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Need help(!) Middleton BIOS T61 Windows 10?

T60/T61 Series
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markg2
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Need help(!) Middleton BIOS T61 Windows 10?

#1 Post by markg2 » Mon Jul 24, 2017 10:43 am

I've attempted to flash a necessary third party BIOS (Middleton) to a Lenovo T61 (was Vista, then Win7, now Win10)

1) Existing, OEM mechanical drive and Win7: Middleton error 99 (179)--disable Bitlocker
2) Existing drive Win 10: Middleton error 99 (179)--disable Bitlocker
3) Clean SSD, clean Win 10: Middleton error 99 (179)--disable Bitlocker

I have never used Bitlocker on any machine let alone the T61.

The current Services status of BDESVC (Bitlocker Drive Encryption Service) is 'Stopped'. There is no more definitive off status available.

I have one suggestion--Disable the security chip in the BIOS. Middleton may think same is Bitlocker?

I attempted this when I still had Win7 on the machine. I'm not certain if this was the cause but the machine because unusable automatically going to the Lenovo splash screen to a BSOD.

The only alternative that logically exists is, using a specific tool to remove Bitlocker from the OS but that effort would have to be 100% clean and not have unintended consequences.

I'm also having a bit of a confusion understanding is I really need the Lenovo installer (and where it is) or if I just can boot directly from a CD drive and no installer?

Any ideas?

Mark

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Re: Need help(!) Middleton BIOS T61 Windows 10?

#2 Post by RealBlackStuff » Mon Jul 24, 2017 11:04 am

Use the bootable CD version of M's BIOS and remove the hard disk before you flash.
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Re: Need help(!) Middleton BIOS T61 Windows 10?

#3 Post by ajkula66 » Mon Jul 24, 2017 11:06 am

markg2 wrote:
Mon Jul 24, 2017 10:43 am

Any ideas?
Flash the BIOS by booting it from a live ISO CD/DVD and leave the OS completely out of the equation.
...Knowledge is a deadly friend when no one sets the rules...(King Crimson)

Cheers,

George (your grouchy retired FlexView farmer)

One FlexView to rule them all: A31p

Abused daily: T520, X200s


PMs requesting personal tech support will be ignored.

markg2
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Re: Need help(!) Middleton BIOS T61 Windows 10?

#4 Post by markg2 » Mon Jul 24, 2017 12:35 pm

Thanks’ to the both of you.

Regarding the thread:
A caveat before proceeding. I know enough to know where to seek help and follow most directions. I get into a pickle ½ the time <g>, but the +’s always have outweighed the –‘s.
I think you two said the same thing slightly differently. I want to be sure.

Both of you are saying to physically take the drive/OS/bootloader out of the equation. Is that correct?

If so, for the flash, can I just pull the drive an inch or so out of the pins and leave in the bay and leave plastic bay cover off? Can I leave the machined plugged into commercial power with the battery still in? Is there any reason to unplug the network/internet Ethernet cable?

Regarding Middleton’s Readme:
He says do not use WINUPTP.EXE for 64-bit Vista and 7. Can presume Win10 goes with group but hadn’t been released by the time he wrote the BIOS?

Extracted from his .rar file are two folders:

BIOS update, and
Under which is: 7luj27uc.iso
BIOS update + CTRL-FN swap
Under which is: #1.iso and #2.iso

He does not state what 7luj27uc.iso is for? Is that a version of WINUPTP if your machine applied to his method of BIOS restriction?

Absent any need to swap Fn keys, I burned #1.iso to CD

With all of the preceding, I’m set to try again?

Mark

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Re: Need help(!) Middleton BIOS T61 Windows 10?

#5 Post by RealBlackStuff » Mon Jul 24, 2017 12:47 pm

As long as you switch off before you remove the HD...
Remove completely to be sure.
7luj27uc.iso is the regular bootable CD Lenovo BIOS V2.29/1.08
Only need that if you don't have that version already installed.
#1 (without) and #2 (with) are M's updates for keyswap.

markg2
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Re: Need help(!) Middleton BIOS T61 Windows 10?

#6 Post by markg2 » Mon Jul 24, 2017 1:21 pm

I'm sorry to sbe thick here but,

When you said: "7luj27uc.iso is the regular bootable CD Lenovo BIOS V2.29/1.08
Only need that if you don't have that version already installed."

Does that mean that my T61 MUST have that specific Lenovo BIOSV2.29/1.08 in place BEFORE flashing Middleton's? That Middleton's 1.iso will not flash properly absent the above Lenovo BIOS in place?

Mark

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Re: Need help(!) Middleton BIOS T61 Windows 10?

#7 Post by RealBlackStuff » Mon Jul 24, 2017 3:57 pm

Yup.

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Re: Need help(!) Middleton BIOS T61 Windows 10?

#8 Post by Muse » Mon Jul 24, 2017 5:10 pm

I flashed it on my Windows 10 64bit T61. Needed to in order to install an Intel Ultimate-N 6300 633ANHMW WiFi Wireless Card. Doing so appears to be the reason I haven't had a single BSOD since. It's been over 3 months now, I think. I was getting BSODs all the time before swapping out the original Wireless N card. Things appear to be rather stable now.
"If a star were a grain of salt, you could fit all the stars visible to the naked eye on a teaspoon, but all the stars in the universe would fill a ball eight miles wide." - A Briefer History of Time, Stephen Hawking & Leonard Mlodinow

Dec. 2010: Now thought to be over 11 miles wide!

markg2
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Re: Need help(!) Middleton BIOS T61 Windows 10?

#9 Post by markg2 » Tue Jul 25, 2017 7:57 am

1 Should I turn off the security chip in the BIOS before flashing the Lenovo and then the Middleton BIOS? I've since read (someone's opinion) that Middleton could be seeing the chip on as Bitlocker?

2. Once i pull out the drive, can I leave it out and flash both BIOS successively or do I need to slide it back in, boot to Windows after the first BIOS and close/pull it out for the Middleton BIOS?

3. Can I boot the Lenovo BIOS ISO from CD without a desktop installer as I do with Middleton's?

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Re: Need help(!) Middleton BIOS T61 Windows 10?

#10 Post by ajkula66 » Tue Jul 25, 2017 10:32 am

markg2 wrote:
Tue Jul 25, 2017 7:57 am
1 Should I turn off the security chip in the BIOS before flashing the Lenovo and then the Middleton BIOS? I've since read (someone's opinion) that Middleton could be seeing the chip on as Bitlocker?
Can't say since mine is always turned off, period. I guess that turning it off prior to the flash won't hurt.
2. Once i pull out the drive, can I leave it out and flash both BIOS successively or do I need to slide it back in, boot to Windows after the first BIOS and close/pull it out for the Middleton BIOS?
No need to slide the drive back in. Flash the BIOS, let the machine reboot after it - but remove the CD so it doesn't start flashing it again - verify that all is well, shut down. Remove the battery and the AC adapter, re-insert the drive, then power back on.
3. Can I boot the Lenovo BIOS ISO from CD without a desktop installer as I do with Middleton's?
Yes
...Knowledge is a deadly friend when no one sets the rules...(King Crimson)

Cheers,

George (your grouchy retired FlexView farmer)

One FlexView to rule them all: A31p

Abused daily: T520, X200s


PMs requesting personal tech support will be ignored.

markg2
Posts: 15
Joined: Thu Aug 05, 2004 10:47 am

Re: Need help(!) Middleton BIOS T61 Windows 10?

#11 Post by markg2 » Tue Jul 25, 2017 11:56 am

SUCCESS :-)!

I cannot tell you guys how appreciative I am of your help and patience!

Mark

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Re: Need help(!) Middleton BIOS T61 Windows 10?

#12 Post by ajkula66 » Tue Jul 25, 2017 12:08 pm

markg2 wrote:
Tue Jul 25, 2017 11:56 am
SUCCESS :-)!
That's what I like to hear... :thumbs-UP:
I cannot tell you guys how appreciative I am of your help and patience!
That's what this forum is all about.

Now, what do we need to bribe you with in order to scrap the nastiness that is W10 from that classic machine ?

:mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
...Knowledge is a deadly friend when no one sets the rules...(King Crimson)

Cheers,

George (your grouchy retired FlexView farmer)

One FlexView to rule them all: A31p

Abused daily: T520, X200s


PMs requesting personal tech support will be ignored.

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Re: Need help(!) Middleton BIOS T61 Windows 10?

#13 Post by Muse » Tue Jul 25, 2017 10:09 pm

ajkula66 wrote:
Tue Jul 25, 2017 12:08 pm
markg2 wrote:
Tue Jul 25, 2017 11:56 am
SUCCESS :-)!
That's what I like to hear... :thumbs-UP:
I cannot tell you guys how appreciative I am of your help and patience!
That's what this forum is all about.

Now, what do we need to bribe you with in order to scrap the nastiness that is W10 from that classic machine ?


:mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
Myself, I don't know why I should not retain W10 on my T61. Win7 will be unsupported fairly soon. Win8 is regarded as welcome as an eye infection. The only problem I can think of with Win10 is that I can't control when it updates. I can't ask Windows to let me choose when exactly to install a particular set of updates (while actually controlling the content of that set, too). AFAIK, Win8 has a similar problem. Win10 is obtrusive if configured like it's designed to be but you can opt out of most all of that stuff when you install, or later.
"If a star were a grain of salt, you could fit all the stars visible to the naked eye on a teaspoon, but all the stars in the universe would fill a ball eight miles wide." - A Briefer History of Time, Stephen Hawking & Leonard Mlodinow

Dec. 2010: Now thought to be over 11 miles wide!

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Re: Need help(!) Middleton BIOS T61 Windows 10?

#14 Post by ajkula66 » Tue Jul 25, 2017 10:25 pm

Muse wrote:
Tue Jul 25, 2017 10:09 pm

Myself, I don't know why I should not retain W10 on my T61.
Your machine, your call.
Win7 will be unsupported fairly soon.
With the large percentage of corporate world viewing W10 as The Black Plague of operating systems, I would tend to think that W7 may just outlive the supposed 2020 doomsday.
Win8 is regarded as welcome as an eye infection.
No argument from me on that one. Eye infection may actually be a lesser of two evils, presuming that one is not allergic to antibiotics.
The only problem I can think of with Win10 is that I can't control when it updates. I can't ask Windows to let me choose when exactly to install a particular set of updates (while actually controlling the content of that set, too). AFAIK, Win8 has a similar problem. Win10 is obtrusive if configured like it's designed to be but you can opt out of most all of that stuff when you install, or later.
There's quite a few more problems out there, starting with the fact that one - unless they're running the Enterprise edition - can't choose what gets updated either. Anyway, this whole issue has been discussed ad nauseam on this forum - let alone elsewhere on the web - and we're hopefully all adults here capable of making our own decisions. The end of my previous post was written in a playful mood hence the greenies...but W10 is not going on on any of my machines, ever.
...Knowledge is a deadly friend when no one sets the rules...(King Crimson)

Cheers,

George (your grouchy retired FlexView farmer)

One FlexView to rule them all: A31p

Abused daily: T520, X200s


PMs requesting personal tech support will be ignored.

Muse
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Re: Need help(!) Middleton BIOS T61 Windows 10?

#15 Post by Muse » Thu Jul 27, 2017 4:29 am

Well, TBH I'm pretty open minded and not very opinionated. I may indeed simply be pitifully naive about Windows 10. If you could link me to some relevant material or take a moment and explain I'd love to consider the notion that Windows 10 is a nasty idea. I am not being facetious. I can certainly backtrack and install Windows 7 on my two wifi connected Thinkpads. I'd love to know more. Please indulge me. Thank you!

Edit: OK, I found this here...

And another reason to avoid Micro$haft's W10 = viewtopic.php?f=73&t=124210

Other links, info appreciated. I don't comprehend all that stuff, some yes. I've never run Linux much less Wine. I don't know if my software would run on it or with reasonable convenience. I have tried running emulation OS stuff like a virtual machine but talk about clunky... not for me, it's easier to use another machine that doesn't need it.
"If a star were a grain of salt, you could fit all the stars visible to the naked eye on a teaspoon, but all the stars in the universe would fill a ball eight miles wide." - A Briefer History of Time, Stephen Hawking & Leonard Mlodinow

Dec. 2010: Now thought to be over 11 miles wide!

ajkula66
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Re: Need help(!) Middleton BIOS T61 Windows 10?

#16 Post by ajkula66 » Thu Jul 27, 2017 8:23 am

@Muse:

Plenty of good discussions in mostly older threads regarding W10 on this forum. Help yourself.
...Knowledge is a deadly friend when no one sets the rules...(King Crimson)

Cheers,

George (your grouchy retired FlexView farmer)

One FlexView to rule them all: A31p

Abused daily: T520, X200s


PMs requesting personal tech support will be ignored.

markg2
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Re: Need help(!) Middleton BIOS T61 Windows 10?

#17 Post by markg2 » Sun Jul 30, 2017 7:19 pm

I received the fan/heat sync yesterday and installed it yesterday.

Despite having a coffee cup and sticky for the removed screws from each area I still managed to end up with 1 extra screw and I think two non-matching screw holes on the back!

If I didn't have the magnetized driver the process would have been a disaster. Once back together everything worked as before except the fan. Now I can hardly hear it.

Apart from the extra screw there was one problem I needed to do a bit of adjusting to resolve. Instead of having an attached wireway at the top near the screen the fan had two clips on its face for wires. Obviously, this fan was not the precise one for the machine. The 'clips' pushed up the speaker too far. I pulled off each clip with needlenose pliers. The fan was still just a bit thicker than the old one. The keyboard bezel is raised maybe a 1/16 at that point which isn't a problem at all.

Mark

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Re: Need help(!) Middleton BIOS T61 Windows 10?

#18 Post by cadillacmike68 » Sat Oct 14, 2017 1:53 am

OK, does anyone know where to find the Lenovo ver 2.29 BIOS in an ISO? Their web site only has 2.30 as an ISO, the 2.29 is an EXE and won't run in 64bit window.

I think I found it:

https://support.lenovo.com/us/en/downloads/migr-67989

BTW, when I made a bunch of winblows 10 HDDs for my T61s last year, (6 HDDs for 6 T61s) they all executed perfectly. All the T61s already had the Middleton BIOS on them. I haven't used them, but they're available if I ever lose my sanity and want to run it on the T61s. Actually I gave one system to my nephew with W10 on it for his family. It was a real pain in the a$$ getting any sort of time limits for the kids with w10. I had to run a bunch of net user commands, one mistake and you get to do it all over again.
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Re: Need help(!) Middleton BIOS T61 Windows 10?

#19 Post by jcvjcvjcvjcv » Fri Dec 08, 2017 1:39 pm

Muse wrote:
Mon Jul 24, 2017 5:10 pm
I flashed it on my Windows 10 64bit T61. Needed to in order to install an Intel Ultimate-N 6300 633ANHMW WiFi Wireless Card. Doing so appears to be the reason I haven't had a single BSOD since. It's been over 3 months now, I think. I was getting BSODs all the time before swapping out the original Wireless N card. Things appear to be rather stable now.
Manually forcing the install of a much older driver gives the same result. W10 default drivers for the 4965AGN indeed result in a BSOD fest. If I remember right, I got a Vista-era driver from the Toshiba site. My T61 + W10 is BSOD-free ever since.
W520
T61

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