This is a brief guide on how to mod a bios. Specifically Award bios!
Although this guide could easily be adapted for Ami bios as well.
Disclaimer: I will not take any responsibility if something happens to your BIOS! This is a strictly "do at your own risk" mod. Modding the BIOS will probably kill any warranty you have on your mobo.
Saying that as long as you follow this walkthrough then things should go okay.
First we need a few tools. Specifically Cbrom for Award. You will have to figure out which Cbrom works with your bios version.
Download versions of Cbrom here.
Or there is an alternative program AwardMod, download it here. Although you will have to find another guide for it as I have never used it.
Cbrom215 is what I use for the XP333r which uses Version 6.0 Award bios.
Once you have the correct Cbrom downloaded then you should extract it to the C:drive (Root) in its own folder i.e. C:\Cbrom\Cbrom215.exe
Also the bios.bin file that you wish to modify has to be in the same folder (directory) as Cbrom215.exe.
To figure out if your version of Cbrom works with your bios, type this in your Start/Run (Command) line. C:\Cbrom\Cbrom215 xpr0411.bin /d Remember and edit the command line with your version of Cbrom215. Also edit the command line to your specific bios .bin file. Mines is xpr0411.bin yours will be different. (This will only work on Win/95/98Se/Me. If you using NT/2000/Xp then you gonna have to open a Dos box and type it in from there and edit it to lead to the correct path for the Cbrom.exe. Or (Easy method) what I do for Xp is use the Open Command box here tool that comes with WinXp Power Tools. Just right click on the Cbrom folder (directory) and choose Open Command box here. A Dos box opens and you just have to edit it to the correct command line. Its handy and saves a lot of hassle.
Once you have typed the command hit Enter and a Dos box will open telling you the Rom modules that are installed on your bios like this.
If on the other hand a Dos box like this opens then you have the wrong Cbrom version and should go here to get the correct version.
Patience and a bit of time is what is needed until you nail the correct Cbrom that you need for your specific bios and then it's plain sailing after that.
All bios are different so they will contain different Rom modules from one to the other.
These are just some of the possible names that the Rom modules could be called but really they could be called anything, they could also be stored under a different "Item-Name", for example.
FNT0 ROM u100b20.bin from ASUS CUBX-E motherboard
PCI driver[A] ulbios.bin from 694D Pro AR motherboard
PCI driver[B] rd131B16.bin from 694D Pro AR motherboard
OEM1 CODE u100b21.bin from ASUS A7V motherboard
Rom modules are sometimes quite hard to decipher. It really depends on what the different companies have named there Rom modules. For instance Epa IWillbmp.bmp is easily read as the (usually) Energy Star graphic in the top right hand side of your screen at boot. On the other hand who can tell what Fnto Rom.Acpi is? The only way to tell is to extract a copy and view it in a Hex editor (Or WordPad) in the hope that some text will give you an idea of what the Rom module is. For the most people that wish to mod there bios, like me usually are only interested in the Graphic Rom module (Epa.bmp) and the Raid bios Rom module (Raid Mobo's only), some hardcore bios rewriters will be interested in the Acpi Rom module as well to maybe unlock the hidden options in the bios. For now we will concentrate on the Graphic/Raid Rom module's.
Commands explained.
Extract is the safest command as it will extract a copy of any Rom module and leave the original untouched so that the bios is unaltered. Use this until you are sure you have the correct Rom module to release modify/replace.
Release will remove the Rom module out of the bios completely. Only use this command when you are satisfied you have the correct Rom module and you are sure you want to remove it altogether for modifying or replacing.
When you Extract/Release a Rom module it will appear in the same folder (directory) as Cbrom215.exe.
Remember only Release Rom modules if you are sure you know what they are. Otherwise it is best to Extract a copy out of the BIOS file. To extract a Rom module (without actually altering the BIOS file) use a command something like the following commands depending on what "Item-Name" the module is stored under.
Type C:\Cbrom\Cbrom215 xpr0411.BIN /Acpi extract
Type C:\Cbrom\Cbrom215 xpr0411.BIN /Pci extract
Type C:\Cbrom\Cbrom215 xpr0411.BIN /Epa extract
Rom Modules/Bios change from board to board so I can't give you the exact name for your Rom modules but I'm sure you will pick it up fairly quickly. Type in the command C:\Cbrom\Cbrom215 0411.BIN /Pci extract (or whatever is relevant to your bios) and hit Enter. A dos box will open asking you to type a file name. Like this.
Just press Enter again and a copy of the file will be extracted like this.
If a dos box opens with lots of Cbrom info like this,
then you have not typed the command correctly, you will have to retype until it tells you you are successful as above.
You will find your extracted Pci Rom bios372.232 in the same folder (directory) as Cbrom215.exe.
If you have opted for the Epa Rom IWillbmp.bmp (Graphic) then you will be able to view/edit the Epa graphic (in same folder (directory) as Cbrom215) with the help of the EPACoder program.
(Download here) EPACoder turns a regular bitmap into a bios compatible epa/bmp. There are certain colour and size restrictions to the epa that can be produced. All you do is open the Epa file from EPACoder program to view it, then convert it to a bmp file. Save it so that you can edit it in any graphics program. Remember and keep it to the same size and colours. Once it is edited then save it and open up EPACoder to view it. Convert it to Epa and now its ready for insertion into your bios.
To do the raid module you will have to download the relevant Windoze drivers for your Raid Controller. In the driver file download/folder (directory) there will be a raid bios version. Copy and Paste the raid bios.bin file into your Cbrom folder (directory).
WARNING!
When modding a raid bios you must have the same Windows drivers installed to your PC as the version of raid bios you will mod to your system bios. Mixing different versions of drivers & raid bios can end up in corrupt Hard Drives!
Now that you have your raid bios Rom module and/or your epa.bmp graphic Rom module ready for insertion, you must first remove the Rom modules that you wish to replace. The command is the same as above but replace Extract with Release at the end of the line, to permanently remove the Rom modules you wish to replace i.e.
Type C:\Cbrom\Cbrom215 xpr0411.BIN /Acpi release
Type C:\Cbrom\Cbrom215 xpr0411.BIN /Pci release
Type C:\Cbrom\Cbrom215 xpr0411.BIN /Epa release
When you have typed the command line to release the Rom module and hit Enter, a Dos box opens and confirms the Rom module is released. Like this.
You can verify this if you like by using the /D switch at the end of your command line. If all has gone well you will see that you are one Rom module less and hopefully the Rom module you wanted removed. Do the same procedure for the second (or other) Rom module(s).
Now all you need to do is inset your modified Rom module(s) into the BIOS file, again you use the same command line but instead of extract or release you just type the name of the file you want to install prefixed with the Rom module. Here's an example...
Type C:\Cbrom\Cbrom215 xpr0411.BIN /Acpi Acpitbl.bin
Type C:\Cbrom\Cbrom215 xpr0411.BIN /Pci bios372.232.bin
Type C:\Cbrom\Cbrom215 xpr0411.BIN /Epa IWillbmp.bmp
You should now have a new modified BIOS file that you can flash back into your motherboard with a program such as AWDFLASH (or whatever came with your motherboard/BIOS download). See my Custom Flash Bios page for an easy guide to flash your bios.
And that's it folks. Use this technique for anything you want to remove or add to the bios.
Hope my Quick and Dirty guide helps you.
