Thinkpads Forum

ScottyBoy wrote:
Basically Middleton's BIOS provides core native SATA-300 speeds, SLIC 2.1 (Windows 7 activation support) and most importantly the hardware whitelist is removed (really handy for installing non-Lenovo half-height Intel N Class PCIe Wifi Cards) - there are additional benefits as well (i.e. Ctrl+Fn keys swapping and Dual-IDA support) but they are low down in the list for me.

IF you do proceed with installing bear in mind there is the potential of the BIOS update bricking your ThinkPad...listed below is a link to the main section for the BIOS download links and assuming your X61s is a standard XGA model then you'd be looking at the BIOS available in the first line of the table.

You might want to consider reviewing the entire Middleton BIOS thread at the NBR Forum to get a handle on what's involved but it is relatively easy to get install - I generally use a bootable USB flash memory stick to get it done, as some of the systems I've worked don't have a working optical drive and/or HDD when I get them.

EDIT: B*gger! Was already answered whilst I was typing a reply and hunting out the link to the Middletion BIOS table!

HELP!

I am so frustrated and wasted half an afternoon trying to flash an X61s with a new BIOS.
I do not have the X61 docking with CD Drive, but only a USB CD and some USB sticks.

USB CD drives don't work. They are recognized and boot. But then comes the error, that CD ROM drivers are not found. Not even when I manually put them on the CD before creating the ISO. Not even original IBM BIOS does work. Same error.
Seems, only ATA internal drives are recognized thru the docking station.

Now I flashed a USB stick with ISO2USB tool. No luck. Not recognized as a drive at all.

Can you tell me how you flashed the USB stick to make it bootable and recognized by the X61s?

Try this: http://forums.mydigitallife.info/thread ... g-From-DOS
The second option (Version 2.23) works really well on all USB sticks I've tried it on.

RealBlackStuff wrote:Try this: http://forums.mydigitallife.info/thread ... g-From-DOS
The second option (Version 2.23) works really well on all USB sticks I've tried it on.

Thanks a lot. I succeeded in creating a booting USB stick.
Then I copied all files from the BIOS iso to the USB stick.
It doesn't autoboot.
However, flash2.exe does just nothing when I type it in.
What about phlash16.exe ?
I used this to update HPs and Dells in their BIOS updates. But how does it work with the required Lenovo sequence for the embedded Controller BIOS?

I am a bit scared and don't want to brick the X61, which is not mine.

Boot from that USB stick and once you have the prompt (looks like A:\) type in: command.com and hit Enter.
That works on my X61T USB stick with Middleton BIOS.
It's most likely the same for the X61s.

I have to say I am confused by all this talk of bootable USB drives.

I simply double clicked on the .exe file within Windows and the BIOS seems to have updated perfectly. Is there something I am missing?

As for bootable USB drives try this handy utility http://www.sarducd.it/ with an option to add iso files to the boot loader.

What do you guys think of the Tiger deal on the X61's?

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... CatId=4965

Was looking for an extra machine to have around...

Severely overpriced.

You'll do a lot better in the forum's Marketplace.

That's the tablet version of the x61 which is quite bigger than the x61s... well some of the pictures are misleading actually, it shows the x61s as well.
x61s and x61t bottom
http://imgur.com/EP14s
x61s on top of x61t
http://imgur.com/HoquB
x61t and x61s opened
http://imgur.com/ENsET


I agree with ajkula66, you could shave 100 or so just by buying used instead of referbished.
I picked up the x61s off of ebay for $115 with 4gb ram and a 120 gb hdd, luckily it was 7200RPM
But part of the battery is chipped at one end and there is a crack body too.

If the price is right I'd definitely get one. In fact I got one less than a week ago and so far I'm really pleased with it.

I bought an X61S but would not do it again. There are flaws like the mentioned lower-right corner which can get slightly hot and also the irritating fan-noise which comes on at temps when it is not needed. Especially the last thing was never mentioned in reviews which I read before buying. That is because most of those Thinkpad X61s tested had older bios and that Lenovo almost cluelessly have been screwing around with it since, forcing many users to use that Utility Thinkpad fan control.
The Fn-button is in the wrong place and should be one step further to the left side of the keyboard. SSD performance are badly crippled because Lenovo thought that them would keep the X61s compatible with some old expansion-unit which can carry an extra Hard drive and which uses Sata-I interface. Making Lenovo to disable to limit the X61s to Sata I only although the built in controller is Sata II or at least compatible with it.
All this is quite a mess, as you can see. Though I like the laptop but as said, I would not buy it again.
Someone called Middleton modified bios 2.22 (latest is 3.03) which fixed the FN-button and also Sata-II support. But the fan-issue remain the same as before. The latest bios have not been patched. But so far I've not experienced any problem with the patched 2.22.
I think he said something about that he could but didn't want to alter it back to what it used to be before Lenovo made their changes.
The whole thread about it is on an other forum. http://forum.notebookreview.com/lenovo/ ... ost6501443