Thinkpads Forum

Last night I ran the ThinkPad update and it came back with a critical BIOS update needed. I was very lery of doing this but thought it must be safe since Lenovo was in charge. As it installed, it failed / crashed / burned. Vista was acting up and I rebooted, for the last time. Called Lenovo but I'm out fo warranty so they says pay for support or don't call anymore.

When I start the laptop the fan kicks in and that's it. I press off and it shuts down immediately. This is the first BIOS I have had go bad but know there are places that can reflash. Not sure if I can get this done but I'm going to see it I can.

I currently have my T60 sitting around me in pieces as I look for the BIOS chip. I may pull it and see if I can get it reflashed.

Does anyone know WHERE the BIOS chip is located on the motherboard??

I cannot find the BIOS chip and the service manual does not point it out. I have not fully taken the T60 apeart and I'm only doing so until I find the BIOS chip.

Thanks in advance....

Paul

From a google search - It's an 8 pin DIP serial flash 25L1605, marked U49. Maybe someone with a T60 board handy can eye it's location for you and post a pic or describe it's where-abouts.

There are different flash chips used, but they are all right above the memory slots. Copying the BIOS from another machine does not work. There is stuff in YOUR BIOS that is unique to your machine. It is part of the TPM (trusted platform module) security. What is the FRU number of your board?

By thge way, any discussions of BIOS chip replacement will get this thread locked.

I apologize and did not know that discussion of BIOS replacement was a no no. I posted the same question in another thread that seems to have the same issue as I. I guess this would allow a laptop to be reset if stolen. Did not think about that.

I love my T60 and just want it back. These things are too good and expensive to just toss out like the Dell I have before. I guess I should take it in for service.

My T60 type is 8743-GZU 15.0-in. SXGA+ IPS TFT

Is this want you are looking for?

Guess no one can help me.

I can't even get my personal files off the hard drive due to VISTA folder security, just want my email. My WHS backups are worthless as well, same thing folder security.

This Lenovo has been the best computer I have ever had. Had is the key word. Ya better pay for support and when it runs out get rid of your laptop and get another.

This is going to cost me big time and I've already spent big bucks to have backups on top of backups. They are ALL worthless without a BIOS as far as I can tell.

I think I'm going to just buy a new motherboard. Does anyone know how I identify which board to buy?

PM'd.

Brad

Enter your Type and Serial No. (from the bottom of the laptop) in here:
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... yle=lenovo
Will get you a list of original part numbers. A mobo is a planar in IBM/Lenovo speak.

If you have proof of ownership of the laptop, you should be able to find someone to reflash or replace the BIOS for less than the cost of a new motherboard. Check out e-bay or google.

Thanks for all the sugestions. I'm looking at getting a new motherboard. This is the best option I can find and I've had little luck finding someone to fix the bios. I have my receipt.

There are 2 different things, one the bios code and another the machine identity. Typically the identity sits on a seperate chip, if one was just trying to reprogram the bios flash chip to get the machine up and running , it should not matter as long as the bios code is correct.

Every bios version released will handle the TPM designed for that motherboard, or else people will never be able to upgrade or downgrade bios. since there is one public file released for bios updates ( which if flashed to a brand new chip will work, as it is the complete 2MB code), there are no machine specific strings in the public file.

If one identifies the chip location and programs the TSOP flash chip with the good code, it should boot provided there are no problems with the TPM or TPM was not tampered with.

Edited* the chip numbers might be as follows: what HarryC gave is one of them

STM25P16 (32X 64 K)
SST25VF016 (32 X 64K)
MX25l160 (32 X 64K)
AT26DF161 ( 512 X 4K )