BIOS Update Utility - T61

[Frankenstien]

Hey all ... is there a way to fool the Lenovo BIOS Update Utility ('7luj28us.exe' in this case, for XP Pro SP 3) into thinking there is a charged battery pack installed so that the utility can proceed with the flashing of the BIOS? I am willing to risk an AC failure.

FYI - I have a total of 5 different BIOS-related EXE's to work with ([the main update utility mentioned above], Settings CapturePlayback Utility, Setup Menu Extension Utility for the Resetting the Cryptographic Key and the Erasing of the Solid State Drive for DOS, ThinkPad BIOS Settings for Windows XP & BIOS Update Bootable CD for Windows XP - ThinkPad T61) ... the last one is a bootable CD image ... will I run into the same battery pack requirement problem with it?

And, are any of the others worth bothering with?

Thanks, FFF

[twistero]

A charged battery pack is required if you use any official flashing tool provided by Lenovo. If you want to flash BIOS without a battery, you can try using the generic flasher for Phoenix BIOS: "winphlash" under windows, or "phlash16" under a DOS boot disk. I'm not certain they can handle the compressed BIOS images distributed by Lenovo, however.

[RealBlackStuff]

Look into Middleton's BIOS, highly recommended!
http://forum.notebookreview.com/lenovo/ ... ost6501443

[TuuS]

I hope you realize that you're risking destroying your system board if there is any interruption in power... I think if I were you I'd get a battery, even a used one or cheap generic, but good luck if you try to proceed with winplash.exe which I do believe can do it.

[Frankenstien]

Hey guys ... I appreciate the help ...

I see Lenovo's 'BIOS Update Utility - ThinkPad T61', when ran, unpacked to: C:\DRIVERS\FLASH\7luj28us

I can see WinPhlash.exe sitting there ... however, the uncertainty of its' standalone ability to handle the Lenovo compressed BIOS image (expressed by twistero) gives me pause, as does TuuS' caution.

RealBlackStuff, your recommendation of middleton's BIOS is a revelation (SATA-II support for my new Hitachi HTS723232A7A364 7,200 RPM SATA-II HDD!), thanks for that. However, the same EXE is utilized (WINUPTP.EXE) and stops at the same battery caution.

Tom. I'll have to look into a new generic battery locally (IBI) - I can get a 71Wh 9 Cell Li-Ion for 38.40 .

Thanks again eh? ... FFF

[RealBlackStuff]

I have made an 'extension cord' for the T6x/R6x/X6x and higher series, using the connectors from a broken motherboard and from a bad battery.
Using that cable, I can use any battery that has the same connector, whether it fits in the laptop or not.
Saved my butt many times!

[Frankenstien]

Ahhhh ... good one RBS ... I've got a dud 92P1138 / 42T4504 battery I could pull apart (no broken m/b's though) ... I guess all I need to do is supply 10.8VDC at a minimum of 3A capacity through the battery connector ... or ... just go get the battery I mentioned earlier ... I was kinda' thinkin' about getting a new one for this thing anyways ... FFF

[twistero]

Ahhhh ... good one RBS ... I've got a dud 92P1138 / 42T4504 battery I could pull apart (no broken m/b's though) ... I guess all I need to do is supply 10.8VDC at a minimum of 3A capacity through the battery connector ... or ... just go get the battery I mentioned earlier ... I was kinda' thinkin' about getting a new one for this thing anyways ... FFF

That probably won't work. The battery actively communicates with the computer, so simply supplying current is not enough.
That said, it seems like winphlash does work with the compressed BIOS images:

http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/T61-and-pri ... rue#M56026

For the t61 lenovo I renamed the $01af000.fl1 to bios.rom and I renamed the $01af000.fl2 to platform.bin. Then use the winphlash tool that is apart of the bios update download from lenovo (it is in the folder you download). I browsed to the bios.rom file and ran the update with out problems. the system rebooted and came up normaly. I had the same problem with a battery error and this got around it.

Of course you run the risk of power interruption and a bricked computer, but it's your call.

[Frankenstien]

twistero ... jbabe3909's no-battery BIOS flash workaround (exactly as described) did the trick ... thanks for that eh?

I now have middleton's 2.29(-1.08) (7LETC9WW), 2011-03-18 BIOS flashed to this T61.

I'm curious to test SATA-II HDD performance levels ... any suggestions for most appropriate utility(ies)?

Thanks, FFF

1723PDT25SEP12 edit - I tried HD Tach 3.0.4.0 and got 229.3 MB/s Burst Speed for 'Quick bench (8mb zones)' & 217.2 MB/s Burst Speed for 'Long bench (32mb zones)' ... about par for the course I suppose.

[cadillacmike68]

@Frankenstein; You don't have a UPS?

@RBS; got a pic of that contraption for us?

[Frankenstien]

cm68 ... yeah I do ... but every time I need it to work, it seems to want another lead-acid battery ... it's an old APC BACK-UPS 500 ... anyways, I'm in B.C., Canada ... where the power's never black ... or even brown (I wish that were true!).

[cadillacmike68]

cm68 ... yeah I do ... but every time I need it to work, it seems to want another lead-acid battery ... it's an old APC BACK-UPS 500 ... anyways, I'm in B.C., Canada ... where the power's never black ... or even brown (I wish that were true!).

Yeah, one of mine died (APC 500 VA as well). I had to give mine to my wife, but then i bought her a more modern one. They don't last forever, and while the battery is supposed to re replaceable, in practice it's not worth it. and I hardly ever used mine. Oh well. and when they go, they go.

[pcapex]

http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/T61-and-pri ... rue#M56026

For the t61 lenovo I renamed the $01af000.fl1 to bios.rom and I renamed the $01af000.fl2 to platform.bin. Then use the winphlash tool that is apart of the bios update download from lenovo (it is in the folder you download). I browsed to the bios.rom file and ran the update with out problems. the system rebooted and came up normaly. I had the same problem with a battery error and this got around it.

Of course you run the risk of power interruption and a bricked computer, but it's your call.[/quote]

Thanks for the above info, twistero and others!!!

I just reconditioned a poor, lonely, bad display (the inverter board, I think), battery-less "t400 lenovo" and the last step was the BIOS update with a test install of Windows 8, etc.

Basically *BEFORE* investing more time AND money into the t400 lenovo unit, I wanted to give the BIOS upgrade a shot and it worked using the "file-renaming" tip for the "$01B8200.FL1/.FL2" files then utilizing the winphlash tool. Now, I can move forward with a memory upgrade and a battery replacement purchases $$$.

Quick Summary of Steps:
- t400 lenovo unit w/o a battery running an unactivated Windows 8 Enterprise (for testing purposes...)
- downloaded 7uuj49u6.exe from lenovo support and unzipped
- renamed c:\drivers\flash\7uuj49u6\7uet94ww\$01B8200.FL1 => BIOS.ROM
- renamed c:\drivers\flash\7uuj49u6\7uet94ww\$01B8200.FL2 => PLATFORM.ROM
- executed c:\drivers\flash\7uuj49u6\WinPhlash64.exe and pointed to the above mentioned dirs
- voila! I now have BIOS update 7UET94WW (3.24) successfully installed!

Lastly, a side note, the t400 unit has all device drivers successfully installed and working (except for the fingerprint sensor which may not install by choice ).

Thanks

[siemer]

I added my experience on this thread (should be page 3, user “siemer”):

http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/T61-and-pri ... 772/page/3

The winphlash method works, but I had but it didn’t update the Embedded Controller “by itself”.

[cadillacmike68]

Look into Middleton's BIOS, highly recommended!
http://forum.notebookreview.com/lenovo/ ... ost6501443

OK, which of these is the correct one(s) for a T61 with the 15" widescreen, a T61 with the 14" normal (4:3) screen (XGA) and a 14" 4:3 screen SXGA+ screen, i.e my T61s that are listed below? Thanks.

Actually the two 15" widescreens should already have Middleton's BIOS, so it's just the 14" 4:3 ones, the 8898-AGM and the 8897-03U SXGA+.

[RealBlackStuff]

It's very clearly indicated there!
EVERY T61/T61p uses the same M-BIOS.

[cadillacmike68]

^^ If there was period or semicolon after the p in T61p I would agree, but there isn't.

[cadillacmike68]

^^ If there was period or semicolon after the p in T61p I would agree, but there isn't. It makes it look like three machines with widescreens and some IEEE whatever took a certain version. At least to me it does.

What is the CTL-FN Swap for, swapping the Control and Function (blue Fn) keys?

If I don't want them swapped, do not use the CTL-FN Swap version?

[RealBlackStuff]

Hmmm, playing in a sandbox under the hot sun must be racking your brain.
Did you see T61 or T61p mentioned anywhere else? NO.
And for CTRL-FN Swap info, click on its column header.

[cadillacmike68]

Hmmm, playing in a sandbox under the hot sun must be racking your brain.
Did you see T61 or T61p mentioned anywhere else? NO.
And for CTRL-FN Swap info, click on its column header.

Ha Ha!

It was almost that hot here on Thursday, especially since I had to work on a car with a hot engine. Burned my hands a couple times, but that's another story. I think I know which one to use now. Thanks.