A20P bios upgrade?

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Indy452 · #1 Post by **Indy452** » Mon Mar 14, 2011 9:47 pm

I scored a georgeous A20P for next to nothing and I was wondering what I can do with it since I've been having such a hard time getting a Lightweight linux distro to be effective on it. This thing is totally granny'd. The keyboard looks to have barely ever been used and its in like new condition all around...Since my first thinkpad was an A20M I have a special place in my heart for this particular machine but ten years later its not the most effective piece of equipment compared to today's laptops.

I guess my question is, can or should the Bios be updated on this? I've never done anything with Bioses so I haven't a clue what to do.....Is there an upgrade available? Can a normal everyday average guy perform a bios upgrade? What are the benefits of doing a Bios upgrade?

Thanks for the help...

ajkula66 · #2 Post by **ajkula66** » Mon Mar 14, 2011 10:28 pm

What BIOS version is there now?

Neil · #3 Post by **Neil** » Mon Mar 14, 2011 10:35 pm

The newest available BIOS from Lenovo is on this page:

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MNN8Y.html

Instructions for installation are in the text file right below the BIOS file. I haven't read it, but they usually tell what problems the BIOS upgrade fixes.

Indy452 · #4 Post by **Indy452** » Mon Mar 14, 2011 10:51 pm

BIOS version 1.09a (IVET67WW)
Date: 1999-12-21

Indy452 · #5 Post by **Indy452** » Mon Mar 14, 2011 10:54 pm

Neil wrote:The newest available BIOS from Lenovo is on this page:

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MNN8Y.html

Instructions for installation are in the text file right below the BIOS file. I haven't read it, but they usually tell what problems the BIOS upgrade fixes.

What if I don't use windows? I use Mepis antix base on it. Its one of the few that run nicely on it. There is no sign of a windows based OS in my home anymore.....I'm all open source so can I still perform an update then? I mention this because of the list of windows based OS's listed on the link.

ajkula66 · #6 Post by **ajkula66** » Mon Mar 14, 2011 11:04 pm

Here's the bootable FDD version:

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... IGR-4JWNTR

Neil · #7 Post by **Neil** » Mon Mar 14, 2011 11:06 pm

Sure there are ways to upgrade BIOS without Windows...

http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/BIOS_Upgrade

Indy452 · #8 Post by **Indy452** » Wed Mar 16, 2011 6:24 am

Neil wrote:Sure there are ways to upgrade BIOS without Windows...

http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/BIOS_Upgrade

Yikes...."a paper weight" That is a scary thought to me. Thanks for the cool link.. I guess I'll leave it alone for now...too risky.

A20P bios upgrade?

A20P bios upgrade?

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