[SOLVED] How to unlock MSR 0x194 for 2nd/3rd Gen CPU overclocking

I’m here now :smiley:
Basically,Precision M6700 do got a very tricky BIOS structure as you mentioned,double chip 8M+4M.
Personally i think you could try to find out where is that powermanagement module(whether in 8M or 4M part),and edit that like genius @Lost_N_BIOS did,then reflash it with your programmer(if you have one).This way should work,at least theoretically.
I actually used the method AKA “pinmod” to unlock ME Flash Descriptor and dump/reflash BIOS with Flash Program Tool(since i got no programmer at the beginning).for more details pls go check >this< thread.be advised M6700’s audio chip 92HD93 got different pin assignment with the given example.SDATA_OUT on Pin5 and DVDD on Pin9.
Good luck with modifying:)

Thanks @Blossomcrown ! Sorry, I thought you flashed BIOS, since I sent you 12MB BIOS and you didn’t ask for it to be split. Ohh, wait! You said you unlocked FD, and flashed via software, correct? If yes, that’s good, that’s exactly what I thought you did, what software did you use exactly and what command?
I can send him BIOS with unlocked FD, and then he can flash, or maybe just best to do it all like I mentioned below probably?

@pseudodeed - please send me your dump BIOS again, so I can be sure it’s correctly your dump, then I will put in the modified module for the 194-unlock and send back to you (Also with unlocked FD, so you can flash whatever you want later via FPT)

^^ Lets do this! ^^

From what Blossomcrown said in PM, only ME is locked, so I think we can read/write BIOS region with FPT, thus you can use the orginal mod BIOS to write via >> FPTw -bios -f modbiosname.bin
However, I think that would also overwrite your Serial, Service Tag which Dell official flashing tool wouldn’t. LAN MAC ID is stored in GbE so it would remain the same.
Probably best to just upload your verified dumps for me and I will modify that instead, sorry for pro-longing this, I assumed a flash would be easier overall for either of us, but I think it’s probably not best way to do it now that I think it over.

Or, you could dump your BIOS region, send me that and I could edit it, either way, up to you, here’s how to dump via FPT >> FPTw -bios -d biosregion.bin
You need to use FPT V8 from this package - https://mega.nz/#!CF1l1LJK!K2l6_74FPsGig…Rvp8Efj8a5drZSc

That’s correct.i have my FD unlocked,and dump/flash BIOS with software(FPT).
the point is,on this specific machine Precision M6700,Dell blocked the BIOS access by default and afaik there is no way to change this by “pure” software method.if we want so,we need whether pinmod as i mentioned above or hardware programmer to flash modded bios back to motherboard.
back to @pseudodeed 's question,you could help him change 0x194 settings just like you did for me,i guess whether in 8M+4M form or full 12M should both be ok.but talking about flash back,he has to find a way fit him best(pinmod for 12M or programmer for 8M+4M).

@Lost_N_BIOS my Bios Dump is in Post 43. 8MB+4MB.
I will flash back with the Programmer.
Thank you for helping. It’s really nice.

You’re welcome, and thanks for confirming @pseudodeed - you will still have to do the other things @Blossomcrown did, aside from this unlocked BIOS. Maybe Blossomcrown can give you a short summary of the other stuff you still need to do/set etc.

Here is your modified BIOS, from your dumps, to anyone else reading this later, do not use this BIOS or you may loose your board specific details >> Please flash BIOS in post #17 instead, or send me your FPT dump, FD must be unlocked first
https://www.sendspace.com/file/demr1z

BIOS Lock and SMI Lock are disabled in this BIOS, and FD is unlocked now too, not needed for this mod but helpful for flashing next time around (You will be able to flash any/all regions with FPT)

Sure thing,after @Lost_N_BIOS 's unlocked BIOS installed,we still have a thing or two to do.
Boot in to GRUB shell(request secureboot disabled) and manually set the CPU multiplier as you want,i’ll list em here.
1-Core Ratio Limit
Address 0x25
2-Core Ratio Limit
Address 0x26
3-Core Ratio Limit
Address 0x27
4-Core Ratio Limit
Address 0x28
And those setting value MUST BE DONE WITH HEX VALUE
for example if i want to set 1 core turbo ratio @ 4.0GHz,i should input like this “setup_var 0x25 0x28”(without quote)
remember you have to make sure the 1 core ratio is always higher or equal than 2 core ratio,and 2 core ratio higher or equal than 3 core ratio and so on.
after you set all of this stuff,you could try to boot into system and start some stability test.
Enjoy:D

btw since we are talking about board specific details,im curious about Dell’s never exist factory setting tools(just like nbdmifit.exe for HP),at least it’s never outflow afaik.
if we got this tool or learned how to update DMI info/change settings,it should be pretty easy to (re)write S/N or disable ME or enable TPM module and so on.

Thanks @Blossomcrown - There is tools for Dell DMI (service tag, serial and possibly MAC but that can be done via hex anyway, so can the others if needed) It’s not an issue for me with modding BIOS with that, but for end users it’s often a mess for some to even get into DOS let alone use tools to reset service tags, serial #'s etc.
So when possible, I try to avoid modifying BIOS in a way where they’d have to use other tools later to fix stuff like that.
Do you want a package of those Dell tools?

Disable ME can only be done with Intel FITc tool, and for TPM, I think you can disable that in BIOS via setting, if not surely it can be done via BIOS mod to the settings

@pseudodeed - see also this post #13, for the links to other forum, especially Overclock.net link, there is a software tool there you can use to get some values with
[SOLVED] How to unlock MSR 0x194 for 2nd/3rd Gen CPU overclocking

Yes,I ve seen that tool before.Dell called that platformtag or assettag tool,but it also can be used to set S/N.I already have em,thanks for sharing.
When Dell support provide you a new replace motherboard,there will be a “service menu” let you input SN,decide whether enable or diasble ME/TPM chip and something like that.HP provide a tool(nbdmifit)to recall this service menu when you needed,but Dell not.
As you said,ME could be set enable/disable with FITC.But TPM will never become avaliable if disabled in service menu,because there wont be even a BIOS setting related to TPM since it is “factory set disabled”.(afaik there always a TPM chip on M6700’s motherboard,no matter what specific SKU or MTM it is)
So the problem is,do we have any method recall this service menu out,or directly set TPM chip enable with modded BIOS?

That’s the ones, I think I have two versions. TPM, could probably be re-enabled via a BIOS setting modification, that’s all that tool probably does (Disable or remove the TPM settings section of BIOS)
I see “Suppress If” before TPM and TCM Security, and “Greyout If” right before the main TPM Security menu (I assume one/both are enabled at that setting choice you mention on first bootup) More suppression flags at TPM Owner State and TPM Owner status, Kill TPM etc (several more settings)
Those can be changed via BIOS mod

That sounds great!
Shall we have a try on unlock TPM module? I’ll upload a copy of my BIOS dump here for you:D
https://mega.nz/#!sBlVXI7J!y6xjRChRhNJKQ…wwdTlKO1Y9yzuJE

@pseudodeed 此方法尚未测试完成,请不要把它广泛传播。

@Blossoncrown - Do you have TPM chip, I mean don’t you have to also plug in an add-on chip/module, before any of that shows in BIOS even if enabled?
Please check this text file, via search for TPM, and tell me which exactly by name you want me to unsuppress (or all?)
https://www.sendspace.com/file/0cjcy0

actually i have two M6700, one with TPM and one without.since i have compared their motherboard before,i didnt see any chip unpresent on the non-tpm mb.so yes,i think we should be fine without add a chip or what,it seems like tpm just diabled by service menu.
may i ask you please try to unlock as much tpm related settings as possible?thanks in advance:D

What I meant is a TPM module, that’s the only way I’ve ever seen TPM utilized on a board with TPM. Not the TPM chip on the motherboard, another module you plug into a serial/USB type header, without this unencryption can’t be done with the onboard chip only, like two-fold authentication.
Here’s some examples of ones I’ve seen used for Gigabyte and Asus boards
https://www.ebay.com/itm/273529673414
https://www.ebay.com/itm/263957985985
https://www.ebay.com/itm/312151888728

OK, give me a bit and I will unsuppress all those TPM I see

*Edit @Blossomcrown - I see, there is also already a few TPM specific modules in the BIOS, so you are correct it should be good to go once re-enabled again, but I don’t know how TPM works without one of the above modules (Maybe just a type I’ve not seen before?)

I may have missed some between unsuppressing and changing “gray out if”, so if you get TPM option, but something is grayed out, I missed the grayed out let me know exact setting and I will fix it
https://www.sendspace.com/file/h458by

Im not sure about the TPM module stuff,but i’ll try to proceed with your modded BIOS files.Thanks for help:D

Look on the board, do you see a header like that labeled TPM? If yes, then you need a similar thing to use TPM on your board, I assume it’s there
You’re welcome, and please let me know how it goes, what if any options do you see now, what are missing from what you saw in the txt file I sent you.



…Do you want a package of those Dell tools?..
Yes, please.

strange,no thing changed after i applied this bin,no additional TPM things came up.
maybe we do need some EFI module as you mentioned?

i forgot to ask,have you tried Quadro P5000 with Premiercolor display?brightness adjustment function properly?
忘了问你有没有试过PC屏+P5000能否正常调节亮度了