[REQ] CX640 Unlocked BIOS

Question

Hello Svet,
I found an older thread for the same model (CX640) here:
https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?topic=157646.0
I am curious to know if this custom BIOS was successfully implemented?
I recently purchased a refurbished CX640 with a 3 month warranty.
It came pre-installed with Windows 7, but I prefer Vista so I clean
installed Vista Ultimate 64 bit. Everything works except for the hybrid graphics 520m NVIDIA card
(Code 10 error in device manager, installer says no compatible graphics card detected).
This seems like a common problem and I've tried about every solution I can find on Google
but nothing has worked yet (using custom inf, driver sweep, EC reset, install XP drivers, re-install windows, etc) .
Sometimes I can get the card to appear in device manager with no error in Safemode, but even then the installer does not work.
The Intel HD graphics card works fine.
I am still under the warranty period, but I don't think that technical support can help me with this.
I suspect that the card is being restricted to Windows 7 in the BIOS, but I can't see it myself
so do you know if it is possible to enable the graphics card to work in Vista through the BIOS?
(NVIDIA support site also mentions enabling “Assign IRQ to VGA” in the BIOS to fix the Code 10 error)
System Model: CX640 (MS-16Y1)
BIOS Version: E16Y1IMS.300
EC Version: 16Y1WMS1.52

Answer 1

Hello Svet,
Short Report:
I was able to successfully apply this BIOS MOD!
Thank you!
Long Report:
First time I applied this MOD I got a BSOD during the update.
Notebook would no longer boot after this.
The reason for BSOD can be too many to speculate.
After some days of painstaking trial and error I was finally able to boot again into Windows Vista by
renaming your custom ROM to BIOS.ROM (from a separate computer of course), putting it on a USB stick,
plugging it into the right side USB 2.0 port (left side 3.0 does not work for this)
then pressing CTRL + HOME at boot up, which brought me to the "Crisis Update" screen.
This is similar to other APTIOS -based BIOS recovery methods.
Keyboard does not work in "Crisis Update" for some reason, external USB keyboard also does not work.
So a recovery flash this way is impossible. Legacy USB was never disabled in original BIOS so I do not know why it does not work.
However, unplugging the AC adapter and letting the battery drain to a low level
the "Crisis Update" screen will then give an error saying the battery is too low to recover BIOS
and automatically exit, and then miraculously Windows Vista loads like normal
(at this point the BIOS is still broken, so upon restart the above procedure must be repeated in order to boot the OS again).
With this method,  I re-applied your ROM and it flashed with no problem the second time around, I restarted and my system was fully recovered
I hope that this information helps other CX640 users or other users with a similar setup.
About the 520m graphic card issue:
As I suspected I found Windows Vista-specific settings that were hidden in the BIOS, but I am not sure which need to be changed.
I am still somewhat traumatized from the complete system failure that I am weary to change unfamiliar BIOS settings.
I found a "Vista Only" option for native PCI-E support recently in the Advanced chipset menu.
The initial option was "disabled" and so I set it to "enabled" and then another "Vista-Only" option magically appears for ASPM.
I have a feeling it has something to do with this. If you can provide me with some insight to this, I would greatly appreciate it,
but if not I guess I will have to continue to investigate on my own.
I know that the 520m graphic card is not broken because booting the notebook with Windows 7 the card works perfectly.
Also, after upgrading the original DDR3-1066 2GB RAM to DDR3-1333 8GB (broke warranty sticker)
Vista feels like it has gained a significant performance gain over Windows 7, so I still prefer to run Vista over Win 7 for now