E6230 BIOS settings

[Hervé]

Last update: 15 Nov 2020

 

Here are BIOS settings that are known to work on the E6230 (Intel Ivy Bridge CPU with Intel HD4000 graphics) under Mavericks, Yosemite, El Capitan, Sierra, High Sierra, Mojave, Catalina and Big Sur. These settings were tested and verified with BIOS up to A20.

 

Boot Sequence:
. Diskette drive = Off
. Internal HDD = On
. USB Storage Device = On
. CD/DVD/CD-RW Drive = Off
. Onboard NIC = Off

. Boot List Option = Legacy for Chameleon bootloader/UEFI strongly recommended for Clover

System Configuration

. Integrated NIC = Enabled
. Parallel Port = Disabled (you may opt for any other options if required)
. Serial Port = COM1
. SATA Operation = AHCI
. Drives:

     * SATA-0 = On

     * SATA-4 = On

     * SATA-5 = On

. SMART Reporting:

     * Enable SMART Reporting = On or Off

. USB Configuration:

     * Enable Boot Support = On

     * Enable External USB Port = On

. USB PowerShare:

     * Enable USB PowerShare = On

. Unobtrusive Mode:

     * Enable Unobtrusive Mode = Off

. Keyboard illumination = Level is 100% or any other settings.  This applies to backlit keyboards only

. Miscellaneous Devices: 
     * Enable Microphone = On

     * Enable eSATA Ports = On

     * Enable Hard Drive Free Fall Protection = On

     * Enable ExpressCard = On

     * Enable Camera = On

     * Enable Media Card = On

Video:

. LCD Brightness = Max or whatever settings you prefer

. Dynamic Backlight Control = Disabled highly recommended

Security:

. Admin Password = not set
. System Password = not set
. Internal HDD-0 PW = not set

. Strong Password = Off
. Password Configuration = default settings
. Password Bypass = Disabled

. Password Change: Allow Non-admin Password Changes = selected

. Non-Admin Setup Changes = Off

. TPM Security = Off
. Computrace (R) = Deactivate

. CPU XD Support = enabled

. OROM Keyboard Access = Enable

. Admin Setup Lockout = Off

Secure Boot:

. Secure Boot Enable = Disabled

. Expert Key Management:

    * Enable Custom Mode = Off

    * Custom Mode Key Management = PK

Performance:

. Multi Core Support = All

. Intel (R) SpeedStep = Enabled
. C-States control = On
. Intel (R) TurboBoost = Enabled

. HyperThread Control = Enabled

. Rapid Start Technology = Disabled
Power Management:

. AC Behavior:

    * Wake on AC = Off

. Auto On Time = Disabled
. USB Wake Support = Off

. Wireless Radio Control:

     * Control WLAN radio = Off

     * Control WWAN radio = Off
. Wake on LAN/WLAN = Disabled

. Block Sleep = Off

. Primary Battery Charge Configuration = Express Charge (or any other choice)

. Battery Slice Charge Configuration = Standard (or any other choice)

. Intel (R) Smart Connect Technology = Off
POST Behavior:

. Adapter Warnings = Enabled
. Keypad (Embedded) = Fn Key Only
. Mouse/TouchPad = Touchpad/PS-2 Mouse
. Numlock Enable = On
. Fn Key Emulation = On

. POST hotkeys = Enable F12 Boot Option Menu
. Fast Boot = Minimal
Virtualization Support:

. Virtualization = Enabled

. VT for Direct I/O = Off (otherwise use Chameleon/Clover option dart=0)

. Trusted Execution = Off

Wireless:

. Wireless Switch:

     * WWAN = On

     * WLAN = On

     * Bluetooth = On

. Wireless Device Enable:

     * WWAN = On

     * WLAN = On

     * Bluetooth = On

 

[Hervé]

I noticed that, after upgrading BIOS to latest version A19, if the E6230 booted to black screen and then went rapidly into sleep, I had no graphics corruption on wake. I therefore extracted A19's raw BIOS tables and re-patched the DSDT.

 

I'm pleased to say that my E6230 can now boot without issue with the latest BIOS version. Copy attached below.

DSDT_A19.aml.zip

 

Patches applied:

• iGPU device renaming from VID to IGPU + injection of _DSM method for layout-id
• injection of PNLF device
• injection of AC device
• injection of IMEI device
• renaming of SD card reader device to SDXC + injection of compatibility with Apple's own reader
• renaming of WLAN mini-PCIe device to ARPT
• injection of _DSM methods in GLAN + EHCx + XHC devices
• injection of _DSM_method to HDEF device for codec id
• injection of power settings to EHCx and XHC devices
• injection of "Darwin" OS to _INI method to support USB3.0
• injection of IRQ NoFlags to HPET device
• revamping of _PWR methods to USB devices (EHC, XHC, USB)

 

[Hervé]

Graphics corruption is in fact due to Capri Framebuffer's layout 0x01660003 having a default memory size set at 16MB. Patching this down to 8MB solves the graphics corruption issue with all BIOS versions post A11. Patch is detailed in my E6230 guide.

[Hervé]

Updated to BIOS A20 and all runs Ok (with A19 patched DSDT).