View source for BIOS Upgrade

__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.  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.  The IBM documentation is sometimes confusing about the order of update.  Updating the Control Program first, then the BIOS seems to be the correct order.  Make sure to do the updates immediately following each other, 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.  A list of links to firmware downloads can be found at [[BIOS Upgrade Downloads]] for nearly all Thinkpad Models.

===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.



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 Thinkpad X Series ==

X Series Thinkpads do not have an internal drive. If there is no Windows installed, the BIOS must be updated by booting from an USB drive or a drive that is integrated in the docking station. Since a while Lenovo provides BIOS updates in form of bootable CD images. Unfortunately, these images are intended to be used with the docking station's CD drive. If you do not own such a drive, things get complicated.

The problem is that current BIOS updates are quite large, about 3 MB in size. Booting from CDs typically works like booting from a 1.44 MB or 2.88 MB floppy disk. The floppy image is stored on the CD and is referenced in the CD's boot record. Because the BIOS update file are that large, they do not fit on such a floppy image. Thus, they must be stored on the CD outside the virtual floppy image. To access these files a driver for the CD drive has to be loaded. Since Lenovo's CD images are intended to be used with a docking station's CD drive, it is not possible to use them for BIOS updates by booting from an USB CD drive.

But there is hope. The CD images provided by Lenovo can be modified such that they contain drivers for USB CD drives. I tested the following with a Thinkpad X60s.

The idea is to take Lenovo's ISO CD image and modify it such that a USB CD drive can be used instead the CD drive in the docking station. Unfortunately, simply replacing the drivers is not enough. While doing the BIOS update, the USB ports seem to get disabled or something. Therefore, before starting the update process the CD contents have to be copied to a RAM disk. I will describe the procedure step by step.

<ol>
<li>
Download the ISO image style BIOS update from Lenovo's website. This file will be refered to as <tt>/tmp/bios-lenovo.iso</tt>.
</li>

<li>
Extract the floppy image from this ISO image. You can use the following shell script for this task. Simply save this code into the file <tt>/tmp/extractbootimage.sh</tt>, set the x-flag (<tt>chmod +x /tmp/extractbootimage.sh</tt>) and call it using the command <tt>/tmp/extractbootimage.sh /tmp/bios-lenovo.iso /tmp/bios-lenovo.img</tt>. The floppy image contained in the ISO image will then be saved to <tt>/tmp/bios-lenovo.img</tt>. Here is the code of the shell script:
<pre>
#!/bin/bash

# This script extracts the floopy boot image from bootable ISO images
#
# Written by Joachim Selke (mail@joachim-selke.de), 2007-04-07

ISOFILE=$1
IMAGEFILE=$2

if [ ! -r $ISOFILE ]; then
        echo $ISOFILE: file does not exist or is not readable
        exit 1
fi

if [ -z $IMAGEFILE ]; then
        echo Error: no image file specified
        exit 1
fi

ISOFILESIZE=`stat -c %s $ISOFILE`

# collect El Torito data
# see http://www.phoenix.com/NR/rdonlyres/98D3219C-9CC9-4DF5-B496-A286D893E36A/0/specscdrom.pdf for reference

BOOTCATALOGPOINTERBYTE=$((17 * 0x800 + 0x47))

if [ $ISOFILESIZE -lt $(($BOOTCATALOGPOINTERBYTE + 4)) ]; then
        echo ISO file is too short, possibly damaged
        exit 1
fi

# absolute pointer to first sector of boot catalog:
BOOTCATALOG=`od -A n -t x4 -N 4 -j $BOOTCATALOGPOINTERBYTE $ISOFILE | tr -d [:blank:]`

BOOTCATALOGBYTE=$((0x$BOOTCATALOG * 0x800))

echo Boot catalog starts at byte $BOOTCATALOGBYTE

if [ $ISOFILESIZE -lt $(($BOOTCATALOGBYTE + 32 + 2)) ]; then
        echo ISO file is too short, possibly damaged
        exit 1
fi

# media type of boot image
# only floppy disk images are supported by this script
BOOTMEDIATYPE=`od -A n -t x1 -N 1 -j $(($BOOTCATALOGBYTE + 32 + 1)) $ISOFILE | tr -d [:blank:]`

if [ $BOOTMEDIATYPE -eq 1 ]; then
        echo Boot media type is 1.2M floppy disk
        IMAGEBLOCKS=$((1200 / 2))
elif [ $BOOTMEDIATYPE -eq 2 ]; then
        echo Boot media type is 1.44M floppy disk
        IMAGEBLOCKS=$((1440 / 2))
elif [ $BOOTMEDIATYPE -eq 3 ]; then
        echo Boot media type is 2.88M floppy disk
        IMAGEBLOCKS=$((2880 / 2))
else
        echo Boot media type is $((0x$BOOTMEDIATYPE)). This type is not supported yet.
        exit 1
fi

# absolute pointer to start of boot image
BOOTIMAGE=`od -A n -t x4 -N 4 -j $(($BOOTCATALOGBYTE + 32 + 8)) $ISOFILE | tr -d [:blank:]`

BOOTIMAGEBYTE=$((0x$BOOTIMAGE * 0x800))

echo Boot image starts at byte $BOOTIMAGEBYTE

if [ $ISOFILESIZE -lt $((0x$BOOTIMAGE * 0x800 + $IMAGEBLOCKS * 0x800)) ]; then
        echo ISO file is too short, possibly damaged
        exit 1
fi

echo Extracting boot image ...

dd if=$ISOFILE of=$IMAGEFILE bs=2K count=$IMAGEBLOCKS skip=$((0x$BOOTIMAGE))

echo Finished
</pre>
</li>

<li>
Mount the floppy image '''as root''' using the loop device:
:{{cmdroot|mkdir /tmp/bios-lenovo.img-mnt}}
:{{cmdroot|mount -o loop /tmp/bios-lenovo.img /tmp/bios-lenovo.img-mnt}}
The image is now mounted as <tt>/tmp/bios-lenovo.img-mnt</tt>.
</li>

<li>
Download needed drivers. First download some [http://panasonic.co.jp/pcc/products/drive/other/driver/f2h_usb.exe USB drivers] from Panasonic Japan. Save the file to <tt>/tmp/f2h_usb.exe</tt> This file is a self-extracting EXE file, that can be executed under Linux using [http://www.winehq.com/ Wine]:
:{{cmduser|wine /tmp/f2h_usb.exe}}
You will be asked where to save the extracted files. Choose <tt>/tmp</tt>. A new directory <tt>/tmp/F2h</tt> containing the needed drivers will be created.

Additionally, you will need drivers for the RAM disk mentioned. Download them from the [http://sourceforge.net/projects/srdisk ReSizeable RAMDisk project]. Unzip them to <tt>/tmp/srdisk</tt>.
</li>

<li>
Let's modify the floppy image:
:{{cmduser|cp /tmp/F2h/Usbaspi.sys /tmp/bios-lenovo.img-mnt/}}
:{{cmduser|cp /tmp/F2h/USBCD.SYS /tmp/bios-lenovo.img-mnt/}}
:{{cmduser|cp /tmp/F2h/RAMFD.SYS /tmp/bios-lenovo.img-mnt/}}
:{{cmduser|cp /tmp/srdisk/srdxms.sys /tmp/bios-lenovo.img-mnt/}}
:{{cmduser|cp /tmp/srdisk/srdisk.exe /tmp/bios-lenovo.img-mnt/}}
Now add the following lines to <tt>/tmp/bios-lenovo.img-mnt/config.sys</tt> replacing the line <tt>DEVICE = A:\IBMTPCD.SYS /R /C</tt>:
<pre>
DEVICE = A:\SRDXMS.SYS
DEVICE = A:\RAMFD.SYS
DEVICE = A:\USBASPI.SYS /V
DEVICE = A:\USBCD.SYS /D:TPCD001
</pre>
Finally, edit the file <tt>/tmp/bios-lenovo.img-mnt/autoexec.bat</tt> replacing the last line (saying <tt>COMMAND.COM</tt>) by the following:
<pre>
A:\SRDISK 10000
COPY *.* D:
D:
COMMAND.COM
</pre>
</li>

<li>
Unmount the floppy image (as root):
:{{cmdroot|umount /tmp/bios-lenovo.img-mnt}}
</li>

<li>
Copy the content of the original CD image to a new directory and create a new ISO file:
:{{cmdroot|mkdir /tmp/bios-lenovo.iso-mnt}}
:{{cmdroot|mount -o loop /tmp/bios-lenovo.iso /tmp/bios-lenovo.iso-mnt}}
:{{cmduser|mkdir /tmp/bios-new.iso-mnt}}
:{{cmduser|cp /tmp/bios-lenovo.iso-mnt/* /tmp/bios-new.iso-mnt}}
:{{cmduser|cp /tmp/bios-lenovo.img /tmp/bios-new.iso-mnt/boot.img}}
:{{cmdroot|umount /tmp/bios-lenovo.iso-mnt}}
:{{cmduser|mkisofs -b boot.img -o /tmp/bios-new.iso /tmp/bios-new.iso-mnt/}}
</li>

<li>
The file <tt>/tmp/bios-new.iso</tt> is the modified ISO file. Just burn it to CD and use this CD for updating your BIOS (boot from it using your USB drive). Please give some comments here if it worked for you.
</li>

</ol>

==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;" |  {{600X}} (2645) ||
*Jonathan Byrne <jonathan@RemoveThisToMailMe.yamame.org>. BIOS 1.11 from spsuit55.exe worked perfectly using cabextract/CD method.
|-
| 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.
|-
| 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)
|-
| 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
|-
| 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
|-
| 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)
|-
| 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;" |  {{T42}} ||
*Dan (BIOS 3.20 / EC 3.04, cabextract/CD method) <tronic171 at evilphb.org>
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;" |  {{T42p}} ||
*Robert Schiele <rschiele@uni-mannheim.de>, Joern Heissler <joern@heissler.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)
|-
| 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)
|-
| 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]] 13:09, 20 May 2006 (CEST),  (Embedded Controller 1.14 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)

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

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.

==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.

==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.

==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.