X61 Most Recent/Best Bios

[E350]

Hey guys and gals:

I just picked up a another new to me X61 2.40 Ghz. (No noisy fan.) And was able to swap over my hard drive and 8Gb memory.

It currently has the oem Thinkpad Bios ver. 2.16 (7NETB6WW) dated 2008/07/01.

But don't I want to flash the bios to Middleton's bios? I have a CD which has Middleton's Bios ver. 2.22-1.03 which I downloaded on 2013/09/27 from somewhere which RBS or axur-delmeria recommended. And it has served me well on my other two X61.

I also have the Thinkpad oem bios update ver. 2.22 (7NUJ22UC.iso) dated 2011/04/11 on a CD. Should I flash the bios with this update prior to flashing Middleton's Bios? Is there a newer oem bios out there?

Should I just use these discs to also flash bios on this new X61?

And, gee whiz, I forgot how to flash. Any suggestions? Yes I searched for "Middleton's Bios X61" and got way too many threads to wade through...

[ajkula66]

Flash Middleton's BIOS from a bootable CD and forget about anything and everything else.

My $0.02 only...

[RealBlackStuff]

For those who have forgotten where to download Middleton's BIOS: http://ali.dj/blog/sata-ii-support-for- ... 61-x61-r61

An .iso file is included inside every download.
Don't just copy that .iso to a CD, use a program like ImgBurn to make a bootable CD.
Then do as ajkula66 recommended.

FYI: in your BIOS, Config/Network/Flash over LAN, as well as Security/BIOS Update must be ENabled.
Plus you need a working battery.

[E350]

Thanks ajkula66 and RealBlackStuff!

I did flash the BIOS with the newer 2011 Thinkpad oem BIOS first (because I know very little about computers and I am superstitious).

And then I flashed the Middleton's BIOS which after visiting the site that RBS recommended happened to be the same version that I had downloaded to a CD in 2013.

One thing I noticed, that I remember noticing in 2013, is that although the oem BIOS tells you when the flash process is complete and to remove the CD and then to restart the laptop, in contrast the Middleton's BIOS just says "flashing . . ." and then briefly says "Done." And if you don't quickly eject the CD after it says "Done," then it will re-cycle and reflash your BIOS again, and you don't want to eject the CD when it is flashing so you have to wait for complete the flash once more. So after a cycle or two I realized what was happening and timely ejected the CD.

The new to me, X61 is working fine post flashing.

But when I installed the Intel 4965AGN card from the old machine into this one, I realized that the 4965AGN is a three antenna card, and I didn't want to remove the third (white) antenna from where I installed it in the display bezel in the old X61, so for this laptop, I will look around here for an extra antenna or order a new one.

Anyway, thank you for your excellent help!

Take care, carry on, have a Blessed Day and a Guinness!

[jaspen-meyer]

The advice given here is, if you're going to use two cables, leave the center jack without a cable.

[E350]

jaspen-meyer thanks. That is what I did. Left to right the three antenna order is Gray, White, Black

My two antenna X61 has the Gray and the Black.

I will connect the center post on the Intel 4965AGN to a White antenna when I receive one from ebay.