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X61 wifi upgrade /w middleton BIOS

X60/X61 and X60t/X61t Series
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toguro123
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Joined: Sat Jun 22, 2019 7:39 am
Location: Philly, PA

X61 wifi upgrade /w middleton BIOS

#1 Post by toguro123 » Sat Jun 22, 2019 7:50 am

Hello everyone!

I have an X61 and I installed Win10 32bit for the sole purpose of upgrading to the middleton bios found here: https://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Middleton%27s_BIOS. As far as I've read, this upgrade gets rid of the BIOS wifi whitelist. I have downloaded the corresponding file from Middleton's URL and have followed the instructions with very little success. I downloaded the following file http://www.mediafire.com/file/88bollw42 ... -1.03).rar. The archive includes the flashing and other utilities but the actual upgraded bios .rom/.fl1/.fl2 files are nowhere to be found.

Am I missing something here? How come the actual bios files are missing?

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

pkiff
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Re: X61 wifi upgrade /w middleton BIOS

#2 Post by pkiff » Sun Jun 23, 2019 2:33 pm

It's been a long time since I upgraded my X61 Tablet BIOSes, and I may have forgotten a few things, but I maybe have a couple tips?
The archive includes the flashing and other utilities but the actual upgraded bios .rom/.fl1/.fl2 files are nowhere to be found.
I just downloaded the file you linked, and it the BIOS files are in there. There are .FL1 and .FL2 files inside the BIOS update -> 32-bit folder. Maybe you are using a bad unzip program? Or maybe your virus software is preventing BIOS files from being extracted? There is nothing wrong with the .rar file: it is a bit-for-bit copy of the same file I downloaded in 2012 - though I never used the vanilla X61 version, I only ever used the X61 Tablet verisons.
...have followed the instructions with very little success
I don't recall needing to do anything with the fl1 and fl2 files when I updated my BIOS. Those files are in the folder, yes, but I don't think you have to fiddle with those files if you are just doing a standard upgrade. You just run the exe file and it should give you prompts and then do the upgrade?

I did my upgrades on XP 32-bit. I wouldn't have chosen Windows 10 as the OS to do the BIOS upgrade under if you were going to install a whole new operating system just for that purpose. I would have used XP or Win7. Windows 10 itself may even be messing with your ability to upgrade the BIOS. Windows 10 was still just a glimmer in Bill Gates mind when these update files were designed. This is way before UEFI or any of the other BIOS-level connections with Windows 10 were written.

Phil.
X1E Gen 4 · X1T 3rd Gen · W520 · Legacy: P52, T60p, X61T, 600X, 770Z
Nostalgic for: 600X PIII 850MHz in a SelectaDock III with 64MB Voodoo 5 5500 and Sound Blaster Audigy 5.1.

toguro123
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Joined: Sat Jun 22, 2019 7:39 am
Location: Philly, PA

Re: X61 wifi upgrade /w middleton BIOS

#3 Post by toguro123 » Mon Jun 24, 2019 7:29 pm

Phil,

The problem was that FreeRAR, for whatever reason, was only extracting half the files in the archive :?: :?: :?: . I installed another .rar utility and everything worked fine.

The reason I used Win10 is because thats the only windows installation media I have lying around. Everything flashed properly on Win10-32bit.

Thanks a lot for the help!

RealBlackStuff
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Re: X61 wifi upgrade /w middleton BIOS

#4 Post by RealBlackStuff » Mon Jun 24, 2019 11:47 pm

Dump all your .zip and .rar extractors and instead install the most versatile, free 7z: https://www.7-zip.org/download.html
Lovely day for a Guinness! (The Real Black Stuff)
Lenovo: X240, X250, T440p, T480, M900 Tiny.

PS: the old Boardroom website is still available on the Wayback Machine
.

E350
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Re: X61 wifi upgrade /w middleton BIOS

#5 Post by E350 » Mon Jul 08, 2019 9:29 am

RBS, are you really in Dublin now? Was it moving to a new home or going back home? Or is it just a pilgrimage to the actual home of the real black stuff. (I had one yesterday in the can. Best in draught, second in the can, but never in the bottle...)

I am thinking about upgrading my Intel Mobile Core 2 Duo T8300 @ 2.40GHz Penryn 45nm Technology, 8.00GB RAM Dual-Channel DDR2 (5-5-5-15), Windows 10 Home 64-bit from my existing Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260 card with this one:

INTEL® WI-FI 6 AX200 MODULE

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en ... eries.html

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en ... rking.html

I did Middleton's BIOS update on this machine years ago. Is there anything in the link which you provided which is better? Should I re-flash the BIOS I have with what you linked?

RealBlackStuff
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Location: Loch Garman, Éire

Re: X61 wifi upgrade /w middleton BIOS

#6 Post by RealBlackStuff » Mon Jul 08, 2019 12:34 pm

Yup, I'm back home in Dublin.

That M.2 Ax200/1 won't fit in a T6x/X6x PCIe slot.
7z has nothing to do with M's BIOS.
Lovely day for a Guinness! (The Real Black Stuff)
Lenovo: X240, X250, T440p, T480, M900 Tiny.

PS: the old Boardroom website is still available on the Wayback Machine
.

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