T420 and Ivy Bridge and bios-mod

[staruszek]

I know there are several topics about this matter but... according to THIS info it seems that the possibility of putting an Ivy Bridge IS possible. I also found on the german forum an info regarding a 1.46 bios modification which allows 1866 rams to work at full speed and also to unlock advanced features. HERE are some screenshots of these options. I'm not sure if I can put a download link to this bios, which is called : Lenovo_ThinkPad_T420_83ET76WW-83uj28us_NWL_LEN21_ADV_RAM_Speedo.rar

I will first test the modified bios. Hope me beloved T420 will still be working

[theterminator93]

This has my interest. If I could stuff an i7-3540m in place of my i7-2640m, that's 200MHz more clock speed in base and turbo and a 15% overall increase in performance.

[TonyJZX]

I wonder how it works with a real quad?

[staruszek]

The modified bios works like a charm. Just to say I'm running 1.46 bios with 1600 rams at normal speed. The T420 works Unfortunately most of the advanced options are.... too complicated for me

[theterminator93]

So how exactly does flashing the BIOS work? From what I was able to gather it looked like you needed to have a chip flasher to directly program a chip on the board, and this cannot be done via, example, a program in Windows. Is that correct? Do you have any details you can share on exactly how you acquired and flashed the BIOS?

I'm also not sure where from the link you can download a compiled BIOS. The stuff I saw looked like C source files for one to edit and/or compile.

I very much want to do this now.

[RealBlackStuff]

Open up the .rar file, you'll find the fairly common Winphlash program in there.
Normally you first flash the original Lenovo BIOS first, then flash the update.

[theterminator93]

Thanks RBS... although I forgot to edit my post this morning.

I googled the file name and found a number of places to download it from, so I did such and much to my delight I found the common set of WinFlash utilities along with a BIOS ROM. Now to acquire an i7-3540m... and find a test mule!

One of my worksites actually has a few for-parts HP ProBook 4430s units with either i3 or i5 Ivy Bridge CPUs, along with a hundred plus T420s that aren't in use. Perfect test environment.

[bit_twiddler]

along with a hundred plus T420s that aren't in use.

I'd be interested to know if a converted T420 would be able to access usb 3.0 ports on
a Mini Dock Plus Series 3 with USB 3.0, or any of the docks on this page:

https://support.lenovo.com/us/en/documents/pd024298

Any chance you can snag one?

I just realized that the Ivy Bridge was shipped with a different chip set,
which actually supports USB 3.0, so it doesn't look like there is a way
to do this.

[Sense]

where did you source the modified bios? I found several links via google but would like to know the original source before trying this out. you don't have to post a direct link, i just want to see like the author's page or at least some info to do research. is this different from Oleh's modified BIOS? thanks

[theterminator93]

I googled the filename referenced in post 1 and based on the info I found on the original author's site, it unlocks advanced features in BIOS but does NOT enable Ivy Bridge support. There is a BIOS for use with CoreBoot that DOES allegedly enable Ivy Bridge support, but based on what I've seen, you need a hardware BIOS flasher to do this, which I don't have access to.

Here are some links to sites with more details...
https://www.bios-mods.com/forum/Thread- ... 40M?page=2
https://www.coreboot.org/Board:lenovo/t420
(pull this one up in Chrome to translate) https://thinkpad-forum.de/threads/17058 ... 9b7f60194f

[Sense]

I googled the filename referenced in post 1 and based on the info I found on the original author's site, it unlocks advanced features in BIOS but does NOT enable Ivy Bridge support. There is a BIOS for use with CoreBoot that DOES allegedly enable Ivy Bridge support, but based on what I've seen, you need a hardware BIOS flasher to do this, which I don't have access to.

Here are some links to sites with more details...
https://www.bios-mods.com/forum/Thread- ... 40M?page=2
https://www.coreboot.org/Board:lenovo/t420
(pull this one up in Chrome to translate) https://thinkpad-forum.de/threads/17058 ... 9b7f60194f

Thank you kind sir! This is great!

[axur-delmeria]

IIRC, Windows doesn't work with Coreboot, which is not a problem if you plan to run only Linux (or any non-Microsoft operating system) on your T420.

[coreboot]

IIRC, Windows doesn't work with Coreboot, which is not a problem if you plan to run only Linux (or any non-Microsoft operating system) on your T420.

The coreboot works with Windows 7, 8, 10.

I have uploaded my build, if anyone want to try.
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/mq1e2a54vv03 ... iRE9qJbwQa

Usage instruction: https://www.coreboot.org/Board:lenovo/t420

There are several roms with different MAC addresses (gbe.bin). The reason for having different MAC addresses is if you have several laptops plugged into the same router, you need different MAC addresses.

Some features:

1. Support Sandybridge and Ivybridge CPUs (I tested i7-3xxx QM) (by changing the vgabios name code)
2. No whitelist you can use any wireless card
3. Unlock RAM speed to 1866 (due to chipset limit 1866 is the highest)
4. Works with Windows 7,8,10, linux (Seabios）
5. Works for both t420 (with/without Nvdia graphics card)
6. Updated vgabios to newest 2170 version
7. Removed useless intel management engine (AMT)(Replaced 5MB ME region with 1.5MB ME)
8. Have 10 MAC address you can choose

[theterminator93]

Is there any way to flash the Ivy Bridge BIOS from an OS running on the machine - without specialized hardware?

[Wainwright]

This guide at Reddit did it using a Raspberry Pi and a Pomona 5250 Clip. It's for a X230 so some things may not apply to a T420.

I'm actually really excited on the prospect of using Ivy Bridge too. There're are hyper-threaded quad cores in that generation at 35W TDP which should be within the power usage of normal T420 CPUs. I'm just really worried that Windows have no thermal management when using Coreboot. Even with a fresh coat of Arctic MX4, my i5-2520m runs at 80C when doing CPU intensive stuff.

[SaskFellow]

This guide at Reddit did it using a Raspberry Pi and a Pomona 5250 Clip. It's for a X230 so some things may not apply to a T420.

I'm actually really excited on the prospect of using Ivy Bridge too. There're are hyper-threaded quad cores in that generation at 35W TDP which should be within the power usage of normal T420 CPUs. I'm just really worried that Windows have no thermal management when using Coreboot. Even with a fresh coat of Arctic MX4, my i5-2520m runs at 80C when doing CPU intensive stuff.

Wouldn't the bios thermal controls still function?

EG: Throttling of CPU speed at 95'C, Shutdown at 100'C

Basic fan controls: low speed at 54'C, high speed at 71'C

Is what the bios has set for default on my T420s.

As a side note, if you disable HT, your CPU will run noticeably cooler. If I had a QC chip, I'd disable HT, and Turbo is based off power draw, so without HT, the CPU will run at higher clocks for longer.

Also, your CPU has to allow for faster ram, if it's limited to say 1,333mhz, even if you set the BIOS to say 1,600mhz, the ram will only run at 1,333mhz.

Side note...

If this was available for the T420s, I would find a place to remove a current CPU and to solder on a 35W quad core. I have a second motherboard so I could... I wouldn't mind having a real quadcore. Darn ball mounting...

[coreboot]

This guide at Reddit did it using a Raspberry Pi and a Pomona 5250 Clip. It's for a X230 so some things may not apply to a T420.

I'm actually really excited on the prospect of using Ivy Bridge too. There're are hyper-threaded quad cores in that generation at 35W TDP which should be within the power usage of normal T420 CPUs. I'm just really worried that Windows have no thermal management when using Coreboot. Even with a fresh coat of Arctic MX4, my i5-2520m runs at 80C when doing CPU intensive stuff.

Wouldn't the bios thermal controls still function?

EG: Throttling of CPU speed at 95'C, Shutdown at 100'C

Basic fan controls: low speed at 54'C, high speed at 71'C

Is what the bios has set for default on my T420s.

As a side note, if you disable HT, your CPU will run noticeably cooler. If I had a QC chip, I'd disable HT, and Turbo is based off power draw, so without HT, the CPU will run at higher clocks for longer.

Also, your CPU has to allow for faster ram, if it's limited to say 1,333mhz, even if you set the BIOS to say 1,600mhz, the ram will only run at 1,333mhz.

Side note...

If this was available for the T420s, I would find a place to remove a current CPU and to solder on a 35W quad core. I have a second motherboard so I could... I wouldn't mind having a real quadcore. *****Expletives removed by Moderator***** ball mounting...

The basic fan control and overheat protection (shutdown at 100C) works. I can't tell much difference compared to the factory bios except the Dynamic Platform and Thermal Framework driver does not work. It's said some CPU states are missing but I don't known what is actually missing.

[ocmasta]

Would it be possible to have the Bios modded for a T420S.

I have the ability to replace the BGA CPU on this model, and would like to test an ivybridge replacement.