312>
Maybe I’m not understanding Package installation?
Edit 1: The attached is a slightly newer BIOSUtilities-main, with 6/17/2024 extract files. The 6/17/2024 Dell_PFS_Extract works just like the 5/26/2024 version.
BIOSUtilities-main(2).zip (64.2 KB)
Guys, in your case, you can use the easy “Main” flow. Download the repo, install the requirements (either found in $PATH or within an “external” named directory at project root), and then drag and drop one or more files to main.py script. If you use Linux/macOS (where python drag & drop is not a thing), or if you use the terminal on Windows, you can call “main.py” as explained in the README.
The “Package” method is for those who are more familiar with python and/or need to use the project programmatically as a library/dependency. The “Main” flow is supposed to be used instead of “Package”, and vice versa, not at the same time.
Don’t install as package but also keep a local folder to run “main.py” as the imports will be taken from the package installation instead of the local files and cause confusion and/or errors if there is any mismatch (e.g. forgotten outdated package version etc).