t20 21 22 fan problem caused by embedded controller bug?

[omarz]

Hello everyone!
Can anybody tell me how to downgrade the embedded controller version on thinkpad t20? I upgraded a t20 to bios version 1.22, ec firmware version 1.06 and the fan is not starting when the cpu is hot. The problem of fan not starting on thinkpad t20-21-22 and others is well known, it seems nobody knows a fix http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/177167-28-problem http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=103938 I upgraded(run ibm bios update utility) to old version 1.12 with ec version 1.0 but the ec version remains the same, 1.22. I think the problem is the embedded controller firmware that doesn't start the fan. Thank you in advance for any help!

[omarz]

Same problem reported by others and there is no fix:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/lenovo/ ... oblem.html
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/284 ... ad-problem
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=87815 (even in bios the fan will not start if the cpu gets hot)

[rkawakami]

Welcome to thinkpads.com!

Before you try a downgrade (see below), I'd make sure that there's a new layer of thermal paste between the CPU and heatsink. Given the age of your T20, and assuming that nobody else has replaced the original paste, it's way overdue. If you don't already have a copy of the Hardware Maintenance Manual (HMM), you can find it here:

http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/guides- ... IGR-4UYM3F

I don't think that I've downgraded the Embedded Controller on any T2x system before. Based on a search of the forum, you might be able to do this if you use the non-diskette version of the BIOS update. I say "might" because there's also claims that when people have tried downgrading via the non-diskette version, it didn't work.

ref: http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?p=34034#p34034

You can find the non-diskette update packages for the T20 here:

http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/downloa ... D=DS001481

Scroll down towards the bottom of the page and you will find a table listing the previous versions of BIOS (and EC) updates. EC version 1.05 seems to be available with the link named "spsuiy60". There used to be a separate Support page for EC updates; I'm still looking for it.

My usual recommendation is to always use the floppy-based BIOS update. Any time you attempt to do a BIOS or EC update there's some inherent danger of doing it wrong and "bricking" the system, but involving Windows in the task, seems to me an unnecessary risk.

[omarz]

Thank you very much for your response. I have already tried all these steps and nothing worked. The thermal pad is new, i'm going to put a t21or 22 heatsink for better thermal transfer if i fix the fan starting problem. Regarding the bios update, even if i update to an older version the ec remains the same, the new one.

[omarz]

I've been searching the web for 3 days to find a solution. My thinkpad is like new and and i want to give it to my uncle, it's a great machine for browsing the web, email, office, music and video playback even if it's 12 years old. Asa a last resort if i can't fix the fan i'll wire it to 5v on the mboard, put a resistor in place of the original fan conector to avoid fan error and that's it.

[omarz]

I found out that hundreds of thinkpads/mainboards had been thrown away because of this problem, not only t2x, even ibm technicians couldn't find a solution for these simptoms, they simply change the mboard.
The heatsink and thermal interface are ok.
When i power on the notebook the fan starts for 10 seconds(i think this is the BIOS POST testing the fan)
Then the fan stops and never starts again.
After booting the windows, using ThinkPad Fan Control i can read the sensors temperatures, at 60-70-80 degrees the fan is still off(so sensors are ok).
If i set the mode to bios(thinkpad controller) the fan is still off.
If i switch to manual the fan kick on.(so the fan is ok).
If i boot a windows or linux cd the fan never starts(i installed the os manually cooling the heatsink from outside).
So the only way to start the fan is through acpi, and this is not normal.
My conclution: in some circumstances the ebedded controller doesn't initialize/read some values or God knows what other bugs.

[omarz]

I managed to downgrade the E.C. You have to install previous versions of BIOS packages step by step starting with the previous one. spsuiy61(bios v1.22 ec v1.06) then spsuiy60(bios v1.21 ec v1.05) then spsuiy59(bios v1.20 ec v1.05) etc.
From spsuiy56(bios v1.16 ec v1.03) to spsuiy53(bios v1.13 ec v1.00) the ec will remain 1.03, it will not downgrade to 1.00. the fan is not starting even after doing this....it was running well with bios version 1.07 ec 1.00, after upgrading to the latest version the problem appeared. I don't know what happened, in what circustances. I'll wait a few days to see if smb will come with a solution. If not, i'll look for a 5v source on the mboard and wire the fan directly,it will run all the time and that's it.....there are tens of threads opened about this promblem and no solution(from 2000 till now).