Error trying to flash EC update

[Brainer]

Hi

I'm trying to update a Thinkpad T470 to the latest EC and BIOS. However, Lenovo's BIOS update program checks battery levels, and if they are below 20%, refuses to run the update. The battery's dead. I'm not buying a new battery just for this nonsense. For this reason, I'm trying to bypass the battery check when flashing EC and BIOS updates.

I came across this in Google:
How to Update Lenovo BIOS on a T460 without a battery
https://superuser.com/questions/1569417 ... ut-battery

I tried using uefiwinflash.exe to flash the *.fl2 file file (renamed as ".ROM"). It threw an error that I should choose a valid update file.

Eventually, I managed to flash the BIOS file, but not the EC file. I got the BIOS flashed to v. 1.79 via winflash64.exe, by typing:

Code: Select all

"winflash64.exe /ipf bios file $0AN1Q00.FL1 /cbp 0"

However, when I tried a similar command to flash the EC file:

Code: Select all

"winflash64.exe /ipf ec file $0AN1Q00.FL2 /cbp 0"

it threw: "ERROR 081 - Failed to load BIOS image file!"

I'm concerned now, because apparently the EC version should coordinate with the correct BIOS version. The EC module is supposed to be at v.136, but instead, it's at 1.13

I tried using winuptp64 with the "-SP" switch, but winuptp64 throws an error that "flash module cannot be found".

These errors suggest the programs can't find a valid image file. However, I downloaded the file again several times and even ran a hash check to confirm its integrity.

Can anyone suggest next steps? Other people report managing to get this to work.

Thanks for any ideas.