Renesas H8S/2161BV
Contents
Renesas H8S/2161B (H8S/2140B group)
The Renesas H8S/2161B is the embedded controller chip found in many ThinkPad models. It controls various low-bandwidth devices such as keyboard, mouse, system fan, thermal sensors, accelerometer, intelligent Li-Ion batteries, LEDs and switches. It hosts the firmware responsible for the Active Protection System and advanced battery control.
ATTENTION!
The Flash memory of the H8S/2161B is rated for just 100 guaranteed rewrite cycles. However, the Technical Update "F-ZTAT Specification Change" specifies typically 10,000 for 35 µm technology with the note: "This is an indication that rewrite operation can normally function up to this figure."
Documentation
- Renesas H8S/2140B group Hardware manual
- Renesas H8S/2600 series, H8S/2000 series software manual
- Renesas H8S series Technical Q&A application note
- A partial disassembly of the firmware running on this embedded controller is available in this thread.
Firmware
Firmware bugs are listed in the Embedded Controller Chips page. Firmware hacking is taking place in thinkpads.com, see above for links.
Models containing this chip
It is likely that all ThinkPads since models A30, T23, R40 and X20 use the same chip. Older models probably use different microcontrollers without field-upgradeable firmware support.
Photos
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