Botched Embedded Controller Program Service Update.

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zzzname · #1 Post by **zzzname** » Sat Mar 15, 2008 12:42 pm

Hi,

It seems that I might have a little problem. I've recently started updating my T43 with ThinkVantage Update program and the first couple of updates went like a breeze. Even the new BIOS installed alright. But when I started upgrading Embedded Controller Program Service Utility it suddenly stopped at that gray screen saying that the system was now updating and is telling me not to turn it off in any case. The thing is, it says it should take about 30 seconds while I have been waiting for over an hour but to no avail.

I am a little afraid of turning of my computer, don't really want to damage it. Does any of you have any ideas what should I do in such circumstances? Any help would be much appreciated.

sjthinkpader · #2 Post by **sjthinkpader** » Sat Mar 15, 2008 12:49 pm

Call Lenovo service ASAP.

#3 Post by **richk** » Sat Mar 15, 2008 6:57 pm

Actually, the answer is to sit down, relax and have a beer, or your bevrage of choice. I am assuming you are updating from a floppy, and for some reason, it can pause at that point for a couple of hours (or more), but it finishes.

zdriver · #4 Post by **zdriver** » Sun Mar 16, 2008 1:13 am

I have a feeling you ran the update from XP, which writes a temporary file - reboots and loads dos to run the update.
Once the 30 second confirmation message appears, everything is loaded in memory to write the eprom update - Y to continue starts the write from there.
I concur with sjthinkpader's advice.
Would definitely like to know the outcome. Hope your thinkpad is ok...

zzzname · #5 Post by **zzzname** » Sun Mar 16, 2008 5:08 am

Thanks for the advice guys. Well, it's been like that for over 12 hours now so it does look pretty grim. And it's not like there's some action going on with processor, it's dead silent.

And I didn't install it from a floppy, just from a normal ThinkVantage update. That's what really annoys me. If I was messing on my own with BIOS and something happed I would have only myself to blame. But if I do an update with Lenovo's own software then these things just shouldn't happen. I mean, if they had stated that there is even one percent chance of that happening I definitely wouldn't have updated it.

The other thing is, if worse comes to worst and my mother board fails, my Thinkpad is still under American warranty. The only problem is I'm now in Poland and will have to figure it out how to send it in for repairing.

Admin Edit: Inappropriate langauge deleted. Please read the Rules of the Road for posting here and adhere to them!

yak · #6 Post by **yak** » Sun Mar 16, 2008 9:00 am

Well, it's not like anybody assures you their software is 100% bugs-free. But if this was indeed caused by a bug and your ThinkPad doesn't work anymore, they should fix it for free.

fschwep · #7 Post by **fschwep** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 4:13 pm

zzzname wrote:
The other thing is, if worse comes to worst and my mother board fails, my Thinkpad is still under American warranty. The only problem is I'm now in Poland and will have to figure it out how to send it in for repairing.

Warranty should normally be worldwide, and if Lenovo/IBM have a repair centre in Poland you can probably call them and send it there (or, if the warranty is on-site or pickup/return, they will send you a guy with a box to pick it up). So it depends on how long you will stay in Poland. If the part (mobo) is in stock turnaround time may turn out to be pretty good.
I had to replace the mobo in my Dutch T42 while I was in France (I now live there, mostly) and yes, a friendly French person picked up the phone and next morning there was a guy with a box. The mobo was out of stock, but they could tell me when it was planned to arrive, which it actually did, and the machine was returned pretty quick (day after the actual repair) by, again, a guy with a box.

davidspalding · #8 Post by **davidspalding** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 10:24 pm

I find that I update less and less as my T43 gets older ... most of the newer updates, if you read the details of hte release notes, add support for newer laptops, and don't "fix" anything for a T43. So ... read the details of all recommended updates and decide for yourself if you "need" those updates.

Case in point, in the last few months I've had to roll back to older driver and utility versions to solve oddball problems. I just recently restored much older ATI video drivers and controls to solve (maybe) a problem where a) the LCD would not power off via Power Manager or power-saving profiles, and b) the screen would resize to 1024x768 when the screen lid was closed, and all my desktop icons rearranged.

Robbyrobot · #9 Post by **Robbyrobot** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 2:19 am

zzzname wrote: But when I started upgrading Embedded Controller Program Service Utility it suddenly stopped at that gray screen saying that the system was now updating and is telling me not to turn it off in any case. The thing is, it says it should take about 30 seconds while I have been waiting for over an hour but to no avail.

This problem has already been described, but unfortunately without a solution. Strangely enough, only the embedded controller appears to give problems, not the BIOS.

BobA · #10 Post by **BobA** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 5:18 pm

Interestingly, I just ran into this problem myself - at least I think it's this problem. My T41 was way out of date with both the BIOS and the embedded controller so I updated the BIOS to 3.23 .. no problem. Then I tried to update the embedded controller and waited for 20 minutes for it to complete - which it never did.

From reading this post, I decided to go ahead and power the system off. There was no damage - but the embedded controller had not been updated.

In reading the EC readme (ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pccbbs/mo ... hj10ud.txt), it states "If you need to update the BIOS as well as the Embedded Controller Program, update Embedded Controller Program first." This was my situation. So I went back to the original BIOS 3.00a and updated the EC FIRST - that went smoothly. Then I updated the BIOS to 3.23 - that also went smoothly.

I am now up-to-date on both.

Here are links for the BIOS and EC updates:
BIOS-Diskette: http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-50275
BIOS-Non-diskette: http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-50273
EC-Diskette: http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-50277
EC-Non-diskette: http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-50279

At the bottom of each page are pointers to old BIOS/EC updates if you need to go back. I was using diskette because the older versions didn't have non-diskette options.

I hope this helps ..

zzzname · #11 Post by **zzzname** » Wed Apr 02, 2008 5:38 pm

Just a little update on my own. Following BobAs advice I finally rebooted the computer and it works fine. I don't think I'll be updating the Embedded Controller Program Utility again, don't want to freak out again.

On the other hand, I tried contacting Lenovo service in Poland for the last couple of days but alas, nobody answers the phone... talk about a great service.

Anyways, thanks a lot for all your help guys, it is much appreciated.

BobA · #12 Post by **BobA** » Wed Apr 02, 2008 9:18 pm

I'd encourage you to get it done using the method I used. It does work and I'm updated on both the BIOS and the EC.

A: Download an older BIOS - then install it (see the links I gave you).
B: Install the latest EC.
C: Reinstall the latest BIOS.

If you are still hesitant, maybe you can find someone in Poland to help you out. The main reason I encourage you to do this is that Lenovo says the older EC won't work with your newer BIOS level. What that exactly means .. I'm sorry, I don't know.

Sincerely
Bob

Robbyrobot · #13 Post by **Robbyrobot** » Sat Apr 05, 2008 3:33 am

BobA wrote:Interestingly, I just ran into this problem myself - at least I think it's this problem. My T41 was way out of date with both the BIOS and the embedded controller...

[...]

In reading the EC readme (ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pccbbs/mo ... hj10ud.txt), it states "If you need to update the BIOS as well as the Embedded Controller Program, update Embedded Controller Program first."

Now, this directly contradicts the instructions in the BIOS page, which read:

BIOS Update (Diskette) - ThinkPad R50/p, R51 (1829, 1830, 1831, 1836), T40/p, T41/p, T42/p

[...]

- If you need to update the Embedded Controller Program as well as the BIOS, update the BIOS first.

Obviously, you should do what works, but it would be nice if IBM/Lenovo could decide what is the proper procedure and stick with that instead of confusing people in this manner.

BobA · #14 Post by **BobA** » Sat Apr 05, 2008 10:21 am

Robbyrobot wrote:
BobA wrote:Interestingly, I just ran into this problem myself - at least I think it's this problem. My T41 was way out of date with both the BIOS and the embedded controller...

[...]

In reading the EC readme (ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pccbbs/mo ... hj10ud.txt), it states "If you need to update the BIOS as well as the Embedded Controller Program, update Embedded Controller Program first."
Now, this directly contradicts the instructions in the BIOS page, which read:

BIOS Update (Diskette) - ThinkPad R50/p, R51 (1829, 1830, 1831, 1836), T40/p, T41/p, T42/p

[...]

- If you need to update the Embedded Controller Program as well as the BIOS, update the BIOS first.
Obviously, you should do what works, but it would be nice if IBM/Lenovo could decide what is the proper procedure and stick with that instead of confusing people in this manner.

Yes, I agree. I would call technical support and talk with them about this issue. I didn't read the comment about updating the BIOS first .. I am going to guess it only applies before BIOS 3.13. I did find only one place where it said to update the EC first .. ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pccbbs/mo ... hj10ud.txt.

Good luck.

Botched Embedded Controller Program Service Update.

Botched Embedded Controller Program Service Update.

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