Question Getting a modded Aspire M1100 BIOS

[ConanLock]

Hi,
I have an Acer Aspire M1100, one of a family of Aspires with massive errors cause by a voltage bug in the RAM. I am looking to get a modded BIOS for it, so that I can change the settings and finally get 4 GB RAM in there. However, it all seems confusing over here: https://www.bios-mods.com/forum/Thread-Acer-Aspire-M5100-R01-A3? So, I will come to you lovely bunch for some help. My BIOS is the original R01-A1. This is where you come in. Throughout the thread I linked to, many BIOSes are posted. From what I can make out, I MUST get a BIOS with the R01 title. However, I'm not sure if the OP's R01-A3 modded BIOS will work. Would I'd be better to try the R01-A1 on the second page?
Not looking for definite answers, as if they existed I'd already have them... Just your opinions. Btw I know it can brick my motherboard, and I am willing to take the risk seeming as the PC is pretty much in a bricked state anyway with the official BIOS.
Cheers
Conan

Hi,
Just wondering if anyone here knows how to unlock the BIOS of an Award based system. I'd be really interested in learning myself, but don't know where to start. I have the BIOS as a .bin, taken from my pc with the award flash tool. I'd like to know if anyone here would be interested in unlocking the features for me (mainly regarding RAM volts and speeds etc), or even telling me how to if it's something that can be done myself. Please though, leave PC Health Status locked, as apparently that causes problems on this specific PC.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MwNl-ftUBh1UkwNH8MPKRFMsAvemigZs/view?usp=drivesdk
That is the BIOS file, R01-A1, from the Acer Aspire M1100.
Cheers
Conan

Can you modify an Award BIOS?

If you get the job for programming the BIOS from Acer, then you can modify it, otherwise you can't.

Go visit the mydigitallife forums for info on unlocking hidden BIOS features.
If the features you want are already in the BIOS but just locked they can usually be unlocked and made accessible.

Ok yes I get what you mean, but there are people out there who do this 'for fun', and I'm wondering if any of them are here.

Go visit the mydigitallife forums for info on unlocking hidden BIOS features.
If the features you want are already in the BIOS but just locked them can usually be unlocked and made accessible.

Thanks, I'll check it out

You can also ask on this forum:
https://www.bios-mods.com/forum/Thread-Acer-Aspire-M1100?highlight=Aspire+M1100

I have already asked separately on that forum too. I think in another thread there they have the one I need (same bios ID) but everything seems so old and the Dropbox link is dead now.

So your answer is no. Nobody’s going to give you their free labor but have fun living in that world of imagination

Once again, there are people who do this for fun, but seeming as I'm not one of those people, I thought I'd ask around

Ah well I think I found the right one... But it's currently flashing and at the moment has more blocks failed than OK. Ah well, it's not like it was even doing its job well before I tried. You never know, might work

 

[COLGeek]

Please stick to a single thread to ask your question. Thank you.

 

[DMAN999]

If you are going to do this yourself read this guide before attempting it:
https://www.bios-mods.com/forum/Thread-A-Learning-Guide-for-Using-Modbin6-for-Award-BIOS?page=2

And be aware that modbin only works on 32 bit OS's so if you use Win x64 you will need to run a 32bit OS in a VM or a dual boot to a 32 bit OS to use it.

 

[ConanLock]

I already did it ... I just used awardflash.exe from FreeDOS seeming as that is what I had used before. Unfortunately the BIOS had some sort of wrote protect on it, and only once most of the flash had failed did it decide to lock the process. Now I'm getting RAM, video and CPU been codes when I try to boot up.
You know what they say, learn from your mistakes . Don't worry, it's not like I lost anything, the PC was only booting before it with a singles core and 1 GB ram, so I'm not too bothered.

 

[DMAN999]

That's a shame.
I know those older OEM BIOS's can be finicky.
Some unlock easily and others don't.
Have you PM'd whoever modified it on the BIOS Mod forum just to see if he still has a copy of the BIOS he unlocked ?
You never know his mod may work.
If you do find a modified version Make Sure to see if it will open in Modbin Before you flash it.
That is a fairly reliable way to see if it will flash without failing or not.

 

[ConanLock]

Well many other people had successfully used it, so I went off that - I made a backup of the original bios from the PC and did try to autoexec it from FreeDOS on the off chance it would, but no, the PC doesn't even get past the POST errors. The family of Acer Aspire M1100, M3100 and M5100 BIOSes is a right pickle anyway, and at least I was able to confirm it was for AMD and not Intel (I'm sure of that much). Tbh I blame Acer I'll just sell the mobo as spare or repairs and then also sell on the disk drive, case PSU combo. But yes, next time Modbin will be used just as an extra precaution.