ToastyX, can you help me? (EDID recovery)

[falkentyne]

I got my Mstar ISP unit and was experimenting to see it could flash monitors besides those with Mstar chips (and yes, it can. There are other ISP units that can flash realtek and other chips too). So I backed up one of my two VG248QE firmwares and then decided to test bricking by flashing a XL2420Z firmware into it

Yep, deader than a doorknob. Power light didn't even function (stuck in standby orange).

So I flashed the backed up VG248QE firmware and sure enough, it recovered and the Asus logo appeared right up and the monitor was still in burn in mode (I had set it in there before). All my settings were the same as before, but I had to hard AC power cycle (2 of the buttons were not working until I did that).

Worked perfectly. But there was 1 problem.

When I used the DVI port it said it was an XL2420Z!
(but over displayport it said VG248).
And the default refresh rates (native and in CRU) were from xl2420Z (no 85hz).

It seems like the VG248QE does not have EDID information in its firmware while the XL series does. I tested this again by flashing an XL2720Z firmware into the VG248. and sure enough after flashing back and reviving the VG248, it had an XL2720Z ID in DVI (with the default refresh rates 59, 60, 75 (italics), 100, 120 and 144.

If I may ask, is there a way I can get the EDID from the 2nd VG248QE and reflash the first one's EDID? I heard it's possible with Linux and I'll try that if necessary. Powerstrip isn't working for me. Entech told me I need the newest build (then they would send me a key to unlock edid flashing) but the newest build doesn't even start up (the power strip icon appears at bottom right but the menus don't appear).

Am I out of luck unless I use Linux?

(yes I know what you're thinking: "why?)

Well, I'm doing Alchemy with spare monitors, I was just testing brick recovery with a retired monitor, so I could see if flashing an XL2420Z firmware into an XL2720Z would work as a crossflash (assuming the monitors have identical electronics)--the reason being for people with XL2420Z's to be able to flash the XL2720Z V5 firmware to get the "AMA low" blur reduction mode (doesn't exist in the 24" models). But first I would need to test the XL2720Z into XL2420Z flash first as a guinea pig. Assuming I don't somehow damage the backlight LED's if the flashes are compatible but the voltages are wrong (the scalers are identical).

[ToastyX]

I'm not sure how it got changed in the first place. Normally the EDID is write-protected on the VG248QE, so I'm not sure if you can easily change it back without a hardware modification, and you'll also need an older video card: http://www.blurbusters.com/zero-motion-b...dware-mod/

Maybe you can try hex-editing the XL2420Z firmware file and replace all the EDIDs in the file with the VG248QE DVI EDID. Then hopefully it will have the correct EDID when you flash it back with the VG248QE firmware. EDIDs always start with 00 FF FF FF FF FF FF 00 and are 256 bytes with the extension block. You can get the original EDID from the other VG248QE using MonInfo. Save it as a .bin file to get the raw bytes.

[falkentyne]

(10-17-2015 05:11 AM)ToastyX Wrote:  I'm not sure how it got changed in the first place. Normally the EDID is write-protected on the VG248QE, so I'm not sure if you can easily change it back without a hardware modification, and you'll also need an older video card: http://www.blurbusters.com/zero-motion-b...dware-mod/

Maybe you can try hex-editing the XL2420Z firmware file and replace all the EDIDs in the file with the VG248QE DVI EDID. Then hopefully it will have the correct EDID when you flash it back with the VG248QE firmware. EDIDs always start with 00 FF FF FF FF FF FF 00 and are 256 bytes with the extension block. You can get the original EDID from the other VG248QE using MonInfo. Save it as a .bin file to get the raw bytes.

Thank you, I'll try that later.

But why wouldn't there be any EDID information in the dumped firmware?

ToastyX,can I send you over the RAW firmware file for the VG248QE? (if there's a way to send it to you). And why wouldn't the edid information be in the dumped firmware, when it is saved and dumped in the Benq firmware (I tested the backup the mstar unit made and its byte for byte identical to the one benq supplies to some people if they ask...except the backup files are always 2 MB with FF byted empty space at the end.

(To clarify I went through the dumped VG248QE firmware and there was no mention of "EDID" anywhere in the bin file.

However there were several sections with "EDID" in the Benq, so the Benq somehow saves the EDID in the firmware when you dump it.
Yet the VG248QE doesn't). Pretty strange...

I'll dump it later.