Middleton bios for T61p-6457

[pdrachman]

I have upgraded my Thinkpad T61p-6457 to Windows 7 pro x64, running 8GB ram and 120 GB Crucial M500 SSD.

The Bios currently running is 7LETC9WW (2.29) - 18/3/2011.

I followed the instruction posted on the internet to make middelton bootup CD - when i pressed the blue thinkvantage button and F12 it read the CD but the when onto loaded Windows as usual. Please explain what to do, in order to upload the new BIOS to enable SATA 3 speeds.

[Cigarguy]

Hit F12 at post, choose the CD drive as your boot drive and follow the prompts.

[pdrachman]

I did that and it didn't read the cd, but went onto boot up into Windows!

[dogbarber]

Maybe you got a bad burn.

Try burning another CD and retry.

[pdrachman]

Here are the instructions:

"There is no BIOS update for T61/T61p which you can flash under 64-bit Windows. Lenovo recommends the following:
"If Windows Vista or 7 64-bit is already installed on your system, then you must use the bootable CD ISO format
of this BIOS update".

Bootable CD-image is included in this package.

Important note: When you boot from this CD, BIOS update will start automatically.

Pay attention that there are two ISO images (#1 and #2) for the CTRL-FN swap version. Use "#1.iso" first.
If the CTRL-FN swap works properly after applying ISO #1, then everything is OK.
In case ISO #1 flash is successfully completed but the CTRL-FN swap doesn't work, you have to use ISO #2. "

I tried burning a "Bios update" and even though there are files on the cd, the T61p doesn't recognise this one!
So I tried burning "CTRL-FN" swap version #1 and it also didn't work!

I will try CTRL-FN swap version #2...

[dogbarber]

Why use a CD with other files in it?

From what I read, you've gotta be pretty careful with burning it.

Can you use a fresh CD?

[pdrachman]

Yes it is a fresh cd each time.

Question do I have to extract the iso file onto the cd or just copy the iso file directly to the cd?

Until now I extracted the files onto the cd.

[RealBlackStuff]

Download ImgBurn from www.imgburn.com and install it.
Then run ImgBurn and select your .iso file.
You don't copy .iso files! They are images, to be burned onto a CD.

[dogbarber]

Yep. There is your problem.

Use Imgburn and it definitely will work.

You can't simple click and drag iso's onto CD's.

[pdrachman]

OK - that software burned a CD successfully and it loaded up on start up!

However there was the following error message:

"Flashing code 99 (179) - Bit lock encryption is enabled - to update bios, you must temporarily dis-enable Bitlocker."

How do I do that please?

[RealBlackStuff]

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/libr ... 10%29.aspx

[pdrachman]

I turned it off in tpm.msc and then "installed" the Middleton bios -Version 7LETC9WW (2.29), which is yuo read above in the post was already installed. If it works at SATA 2 - does that mean that Crucial M500 should run at read speeds up to 500 Mbs and write speeds up to 130 Mbs - or if this only for SATA3 and SATA2 is half these speeds?

[Cigarguy]

I turned it off in tpm.msc and then "installed" the Middleton bios -Version 7LETC9WW (2.29), which is yuo read above in the post was already installed. If it works at SATA 2 - does that mean that Crucial M500 should run at read speeds up to 500 Mbs and write speeds up to 130 Mbs - or if this only for SATA3 and SATA2 is half these speeds?

That's SATA 3 speeds, SATA 2 is about half that speed. In normal day to day operation you will hardly notice the difference between SATA 2 and SATA 3. A SSD's biggest advantage is the much faster seek and latency time compared to a HDD. Just enjoy your Thinkpad and try not to fix it until it is broken.

[pdrachman]

OK.

Related RAM questions -

My T61p has been running 2X2GB PC2-5300 RAM and it runs at 333.5 Mhz - is that 667 MHz (for DDR2)?

I bought DDR2 2x4GB Hynix ram (PC2-6400) which should run at 800 MHz, but know that T61p will max out at 667 MHz - it that right?

Should it clock down from 800 MHz to 667 Mhz – that is 333.5 Mhz like the 2x2GB PC2-5300?

[Cigarguy]

yes

yes

and yes

[dogbarber]

I for one can't believe I actually knew what I was talking about for once. ;D

[studer58]

I've installed the Middleton Bios on my T61 (windows 7 Professional, 32 bit) in readiness before installing an SSD. Does the SATA speed increase apply to 32 bit as well as 64 bit operating sytems (I have no plans to upgrade to Win 7 or 8, 64 bit at this stage) ? Is there a way of checking whether the Middleton bios has been successfully installed, or do i need to wait until the SSD is loaded ?

[RealBlackStuff]

Welcome to the forum.
The SATA speed is set in the BIOS, hence it will work for ANY operating system.
To get the most out of it, set SATA in the BIOS to AHCI (and install related drivers if needed).
If you have run Middleton's BIOS-update without the machine crashing afterwards, it's working.
You won't see any visible difference between Lenovo and M's BIOS versions.