bios Unlocking Hidden Bios Options

[TheMoltenEqualizer]

I've found that oem BIOS-es tend to be much more slim and light in options compared to ones that you would put in a custom Pc. This is normally in place to keep unknowing hands from messing up critical stuff, most often clock multipliers, voltages, etc. as messing up these settings can easily fry your system, thus only the most essential and least destructive settings are left, like a drive password, system date settings, and such.

But sometimes you just want more control

 MAKE SURE YOU KNOW WHATEVER YOU'RE DOING! IF YOU CHANGE SETTING TO INCORRECT VALUES YOU COULD DAMAGE YOUR COMPUTER IN UNREPAIRABLE WAYS! If you are not sure what some settings do please look it up on the internet or ask someone more knowing of the topic before making changes. Changing setting will likely not solve your problems, nut break it (more). Please don't blame me if anything wrong happens, I warned you about the dangers of fooling around! 

 

This is where unlocking bios options come into play. Sometimes it is quite is and sometimes not. So I've decided to make this topic to help some people get on their ways, and to ask for some help myself. If I have made some mistakes writing this topic, please correct me in the comments, and I will edit the text accordingly. I don't wanna spread misinformation...
 

1. Easier: secret menus - sometimes manufacturers don't actually disable these options in the BIOS ROM, since it would complicate life for support or repair services. These are usually unlocked by pressing a secret key combination entering or while inside the bios. Different OEMs/manufacturers and BIOS vendors tend to have different combinations, here are the most common ones I've found:
   1. Pressing "A" while entering BIOS setting - after pressing your key to enter the BIOS setting (usually F1,F2,F8,F10,F12 or DELETE) immediately press A once. Look around your menus and see if something is unlocked.
   2. If you have a laptop with an "Fn" function key toggle try pressing Fn+Tab three times. Check for menus again. I read that it is possible you need to re-enter your BIOS settings before unlocking the menu, so you could also try to enter your setting once, pressing the combination three times, and then re-enter the BIOS settings
   3. Other common combinations, usually pressed while under POST to enter the BIOS: Shift+F1/F2/etc. ; Ctrl+Shift+F1/... ; Ctrl+Alt+F1/...; In laptops you could also try Fn+F1/.. or Ctrl+Fn+F1/...
   4. I will update the list with OEM/manufacturer specific combinations if they are suggested in the comments.

      1. Quote

         My MSI-laptop has the hidden options behind left alt + right shift + right control + F2. - WereCatf

          

2. Harder: disabled menus - BIOS Flash -  power outage during or flashing compromised/broken BIOS ROMs can lead to your Pc bricked or even worse! Make sure to not flash during thunderstorms, and plug in the power adapter of your laptop / use a UPS for your desktop if you have one. Also make sure that the ROM you're trying to flash is compatible with your motherboard. Having a compromised BIOS can lead to your data stolen or erased, and your PC doing weird things! Flashing non-approved ROMs can also lead to your warranty being voided!
   Having secret menus is nice but it means that said advanced settings are still accessible to anyone knowing the combination, and that includes non-OEM people. However developers and engineers usually use those settings, to test things out and such, so the most common method is to simply disable the menus in the ROM by flipping a bit or getting customers a non-developer BIOS. Methods usually revolve around saving your current ROM and modifying it or getting a developer-ROM. The difficulty of flashing the BIOS can be very different system to system:
   1. Entering BIOS and using the BIOS flash utility
   2. Using an application to flash your BIOS while in Windows
   3. Getting into safe mode and applying some special settings, then using the application
   4. Taking your PC apart and flashing your BIOS chip directly with an SPI flasher device
3. Keep in mind that most manufacturers/OEMs don't allow the flashing of non-signed ROMs directly so it is much more complicated to actually change the BIOS in these cases. 

I hope this helps some of you. If you have anything to say regarding this topic please feel free to reply. 

[NZKshatriya]

Oh how I'd love to have XMP options for my Alienware Area-51m.

Chipset supports DDR4-2666, but system is locked in at 2400.

 

Unless of course you purchase a different config than I did.

[TheMoltenEqualizer]

Now onto my question: I have an older Dell laptop (7537) and I want access some voltage and frequency settings, because I think the manufacturer did a bad job of managing thermals/performance and the power balance of the CPU and GPU, most of the time (oddly enough) the CPU being a huge bottleneck meaning that games run bad even on minimal graphical settings and resolutions (CS:GO running at 40fps at 1024*768 and minimum settings) while upping graphics does not reduce frame rates by much.

 

Having looked around the internet as much as I could,I have not found any combination that would unlock bios settings, however it was possible to flash the chip directly. I would like to ask if anyone has had some luck with Dell/Phoenix bioses, as taking apart my laptop and getting an SPI flasher is not very likely for me...

[TheMoltenEqualizer]

9 minutes ago, NZKshatriya said:

Oh how I'd love to have XMP options for my Alienware Area-51m.

Chipset supports DDR4-2666, but system is locked in at 2400.

 

Unless of course you purchase a different config than I did.

Yeah, sometimes features are locked out to min-max some aspects of the laptop, like battery life. In your case I think it was likely done to save a little power, as running memory at lower frequencies can get you some power saved even without lowering voltages, but who knows. Saving a couple of watts in a gaming laptop like this seems minimal. Either way having options like this would be nice.

[WereCatf]

15 minutes ago, TheMoltenEqualizer said:

I will update the list with OEM/manufacturer specific combinations if they are suggested in the comments

My MSI-laptop has the hidden options behind left alt + right shift + right control + F2.

[NZKshatriya]

Yeah, saving power.

I carry aroundd the dual 180W bricks everywhere lol, not really a big issue

[TheMoltenEqualizer]

1 hour ago, TheMoltenEqualizer said:

Saving a couple of watts in a gaming laptop like this seems minimal.

Yeah, it really seems like a bit of a stretch. Meh

[emmanueljederian]

Can you please tell me HP Specific Key Combinations ( AMI) so I can try and unlock the hidden and locked settings????

[Basshead]

I have a Dell Vostro 420, with not much options available stock, if someone knows hwo to unlock Dell AMI BIOS that'd be much helpful. I can upload dump if needed.

[Siikaboi]

I have a asus tuf gaming a17 plz make a code for it