Problem that bios is in exe format

[mojarrah]

System Alienware a51 R4 pc

• Motherboard: ms-7a87

• BIOS Version: 2.0.7

• GPU: 3090

Hey. Hope you are doing great. I wanted to follow your steps to activate rebar. but I was surprised that dell bios is .exe and not .bin

How can we fix it?

This is the bios link

https://dl.dell.com/FOLDER08945518M/1/Alienware_Area_51_R4_2.0.7.exe

[mojarrah]

@Electron-PSO @xCuri0

I literally returned to version 1 of the bios which is the oldest version

It booted successfully. Did rebar of value 11 to try. But it did beep like before and the system didn't start!!!!!!!

[mojarrah]

What should I do!!!!

[xCuri0]

@mojarrah maybe dell has some other bios setting that needs to be enabled for 4g decoding to work fully

and u could try connecting monitor to igpu, sometimes u need to do that when using rebar on skylake and the gpu will output when windows loads

[mojarrah]

@xCuri0 I have a dell a51 r4. Someone on Dell forms who has r2 but basically literally like the same bios. He was able to modify the bios and unhide the pci settings menu

How can I do it?

[mojarrah]

@xCuri0 look

[xCuri0]

@mojarrah did you already say you enabled 4g decoding ?

there is a whole page for this, https://github.com/xCuri0/ReBarUEFI/wiki/Enabling-hidden-4G-decoding worked for several dell users

[mojarrah]

@xCuri0 Hey

[mojarrah]

@xCuri0 Gpu z was showing that above 4g is enabled while it actually was disabled

I unhide the bios menus to enable it

Is there something in these menus I should do before trying?

[mojarrah]

@xCuri0

[xCuri0]

@mojarrah there is nothing to do besides enabling 4g decoding, disabling csm and enabling rebarstate

also it's mentioned in multiple places that gpu-z in inaccurate and that almost no oems enable 4g decode by default idk why you thought it would be

[mojarrah]

@xCuri0 I tried value of 15 while above 4g is enabled and it started beeping!!

[xCuri0]

@mojarrah there are several things in the common issues wiki page you can try relating to skylake/kabylake systems (lga1151). i know you have x299 but it's probably similar

also some systems beep but eventually display output once windows loads

[mojarrah]

@xCuri0 Got it, btw I don't have igpu. Only the 3090. And it's connected using a display port to the screen

[mojarrah]

@xCuri0 I waited for it now. Didn't boot. Kept beeping

I tried also hdmi instead of the display port

Still not working

Btw, I have 64gb of rams. So I don't know if that may cause a problem

[mojarrah]

@xCuri0

Just to make sure, 100000%

After this selection, I insert the pfs of rebar, right?

[xCuri0]

Doing this again won't solve the issue you have, the rebar module clearly is working fine without any issues

The only thing that might be causing it is not having applied Uefipatch but iirc you did

On Thu, Dec 14, 2023, 11:29 PM Mohammad Jarrah @.***> wrote:

@xCuri0 https://github.com/xCuri0

Just to make sure, 100000%

After this selection, I insert the pfs of rebar, right?

A7600E73-A7C2-40D6-AD5A-5A66D4B2C71B.png (view on web) https://github.com/xCuri0/ReBarUEFI/assets/111957484/42c1570c-fbad-4a45-be89-c93bfd417190

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[mojarrah]

This is what it showes when I apply the patch

Didn't change any single thing in patches.txt

Just typed the command and it did this

So is it correct

Moreover, when I flash the patched version…Should I remove the .patched extension and so it becomes xxx.bin

[xCuri0]

@mojarrah

Should I remove the .patched extension and so it becomes xxx.bin

Yes, idk if it's required for FPT tho but using BIOS menus to flash like on my Gigabyte board it is

[mojarrah]

Also, is it correct how I applied the patch?

[xCuri0]

Yes

On Thu, Dec 14, 2023, 11:47 PM Mohammad Jarrah @.***> wrote:

Also, is it correct how I applied the patch?

— Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub https://github.com/xCuri0/ReBarUEFI/issues/103#issuecomment-1856356999, or unsubscribe https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AHBJLVOPZAU24FGSMKQVQPDYJM7CTAVCNFSM6AAAAABAOPZDSSVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43OSLTON2WKQ3PNVWWK3TUHMYTQNJWGM2TMOJZHE . You are receiving this because you were mentioned.Message ID: @.***>

[mojarrah]

Damnnnn!!!! So what is the problem?!!

I did every single step required

[xCuri0]

I don't really know anything more you can try if 4G decoding is really enabled.

You can read the GitHub wiki pages for this project, one of them tells how to modify hidden settings using setup_var. Maybe some other setting is required to be set on Dell but only you could figure it out.

I remember some Dell Ivy Bridge system needed a custom uefipatch made but I was only able to do it because of how similar to it was to other Ivy Bridge motherboards

On Thu, Dec 14, 2023, 11:50 PM Mohammad Jarrah @.***> wrote:

Damnnnn!!!! So what is the problem?!!

I did every single step required

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[mojarrah]

Alright, is their any other way I could check that 4g is 100% really enabled?

[xCuri0]

@mojarrah if it says enabled in the BIOS menu then it is.

Maybe Dell has some additional setting needed to be enabled only you could figure that out.

[mojarrah]

Btw it gives 3 beeps

Then 3 beeps

Then 3 beeps

And so on

[mojarrah]

@xCuri0 the funny thing this that now, even 1gb makes it not boot

[mojarrah]

@xCuri0 btw I haven't applied dsdt patching. Is it required?

[mojarrah]

@xCuri0 realized something now, when enabling 4g decoding either in unhiding menu in bios or through setup var. Rebar doesn't work at all

Even 1gb doesn't work

Without enabling above 4g. I can do 1gb but nothing above

Why!!!!

[Electron-PSO]

I see you have 64GB of RAM

I think 3 beeps is RAM issue?

Do you have 8 sticks of ram?

If so, remove 4 (the correct4)

[mojarrah]

I have 4 slots @Electron-PSO

[mojarrah]

@Electron-PSO @xCuri0

Btw, when I searched in uefitool

Both “64 bit resource allocation” and “4g decod” appear when searching for them

And one has 0xF97 value

And one has 0x403 value

[Electron-PSO]

Can you tke out some sticks and try again?

There are some reports of more than 32GB being a problem.

If it is that, then all of this is for nothing until it can be resolved.

[Electron-PSO]

I take it you have 16GB DIMMS.

Try just using one stick

With the 3 beeps when it fails to boot, it might be a memory error.

At this point, I'm just throwing ideas about

🤖

[mojarrah]

@xCuri0 @Electron-PSO

I removed 3 of the 4

Nothing changed, still beeps

Moreover, now, I searched using uefi editor in the bios for menus related to the thing

I found another thing related to 4g. It's called above 4g mmio bios assignment

Does it have a role?

[xCuri0]

@Electron-PSO @xCuri0

Btw, when I searched in uefitool

Both “64 bit resource allocation” and “4g decod” appear when searching for them

And one has 0xF97 value

And one has 0x403 value

Enable both of them, the hidden 4g decoding wii page shows how to if you cannot find the 64-bit resources in BIOS menu.

[xCuri0]

@xCuri0 @Electron-PSO

I removed 3 of the 4

Nothing changed, still beeps

Moreover, now, I searched using uefi editor in the bios for menus related to the thing

I found another thing related to 4g. It's called above 4g mmio bios assignment

Does it have a role?

Yes enable that too

[xCuri0]

Can you tke out some sticks and try again?

There are some reports of more than 32GB being a problem.

If it is that, then all of this is for nothing until it can be resolved.

I think X299 shouldn't have any issues like this

[mojarrah]

issues

Yes It have doesn't any of these ram issues. I took 3 of the ram sticks. And still beeped.

I will try your last 3 advices and update you asap

[mojarrah]

@xCuri0

I also found this setting in uefi editor, should I enable it?

[xCuri0]

No unless you have some issue with the USB 3 ports

On Fri, Dec 15, 2023, 2:29 PM Mohammad Jarrah @.***> wrote:

@xCuri0 https://github.com/xCuri0

I also found this setting in uefi editor, should I enable it?

image.png (view on web) https://github.com/xCuri0/ReBarUEFI/assets/111957484/44326378-4305-42c2-ac85-db995aed9944

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[xCuri0]

Also please use setup_var to change hidden settings instead of flashing because it's way safer no risk of brick.

All this stuff in the wiki page hidden 4g decoding

On Fri, Dec 15, 2023, 2:29 PM Mohammad Jarrah @.***> wrote:

@xCuri0 https://github.com/xCuri0

I also found this setting in uefi editor, should I enable it?

image.png (view on web) https://github.com/xCuri0/ReBarUEFI/assets/111957484/44326378-4305-42c2-ac85-db995aed9944

— Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub https://github.com/xCuri0/ReBarUEFI/issues/103#issuecomment-1857516395, or unsubscribe https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AHBJLVNX4MDWPQPIUUIAFUTYJQGQRAVCNFSM6AAAAABAOPZDSSVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43OSLTON2WKQ3PNVWWK3TUHMYTQNJXGUYTMMZZGU . You are receiving this because you were mentioned.Message ID: @.***>

[mojarrah]

@xCuri0 the thing I find very strange is when enabling 4g decoding. Then Even 1gb won't work

[Electron-PSO]

Do you get an improvement in performance with the 1GB or 2GB BAR Size?

[mojarrah]

Yes. Btw I found something

I had a thought, why is even 1gb not working when enabling 4g decoding

Tried everything, still don't work

Until, right now, I redid the mod but without the uefi patch and then enabled 4g decoding. Tried a value of 1gb. It works. It doesn't beep now. But when using value of 32. It loads windows but doesn't post to screen

[mojarrah]

@xCuri0 @Electron-PSO read above

[mojarrah]

@xCuri0 tried everything setup_var and everything else

Like what the heck!!!!

The only time it worked is when I applied 4g decoding and 32 value. Without uefi patch. It turns on and system loads but doesn't post on sceeen(black screen)

If I use the patch with 4g decoding enabled then it will beep

[xCuri0]

Try setup_var stuff without uefipatch then

On Fri, Dec 15, 2023, 8:55 PM Mohammad Jarrah @.***> wrote:

@xCuri0 https://github.com/xCuri0 tried everything setup_var and everything else

Like what the heck!!!!

The only time it worked is when I applied 4g decoding and 32 value. Without uefi patch. It turns on and system loads but doesn't post on sceeen(black screen)

If I use the patch with 4g decoding enabled then it will beep

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[mojarrah]

@xCuri0 should I change anything using setup var beside the 4g decoding enabled or disabled?

[xCuri0]

You already said there was several other things you can change

On Fri, Dec 15, 2023, 9:08 PM Mohammad Jarrah @.***> wrote:

@xCuri0 https://github.com/xCuri0 should I change anything using setup bar beside the 4g decoding enabled or disabled?

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[mojarrah]

Tried now with only 4g using setup var and without uefi patch

It boots but doesn't show anything on the screen