ThinkWiki - User contributions [en]

How to control fan speed

2006-03-29T21:53:24Z

Stardotstar: /* Supported models */

This page discusses methods for controlling the system fan.

==For Linux==
===Using a patched kernel===

The [[Patch for controlling fan speed]] provides a convenient interface via {{path|/proc/acpi/ibm/fan}}.

Manual speed control can be done through the [[patch for controlling fan speed]]:

'''#cat /proc/acpi/ibm/fan'''
status: enabled
level: auto
speed: 4219
commands: enable, disable, level <level>
(<level> is 0-7, auto or disengaged)

'''#echo level 2 > /proc/acpi/ibm/fan'''

'''#cat /proc/acpi/ibm/fan'''
status: enabled
level: 2
speed: 3142
commands: enable, disable, level <level>
(<level> is 0-7, auto or disengaged)

===Using a stock kernel===

If you have the [[ibm-acpi]] module loaded with <tt>experimental=1</tt>, you can control the fan without patching the kernel by directly writing to the relevant embedded controller register using {{path|/proc/acpi/ibm/ecdump}}.

For example:

{{cmdroot|echo 0x2F 0x00 > /proc/acpi/ibm/ecdump}} (fan off)

{{cmdroot|echo 0x2F 0x02 > /proc/acpi/ibm/ecdump}} (low speed)

{{cmdroot|echo 0x2F 0x04 > /proc/acpi/ibm/ecdump}} (medium speed)

{{cmdroot|echo 0x2F 0x07 > /proc/acpi/ibm/ecdump}} (maximum speed)

{{cmdroot|echo 0x2F 0x80 > /proc/acpi/ibm/ecdump}} (automatic - default)

{{cmdroot|echo 0x2F 0x40 > /proc/acpi/ibm/ecdump}} (disengaged)

Ssee the specifications below for the meaning of these modes.

===On/off control using stock kernel===

If you only wish to turn the fan on and off (with automatic control when it's on), you can use the following.

When loading [[ibm-acpi]] v0.11 with experimental switch ({{cmdroot|1=modprobe ibm_acpi experimental=1}}), it is possible to read and write the status of fan:

'''#cat /proc/acpi/ibm/fan'''
status: enabled
speed: 3580
commands: enable, disable

'''#echo disable > /proc/acpi/ibm/fan'''

'''cat /proc/acpi/ibm/fan'''
status: disabled
speed: 0
commands: enable, disable

When off, the fan will then '''never''' wake up. It is advised to use an automated control script to reduce the chance of hardware damage.

===Automated control scripts===

An [[ACPI fan control script#Variable speed control scripts|ACPI fan control script]] can be to override the firmware's fan algorithm with gentler, quieter version. It monitors the laptop's [[thermal sensors]] and sets the fan speed accordingly, according to customizable thresholds. For the default behavior, simply save the [[ACPI fan control script#Variable speed control scripts|script]] as {{path|tp-fancontrol}} and run<br />
{{cmdroot|./tp-fancontrol}}

==For Windows==

Shimodax's ThinkPad fan control tool offers similar functionality (see [http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=17715 forum discussion] at thinkpads.com). Source and binaries are available through the [http://sourceforge.net/projects/tp4xfancontrol "Tp4xFanControl"] project on SourceForge.

==Hardware specs==

The patch relies on the following hardware behavior, which was discovered experimentally by [[User:Thinker|Thinker]] and neither provided by nor confirmed by IBM/Lenovo. The following description may be inaccurate and may vary by model (see list of models above). The terminology probably does not match the one used by IBM/Lenovo engineers.

ACPI DSDT register _SB.PCI0.LPC.EC.HFSP (8 bits, offset 0x2F in the <tt>EmbeddedController</tt> address space, accessed through the standard EC interface at IO ports 0x62 and 0x66) is read/writable and has the following meaning:

Bits 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
---------------
Value 1 0 * * * * * * - automatic
* 1 * * * * * * - disengaged
0 0 N N N N N N - manual (0..63; 0=disable fan, 1=min, ..., 7=max)

In ''automatic'' mode, the embedded controller sets the fan speed automatically according to system temperatures and some unknown algorithm.

In ''manual'' mode, the fan level is forced to the given value and the EC will auto-regulate the fan to maintain at a (roughly) constant RPM, which is model-dependent. Manual speed levels 8-63 yield the same behavior as level 7, and the the ACPI DSDT uses level 7 for the emergency mode it enters upon critical CPU/GPU temperature, so apparently 7 is the real maximum level.

In ''disengaged'' mode, the embedded controller does not read the fan RPM (hence <tt>EmbeddedController</tt> offset 0x84 is not updated), and does not maintain a stable fan speed. When disengaged mode is entered the fan speed is not immediately changed (except if the fan was disabed, in which case it is turned on at a low level). However, once in disengaged mode, fan speed will slowly increase to ''beyond'' the maximum manual level (this may cause hardware damage!).

After boot, the register may not reflect the true state of the EC (on some models it reads 0x07 even though the EC is actually in automatic mode).

{{HINT|Apparently the [[Problem with fan noise|pulsing fan noise]] experienced by some users can be cured by repeatedly running 2-4 seconds of manual control followed by 0.5-1 seconds of disengaged mode. The pulse occurs when the the embedded controller computes the fan speed and adjusts the fan voltage adaptively every few seconds (~4.8sec for the ThinkPad T43); the aforementioned mode switching doesn't give it a chance to do so. One of the [[ACPI fan control script#Variable speed control scripts|ACPI fan control scripts]] implements this solution.}}

==Supported models==

The above was successfully tested on the following models:

* ThinkPad {{T43}}, {{T43p}} (fan levels RPM: 1-2 = ~3300, 3-5 = ~4100, 6-7 = ~4700; disengaged mode works)
* ThinkPad {{T42}}, {{T42p}} (fan levels RPM: 1-2 = ~2900, 3-5 = ~3700, 6-7 = ~4700)
* ThinkPad {{T41}}, {{T41p}} (fan levels RPM: 1-2 = ~2980, 3-5 = ~3500, 6-7 = ~4050; disengaged mode works at ~5100)
* ThinkPad {{T40}} (fan levels RPM: 1-2 = ~2950, 3-5 = ~3600, 6-7 = ~4050)
* ThinkPad {{T22}}
* ThinkPad {{T23}}
* ThinkPad {{R52}}
* ThinkPad {{R50}} (highest manual level is 3; disengage mode works and reaches much higher RPM)
* ThinkPad {{R51}} (tested all settings above in manual mode and worked fine including disengage; *.*)
* ThinkPad {{X41T}}
* ThinkPad {{X31}}
* ThinkPad {{Z60t}} (fan levels RPM: 1-2 = ~1700, 3-5 = ~2800, 6-7 = ~3500)

Probably other models are supported too (please update this page if you confirm this).

==Models using a different interface==

The following models also work, use a different access method which supported (only) via the {{path|/proc/acpi/ibm/fan}} of [[ibm-acpi]]. No need for patching.

* ThinkPad {{600E}}, {{600X}}, {{770E}}, {{770X}} (these use a different fan control interface)

==Unsupported models==

* ThinkPad {{560}} (these models don't have a fan)

BIOS Upgrade

2006-03-29T21:42:20Z

Stardotstar: /* Does work: */

{| width="100%"
|style="vertical-align:top;padding-right:20px;width:10px;white-space:nowrap;" | __TOC__
|style="vertical-align:top" |
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. 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 all newer thinkpads have 2 seperate firmwares, the BIOS and the Control Program. A specific version of the Control Program will only work with specific versions of the BIOS. If you go through the readme's on the IBM site they'll clearly state that '''you must''' [ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pccbbs/mobiles/spsu1a62.txt update the BIOS first, then immediately update the Control Program]. Otherwise you risk turning your thinkpad into a very nice paper weight.}}

==BIOS Upgrade Paths==

For every firmware (either BIOS or Control Program) update on the IBM site there are two different firmware update programs provided.

===The Diskette Updater===

This installer appears to be a 16bit 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 control. The USB Floppy Drive to the new Thinkpads doesn't count.

===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. Use at your own risk.}}

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 the .exe is really a wrapper license program arround windows .cab files (this information is in [[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 files directly. Run the following:

:{{cmduser|cabextract FILENAME.exe}}

You will get 8 files in the current directory. One of them will be FILENAME.img. 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.

==Downloads==

{{NOTE|Firefox or Konqueror users should disable the '''Use IBM Download Director''' option when downloading files.}}

{| border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2"
| style="background:#ffdead;" rowspan="3"| '''Models'''
| style="background:#ffdead;" colspan="2"| '''Non-Diskette'''
| style="background:#ffdead;" colspan="3"| '''Diskette'''
|-
| style="background:#ffdead;" rowspan="2"| '''BIOS'''
| style="background:#ffdead;" rowspan="2"| '''Embedded Controller Program'''
| style="background:#ffdead;" colspan="2"| '''BIOS'''
| style="background:#ffdead;" rowspan="2"| '''Embedded Controller Program'''
|-
| style="background:#ffdead;"| '''Windows'''
| style="background:#ffdead;"| '''Linux'''
|-
! colspan=6 style="text-align:center;background:#efefef;" |
===200 Series===
|-
| {{240}}
|
|
| [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=DSHY-42DLNW 1.18]
|
|
|-
| {{240X}}
|
|
| [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=DSHY-42DLNW 1.09]
|
|
|-
! colspan=6 style="text-align:center;background:#efefef;" |
===300 Series===
|-
| {{365C}}, {{365CD}}, {{365CS}}, {{365CSD}}, {{365E}}, {{365ED}}
|
|
| [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-60567 2.0.14]
|
|
|-
| {{365X}}, {{365XD}}
|
|
| [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-60567 1.10]
|
|
|-
| {{380}}, {{380D}}, {{380E}}, {{380ED}}, {{385D}}, {{385ED}}
|
|
| [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=DSHY-3XWNVG 1.14]
|
|
|-
| {{380XD}}, {{385XD}}
|
|
| [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=DSHY-3XWNVG 1.19]
|
|
|-
| {{380Z}}
|
|
| [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=DSHY-3XWNVG 1.08]
|
|
|-
| {{390}}
|
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1DSHY-427MCG 5.62]
|
|
|-
| {{390E}}
|
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1DSHY-46AKPY 1.55]
|
|
|-
| {{390X}}
|
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-4C5UP9 0.55]
|
|
|-
! colspan=6 style="text-align:center;background:#efefef;" |
===500 Series===
|-
| {{560}}
|
|
| [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-60522 1.20]
|
|
|-
| {{560E}}
|
|
| [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-60522 1.13]
|
|
|-
| {{560X}}
|
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1DSHY-3QYK7L 1.15]
|
|
|-
| {{560Z}}
|
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1DSHY-3YTKKV 1.07]
|
|
|-
| {{570}}
|
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-47JS5Z 1.16]
|
|
|-
| {{570E}}
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-4HT3RD 1.07]
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-4HA2BF 1.07]
|
|
|-
! colspan=6 style="text-align:center;background:#efefef;" |
===600 Series===
|-
| {{600}}
|
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1DSHY-3VRJPK 1.22]
|
|
|-
| {{600E}} (2645 selected models, 2646)
|
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1DSHY-46HLKQ 1.16]
|
|
|-
| {{600E}} (2645: 55x, 56x, 57x, 58x, A5x, A6x, Bxx [except for BAU], JJ1, JJ2, RRA)
|
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1DSHY-43DNQ5 1.15]
|
|
|-
| {{600X}}
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-4HVUYL 1.11]
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-4FYS2U 1.11]
|
|
|-
! colspan=6 style="text-align:center;background:#efefef;" |
===700 Series===
|-
| {{750}}, {{750CS}}, {{755C}}, {{755CS}}
|
|
| [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-60440 1.43]
|
|
|-
| {{755CE}}, {{755CSE}}, {{755CD}}, {{755CX}}, {{755CV}}, {{755CDV}}
|
|
| [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-60440 1.44]
|
|
|-
| {{760C}}, {{760CD}}, {{760L}}, {{760LD}}
|
|
| [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-59734 1.30]
|
|
|-
| {{760E}} (XGA), {{760ED}} (XGA), {{760XD}}, {{765D}}, {{765L}}
|
|
| [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-59734 2.13]
|
|
|-
| {{760E}} (SVGA), {{760ED}} (SVGA), {{760EL}}, {{760ELD}}, {{760XL}}
|
|
| [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-59734 2.13]
|
|
|-
| {{770}}, {{770E}}, {{770ED}}
|
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1DSHY-3P2MCB 1.34]
|
|
|-
| {{770X}}
|
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1DSHY-42QLVU 1.10]
|
|
|-
| {{770Z}}
|
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-47F3VA 1.05]
|
|
|-
! colspan=6 style="text-align:center;background:#efefef;" |
===A Series===
|-
| {{A20m}}
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-4MNN8Z 1.13]
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-4JWNTQ 1.13]
|
|
|-
| {{A20p}}
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-4MNN8Y 1.11]
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-4JWNTR 1.11]
|
|
|-
| {{A21e}} (2165)
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-4UNQKX 1.07]
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-4UNRRF 1.07]
|
|
|-
| {{A21e}} (2628)
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-4Q2KLU 1.13]
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-4Q2KLV 1.13]
|
|
|-
| {{A21m}}
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-4PJMXK 1.09]
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-4Q2KM4 1.09]
|
|
|-
| {{A21p}}
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-4Q2KM3 1.11]
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-4PJN8X 1.11]
|
|
|-
| {{A22e}} Celeron
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-4UNQKX 1.07]
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-4UNRRF 1.07]
|
|
|-
| {{A22e}} Pentium
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-4XQKLK 1.05]
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-4XQL7B 1.05]
|
|
|-
| {{A22m}}
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-4Q2KM4 1.09]
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-4PJMXK 1.09]
|
|
|-
| {{A22m}} (2628-Sxx)
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-4VXS2T 1.05]
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-4VXRG4 1.05]
|
|
|-
| {{A22p}}
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-4Q2KM3 1.11]
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-4PJN8X 1.11]
|
|
|-
| {{A30}}, {{A30p}}
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-39863 1.18]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-40846 1.08]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-39861 1.18]
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-40847 1.08]
|-
| {{A31}}, {{A31p}} (Bios 1G*)
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-42654 1.12]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-45771 1.05]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-42660 1.12]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-45900 1.05]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-45770 1.05]
|-
| {{A31}}, {{A31p}} (Bios 1N*)
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-44450 1.09]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-45662 1.05]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-44451 1.09]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-45898 1.02]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-45663 1.05]
|-
! colspan=6 style="text-align:center;background:#efefef;" |
===G Series===
|-
| {{G40}}
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-50672 1.20]
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-50673 1.20]
|
|
|-
| {{G41}}
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-58127 1.11]
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-58129 1.11]
|
|
|-
! colspan=6 style="text-align:center;background:#efefef;" |

===R Series===
|-
| {{R30}}
| [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-40216 1.38]
|
| [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-40217 1.38]
|
|
|-
| {{R31}}
| [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-41378 3.11]
|
| [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-41535 3.11]
|
|
|-
| {{R32}}
| [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-43571 2.15]
|
| [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-43572 2.15]
|
|
|-
| {{R40}} (2681, 2682, 2683, 2896, 2898, 2899)
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-46055 1.23]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-46143 1.14]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-46061 1.23]
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-46144 1.14]
|-
| {{R40}} (2722, 2723, 2724, 2897)
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-50320 1.29]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-46143 1.14]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-50321 1.29]
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-46144 1.14]
|-
| {{R40e}}
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-50302 1.36]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-50344 1.04]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-50301 1.36]
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-50343 1.04]
|-
| {{R50}}, {{R50p}}
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-50273 3.19]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-50279 3.04]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-50275 3.19]
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-50277 3.04]
|-
| {{R50e}}
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-55000 2.06]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-54996 1.04]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-55001 2.06]
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-54997 1.04]
|-
| {{R51}} (1829, 1830, 1831, 1836)
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-50273 3.19]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-50279 3.04]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-50275 3.19]
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-50277 3.04]
|-
| {{R51}} (2883, 2887, 2888, 2889, 2894, 2895)
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-55003 1.25]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-54996 1.04]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-55004 1.25]
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-54997 1.04]
|-
| {{R51e}}
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-61681 1.47]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-61677 1.00]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-61680 2.06]
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-61675 1.00]
|-
| {{R52}} (1846, 1847, 1848, 1849, 1850, 1870)
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-59221 1.22]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-59184 1.04]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-59220 1.22]
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-59183 1.04]
|-
| {{R52}} (1858, 1859, 1860, 1861, 1862, 1863)
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-59379 1.22]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-59439 1.03]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-59380 1.22]
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-59440 1.03]
|-
! colspan=6 style="text-align:center;background:#efefef;" |
===T Series===
|-
| {{T20}}
| [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-4MNN8X 1.22]
|
| [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-4JWNJC 1.22]
|
|
|-
| {{T21}}
| [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-4Q2KM5 1.16]
|
| [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-4PJN8Y 1.16]
|
|
|-
| {{T22}}
| [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-4VWPPU 1.12]
|
| [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-4VWP54 1.12]
|
|
|-
| {{T23}}
| [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-39366 1.18]
| [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-40022 1.06a]
| [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-39362 1.18]
|
| [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-40021 1.06a]
|-
| {{T30}}
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-42694 2.09]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-42711 1.07]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-42720 2.09]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-45745 2.02]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-42725 1.07]
|-
| {{T40}}, {{T40p}}, {{T41}}, {{T41p}}, {{T42}}, {{T42p}}
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-50275 3.19]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-50279 3.04]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-50273 3.19]
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-50277 3.04]
|-
| {{T43}} (1871, 1872, 1873, 1874, 1875, 1876)
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-59379 1.23]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-59439 1.03]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-59380 1.23]
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-59440 1.03]
|-
| {{T43}} (2668, 2669, 2678, 2679, 2686, 2687), {{T43p}}
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-59096 1.24]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-59120 1.04]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-59097 1.24]
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-59121 1.04]
|-
| {{T60}}, {{T60p}}
|
|
|
|
|
|-
! colspan=6 style="text-align:center;background:#efefef;" |

===X Series===
|-
| {{X20}}, {{X21}}
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-4P52BM 2.25]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-4VQNTP 1.36]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-4P52BL 2.25]
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-4PBMCT 1.36]
|-
| {{X22}}, {{X23}}, {{X24}}
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-39672 1.32]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-39806 1.30]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-39665 1.32]
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-39808 1.30]
|-
| {{X30}}
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-44135 1.08]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-44152 1.06]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-44131 1.08]
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-44149 1.06]
|-
| {{X31}}, {{X32}}
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-50298 3.02]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-53480 1.08]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-50308 3.02]
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-53479 1.08]
|-
| {{X40}}
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-53881 2.03]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-53882 1.60]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-53883 2.03]
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-53885 1.60]
|-
| {{X41}}
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-59206 2.05]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-59208 1.01]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-59205 2.05]
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-59207 1.01]
|-
| {{X41T}}
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-60193 2.00]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-60191 1.00]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-60194 2.00]
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-60189 1.00]
|-
| {{X60}}, {{X60s}}
|
|
|
|
|
|-
! colspan=6 style="text-align:center;background:#efefef;" |

===Z Series===
|-
| {{Z60m}}, {{Z60t}}
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-61687 1.14]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-61686 1.14]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-61688 1.14]
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-61685 1.14]
|-
! colspan=6 style="text-align:center;background:#efefef;" |

===Other===
|-
| {{TransNote}}
| [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-4UDSMK 1.02]
|
| [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-4UDRRF 1.02]
|
|
|}

If you were able to create the boot floppy per the Diskette update method, and you have a Floppy with your Thinkpad, the update should be simple.

==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}}

Note: You don't strictly need the last {{path|bootfloppy.img}}, however some versions of mkisofs get confused about why you would want to create an iso with no contents, and thus won't let you. You don't actually care about the contents of the CD, you only care that the <tt>-b <boot image></tt> is applied to the CD. 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;" | {{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;" | {{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;" | {{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;" | {{T20}} ||
*Franz Hassels <fhassel at suse dot com>
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;" | {{T22}} ||
*Daniel Maier <nusse teamidiot de>
|-
| 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.
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;" | {{T40}} ||
*Sean Dague, http://dague.net
*Justin Mason, http://jmason.org
*Ivanhoe (Bios 3.19)
|-
| 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 >
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;" | {{T41p}} ||
*Nils Newman, work great. (Version: Bios 3.14 / Embedded Controller 3.04)
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;" | {{T42p}} ||
*Robert Schiele <rschiele@uni-mannheim.de>, Joern Heissler <joern@heissler.de>
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;" | {{T43}} ||
*Tom Heady <tom-thinkwiki.org@punch.net>
*Carsten SÃ¶hrens <casoe at gmx dot de> (Version: Bios 1.05 / Embedded Controller 1.03)
*Carsten SÃ¶hrens <casoe at gmx dot de> (Version: Bios 1.24 / Embedded Controller 1.04)
*Florian Boucault <florian at boucault dot ath dot cx> (Model : 1871-W34 & Version: Bios 1.23 / Embedded Controller 1.03)
|-
| 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://hella.breitkopf.usr.ffb.org/en/ www] (Embedded Controller 1.04, BIOS 1.07 with cabextract/CD method)
|-
| 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>
|}

===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.

==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.

==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.

BIOS Upgrade

2006-03-29T03:26:44Z

Stardotstar: /* Does work: */

{| width="100%"
|style="vertical-align:top;padding-right:20px;width:10px;white-space:nowrap;" | __TOC__
|style="vertical-align:top" |
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. 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 all newer thinkpads have 2 seperate firmwares, the BIOS and the Control Program. A specific version of the Control Program will only work with specific versions of the BIOS. If you go through the readme's on the IBM site they'll clearly state that '''you must''' [ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pccbbs/mobiles/spsu1a62.txt update the BIOS first, then immediately update the Control Program]. Otherwise you risk turning your thinkpad into a very nice paper weight.}}

==BIOS Upgrade Paths==

For every firmware (either BIOS or Control Program) update on the IBM site there are two different firmware update programs provided.

===The Diskette Updater===

This installer appears to be a 16bit 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 control. The USB Floppy Drive to the new Thinkpads doesn't count.

===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. Use at your own risk.}}

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 the .exe is really a wrapper license program arround windows .cab files (this information is in [[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 files directly. Run the following:

:{{cmduser|cabextract FILENAME.exe}}

You will get 8 files in the current directory. One of them will be FILENAME.img. 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.

==Downloads==

{{NOTE|Firefox or Konqueror users should disable the '''Use IBM Download Director''' option when downloading files.}}

{| border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2"
| style="background:#ffdead;" rowspan="3"| '''Models'''
| style="background:#ffdead;" colspan="2"| '''Non-Diskette'''
| style="background:#ffdead;" colspan="3"| '''Diskette'''
|-
| style="background:#ffdead;" rowspan="2"| '''BIOS'''
| style="background:#ffdead;" rowspan="2"| '''Embedded Controller Program'''
| style="background:#ffdead;" colspan="2"| '''BIOS'''
| style="background:#ffdead;" rowspan="2"| '''Embedded Controller Program'''
|-
| style="background:#ffdead;"| '''Windows'''
| style="background:#ffdead;"| '''Linux'''
|-
! colspan=6 style="text-align:center;background:#efefef;" |
===200 Series===
|-
| {{240}}
|
|
| [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=DSHY-42DLNW 1.18]
|
|
|-
| {{240X}}
|
|
| [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=DSHY-42DLNW 1.09]
|
|
|-
! colspan=6 style="text-align:center;background:#efefef;" |
===300 Series===
|-
| {{365C}}, {{365CD}}, {{365CS}}, {{365CSD}}, {{365E}}, {{365ED}}
|
|
| [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-60567 2.0.14]
|
|
|-
| {{365X}}, {{365XD}}
|
|
| [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-60567 1.10]
|
|
|-
| {{380}}, {{380D}}, {{380E}}, {{380ED}}, {{385D}}, {{385ED}}
|
|
| [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=DSHY-3XWNVG 1.14]
|
|
|-
| {{380XD}}, {{385XD}}
|
|
| [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=DSHY-3XWNVG 1.19]
|
|
|-
| {{380Z}}
|
|
| [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=DSHY-3XWNVG 1.08]
|
|
|-
| {{390}}
|
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1DSHY-427MCG 5.62]
|
|
|-
| {{390E}}
|
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1DSHY-46AKPY 1.55]
|
|
|-
| {{390X}}
|
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-4C5UP9 0.55]
|
|
|-
! colspan=6 style="text-align:center;background:#efefef;" |
===500 Series===
|-
| {{560}}
|
|
| [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-60522 1.20]
|
|
|-
| {{560E}}
|
|
| [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-60522 1.13]
|
|
|-
| {{560X}}
|
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1DSHY-3QYK7L 1.15]
|
|
|-
| {{560Z}}
|
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1DSHY-3YTKKV 1.07]
|
|
|-
| {{570}}
|
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-47JS5Z 1.16]
|
|
|-
| {{570E}}
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-4HT3RD 1.07]
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-4HA2BF 1.07]
|
|
|-
! colspan=6 style="text-align:center;background:#efefef;" |
===600 Series===
|-
| {{600}}
|
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1DSHY-3VRJPK 1.22]
|
|
|-
| {{600E}} (2645 selected models, 2646)
|
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1DSHY-46HLKQ 1.16]
|
|
|-
| {{600E}} (2645: 55x, 56x, 57x, 58x, A5x, A6x, Bxx [except for BAU], JJ1, JJ2, RRA)
|
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1DSHY-43DNQ5 1.15]
|
|
|-
| {{600X}}
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-4HVUYL 1.11]
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-4FYS2U 1.11]
|
|
|-
! colspan=6 style="text-align:center;background:#efefef;" |
===700 Series===
|-
| {{750}}, {{750CS}}, {{755C}}, {{755CS}}
|
|
| [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-60440 1.43]
|
|
|-
| {{755CE}}, {{755CSE}}, {{755CD}}, {{755CX}}, {{755CV}}, {{755CDV}}
|
|
| [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-60440 1.44]
|
|
|-
| {{760C}}, {{760CD}}, {{760L}}, {{760LD}}
|
|
| [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-59734 1.30]
|
|
|-
| {{760E}} (XGA), {{760ED}} (XGA), {{760XD}}, {{765D}}, {{765L}}
|
|
| [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-59734 2.13]
|
|
|-
| {{760E}} (SVGA), {{760ED}} (SVGA), {{760EL}}, {{760ELD}}, {{760XL}}
|
|
| [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-59734 2.13]
|
|
|-
| {{770}}, {{770E}}, {{770ED}}
|
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1DSHY-3P2MCB 1.34]
|
|
|-
| {{770X}}
|
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1DSHY-42QLVU 1.10]
|
|
|-
| {{770Z}}
|
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-47F3VA 1.05]
|
|
|-
! colspan=6 style="text-align:center;background:#efefef;" |
===A Series===
|-
| {{A20m}}
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-4MNN8Z 1.13]
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-4JWNTQ 1.13]
|
|
|-
| {{A20p}}
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-4MNN8Y 1.11]
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-4JWNTR 1.11]
|
|
|-
| {{A21e}} (2165)
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-4UNQKX 1.07]
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-4UNRRF 1.07]
|
|
|-
| {{A21e}} (2628)
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-4Q2KLU 1.13]
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-4Q2KLV 1.13]
|
|
|-
| {{A21m}}
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-4PJMXK 1.09]
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-4Q2KM4 1.09]
|
|
|-
| {{A21p}}
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-4Q2KM3 1.11]
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-4PJN8X 1.11]
|
|
|-
| {{A22e}} Celeron
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-4UNQKX 1.07]
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-4UNRRF 1.07]
|
|
|-
| {{A22e}} Pentium
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-4XQKLK 1.05]
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-4XQL7B 1.05]
|
|
|-
| {{A22m}}
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-4Q2KM4 1.09]
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-4PJMXK 1.09]
|
|
|-
| {{A22m}} (2628-Sxx)
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-4VXS2T 1.05]
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-4VXRG4 1.05]
|
|
|-
| {{A22p}}
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-4Q2KM3 1.11]
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-4PJN8X 1.11]
|
|
|-
| {{A30}}, {{A30p}}
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-39863 1.18]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-40846 1.08]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-39861 1.18]
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-40847 1.08]
|-
| {{A31}}, {{A31p}} (Bios 1G*)
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-42654 1.12]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-45771 1.05]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-42660 1.12]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-45900 1.05]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-45770 1.05]
|-
| {{A31}}, {{A31p}} (Bios 1N*)
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-44450 1.09]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-45662 1.05]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-44451 1.09]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-45898 1.02]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-45663 1.05]
|-
! colspan=6 style="text-align:center;background:#efefef;" |
===G Series===
|-
| {{G40}}
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-50672 1.20]
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-50673 1.20]
|
|
|-
| {{G41}}
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-58127 1.11]
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-58129 1.11]
|
|
|-
! colspan=6 style="text-align:center;background:#efefef;" |

===R Series===
|-
| {{R30}}
| [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-40216 1.38]
|
| [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-40217 1.38]
|
|
|-
| {{R31}}
| [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-41378 3.11]
|
| [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-41535 3.11]
|
|
|-
| {{R32}}
| [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-43571 2.15]
|
| [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-43572 2.15]
|
|
|-
| {{R40}} (2681, 2682, 2683, 2896, 2898, 2899)
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-46055 1.23]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-46143 1.14]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-46061 1.23]
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-46144 1.14]
|-
| {{R40}} (2722, 2723, 2724, 2897)
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-50320 1.29]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-46143 1.14]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-50321 1.29]
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-46144 1.14]
|-
| {{R40e}}
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-50302 1.36]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-50344 1.04]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-50301 1.36]
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-50343 1.04]
|-
| {{R50}}, {{R50p}}
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-50273 3.19]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-50279 3.04]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-50275 3.19]
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-50277 3.04]
|-
| {{R50e}}
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-55000 2.06]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-54996 1.04]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-55001 2.06]
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-54997 1.04]
|-
| {{R51}} (1829, 1830, 1831, 1836)
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-50273 3.19]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-50279 3.04]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-50275 3.19]
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-50277 3.04]
|-
| {{R51}} (2883, 2887, 2888, 2889, 2894, 2895)
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-55003 1.25]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-54996 1.04]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-55004 1.25]
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-54997 1.04]
|-
| {{R51e}}
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-61681 1.47]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-61677 1.00]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-61680 2.06]
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-61675 1.00]
|-
| {{R52}} (1846, 1847, 1848, 1849, 1850, 1870)
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-59221 1.22]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-59184 1.04]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-59220 1.22]
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-59183 1.04]
|-
| {{R52}} (1858, 1859, 1860, 1861, 1862, 1863)
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-59379 1.22]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-59439 1.03]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-59380 1.22]
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-59440 1.03]
|-
! colspan=6 style="text-align:center;background:#efefef;" |
===T Series===
|-
| {{T20}}
| [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-4MNN8X 1.22]
|
| [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-4JWNJC 1.22]
|
|
|-
| {{T21}}
| [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-4Q2KM5 1.16]
|
| [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-4PJN8Y 1.16]
|
|
|-
| {{T22}}
| [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-4VWPPU 1.12]
|
| [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-4VWP54 1.12]
|
|
|-
| {{T23}}
| [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-39366 1.18]
| [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-40022 1.06a]
| [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-39362 1.18]
|
| [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-40021 1.06a]
|-
| {{T30}}
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-42694 2.09]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-42711 1.07]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-42720 2.09]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-45745 2.02]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-42725 1.07]
|-
| {{T40}}, {{T40p}}, {{T41}}, {{T41p}}, {{T42}}, {{T42p}}
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-50275 3.19]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-50279 3.04]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-50273 3.19]
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-50277 3.04]
|-
| {{T43}} (1871, 1872, 1873, 1874, 1875, 1876)
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-59379 1.23]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-59439 1.03]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-59380 1.23]
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-59440 1.03]
|-
| {{T43}} (2668, 2669, 2678, 2679, 2686, 2687), {{T43p}}
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-59096 1.24]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-59120 1.04]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-59097 1.24]
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-59121 1.04]
|-
| {{T60}}, {{T60p}}
|
|
|
|
|
|-
! colspan=6 style="text-align:center;background:#efefef;" |

===X Series===
|-
| {{X20}}, {{X21}}
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-4P52BM 2.25]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-4VQNTP 1.36]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-4P52BL 2.25]
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-4PBMCT 1.36]
|-
| {{X22}}, {{X23}}, {{X24}}
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-39672 1.32]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-39806 1.30]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-39665 1.32]
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-39808 1.30]
|-
| {{X30}}
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-44135 1.08]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-44152 1.06]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-44131 1.08]
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-44149 1.06]
|-
| {{X31}}, {{X32}}
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-50298 3.02]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-53480 1.08]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-50308 3.02]
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-53479 1.08]
|-
| {{X40}}
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-53881 2.03]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-53882 1.60]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-53883 2.03]
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-53885 1.60]
|-
| {{X41}}
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-59206 2.05]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-59208 1.01]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-59205 2.05]
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-59207 1.01]
|-
| {{X41T}}
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-60193 2.00]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-60191 1.00]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-60194 2.00]
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-60189 1.00]
|-
| {{X60}}, {{X60s}}
|
|
|
|
|
|-
! colspan=6 style="text-align:center;background:#efefef;" |

===Z Series===
|-
| {{Z60m}}, {{Z60t}}
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-61687 1.14]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-61686 1.14]
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-61688 1.14]
|
| [http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-61685 1.14]
|-
! colspan=6 style="text-align:center;background:#efefef;" |

===Other===
|-
| {{TransNote}}
| [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-4UDSMK 1.02]
|
| [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-4UDRRF 1.02]
|
|
|}

If you were able to create the boot floppy per the Diskette update method, and you have a Floppy with your Thinkpad, the update should be simple.

==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}}

Note: You don't strictly need the last {{path|bootfloppy.img}}, however some versions of mkisofs get confused about why you would want to create an iso with no contents, and thus won't let you. You don't actually care about the contents of the CD, you only care that the <tt>-b <boot image></tt> is applied to the CD. 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;" | {{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;" | {{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;" | {{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}} (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;" | {{T20}} ||
*Franz Hassels <fhassel at suse dot com>
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;" | {{T22}} ||
*Daniel Maier <nusse teamidiot de>
|-
| 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.
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;" | {{T40}} ||
*Sean Dague, http://dague.net
*Justin Mason, http://jmason.org
*Ivanhoe (Bios 3.19)
|-
| 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 >
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;" | {{T41p}} ||
*Nils Newman, work great. (Version: Bios 3.14 / Embedded Controller 3.04)
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;" | {{T42p}} ||
*Robert Schiele <rschiele@uni-mannheim.de>, Joern Heissler <joern@heissler.de>
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;" | {{T43}} ||
*Tom Heady <tom-thinkwiki.org@punch.net>
*Carsten SÃ¶hrens <casoe at gmx dot de> (Version: Bios 1.05 / Embedded Controller 1.03)
*Carsten SÃ¶hrens <casoe at gmx dot de> (Version: Bios 1.24 / Embedded Controller 1.04)
*Florian Boucault <florian at boucault dot ath dot cx> (Model : 1871-W34 & Version: Bios 1.23 / Embedded Controller 1.03)
|-
| 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://hella.breitkopf.usr.ffb.org/en/ www] (Embedded Controller 1.04, BIOS 1.07 with cabextract/CD method)
|-
| 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>
|}

===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.

==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.

==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.

BIOS Upgrade

2006-03-29T03:24:47Z

Stardotstar: /* Does work: */

How to change the BIOS bootsplash screen

2006-01-20T09:01:26Z

Stardotstar: Boot Flash mod can persist with subsequent updates.

{| width="100%"
|style="vertical-align:top;padding-right:20px;width:10px;white-space:nowrap;" | __TOC__
|style="vertical-align:top" |
<div style="margin: 0; margin-right:10px; border: 1px solid #dfdfdf; padding: 0em 1em 1em 1em; background-color:#efefef; align:right;">
This page describes how to replace the standard IBM BIOS Bootsplash (The one with the ThinkPad- and Pentium M-Logo), without access to Microsoft Windows or a floppy drive.

Windows users who want to have a custom splash image when they start up should try [[How to change the BIOS bootsplash screen (under Windows) | this guide]] instead.
</div>
|}
== Getting the Files ==
You'll need the bios upgrade file from the IBM website.

=== Method 1: Using a Non-Diskette-File and cabextract ===

For ThinkPads {{R50}}, {{R50p}}, {{R51}} (1829, 1830, 1831, 1836), {{R52}}, {{T40}}, {{T40p}}, {{T41}}, {{T41p}}, {{T42}}, {{T42p}}, {{T43}}, {{T43p}} this file is suitable:
* [ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pccbbs/mobiles/1ruj28us.exe 1ruj28us.exe]
* [ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pccbbs/mobiles/1ruj29us.exe 1ruj29us.exe]
* [ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pccbbs/mobiles/1ruj30us.exe 1ruj30us.exe] Released 2005-05-26 '''NEW!'''
There may be a more recent file on the IBM website.

Last version at 2006-01-04 :
* [ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pccbbs/mobiles/1ruj33us.exe 1ruj33us.exe] Released 2005-10-25 '''NEW!'''

You need the cabextract tool to extract files from the exe:
:{{cmdroot|apt-get install cabextract}}

Do this to get the ibm file and extract the disk image from it:
:{{cmdroot|cd /tmp}}
:{{cmdroot|wget ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pccbbs/mobiles/1ruj30us.exe}}
:{{cmdroot|cabextract -F *.IMG 1ruj30us.exe}}
:{{cmdroot|mv 1RUJ30US.IMG floppy.bin}}

=== Method 2: Using a Diskette-File and dosemu ===
Another option is to use the "Diskette BIOS file".<br>
For ThinkPads {{R50}}, {{R50p}}, {{R51}} (1829, 1830, 1831, 1836), {{R52}}, {{T40}}, {{T40p}}, {{T41}}, {{T41p}}, {{T42}}, {{T42p}}, {{T43}}, {{T43p}} this file is suitable:
* [ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pccbbs/mobiles/1ruj28ud.exe 1ruj28ud.exe]
* [ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pccbbs/mobiles/1ruj29ud.exe 1ruj29ud.exe]
* [ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pccbbs/mobiles/1ruj30ud.exe 1ruj30ud.exe] Released 2005-05-26 '''NEW!'''

The file is an OS/2 executables and don't run with wine, so you need to install dosemu to run it and create the image.<br>
:{{cmdroot|apt-get install dosemu dosemu-freedos}}
(for non-debian-users: Get dosemu and freedos somewhere and make it work somehow).

With dosemu, you can run this executable, but this program unfortunately
needs a floppy drive to write to. So use the loopback device, to create a virtual floppy.
:{{cmdroot|1=dd if=/dev/zero of=/tmp/floppy.bin bs=1024 count=1440}}
:{{cmdroot|losetup /dev/loop0 /tmp/floppy.bin}}
Put this block device ({{path|/dev/loop0}}) into the dosemu configuration as the floppy disk device.
Now you can run the extractor executable, which makes {{path|/tmp/floppy.bin}} the desired floppy image .
:{{cmdroot|dosemu 1ruj27ud.exe}}
:{{cmdroot|losetup -d /dev/loop0}}

For 2.6.12+ if you have dosemu error:
:{{cmdroot|echo 0 > /proc/sys/kernel/randomize_va_space}}

== Adding the custom image ==
Mount your floppy.bin as a loopback device.
:{{cmdroot|mkdir /tmp/mnt}}
:{{cmdroot|1=mount -o loop,umask=000 /tmp/floppy.bin /tmp/mnt}}
Create a 16 color 640x480 BMP (4 Bit/pixel) (for example with Gimp) and save it to {{path|/tmp/mnt/logo.bmp}}.
You could use this tux image ([http://www.thinkwiki.org/files/LOGO.BMP logo.bmp], [http://www.thinkwiki.org/files/LOGO.MOD logo.mod]) for example.<br /><br />
When creating your image, keep in mind that on the T43p (and others??), regardless of your custom bootsplash screen there will be a superimposed black "Centrino" logo (~100x100 pixels) on the upper right of your display, so you might want to keep that area clear. You might also want to reserve the bottom 150 pixels for the "boot options" / "Entering BIOS setup" message(s) too, which will also be displayed.<br /><br />
Now prepare the image with <tt>prepare.exe</tt> using wine: (This does not work with dosemu!)
:{{cmdroot|wine prepare.exe logo.scr}}
The image must compress to <10k. If you receive an error, you can try reducing the number of colors in your image palette (step down to an 12 or 8 color palette for a very significant reduction in image size.) When successful, there should be a new {{path|logo.mod}} and your {{path|logo.bmp}}. If so, you are set, don't forget to unmount your loopback device:
:{{cmdroot|umount /tmp/mnt}}

== Fake a floppy ==
Now you need to put the image on a floppy and boot from it. Since recent ThinkPads don't have a
floppy drive, we can use a CD-R (or a CD-RW, actually, for the cheap ones, like me) and burn it with the following command:
:{{cmdroot|1=mkisofs -b floppy.bin floppy.bin <nowiki>|</nowiki> cdrecord dev=<device> - }}
(<tt><device></tt> being your cd writer device)

== The exciting part ==
After this worked, reboot your ThinkPad from the cdrom by pressing F12 while booting
and wait for the IBM tool to start.
Be sure to have your ThinkPad on AC power and say ''Yes'' to the questions the BIOS Upgrade Tool asks.
It will then flash the BIOS, which will take about a minute.

Suddenly the laptop turns itself off with two beeps.
When booting, you'll have your bootsplash picture.

Unfortunately, you won't see it really long, but it's better
than the standard one, so it was worth the action.

Have fun!

BTW next time you have to flash the BIOS the IBM BIOS updater will detect a custom boot splash and ask you if you want to preserve it or restore the original.