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N100 0768 - Failed BIOS upgrade - will boot DOS but not XP
Posted: Mon Oct 27, 2008 6:51 am
by londonarnold
Hi, This is my first post on Thinkpads.com
I have an N100 core 2 duo at 1.66 with 2GB RAM and Nvdia Graphics.
All was fine with it until one day I decided to use Lenovo Care and automatically upgrade all the drivers to the latest versions.
The drivers were loaded sucessfully until Lenovo care asked me if I wanted to upgrade the BIOS and stupidly I accepted and a BIOS upgrade was performed and then when I rebooted the machine went through the post successfully but would not and still wont boot any version of Windows (or even Linux). All I get is the dreaded BSOD.
The BIOS version currently installed is:
61ET37WW (V2.06)
Thanks in advance for any suggestions and advice,
Regards,
Arnold,
London NW5
Posted: Mon Oct 27, 2008 7:49 am
by londonarnold
It seems that what I've done is install the BIOS update for a C200 and not the correct one for my N100.
Does anyone please know how I can restore the BIOS to one for the N100 - as I can't get into Windows maybe there's a way of loading an N100 bios from DOS ?
Also if anyone knows how to reprogram or physically replace the BIOS chip I'm all ears...
Many Thanks,
Arnie
London, UK.
Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2008 10:09 pm
by Stargate199
There should be a way to flash the bios from a usb thumb drive if Lenovo puts the file out there. They want you to use the Windows version so there is less of a chance of bricking the machine. Software update should have installed the correct BIOS so I wonder if something is wrong with the boot order or something. Look around the support and downloads section and see if you can find a BIOS update that can be put on a flash drive and see if you can flash the BIOS again.
Posted: Sat Dec 13, 2008 9:42 am
by londonarnold
Thanks for the reply.
I've done as you suggest. I also thought it might be a hard drive error so I tried a brand new 120Gb drive which completes the DOS stage then bsod's as soon as it tries to install / boot windows.
I've tried setting the boot menu too with no sucesss, however the N100 does run BartPE !!!
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***** Does anyone think running the Lenovo BIOS update from BartPE will work? *****
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I can't find any BIOS updates for a USB stick yet but I guess they must be out there somewhere.
Many Thanks and Season's Greetings to All
Posted: Sat Dec 13, 2008 1:02 pm
by RealBlackStuff
Posted: Sat Dec 13, 2008 7:04 pm
by londonarnold
Thanks for the reply and the link to the thread. Have read it - and so it could be something else, hopefully?
The N100 actually runs linux live cds (puppy & ubuntu) so now I'm thinking that perhaps there's a hard drive issue, as currently discussed on this forum (and T43 petition), ?
So the N100 is in the attic for now, until I come across sata 2.5" disks to test with it - and new mobo ....
Regards,
Arnold
London,
UK