Possible Method How To Bypass "WRONG MACHINE!" Message On A Qosmio G35-AV650

[Xiphias3]

How To Bypass "WRONG MACHINE!" Message On A Qosmio G35-AV650

Disclaimer

===================================

This method involves modifying the contents of 3 files on the Toshiba Recovery DVD #1.

Use at your own risk.

Intro

===================================

Ill keep this short. I downloaded a BIOS update for the lappy to install Windows Vista.

After the update, it changed the "System Model" DMI string from "Qosmio G35" to

"Portable PC." Im sure you all know what that means - Toshiba Recovery DVDs

became useless. Ive looked all over the interwebs and could not find an answer of how to

bypass the "WRONG MACHINE!" error without actually rewriting data, so i decided to fool with

the DVDs.

Im glad to say that I was able to get around this message in both Windows and boot up.

Here's what must be done. BTW, my laptop is pretty much useless. GPU is fried, youll see it

under Toshiba GPU Repair Program on their site, plus DMI strings got screwed by BIOS update.

Thank you Toshiba! :) This is mostly by memory also...

Also, you'll need a DVD Image editing app and understand how to make a bootable DVD by

using the same boot data from the Tos Recov DVD. I used Ultra ISO, and it worked great.

Ill also throw in comments incase less techy people read this. I did testing in a Virtual Machine

as well on the laptop itself. The option used was the Out-Of-Box state, or something along that line.

Bypass "WRONG MACHINE!" Error In Windows

===================================

When in Windows, youll get an error similar to this (remember that pics arnt from laptop):

This is actually quite easy to "fix". Open INSTALL.INI on the DVD and change "ModelID" string from

"Qosmio G35" as said in the warning dialog, to the "System Model" string of the laptop - in my case "Portable PC."

(You can find out your "System Model" by running "dxdiag" and looking at "System Model" on the first tab.)

That should solve your Windows based problems.

Bypass "WRONG MACHINE!" Error At Booting

===================================

You need to bypass 2 DMI checks for this to work, which can be done in a few

different ways. This is my way, modifying 2 files.

Open "START.BAT" in BASE.ISO\BIN and look for the label ":RECSTART", which

obviously means Recovery Start.

Here's what going down for this DMI check:

If the file "Models.bat" exists goto MachChk, i.e. the line ":MachChk"

Otherwise, goto ":BadMach", show "WRONG MACHINE!" error and turn off computer, (":OFF")

when user presses Exit button.

Execute "Models.bat". This file contains the Model name that must match the Model name stored

in the laptop's DMI string.

This is what is in Models.bat:

@set MODELS="Qosmio G35"

Another approach to bypassing this DMI check would be to modify Models.bat and change it

to:

@set MODELS="Portable PC"

However, i did not modify this file as i did it another way as you will soon see.

The variable MODELS is set after Models.bat executes.

GetModel32 is executed to check if the laptop's Model matches the MODELS variable.

(%MODELS%is used for string representation)

(If you want the help dialog, just run G:\BIN>GETMODEL32.EXE /? )

errorlevel 0 == Succesful

errorlevel 1 == "Other errors"

errorlevel 2 == Value cannot be set

If errorlevel is 1, i.e. "Other Error", i.e. Laptop Model does not match MODELS variable, goto

:BadMach, show WRONG MACHINE! error and turn off Laptop after user presses Exit.

That's pretty much the gist of it. I bypassed this error by doing the following:

The line:

%SYSTEMDRIVE%\BIN\banner32 PRESS OK /N "&OK"

is just left there for the sake of not modifying too much. All this does is show "PRESS OK"

instead of "WRONG MACHINE!". You can see how to use Banner32.exe by running it. Its

obviously located in the BIN dir on the DVD.

The line:

REM ---->>>> goto OFF

is just there once again to not change too much. In technicality it aint there. REM means REMark. Anything

after REM is ignored - comments if you may. I REM the line because i know why im getting here - the Model

names dont match. By REMing goto OFF, execution will continue into ":NamePass" which pretty much means

"this is the right laptop so go ahead with the recovery."

Open RECOVERY.BAT in the BIN folder on the DVD. Find the line ":DMICHECK."

This is what you'll see:

":MODECHECK" is where we wanna go. Common sense really. There are 3 possible places/labels to go to.

1) ERREND

2) MODECHECK

3) ERREND_OTHER

Basic logic (and testing with a VM) obviously points to MODECHECK because the other 2 are errors that will turn off the laptop. The

programming aspect is pretty much irrelevant here. This is what I now have:

The line,

DMI.EXE /CMD=CMP

most likely sets the ERRORLEVEL. CMP GETs DMI info and then compares it.

Look at the help by typing,

G:\BIN>DMI.EXE /?

That should do it.

Remake your Recovery DVD #1 with UltraISO (or w/e) and test it out. Make sure the boot image is also

included or the DVD wont be recognized during boot.

Edited January 23, 2009 by Xiphias3

[Guest Jeff]

Hi,

I spent 12 hours yesterday trying to restore my Qosmio G35-AV600 back to WINXP form Vista. I've updated the BIOS, so my DMI information was changed and thus differed from the restore CDs. I tried all the DMI updates to no avail (no floppy drive, so I was trying bootable USBs and CDS...nothing worked). Then I tried this solution over and over again to get the CD to boot and then I finally got it to boot only (I was using Ultra ISO) to get an acpi.sys error or something like that after the RAM drive was finished installing. I was frustrated. Then I started looking at the first restore CD and trying all the .exe files (it was late 1am and I was grasping at straws at this point). Then I found, right in the route of the first restore CD, a file called: chgdmi.exe. I ran it, typed in Qosmio G35 (the original dmi info of the laptop) and volia! A 10 second solution.

I hope this works for others and saves time.

Cheers!

Jeff

How To Bypass "WRONG MACHINE!" Message On A Qosmio G35-AV650

Disclaimer

===================================

This method involves modifying the contents of 3 files on the Toshiba Recovery DVD #1.

Use at your own risk.

Intro

===================================

Ill keep this short. I downloaded a BIOS update for the lappy to install Windows Vista.

After the update, it changed the "System Model" DMI string from "Qosmio G35" to

"Portable PC." Im sure you all know what that means - Toshiba Recovery DVDs

became useless. Ive looked all over the interwebs and could not find an answer of how to

bypass the "WRONG MACHINE!" error without actually rewriting data, so i decided to fool with

the DVDs.

Im glad to say that I was able to get around this message in both Windows and boot up.

Here's what must be done. BTW, my laptop is pretty much useless. GPU is fried, youll see it

under Toshiba GPU Repair Program on their site, plus DMI strings got screwed by BIOS update.

Thank you Toshiba! :) This is mostly by memory also...

Also, you'll need a DVD Image editing app and understand how to make a bootable DVD by

using the same boot data from the Tos Recov DVD. I used Ultra ISO, and it worked great.

Ill also throw in comments incase less techy people read this. I did testing in a Virtual Machine

as well on the laptop itself. The option used was the Out-Of-Box state, or something along that line.

Bypass "WRONG MACHINE!" Error In Windows

===================================

When in Windows, youll get an error similar to this (remember that pics arnt from laptop):

This is actually quite easy to "fix". Open INSTALL.INI on the DVD and change "ModelID" string from

"Qosmio G35" as said in the warning dialog, to the "System Model" string of the laptop - in my case "Portable PC."

(You can find out your "System Model" by running "dxdiag" and looking at "System Model" on the first tab.)

That should solve your Windows based problems.

Bypass "WRONG MACHINE!" Error At Booting

===================================

You need to bypass 2 DMI checks for this to work, which can be done in a few

different ways. This is my way, modifying 2 files.

Open "START.BAT" in BASE.ISO\BIN and look for the label ":RECSTART", which

obviously means Recovery Start.

Here's what going down for this DMI check:

If the file "Models.bat" exists goto MachChk, i.e. the line ":MachChk"

Otherwise, goto ":BadMach", show "WRONG MACHINE!" error and turn off computer, (":OFF")

when user presses Exit button.

Execute "Models.bat". This file contains the Model name that must match the Model name stored

in the laptop's DMI string.

This is what is in Models.bat:

@set MODELS="Qosmio G35"

Another approach to bypassing this DMI check would be to modify Models.bat and change it

to:

@set MODELS="Portable PC"

However, i did not modify this file as i did it another way as you will soon see.

The variable MODELS is set after Models.bat executes.

GetModel32 is executed to check if the laptop's Model matches the MODELS variable.

(%MODELS%is used for string representation)

(If you want the help dialog, just run G:\BIN>GETMODEL32.EXE /? )

errorlevel 0 == Succesful

errorlevel 1 == "Other errors"

errorlevel 2 == Value cannot be set

If errorlevel is 1, i.e. "Other Error", i.e. Laptop Model does not match MODELS variable, goto

:BadMach, show WRONG MACHINE! error and turn off Laptop after user presses Exit.

That's pretty much the gist of it. I bypassed this error by doing the following:

The line:

%SYSTEMDRIVE%\BIN\banner32 PRESS OK /N "&OK"

is just left there for the sake of not modifying too much. All this does is show "PRESS OK"

instead of "WRONG MACHINE!". You can see how to use Banner32.exe by running it. Its

obviously located in the BIN dir on the DVD.

The line:

REM ---->>>> goto OFF

is just there once again to not change too much. In technicality it aint there. REM means REMark. Anything

after REM is ignored - comments if you may. I REM the line because i know why im getting here - the Model

names dont match. By REMing goto OFF, execution will continue into ":NamePass" which pretty much means

"this is the right laptop so go ahead with the recovery."

Open RECOVERY.BAT in the BIN folder on the DVD. Find the line ":DMICHECK."

This is what you'll see:

":MODECHECK" is where we wanna go. Common sense really. There are 3 possible places/labels to go to.

1) ERREND

2) MODECHECK

3) ERREND_OTHER

Basic logic (and testing with a VM) obviously points to MODECHECK because the other 2 are errors that will turn off the laptop. The

programming aspect is pretty much irrelevant here. This is what I now have:

The line,

DMI.EXE /CMD=CMP

most likely sets the ERRORLEVEL. CMP GETs DMI info and then compares it.

Look at the help by typing,

G:\BIN>DMI.EXE /?

That should do it.

Remake your Recovery DVD #1 with UltraISO (or w/e) and test it out. Make sure the boot image is also

included or the DVD wont be recognized during boot.

[Guest Ariyl]

Hi,

I spent 12 hours yesterday trying to restore my Qosmio G35-AV600 back to WINXP form Vista. I've updated the BIOS, so my DMI information was changed and thus differed from the restore CDs. I tried all the DMI updates to no avail (no floppy drive, so I was trying bootable USBs and CDS...nothing worked). Then I tried this solution over and over again to get the CD to boot and then I finally got it to boot only (I was using Ultra ISO) to get an acpi.sys error or something like that after the RAM drive was finished installing. I was frustrated. Then I started looking at the first restore CD and trying all the .exe files (it was late 1am and I was grasping at straws at this point). Then I found, right in the route of the first restore CD, a file called: chgdmi.exe. I ran it, typed in Qosmio G35 (the original dmi info of the laptop) and volia! A 10 second solution.

I hope this works for others and saves time.

Cheers!

Jeff

[Guest Ariyl]

Jeff, THANKS! Thanks so much! You should mention that it may be necessary to run "chgdmi.exe" as Administrator.

[Guest alfamartin27]

ENGLISH :

HOLA JEFF GREATLY thank you for helping us

With this method solved the problem of MI QOSMIO G35 AV600

Not even did not recognize my laptop hard drives,

i had installed a Linux-based system had been erased and all disks (logical partitions, STARTERS, ETC DMI)

START THE MACHINE WITH A USB

"http://www.hiren.info/pages/bootcd-on-usb-disk"

is an boot for usb or cd in dos or xp

I wonder if the other method you can customize the installation of Windows and applications on the Qosmio G35,

remove applications like one note, quickbooks so that I do not occupy

Thank you and May God bless you IN THE NAME OF JESUS ...

ESPAÑOL:

HOLA JEFF TE AGRADEZCO GRANDEMENTE HABERNOS AYUDADO

,CON ESTE METODO RESOLVI EL PROBLEMA DE MI QOSMIO G35 AV600

MI LAPTOP NO RECONOCIA NISIQUIERA LOS DISCOS DUROS, LE HABIA INSTALADO UN SISTEMA BASADO EN LINUX Y SE HABIA BORRADO TODOS LOS DISCOS(PARTICIONES LOGICAS, ARRANQUES, DMI ETC)

ARRANQUE LA MAQUINA CON UNA USB

"http://www.hiren.info/pages/bootcd-on-usb-disk"

me gustaria saber si con el otro metodo se puede personalizar la instalacion de Windows y aplicaciones en la Qosmio G35,

quitarle aplicaciones como one note , quickbooks etc , que yo no ocupo

GRACIAS A TODOS Y QUE DIOS LES BENDIGA EN EL NOMBRE DE JESUS...

[Guest chris]

Is it possible that you will upload chgdmi.exe somewhere, because i can't find it on my restore disc

ENGLISH :

HOLA JEFF GREATLY thank you for helping us

With this method solved the problem of MI QOSMIO G35 AV600

Not even did not recognize my laptop hard drives,

i had installed a Linux-based system had been erased and all disks (logical partitions, STARTERS, ETC DMI)

START THE MACHINE WITH A USB

"http://www.hiren.info/pages/bootcd-on-usb-disk"

is an boot for usb or cd in dos or xp

I wonder if the other method you can customize the installation of Windows and applications on the Qosmio G35,

remove applications like one note, quickbooks so that I do not occupy

Thank you and May God bless you IN THE NAME OF JESUS ...

ESPAÑOL:

HOLA JEFF TE AGRADEZCO GRANDEMENTE HABERNOS AYUDADO

,CON ESTE METODO RESOLVI EL PROBLEMA DE MI QOSMIO G35 AV600

MI LAPTOP NO RECONOCIA NISIQUIERA LOS DISCOS DUROS, LE HABIA INSTALADO UN SISTEMA BASADO EN LINUX Y SE HABIA BORRADO TODOS LOS DISCOS(PARTICIONES LOGICAS, ARRANQUES, DMI ETC)

ARRANQUE LA MAQUINA CON UNA USB

"http://www.hiren.info/pages/bootcd-on-usb-disk"

me gustaria saber si con el otro metodo se puede personalizar la instalacion de Windows y aplicaciones en la Qosmio G35,

quitarle aplicaciones como one note , quickbooks etc , que yo no ocupo

GRACIAS A TODOS Y QUE DIOS LES BENDIGA EN EL NOMBRE DE JESUS...

[Guest ALFAMARTIN27]

Is it possible that you will upload chgdmi.exe somewhere, because i can't find it on my restore disc

http://www.mediafire.com/?zmwiwignmrn

Download it and run CHGDMI.exe,

This changes the pattern recorded on your hard drive must match the model that comes with the original DVD (in my case was Gosmio G35)

[dashbour]

Thanks, thanks, thanks, I don’t know how much to thanks you all I was able to use this forum to fix my machine... A week ago I tried restoring my machine and got the WRONG MACHINE error. I contact Toshiba support and was told I have to send my machine with a payment of $425.00.Thanks again…

[Guest 1]

Thanks, thanks, thanks, I don’t know how much to thanks you all I was able to use this forum to fix my machine... A week ago I tried restoring my machine and got the WRONG MACHINE error. I contact Toshiba support and was told I have to send my machine with a payment of $425.00.Thanks again…

can you upload chgdmi.exe somewhere?

[Guest Shawn]

This is a great idea, but in my case I don't have any version of Windows remaining on the box. So, I'm trying to boot to a DOS prompt and run the chgdmi.exe file, but keep getting a message that this file can't be run in DOS mode. How can I get around this, or create a boot disk that will run this file?

[Guest mike]

Thank you for your help with this. The only solution that I have found for this.