ThinkWiki - User contributions [en]

Problem with unauthorized MiniPCI network card

2009-02-11T13:07:32Z

Radomir.cernoch: /* Successful BIOS Modifications */

==Problem Description==
Although the MiniPCI slot is an industry standard and can accept any MiniPCI adapter, the IBM BIOS is set to only allow you to boot with an 'authorized' adapter installed. Attempts to install an unsupported card will result in the following message:

1802: Unauthorized network card is plugged in - Power off and remove the miniPCI network card.

This is because the card's sub-vendor PCI-ID (which can be seen using ''lspci -v'') are checked against a [[Wikipedia:Whitelist|whitelist]] in the BIOS. IBM's reasoning for this is that the combination of MiniPCI card and the integrated antenna in the ThinkPad needs to be certified by the US FCC (Federal Communications Commission).{{footnote|1}} or similar agencies in other countries.

==Affected Models==
All machines with integrated WiFi, or machines with WiFi added

==Affected Operating Systems==
All - problem is in the BIOS

==Status==
* Workarounds exist for most affected models.

==Solutions==
It may be possible to use the computer with the unauthorized card deactivated (but not removed). Press {{key|F1}} to enter the BIOS and deactivate the WLAN card, then attempt to boot with the card disabled. This does not make the wireless card work, but it may allow you to boot the computer normally.

{{NOTE|Any of the following solutions should suffice to make the wireless card useable. You only need to perform one of them.}}

* You may can modify the BIOS whitelist to include the PCI-ID of the card you wish to use. The complete instructions for this procedure are [http://www.paul.sladen.org/thinkpad-r31/wifi-card-pci-ids.html here].
{{WARN|It is dangerous to mess with your BIOS, you can easily make your machine unbootable, proceed with caution!}}

* A safer and better method than modifying the BIOS is modifying the PCI-ID of the wlan card to match the authorized one(why? 1.you'll risk the wireless card instead of the motherbord 2.future BIOS updates will not create any problem 3.no problem with newer laptops with different BIOS, the only reqirement is to find an ID that is already listed in the BIOS that can be easily acheived if community maintain a compatibility table). The instructions are [http://www.dagarlas.org/stuff/computing/article0001.php here]. This page is for Atheros-based cards and HP notebooks, but it applies to Thinkpads as well. It also has links on how to edit the PCI-ID on Intel Pro Wireless cards. Instruction for intel 2200/2915 cards are [http://stachon.webpark.cz/ipw-eeprom.html here] or [http://www.thinkpad-forum.de/thinkpad-hardware/zubeh%C3%B6r/44192-tutorial-nicht-ibm-wlan-karte-2200-2915-im-thinkpad/ here] (in German). The second one is much simpler because it provides an already patched and compiled ipw2200 driver required to do the job.
{{NOTE|Modifying your PCI-ID will require either a laptop without a BIOS lock or a PCI adapter for your desktop. Also, this procedure can render your card useless, but that's better than bricking your laptop.}}

* Another safer method: You can plug the wireless card into the spare WWAN slot (the second miniPCI express slot) with pin-20 taped over. It has been tested on a Thinkpad X61s and a non-IBM (unauthorized) Intel Wifi link 4965agn card, originally it gave a 1802 error, but using this trick it boots up and works without any apparent problem-- it essentially hides the card from the test in the bios, but the WWAN slot still gives the card access to the proper PCI bus, with no need to modify the computer or card. Other combinations reported to work with this method: Thinkpad X61 / Intel 3945abg (bulk).

* You can use the [[Problem with error 01C9 - More than one Ethernet devices | no-1802 and no-01C9 Linux Live CD]] without applying the no-01C9 patch. It is very convenient to use and based on the C code below.

* You can use the DOS [http://jcnp.pku.edu.cn/~shadow/1802/no-1802.com no-1802] utility, written by Tisheng Chen.{{footnote|2}} It will set a certain bit in the CMOS memory which disables the whitelist check, but it has been reported not to work on the latest machines, such as the T43 and X41

* You can compile and run (as root) the following C-code, which was written by Matthew Garrett. It was based on the code written by Vojtech Pavlik, which in turn was based on the assembly used in the no-1802 program. {{footnote|3}}

<code>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <sys/types.h>
#include <unistd.h>
#include <sys/stat.h>
#include <fcntl.h>

int main(void)
{
int fd;
unsigned char data;

fd = open("/dev/nvram", O_RDWR);
if (fd==-1) {
printf("Opening /dev/nvram failed\n");
return 1;
}
printf("Disabling WiFi whitelist check.\n");

/* BIG INFORMATIONAL WARNING */
/* The linux nvram driver doesn't give access to the first 14 bytes of
the CMOS. As a result, we seek to 0x5c rather than 0x6a. If you're
implementing this under another OS, then you'll have to go to whichever
address is appropriate for your access method */

lseek(fd, 0x5c, SEEK_SET);
read(fd, &data, 1);
printf("CMOS address 0x5c: %02x->", data);
data |= 0x80;
printf("%02x\n", data);
lseek(fd, 0x5c, SEEK_SET);
if (write(fd, &data, 1)<0) {
printf("Unable to write to /dev/nvram - hack failed\n");
close(fd);
return 2;
}
close(fd);
printf("Done.\n");
return 0;
}

</code>
{{NOTE|On the R32, T43, X41, X60, W500 and probably others, the BIOS hacks and the "no-1802" utility don't work.}}

==Successful BIOS Modifications==
{{WARN|This table is meant to give users an idea of what models have been successfully modified and how. As stated before, it is dangerous to mess with your BIOS, you can easily make your machine unbootable. Please proceed with caution!}}

The following table contains information about ThinkPad models that have been successfully modified to run an unauthorized Mini PCI card. {{footnote|4}}

{| align="center" cellpadding="2" width="100%" style="border:1px; background:grey;"
! style="background:#efefef;"| Model
! style="background:#efefef;"| Type
! style="background:#efefef;"| BIOS Version
! style="background:#efefef;"| Operating System
! style="background:#efefef;"| Method
! style="background:#efefef;"| Success
|- style="background: white;"
| ThinkPad 240
| 2609-21G
| 1.18
| Damn Small Linux
| Matthew Garrett code {{footnote|3}}
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad A31
| 2652-P3M
| 1.10 (1NET16WW)
| Debian GNU/Linux Lenny (2.6.25-2-686)
| Matthew Garrett code {{footnote|3}}
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad G40
| 2388-2UU
| 1.21 (2006/2/24; 1TETA6WW)
| Windows XP Home
| no-1802 DOS 6.22 floppy
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white;"
| ThinkPad R31
| 2656-6FG
| 3.11 (12-01-2004)
| Windows XP Boot Disk
| no-1802 utility
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white;"
| ThinkPad R31
| 2656-E4U
| 3.11 (12-01-2004)
| Windows XP Professional SP2
| no-1802 utility
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white;"
| ThinkPad R32
| 2656-EG1
| 2.16 (16-06-2006)
| DOS Boot Disk
| no-1802 utility
! style ="color:red;"| No
|- style="background: white;"
| ThinkPad R40
| 2656-69U
| ?
| Windows 2000 Pro
| no-1802 utility
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad R40
| 2681-F7G
| n/a
| Windows XP Pro SP2 w/ Intel 2200BG
| No-1802 utility
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad R40
| 2682
| ?
| Debian Etch
| Matthew Garrett code
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad R40
| 2896-J3U
| 1.24 (10-18-2005)
| Fedora Core 4
| Vojtech Pavlik code
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad R40
| 2681-L7U
| 1.24 (10-18-2005)
| Windows XP Pro
| no-1802 utility
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad R40
| 2722-BDG
| 1.33
| Windows XP Pro
| no-1802 Linux Live CD
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad R40
| 2722-DG1
| 1.26
| Ubuntu Linux 8.10 2.6.27-9
| Matthew Garrett code
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad R40e
| 2684-LKG
| ?
| Windows XP Pro
| no-1802 DOS boot CD
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad R40
| 2681-CDG
| 1.27 (10-06-2006)
| Windows XP Pro
| no-1802 LiveCD
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad R40
| 2722-DM2
| 1.09 (2003)
| Windows XP Pro
| no-1802 LiveCD
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad R40
| 2723
| ?
| Slackware Linux 12
| Matthew Garrett's code
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad R40
| 2681-CFM
| 1.24 (10-17-2005)
| Gentoo & XP Pro
| no-1802 utility (boot from USB key to apply)
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad R40
| 2724
| 1.30 (10-19-2005)
| FreeBSD 6.1-p1
| code by Matthew Garrett, compiled and run on bactrack
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad R40
| 2724-3XU
| 1.33 (06-29-2006)
| Windows XP Pro
| no-1802 utility
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad R40
| 2682
| 1.01 (2003-01-24)
| Debian GNU/Linux etch (March 2007)
| Matthew Garret's code
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad R40
| 2722-BDG
| 1.33 (2006/6/29)
| Lunar Linux (2007/03/04)
| Matthew Garret's code
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad R50
| 1829-7RG
| 3.21 (02-06-2006)
| Windows XP Pro
| no-1802 Linux Live CD
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad R50
| 1830-6FG
| 3.05a (14-05-2004)
| Windows XP Pro
| no-1802 Linux Live CD
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad R50p
| 1832-2AG
| 3.19 (13-10-2005)
| Ubuntu 5.10 (kernel 2.6.12-10-686)
| Vojtech Pavlik code
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
|ThinkPad R51
| 2887-W2C
| 1.27 (03-03-2006)
| Windows XP Pro SP2
| no-1802 utility (boot from USB key to apply)
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
|ThinkPad R52
| 1849-BMU
|1.27 (09-20-2006)
| Windows XP Pro SP2
| no-1802 utility (boot from external USB floppy)
! style ="color:red;"| No
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
|ThinkPad T23
| 2647-4MU
| 1.18 (08-06-2004)
| Windows XP Pro/SP2
| no-1802 utility (W98se-bootfloppy)
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
|ThinkPad T30
| 2366-68G
| 2.09 (08-08-2005)
| Windows XP Pro
| no-1802 utility
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
|ThinkPad T30
| 2366-ES1
| 2.10
| Windows XP Pro
| no-1802 utility
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad T30
| 2366-97G
| 2.09 (08-08-2005)
| Windows XP Pro
| no-1802 utility
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad T30
| 2366-N6G
| 2.09 (08-08-2005)
| Windows XP Pro
| no-1802 utility
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad T30
| 2366-N6G
| 2.10 (26-06-2006)
| Windows XP Pro
| no-1802 utility
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad T30
| 2366-81U
| 2.10 (27-06-2006)
| Windows XP Pro
| no-1802 Linux Live CD
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad T30
| 2366-86U
| 2.10 (27-06-2006)
| Windows XP Pro SP 2
| no-1802 utility
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad T30
| 2366-86G
| 2.10 (27-06-2006)
| Windows XP Pro SP 2 and Ubuntu 7.10 "Gutsy Gibbon" Intel BG2200
| no-1802 Linux Live CD
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad T30
| 2366-86M
| 2.05 (12-06-2003)
| Mepis 7
| no-1802 Linux Live CD
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad T30
| 2366-DU9
| 2.10 (27-06-2006)
| Suse Linux 10.1
| no-1802 Linux Live CD
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad T30
| 2367-RU1
| 2.01 (06-08-2002)
| Windows XP Pro SP2
| no-1802 Linux Live CD
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad T30
| 2366-81M
| 2.10 (1IET71WW)
| Debian GNU/Linux Lenny (2.6.24-1-686)
| Matthew Garrett code {{footnote|3}}
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad T40
| 2373-7CU
| 3.21
| Windows XP Pro
| no-1802 Linux Live CD
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad T40
| 2373-PM1
| 3.21
| Windows XP Pro SP2
| no-1802 Linux Live CD
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad T40
| 2373-4BG
| 3.21
| Windows XP Pro SP2
| no-1802 Linux Live CD
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad T40
| 2373-7CU
| 3.21 (06-02-2006)
| Windows XP Pro SP2
| no-1802 Linux Live CD
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad T40
| 2373-75U
| 3.21 (09-12-2006)
| Fedora 6 w Intel 2915ABG
| no-1802 Linux Live CD
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad T40
| 2373-82U
| 3.18 (09-15-2005)
| Windows XP/ SUSE 10.1
| No-1802 utility
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad T40
| 2373-8CG
| 3.05a (2004-05-14)
| Arch Linux
| No-1802 LiveCD
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad T40
| 2373-8CG
| 3.15 (2005-03-29)
| Windows XP Pro SP2 w/[http://www.giga-byte.com.tw/Products/Communication/Products_Spec.aspx?ClassValue=Communication&ProductID=985&ProductName=GN-WI01GS Gigabyte GN-WI01GS]
| No-1802 LiveCD
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad T40
| 2373-PU7
| 3.21 (09-12-2006)
| Windows XP Professional
| No-1802 utility
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad T40
| 2373-42G
| 3.20 (11-05-2006)
| Windows 2000 Pro
| no-1802 utility
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad T40
| 2374-8CG
| 3.20 (11-05-2006)
| Ubuntu 6.06 LTS w/Intel Pro Lan2200
| no-1802 Linux Live CD
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad T40
| 2374-8CU
| 3.03 (07 Apr 2004)
| Windows XP
| no-1802 utility (applied via FreeDos bootable USB stick)
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad T40
| 2374-DG1
| 3.21 (06-02-2006)
| Ubuntu 6.10 w/Broadcom 4306
| Matthew Garrett's code
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad T40p
| 2373-G1G
| 3.19 (10-13-2005)
| Debian GNU/Linux (sid)
| no-1802 Linux Live CD
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad T40p
| 2373-G5G
| 3.21 (2006-06-02)
| Windows XP Pro SP2 / Gentoo 2007.0
| no-1802 Linux Live CD
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad T41
| 2373-1FG
| 3.21 (2007-06-18)
| Windows XP Pro SP2
| no-1802 utility
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad T41
| 2373-5G1
| 2004
| Fedora Core 6 w/Intel Pro 2915ABG a/b/g
| no-1802 Linux Live CD
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
|ThinkPad T41
| 2373-9HU
| n/a
| Ubuntu 6.10 w/Atheros 5212 a/b/g
| no-1802 Linux Live CD
! style="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
|ThinkPad T41
| 2373-2FG
| n/a
| Windows XP Pro SR2 w/ Intel 2200BG
| no-1802 utility
! style="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad T41p
| 2373-GEG
| BIOS Build ID: 1RETDOWW(3.20)
| Gentoo / XP pro SP2
| Matthew Garrett's code {{footnote|3}}
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad T41p
| 2374-GGU
| 3.21 (1RETDPWW) 6/2/2006
| Slackware / XP pro SP2
| Matthew Garrett's code
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad T41
| 2373-K32
| BIOS Build ID: 1RETDOWW(3.20)
| CentOS 5.0 w/Atheros 5212 (CM9)
| Matthew Garrett's code
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad T42
| 2373-6UU
| Not noted
| Fedora 7 w/Atheros 5212
| Matthew Garrett's code
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad T42
| 2373-4TG
| 3.13 (1RETDHWW) (29-10-2004)
| Windows XP Pro SP2 w/ Intel PRO 2200BG
| no-1802 Linux Live CD
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad T42
| 2373-Y8N
| 1RETDRWW (3.23)
| openSUSE 11.1 / Intel 2915abg
| Matthew Garrett's code
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad T42p
| 2373-HTU
| 3.23 (1RETDRWW) (06-18-2007)
| Windows XP Pro SP2 w/ Intel 2915ABG
| No-1802 utility
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad T42
| 2373-K2G
| 3.17 (07-27-2005)
| Windows XP Pro SP2 w/ Intel 2915ABG
| No-1802 utility
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad T42
| 2373-M1U
| 3.13 1RETDHWW (10/29/2004)
| Fedora 7 w/ Intel PRO 2200BG
| Matthew Garrett's code
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad T42
| 2373-LM1
| 3.23 (1RETDRWW) (06-18-2007)
| Debian Lenny (2.6.21-2-686) w/ Intel PRO 2915ABG
| Matthew Garrett's code
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad T42
| 2378-EXU
| 3.18 (09-15-2005)
| Windows XP Pro SP2
| No-1802 utility
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad T43
| 1871-F1G
| 1.19 (70ET59WW) (2005-09-20)
| n/a
| no-1802 Linux Live CD
! style ="color:red;"| No
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad X22
| 2662-95G
| 1.32 (2003-06-10)
| Debian GNU/Linux testing, kernel 2.6.18-3-686
| Matthew Garrett's code
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad X24
| 2662-MPG
| 1.26 (2002-05-22)
| Debian GNU/Linux 2.6.18-5
| Matthew Garrett's code
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad X30
| AR5212
| ?
| Debian Linux 2.6.18-5
| Matthew Garrett's code
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad X30
| 2672-41j
| 1.08 (08-09-2005)
| Gentoo Kernel 2.6.15
| no-1802 utility
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad X30
| 2672-4XU
| 1.09
| Win XP Pro SP2
| no-1802 Linux Live CD
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad X30
| 2673-EU2
| 1.09
| Windows XP Pro SP2
| no-1802 utility
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad X31
| 2672-C2G
| 3.02 (22-09-2005)
| Debian Etch (Testing), Kernel 2.6.22-rc7
| no-1802 utility
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad X31
| 2672-PG9
| 2.04 (2003-11-10)
| Debian Etch (Testing), Kernel 2.6.21-2
| Matthew Garrett's code
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad X31
| 2673-C27
| 3.02 (22-09-2005)
| Ubuntu 5.10 (kernel 2.6.12-9-386)
| Matthew Garrett code {{footnote|3}}
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad X31
| 2672-1UG
| 3.02 (22-09-2005)
| FreeBSD 6-STABLE
| no-1802 Linux Live CD
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad X31
| 2672-CEG
| 3.02 (22-09-2005)
| Debian Etch (Testing), Kernel 2.6.17-2-686
| no-1802 Linux Live CD
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad X31
| 2672-CXU
| 2.04
| Windows XP Pro
| no-1802 DOS boot CD
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad X31
| 2672-PBU
| 3.02
| Windows XP Pro
| no-1802 DOS boot CD
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad X31
| 2672-I5A
| 3.02
| Windows XP Pro
| no-1802 DOS boot CD
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad X31
| 2672-C8G
| 3.02
| Debian (kernel 2.6.16.20-386)
| Matthew Garrett code {{footnote|3}}
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad X31
| 2672-CEG
| 2.11 (02/13/2004)
| Debian (kernel 2.6.18-4-686, gcc 4.1.2)
| Matthew Garrett code {{footnote|3}}
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad X31
| 2884-BRU
| 1.03 (1QET34WW) 2003-04-08
| Windows XP Pro SP2 w/ Intel 2915ABG
| no-1802 DOS boot CD
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad X31
| 2672-C2G
| ?
| Win XP Pro, w/ Gigabyte GN-WI03N-RN
| no-1802 Linux Live CD
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad X31
| 2672-BAU
| 3.02 (1QET97WW)
| Windows Vista w/ Broadcom 43XG, Ubuntu 7.10
| no-1802 Linux Live CD
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad X32
| 2672-58G
| 3.02
| Ubuntu 8.04
| no-1802 CD
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad X40
| 2371-8EU
| 1.42 (2004/09/16; 1UET92WW)
| Windows XP Pro
| no-1802 Linux Live CD
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad X41
| 1866-6SU
| ?
| Windows XP Pro
| no-1802 DOS boot CD
! style ="color:red;"| No
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad X41
| 2525-A2U
| 2.06 (2006/03/14; 74ET61WW)
| Windows XP Pro
| no-1802 Linux Live CD
! style ="color:red;"| No
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad X41
| 2528-ELU
| 2.06 (2006/03/14; 74ET61WW)
| Windows XP Pro / OSX 10.4.8 / Ubuntu Edgy
| no-1802 Linux Live CD
! style ="color:red;"| No
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad X60s
| 1702-3JU
| ?
| Debian Testing
| Matthew Garrett's code
! style ="color:red;"| NO (bricked)
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad R40
| 2681-LUU
| 1.27 (2006-06-29; 1OET61WW)
| Windows XP Pro
| jmp1802.cmd
! style ="color:green;"| Yes
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
| ThinkPad W500
| 4061-A97
| 1.16 (2008-09-24; 6FET46WW)
| Ubuntu 8.10
| Matthew Garrett's code
! style ="color:red;"| No

|-
|}

==Problem with WiFi LED==
After getting an unauthorized card to work, you may notice that the WiFi LED found on the ThinkPad is not working. This doesn't happen with all unauthorized cards. The general cause for this is the fact that the MiniPCI standard leaves the implementation of the LED signals available on the MiniPCI connector to the card vendors. Therefore some newer WiFi cards use one of the signals originally meant for LEDs to implement the "radio kill" switch input. As a result, the LED doesn't get proper signals and fails.

====Details====
The WiFi LED found in ThinkPads is connected to following pins on the MiniPCI connector.
{| align="center" cellpadding="2" width="100%" style="border:1px; background:grey;"
!style="background:#efefef;"|Pin
!style="background:#efefef;"|Signal
!style="background:#efefef;"|Description
|-style="background: white;"
|11
|LED1_GRNP
|WiFi active LED +
|-style="background: white;"
|13
|LED1_GRNN
|WiFi active LED - (older cards) / RF Silent input (newer cards)
|}
Note: The descriptions are specific to this article.

If your LED is not working, the problem could be the pin 13. Newer cards may no longer provide the necessary negative signal there to drive the LED. Before you apply any fixes, be sure to check the voltage between pin 11 and ground (can be found for example on the MiniPCI latch arms) - it should give you about 3.3V while the WiFi is active and 0V otherwise. The voltage between pin 13 and ground should measure about 2.5V. The notebook has to be running while you perform the tests so be extremely careful. All the mentioned pins are on the upper side so it's quite easy to get to them with a multimeter. If all the voltages match, your LED is fixable.

Reference:<br>
[http://members.datafast.net.au/dft0802/specs/mpci10.pdf MiniPCI Specification] (PDF, 724KB)<br>
[http://www.interfacebus.com/MiniPCI_Pinout_124Pin.html MiniPCI Pinout]

====Solution====
The solution is to connect the ground (GND) to the pin 13. However, since the new ''RF Silent input'' signal is active low, grounding the card side will tell it to turn itself off. Therefore, we have to separate pin 13 of the card from the system board and connect ground to the system board side only.

There are many ways to accomplish this. One which doesn't require any soldering is to mask pin 13 on the card with a cellophane tape and use about 3cm of thin wire to connect pin 13 of the connector to the ground. Place one end of the wire on the masked pad and insert the card into the slot. Check if the wire is centered on the pad and try pulling it (but not too hard) to see if it holds. If it comes out easily, pull the card out and repeat. If you successfully attach it, you have to connect the other end to the ground. The best place is the left MiniPCI latch arm. Bend it outside and insert the wire into the small gap between the two pieces of metal the arm is made from. Finally, make sure that the wire doesn't touch anything else and doesn't stand out too much, it must not touch the touchpad electronics when you put the palmrest back on. If in doubt, cover the wire with some insulator.

{{WARN|Do this fix ONLY if you know exactly what you are doing and at your own risk! If you're not sure about any part, don't even try it or you may damage your WiFi card and/or brick your laptop. You have been warned.}}

{{NOTE|If your card is not listed in the table below, your WiFi LED may not work for some other reason. Therefore, make sure you understood the problem described here and made all the measurements carefully. This way you will know if this apply to your card and if it can be fixed this way. Otherwise, if you're skilled enough, please try to find out why your LED doesn't work and contribute to this article.}}

====Successful WiFi LED fixes====
{| align="center" cellpadding="2" width="100%" style="border:1px; background:grey;"
! style="background:#efefef;"| Model
! style="background:#efefef;"| Type
! style="background:#efefef;"| WiFi card
! style="background:#efefef;"| Operating System
! style="background:#efefef;"| Success
! style="background:#efefef;"| Comments
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
|T41
|2374-312
|Intel PRO/Wireless 2915ABG,
Spares No: 373830-001
|Windows XP SP2,
Ubuntu 7.10
|style ="color:green;font-weight:bold;"|Yes
|The WiFi card seems to be a HP one (tip: google for spares no.). Not sure thou - received it with an already changed PCI-ID.
|- style="background: white; color:black;"
|X31
|2672-PG9
|Intel PRO/Wireless 2915ABG, Broadcom BCM4306
|Debian Sid
|style ="color:green;font-weight:bold;"|Yes
|Both cards are non-IBM ones, BIOS was patched. ipw2200 needed the {{bootparm|led|1}} option to be enabled while loading the module.
|}

==External Sources==
* Additional Information about "Unauthorised" MiniPCI adapters can be found on [http://www.srcf.ucam.org/~mjg59/thinkpad/wireless.html Matthew Garrett's website].

* Thinkpad Mini PCI Wireless [http://www.srcf.ucam.org/~mjg59/thinkpad/tables.html compatibility matrix].

* Bootable "no-1802" [http://www.command-tab.com/2006/02/26/unauthorized-wireless-cards/ CD and floppy image]

{{footnotes|
#This is explained in a [http://lkml.org/lkml/2003/6/3/162 message to the LKML] and subsequently [http://lkml.org/lkml/2003/6/9/50 clarified].
#The no-1802 tool was announced and explaned in a [http://mailman.linux-thinkpad.org/pipermail/linux-thinkpad/2004-June/018253.html message to the Linux-Thinkpad ML].
#Vojtech Pavlik's C-code was originally posted in a [http://lkml.org/lkml/2004/6/13/69 message to the LKML]. It was based on the assembly used in the no-1802 program. Matthew Garrett [http://www.srcf.ucam.org/~mjg59/thinkpad/hacks.html rewrote] the code to provide more error checking.
#This information has been added by users. Please feel free to add systems if you have had personal success or failure.
}}

BIOS Upgrade

2009-01-14T20:09:57Z

Radomir.cernoch: Added new section "Booting the image with syslinux"

__TOC__

This page is meant to describe ways to update the BIOS on a ThinkPad that only runs Linux for users that don't have ready access to Windows. If you have Windows on your ThinkPad you can just boot into it and follow instructions on the IBM website.

{{NOTE| In one case ([[APM setup on a type 2379 ThinkPad T40]]) it was not possible to upgrade the BIOS from Windows XP; a downgrade to Windows 98 was required to successfully run the BIOS upgrade app. The symptoms in this case were that, once the files had been extracted to the hard disk, and the machine was to reboot into the upgrade app, it would beep and hang just before reboot, requiring a power cycle. Once the power was cycled, it would simply reboot back into XP without performing any BIOS upgrade actions. So even if you have Windows, you may still need to use the info on this page.}}

----
==Before You Begin==
Updating the BIOS in Linux (with few exceptions) '''is not officially supported''' by IBM/Lenovo. However there are work arounds.

{{WARN|By following any of the instructions here you are accepting the '''very real risk''' of turning your thinkpad into a big expensive paper weight, as a firmware update gone wrong can create unfixable problems.

'''Proceed at your own risk!'''

It is also important to understand that Thinkpads from IBM have two separate firmwares: the BIOS, and the Embedded Controller program. A given BIOS version will require a certain version of the Embedded Controller program.

The IBM documentation is sometimes unclear about the order in which these two firmwares should be updated. On most, but not all Thinkpads, '''the correct update order is Embedded Controller program first, and then the BIOS'''. Make sure to do the two updates immediately one after the other. Newer models from Lenovo update both the Embedded Controller program and the BIOS at the same time, so you don't have to worry about it.}}

===DMI IDs===
Please consider updating the [[List of DMI IDs]] before (and after) updating your BIOS.

==BIOS Upgrade Paths==

For every firmware (either BIOS or Embedded Controller program) update on the IBM web site there used to be two different firmware update programs provided. The Diskette Updater and the Non Diskette Updater. For newer Lenovo Models the Diskette Updater is replaced with a bootable CD-Image and the Non Diskette Updater is renamed BIOS Update Utility, both of which update the BIOS and the Embedded Controller program at the same time. A list of links to firmware downloads can be found at [[BIOS Upgrade Downloads]] for nearly all Thinkpad Models.

===The Diskette Updater===

The Diskette updater appears to be a 16 bit DOS program which asks you to accept a license agreement. It will run in Windows, DOS, OS/2, or [http://dosemu.sf.net Dosemu] perfectly, but requires a real floppy disk attached via a real floppy controller. A USB Floppy Drive will not work.

===The Bootable CD Image===

Newer models from Lenovo can be updated using the Bootable CD Image. This should be the easiest way for non-Windows users and also maybe a more secure way for Windows users, as well. As the image is provided as a plain ISO-file without any Windows enclosure, you can simply burn it to a CD-R/RW with any modern operating system, as long as you have a CD/DVD-RW Drive and are then able to boot from it.

===Extracting a Bootable CD-ROM Image from the Non Diskette Updater===
{{WARN|Though this process was successfully tested on one version of .exe files found on IBMs website this doesn't mean it will work for all of them. Proceed at your own risk. Consult the list at the bottom of this page to see other users' experience with your model Thinkpad.}}

This installer appears to be a 32bit windows .exe which is designed for updating the BIOS directly from a running Windows OS. It turns out that this .exe is really a wrapper license program around Windows .cab files (see [[How_to_change_the_BIOS_bootsplash_screen|BIOS-Bootsplash]]). If you install the Linux program [http://freshmeat.net/projects/cabextract/ '''cabextract'''] you can expand these .cab files directly. Run the following:

:{{cmduser|cabextract FILENAME.exe}}

This will extract 8 files in the current directory. One of them will be FILENAME.img. In this discussion, "FILENAME" represents the name of the Non Diskette file that you downloaded, such as "1NHJ04US".

The non Diskette download was not extractable for at least the version 3.23 (T41p), but the diskette version worked perfectly - cabextract delivered a .img file to continue here...

You can test that this is really a floppy image by running:

:{{cmdroot|mkdir mntfloppy}}
:{{cmdroot|mount -o loop FILENAME.img mntfloppy}}
:{{cmdroot|ls -la mntfloppy}}

If the results of {{cmdroot|ls -la mntfloppy}} look like a dos floppy, and no read errors were displayed, you have a pretty good chance that the floppy image is usable.

Unmount the image after you are done:

:{{cmdroot|umount mntfloppy}}

Now, you can proceed to [[BIOS_Upgrade:Creating a Bootable CD from a Floppy Image]], below.

===Booting the image with syslinux===

Once the image is extracted from the Non Diskette Updater, it can be booted directly through GRUB without the need of burning a CD. This method has been tested on T42 with a broken DVD-ROM, but it should be applicable to any ThinkPad.

'''1.''' Download the '''Non Diskette Updater'''.

'''2.''' Extract the images using '''cabextract''' (see previous sections for details). Let's say that the image file is called {{path|1RUJ37US.IMG}} (replace with the actual filename).

'''3.''' Make sure that <tt>syslinux</tt> package is installed in your system. Locate the <tt>memdisk</tt> file from the syslinux package. In case of openSUSE 11.1, it is placed in {{path|/usr/share/syslinux/memdisk}}.

{{HINT|If you use rpm, try calling <tt>$ rpm -q syslinux --list</tt>}}

'''4.''' Copy both the '''image and memdisk''' files into {{path|/boot}} directory. You must be root to do this.

{{cmdroot|cp ./1RUJ37US.IMG /usr/share/syslinux/memdisk /boot/}}

'''5.''' Open {{path|/boot/grub/menu.lst}} in your favourite editor.

'''6.''' Copy the active section and edit <tt>title</tt>, <tt>kernel</tt>, <tt>initrd</tt> according to this example:

<pre>title IBM BIOS update
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/memdisk
initrd /boot/1RUJ37US.IMG
</pre>

{{NOTE|The <tt>root</tt> section must remain unchanged. This tells GRUB, on which partition the image is located.}}
{{WARN|Do not modify the original section in <tt>/boot/grub/menu.lst</tt>. You might not be able to boot back to the operating system}}

== Updating Thinkpad X Series ==

The special update instructions for X series Thinkpads are quite long. You can find them at the page [[BIOS_Upgrade/X_Series]].

==Updating via CD/DVD Drive==

The whole thing gets more complicated if you neither have Windows nor a floppy drive installed. This is what this page is intended to describe.

Another possibility which works even without a CD-drive or network is to boot the disk image via the grub initrd mechanism.

Be aware that IBM officially does '''not''' support this! The official statement to my support request was:

<blockquote style="background: white; border: 1px solid black; padding: 1em;">
<pre><nowiki>
I'm afraid we only support the options listed on our web page and no you
can't burn a CD/DVD, however you can try to use an external USB FDD
(floppy) drive. The experts recommend a IBM USB FDD, however they have also
tested it with a Sony USB FDD drive.

In order to make sure the drive is recognised you can boot up the FDD with
a bootable dos diskette for w98
</nowiki></pre>
</blockquote>

But it seems to be possible as Mathias Dalheimer describes this [http://mailman.linux-thinkpad.org/pipermail/linux-thinkpad/1998-January/009743.html here].

Another indication that it should work is that IBM uses PHLASH16.EXE (at least on T4x/p systems) to flash the BIOS into the chip. The same tool is used by [http://www.samsungpc.com/gb/support/p35/bios/bios-instructions.html other vendors] to flash the BIOS from bootable CD-ROMs.
{{WARN|Do '''not''' use the [http://syslinux.zytor.com/ SYSLINUX] image-loader [http://syslinux.zytor.com/memdisk.php MEMDISK] to boot the images! Some flash tools crash in that situation!}}

Some interesting but very technical information about the used flash tool can be found [http://www.paul.sladen.org/thinkpad-r31/wifi-card-pci-ids.html here].

===Creating a Floppy Image===
If you have created a boot floppy on another machine, you need to create an image file of that floppy. This can be easily done in linux by running a command line:

:{{cmdroot|1=dd bs=2x80x18b if=/dev/fd0 of=/tmp/floppy.img}}

You can also create a floppy image by using Ken Kato's [http://chitchat.at.infoseek.co.jp/vmware/vfd.html VMware's back]. It is a free Windoze tool that creates a virtual floppy drive and allows you to produce an image file ready to be ISO'ed. Note: you might have to 'manually' (through application's interface) assign the virtual drive a volume letter in order to be seen by IBM's application (as, by default, it seems not to do it).

You should verify this {{path|floppy.img}} as explained above.

===Creating a Bootable CD from a Floppy Image===
Once you have your floppy image, either from imaging a real floppy, or from extracting them via the cabextract method above, you need to make a boot CD out of it.

The eltorito bootable CD standard is a wonderful thing. What this means is that a bootable CD can be made with a bootable floppy in such as way that the CD believes that it is a 2.88 MB floppy drive. This allows you to replace a boot floppy by a boot CD in nearly all situations.

It is very easy to create such a bootable CD ISO image in Linux using the mkisofs tool. To do this run a command as follows:

:{{cmdroot|mkisofs -b bootfloppy.img -o bootcd.iso bootfloppy.img}}

where bootfloppy.img is the name of the .img floppy image file, for example 1NUJ10US.IMG.

Note: This creates a CD with one file on it and marks that file as the boot image. For more info on this read {{cmduser|man mkisofs}}.

You can now burn the {{path|bootcd.iso}} in your favorite CD burning program.

To get an overview which models have been tested with this version, here is a list:

===Does work:===
{| border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2"
| '''Model''' || '''Tested by'''
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;" | {{600E}} (2645-4AU) ||
*George Tellalov <gtellalov_dontspamme@bigfoot.com>. BIOS 1.16 from spsdin36.exe worked perfectly with the method bootable cd from floppy image. I highly recommend this upgrade because it made my ibm-acpi module load (it wouldn't load before) and fixed some suspend to ram problems. Here's the [http://george.tellalov.info/bios_upgrade_600e_spsdin36.iso cd image] I used. Use at your own risk. You can send me a chocolate if it works for you ;)
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;" | {{600E}} (2645-5bU) ||
*Mike Vincent<matchstc-putobvioushere.com>. Bios 1.16 from spsdin36.exe and then to the boot cd worked great for me. Thought I had bricked it three separate times using a "real" floppy! Each from different diskettes .The updater would start, give me the "going to take30 seconds" speech...and then access the HD for 10 minutes. Each time it would reboot fine. Did the cd as described above...worked great first time. Perhaps 10 year old seldom used floppy disc drives have some challenges?
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;" | {{600X}} (2645) ||
*Jonathan Byrne <jonathan@RemoveThisToMailMe.yamame.org>. BIOS 1.11 from spsuit55.exe worked perfectly using cabextract/CD method.
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;" | {{600X}} (2645) ||
*Andy Barnes <andy@RemoveThisToMailMe.itchypaws.co.uk>. As per Jonathan above, extracted BIOS 1.11 from spsuit55.exe using cabextract, created a CD boot image and burnt to CD. Worked flawlessly - thanks to everyone who contributed to this article!
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;" | {{A20p}} (2629-6VU) ||
*Chris Pickett http://www.sable.mcgill.ca/~cpicke/. BIOS 1.11 flashed fine with cabextract/CD method.
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;" | {{A21e}} (2628-JXU) ||
*Amit Gurdasani <gurdasani at yahoo dot com>. BIOS 1.13 flashed fine with cabextract/CD method. Alarmingly, after the BIOS update, the laptop beeped but did not shut down as was indicated onscreen -- that was frozen on the "do not shut down the laptop" screen. On power down and up again, the BIOS setup showed the newer BIOS image running, and Linux booted up fine. Linux ACPI didn't complain about the BIOS being too old either.
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;" | {{A31p}} (2653) ||
*Matthias Meinke largeeddy@gmx.at, BIOS 1.09 1NET15WW flashed fine with cabextract/CD method.
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;" | {{A31}} (2652) ||
*[[User:Wnoise|Aaron Denney]], BIOS 1.13 flashed fine with cabextract/CD method. The cabextract/CD method also worked for BIOS 1.10.
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;" | {{R30}} ||
*Jarrod, 30 August 2007, Thinkpad R30 Type 2656-E0M. BIOS updated to 1.40 (1CETF0WW) using floppy disk/mkisofs/cdrecord. Worked fine, no problems.
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;" | {{R31}} ||
*[http://mailman.linux-thinkpad.org/pipermail/linux-thinkpad/1998-January/009743.html Mathias Dalheimer]
*Sebastian Sauer (with cabextract/CD method)
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;" | {{R40}} ||
*Matthew Lambie, http://lambie.org
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;" | {{R50}} (1836-3SU) ||
*jlbartos <jlbartos at hotmail dot com>
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;" | {{R50e}} (1834-PTG) ||
*item <item at freemail dot hu> : successfully finished with cabextract/CD method for "1wuj25us.exe" (BIOS version 1WET90WW (2.10), Release Date: 2006/12/22)
*Christos Nouskas <nouskas at gmail dot com>: upgraded to BIOS version 1WET90WW (2.10) and EC version 1VHT28WW (1.04) using GRUB (BIOS first / EC second)
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;" | {{R51}} (1829) ||
*Robert Uhl <rob dot uhl at gmx dot de>, Jellby <jellby at yahoo dot com>
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;" | {{R51}} (1830-RM7) ||
*Will Parker <stardotstar at sourcepoint dot com dot au> successfully flashed 3.20 using existing 3.04 ECP and retained custom boot splash.
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;" | {{R51}} (2887) ||
*Ingo van Lil <inguin at gmx dot de>
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;" | {{R52}} (1858) ||
*Stuart McCord <stuart dot mccord at gmail dot com> flashed both BIOS and ECP using cabextract, BIOS flashed first as on IBM website
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;" | {{T20}} ||
*Franz Hassels <fhassel at suse dot com>
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;" | {{T22}} ||
*Daniel Maier <nusse teamidiot de>
*Mathias Behrle (with cabextract/CD method, Version 1.07 => 1.12) --[[User:Mathiasb|Mathiasb]] 11:58, 14 December 2006 (CET)
*Bob Skaroff (cabextract/CD), 1.06 => 1.12
*Leo Butler (cabextract/CD), 1.11 => 1.12
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;" | {{T23}} ||
*Bart Snapp <snapp at uiuc dot edu> Note: I followed IBM's instructions to flash the BIOS *first* and the Embedded Controller *second*.
*Moy Easwaran: BIOS 1.18 / EC 1.06a via cabextract and CD-boot. The BIOS-update exe generated errors in Windows 2000.
*Joe Renes: BIOS 1.18 / EC 1.06a on 2006-03-20 via cabextract and CD-boot. Piece of cake.
*Raphael Errani: BIOS 1.20 / EC 1.06a on 2006-11-06 via cabextract and CD-boot (using mkisofs). Worked without errors. 1st Bios, 2nd EC
*Myron Getman: BIOS 1.20 / EC 1.06a on 9/10/08 via cabextract --> k3b --> CD-boot. Worked like a charm. First BIOS update with Linux!
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;" | {{T30}} ||
*Martin GÃ¼hring <guehring at gmail.com> BIOS 2.10 via cabextract the Non-Diskette BIOS -> mkisofs '''in the directory the exe was extracted''' to generate the iso -> burn the iso -> boot the CD
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;" | {{T40}} ||
*Sean Dague, http://dague.net
*Justin Mason, http://jmason.org
*Ivanhoe (Bios 3.19)
*Alessandro Raulino (roger_2) EC 3.04 & BIOS 3.23 flashed with cabextract/CD method
*Nick Jenkins, using BIOS 3.23 with the [[#The_Non_Diskette_Updater|Non-diskette updater + cabextract method]], then [[#Creating_a_Bootable_CD_from_a_Floppy_Image|created a bootable CD from the cabextracted .IMG file]], then boot that ISO, and it worked great!
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;" | {{T40p}} ||
*Lukas KrÃ¤henbÃ¼hl, ismo at pop dot agri dot ch
*Thomas Achtemichuk, tom at tomchuk dot com. BIOS 3.15 flashed fine with cabextract/CD method
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;" | {{T41}} ||
*Lev Givon (Bios 3.15 / EC 3.04) <lev at columbia dot edu>
*Ernesto HernÃ¡ndez-Novich (Bios 3.19 / CP 3.04) < emhn at usb dot ve >
*[http://maebmij.org James Ballantine] (Bios 3.21 / CP 3.04) using nondisk/cabextract/CDRW
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;" | {{T41p}} ||
*Nils Newman, work great. (Version: Bios 3.14 / Embedded Controller 3.04)
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;" | {{T42}} ||
*Dan (BIOS 3.20 / EC 3.04, cabextract/CD method) <tronic171 at evilphb.org>
*Hirosh Dabui <hirosh@dabui.de>
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;" | {{T42p}} ||
*Robert Schiele <rschiele@uni-mannheim.de>, Joern Heissler <joern@heissler.de>, Hirosh Dabui <hirosh@dabui.de>
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;" | {{T43}} ||
*Conrad Rentsch <Conrad dot Rentsch at t-online dot de> (Version: Bios 1.29 / Embedded Controller 1.06)
*Tom Heady <tom-thinkwiki.org@punch.net>
*Florian Boucault <florian at boucault dot ath dot cx> (Model : 1871-W34 & Version: Bios 1.23 / Embedded Controller 1.03)
*Till Heikamp <t dot heikamp at geniusbytes dot com> (Model 2886, Bios 1.22 to 1.29, Embedded Controller 1.03 to 1.06)
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;" | {{T60}} ||
*Roman Komkov <roman at komkov dot org dot ru> (Model 1951, Bios 1.07 to 2.13) Successfully upgraded from CD Image
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;" | {{T61}} ||
*Kai Weber <kai.weber at glorybox dot org> (Bios 1.06 to 1.26) Successfully upgraded from CD Image
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;" | {{X20}} ||
*Neil Caunt <retardis at gmail dot com>
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;" | {{X21}} ||
*Patrick Leickner <ranma at web dot de>, (BIOS 2.21->2.25 / EC 1.31->1.36) via non-disk/cabextract/mkisofs/cdrecord
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;" | {{X22}} ||
*David Emery <dave at skiddlydee dot com>, (EC 1.30, BIOS 1.32 using non-disk/cabextract/CD method)
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;" | {{X23}} ||
*Nils Faerber <nils dot faerber at kernelconcepts dot de> (Embedded Controller 1.30, BIOS 1.32 with cabextract/CD method)
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;" | {{X30}} ||
*Hella Breitkopf, [http://www.unixwitch.de/ www] (Embedded Controller 1.04, BIOS 1.07 with cabextract/CD method)
*William Roe <willroe at gmail dot com> (Embedded Controller 1.06, BIOS 1.09 - cabextract/mkisofs/wodim)
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;" | {{X31}} ||
*Grzegorz KuÅ›nierz <koniu at sheket dot org> (Embedded Controller 1.08, BIOS 3.01 with cabextract/CD method)
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;" | {{X40}} ||
*Robbie Stone <robbie@serendipity.cx>
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;" | {{Z60m}} ||
*[[User:Morle|Morle]] 01:09, 17 Nov 2007 (CEST), (Embedded Controller 1.18 and Bios 1.24 with cabextract/CD method)
|}

===Does not work:===
{|
| '''Model''' || '''Tested by'''
|}

Please note that testing this is '''at your own risk'''!!!

==Updating via Grub and a Floppy Image==

{{WARN|Many have warned '''not''' to use the [http://syslinux.zytor.com/ SYSLINUX] image-loader [http://syslinux.zytor.com/memdisk.php MEMDISK] to boot the images! Some flash tools may crash in that situation! Proceed at your own risk!}}

Floppy images may be booted from Grub via a utility called [http://syslinux.zytor.com/memdisk.php MEMDISK], which may be compiled from the [http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/boot/syslinux/ '''SYSLINUX source''']. Copy the compiled memdisk image and the floppy image to your boot directory and configure grub as follows:

<blockquote style="background: white; border: 1px solid black; padding: 1em;">
<pre><nowiki>
title Bios Flash
kernel /boot/memdisk
initrd /boot/FILENAME.img
</nowiki></pre></blockquote>

Again, proceed at your own risk. This was tested on an R51 type 2888.

This also worked for me on a T41p type 2373. -- [[User:MrStaticVoid|James Lee]] 20:55, 8 May 2006 (CEST)

And it worked for me on a X31 type 2673-CBU. -- [[User:JanTopinski|Jan Topinski]], 18 September 2006

And it worked for me too on a X31 type 2672-CXU, very useful. -- [[User:TheAnarcat|TheAnarcat]] 16:21, 7 March 2007 (CET)

Same here (worked) on a X31 type 2673-58G --[[User:FaUl|FaUl]] 15:53, 20 June 2007 (UTC)FaUl

Works well on a X31 type 2672-PG9, but with a big moment between starting update and the updating window -- [[User:Starox|Starox]] 22 Jul 2007

And it worked for me on two X40 type 2371 -- [[User:Antialize|Jakob Truelsen]], 19 Jan 2007 -- BIOS: 2.07 1uuj21us.exe -- ECP: 1.62 1uhj10us.exe

Worked on X40 type 2386 -- [[User:Antialize|Galen Seitz]], 15 Feb 2008 -- BIOS: 2.08 1uuj22us.exe -- ECP: 1.62 1uhj10us.exe -- memdisk from syslinux 3.61

Not working for me on T43 type 2668-F7G -- [[User:Maus3273|Maus3273]] 20:48, 30 January 2007 (CET) -- BIOS: 1.29 1YUJ18US.IMG -- I got into the bios program, but the machine never restarts after initiating the upgrade.

X41 type 2525-F8G -- [[User:ladoga|Lauri Koponen]], 11:08 16 Apr 2007<br>
BIOS: 2.09 (74UJ15US.IMG), is no go. (hangs while initialising the actual flashing process) I tried with 2.07 (74UJ13US.IMG) and 2.06 (74UJ12US.IMG) aswell and they all failed in the very same fashion.<br>
ECP: 1.02 74HJ03US.IMG, works.

It works fine on R30 type 2656-64g, BIOS v.1.40 -- [[User:english.voodoo|Yuri Spirin]], 10 May 2007.

Workes fine on T40 type 2373 with cabextracted 1RUJ37US.IMG / 1RHJ10U2.IMG and memdisk from syslinux 1:3.31-4 (Debian package version) -- [[User:Euphoria|Euphoria]] 00:10, 29 May 2008 (CEST)

Works fine on R40 type 2723 with cabextracted 1OHJ11WW.IMG/1PUJ25US.IMG, memdisk from syslinux 3.70 (slackware 12.1) -- [[User:qunying|Qunying]] 21:28, 23 Jul 2008 (PST)

Worked perfectly on a T40 type 2373 with 1RHJ10U2.IMG (3.04, 2004-11-15) and 1RUJ37US.IMG (3.23, 2007-07-03) using cabextract and memdisk from syslinux 3:1.36-4ubuntu5. [[User:Morphics|Morphics]] 10:58, 20 Aug 2008 (BST)

Worked perfectly on a T41p type 2373 with 1RUJ37US.IMG (3.23, 2007-07-03) using cabextract and memdisk from syslinux 3.71 on gentoo linux. --[[User:Deggel|Deggel]] 21:03, 22 September 2008 (CEST)

==Updating with Network Boot Image==

BIOS, Embedded Controller (EC), CD/DVD and Harddisk firmware disks can be booted
over the network with [http://syslinux.zytor.com/pxe.php PXELINUX] as part of the [http://syslinux.zytor.com/ SYSLINUX] package.

This requires that you have a DHCP and tftp server configured and setup properly on
your network, and is probably not for the faint of heart.

Make sure the firmware bootdisk is in linux 'dd' format, as the self-extracting .exe disks
from the IBM website cannot be booted directly as such.

This worked on the {{R31}}, {{X22}}, {{T21}}, {{T30}} and {{T41p}} with various firmware updates.

On {{X22}}, works with EC 1.30 but NOT with BIOS 1.32

==Updating via "IBM Predesktop area", suitable for model X (not have CDROM and floppy)==
It's so difficult to update BIOS and ECP without cdrom, floppy disk.
Don't know the reason why I couldn't update BIOS and ECP(1QHJ08US and 1QUJ19US) for my IBM Thinkpad X31.Hmm, may be cause of the dividing partition on my hard disk, that is:
<blockquote style="background: white; border: 1px solid black; padding: 1em;">
<pre><nowiki>
Primary: ext3, ext3, ntfs
Extended: Ntsf, fat32
Bootloader: GRUB
</nowiki></pre></blockquote>

No problem, you can use this way to do it:
* First, config in BIOS
In Security part:
# Remove all password of Subpervisor and Power on password
# Set Access IBM Predesktop Area to Normal
# Choose Enable "Flash BIOS updating by End User" in BIOS update Option.

In Config part:
# Choose Enable for Network flash over Lan

* Second, download the newest version of BIOS update and ECP update
Running: The program extract all files to the folder. There is a .img file (1QUJ19US.IMG, 1QUJ08US.IMG) in each folder.
Copy the imformation content in that img file and paste it to one FAT partition(using winimage or TotalCmd to extract)

as seen All files in 1QUJ19US.IMG is extracted to D:\BIOS
<blockquote style="background: white; border: 1px solid black; padding: 1em;">
<pre><nowiki>
695,764 $018E000.FL1
163 0691.HSH
2,049 0691.PAT
163 0694.HSH
2,049 0694.PAT
163 0695.HSH
2,049 0695.PAT
2,049 06D0.PAT
163 06D1.HSH
2,049 06D1.PAT
163 06D2.HSH
2,049 06D2.PAT
163 06D6.HSH
2,049 06D6.PAT
2,049 06D8.PAT
697 CHKBMP.EXE
8,128 COMMAND.COM
26 CONFIG.SYS
24,860 FLASH2.EXE
26 LCREFLSH.BAT
170 LOGO.BAT
330 LOGO.SCR
111,925 PHLASH16.EXE
91,648 PREPARE.EXE
45 PROD.DAT
22,252 QKFLASH.EXE
9,923 README.TXT
4,260 TPCHKS.EXE
39,666 UPDTFLSH.EXE
6,958 UPDTMN.EXE
12,501 USERINT.EXE
15,254 UTILINFO.EXE
</nowiki></pre></blockquote>

And all files in 1QUJ08US.IMG are: D:\ECP
<blockquote style="background: white; border: 1px solid black; padding: 1em;">
<pre><nowiki>
315,404 $018E000.FL2
8,000 COMMAND.COM
36 CONFIG.SYS
16,910 ECFLASH2.EXE
45 PROD.DAT
17,812 QKFLASH.EXE
990 README.TXT
4,260 TPCHKS.EXE
89,738 UPDTEC.EXE
31,134 UPDTFLSH.EXE
12,501 USERINT.EXE
15,226 UTILINFO.EXE
</nowiki></pre></blockquote>

* Okie, now plug AC Adapter, charge full battery to your laptop and continue third step:

** '''Flash BIOS first,'''
1. Power On, press blue button on keyboard: '''Access IBM'''

2. On "Utilities", double click " Diagnostic disk"

3. Your laptop will start PC-DOS, wait when this message appear:
<blockquote style="background: white; border: 1px solid black; padding: 1em;">
<pre><nowiki>
Please insert the first floppy diskette and
Press any key to continue
</nowiki></pre></blockquote>

4. Press Ctrl + Break, you will see :
<blockquote style="background: white; border: 1px solid black; padding: 1em;"><pre><nowiki>Terminate batch job (Y/N) ?</nowiki></pre></blockquote>

5. Okie, press Y, you will get DOS prompt like D:\
{{NOTE|D:\ is my RAMDISK, C:\ is my disk format as FAT.!}}

6. Enter to c:\BIOS
<blockquote style="background: white; border: 1px solid black; padding: 1em;">
<pre><nowiki>
c:
cd c:\BIOS
</nowiki></pre></blockquote>

7. Run FLASH2.EXE /u $018E000.FL1

8. Wait flash progress compelete and reboot.
** '''Flash ECP'''
Follow above instruction from step 1 to 5

6. Enter to c:\ECP
<blockquote style="background: white; border: 1px solid black; padding: 1em;">
<pre><nowiki>
c:
cd c:\ECP
</nowiki></pre></blockquote>

7. run UPDTFLSH.EXE $018E000.FL2

8. Follow UPDTFLSH's instructions

9. Wait flash complete and auto turn off computer.

I done it on my IBM Thinkpad X31.

Enjoy,

Tested by nm.

==After updating==
===DMI IDs===
Please consider updating the [[List of DMI IDs]] after (and before) updating your BIOS.

==Check List==

The following is important to remember:
# You must update '''both''' the Control Program and the BIOS at the same time if your current Control Program is not compatible with the new BIOS (see below)
# You must find versions of the Control Program and BIOS that are compatible. Not all of them are, so follow the readmes on the IBM website carefully to determine which are.
# You must update the Control Program '''before''' you update the BIOS

When the Control Program '''and''' the BIOS need updating, have both update disks or CDs ready. Update the Control Program first and the system should switch itself off when finished. Insert the BIOS update disk and proceed to update the BIOS. When it's all finished, enter setup, reset the settings to their defaults and reboot. Enter setup again and tweak the settings as necessary.