BIOS Upgrade

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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 Lenovo website.

Updating the BIOS in Linux (with few exceptions) is not officially supported by Lenovo. However there are work arounds.

ATTENTION!
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 unfix-able problems. Proceed at your own risk!

Downloading New Firmware

ATTENTION!
Flashing the wrong firmware for your hardware may cause permanent damage to your ThinkPad. It is up to you to confirm that the firmware you are using is correct.

A list of links to firmware downloads can be found at BIOS Upgrade Downloads for most Thinkpad models. You can also check the Lenovo Support website's driver matrix.

Lenovo provides firmware upgrades in a variety of packages:

  • Diskette
  • Non-diskette
  • Linux diskette
  • BIOS Utility
  • Bootable CD

Not every type of package is available for every model.

The BIOS Utility and Bootable CD packages combine the BIOS and ECP firmwares. For the other packages, there is one for each firmware.

Help needed
Can an image be extracted from a "Linux diskette" .exe file?

The Linux diskette is just the Diskette package that runs on Linux instead of Windows/DOS. It's unknown if a boot image can be extracted from it.

You may need to try different packages to find the one from which you can extract a boot image.

Two Firmwares: BIOS and ECP

ATTENTION!
Flashing incompatible firmwares, or flashing them in the wrong order, may cause permanent damage to your ThinkPad.

It is important to understand that Thinkpads from IBM have two separate firmwares: the BIOS, and the Embedded Controller Program (ECP).

A given BIOS version will require a certain version of the ECP. You must read the Lenovo website and/or .txt files to confirm which BIOS is compatible with which ECP, and the order in which to update them.

Update Order

The IBM documentation is sometimes unclear about the order in which these two firmwares should be updated. When in doubt (i.e. IBM didn't provide specific instructions for your model or a particular firmware update), update the ECP first, and then the BIOS. Also, make sure to do the two updates immediately one after the other.

The EC firmware is usually much better at backwards compatibility than the BIOS.

(Updaters for newer models take care of both BIOS and EC, and use automatically whatever sequence is needed, so you don't have to worry about it.)

Installed Firmware

You can check the current BIOS and ECP versions on your ThinkPad by using dmidecode. For example:

# dmidecode -s bios-version 

1RETDRWW (3.23 )

# dmidecode -t 11 

# dmidecode 2.9
SMBIOS 2.33 present.
Handle 0x0029, DMI type 11, 5 bytes
OEM Strings
        String 1: IBM ThinkPad Embedded Controller -[1RHT71WW-3.04    ]-

Showing BIOS version 3.23 (1RETDRWW) and ECP version 3.04 (1RHT71WW).

DMI IDs

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

Updating Firmware

There are two basic steps to updating the firmware (either the BIOS or the ECP) on a ThinkPad not running Windows:

  1. Extract a bootable update image
  2. Boot from that image

Extracting an update image

ATTENTION!
Though this process has been successfully tested on many versions of .exe files found on IBMs website, that doesn't mean it will work for all of them. Proceed at your own risk. Consult the testing tables farther down of this page to see other users' experience with your model Thinkpad.
NOTE!
These EXE unpack procedures no longer work on more recent downloads, as Lenovo has changed the packaging format. You may still be able to unpack them using wine, or alternatively an actual (virtual) Windows machine.

Older .exe installers from Lenovo mostly appear to be just a wrapper license program around Windows .cab files (see BIOS-Bootsplash). If you install the Linux program cabextract you can expand these .cab files directly. For example, if you downloaded 1iuj13us.exe from Lenovo:

$ cabextract 1iuj13us.exe
Extracting cabinet: 1iuj13us.exe
 extracting 1IUJ13US.IMG
 extracting BIOSUPTP.EXE
 extracting DOBOOT.EXE
 extracting DOSBOOT.COM
 extracting DOSBOOT.SYS
 extracting DOSBOOT.VXD
 extracting DOSBOOT2.COM
 extracting ECTLUPTP.EXE
 extracting EFLASHAS.SYS
 extracting HDFWUPTP.EXE
 extracting IBMTPI.XML
All done, no errors.

The file we want is FILENAME.IMG, with "FILENAME" being the .exe. you downloaded. E.g., 1IUJ13US.IMG.

(If this does not work for the Non-diskette .exe, try it on the Diskette .exe. It's reported, for example, that the Non-diskette .exe for BIOS version 3.23 for the T41p was not extractable, but the Diskette .exe worked perfectly, with $ cabextract delivering a .IMG file.)

Testing the Image

You can test that FILENAME.IMG is really a floppy image by running:

# mkdir /tmp/mntfloppy

# mount -o loop FILENAME.IMG /tmp/mntfloppy

If a ls command on the image returns what looks like a DOS floppy, and no read errors were displayed, you have a pretty good chance that the image is usable. For example:

# ls /tmp/mntfloppy 

$0195000.FL1  069580.PAT  06d2.HSH     IBMDOS.COM    TPCHKS.EXE
0691.HSH      06D0.PAT    06d6.HSH     LOGO.BAT      UPDTFLSH.EXE
0691.PAT      06D1.PAT    06d8.HSH     LOGO.SCR      UPDTMN.EXE
0694.HSH      06D2.PAT    CHKBMP.EXE   PHLASH16.EXE  USERINT.EXE
0694.PAT      06D6.PAT    COMMAND.COM  PREPARE.EXE   UTILINFO.EXE
0695.HSH      06D8.PAT    CONFIG.SYS   PROD.dat      lcreflsh.bat
0695.PAT      06d0.HSH    FLASH2.EXE   QKFLASH.EXE
069580.HSH    06d1.HSH    IBMBIO.COM   README.TXT

Unmount the image after you are done testing:

# umount /tmp/mntfloppy

Booting from update image

Now that you have a bootable image for the correct update for you hardware, you need to do is boot from that image to install the update.

There are different ways to do that:

Booting from a CD

Hint:
If there is a Bootable CD image available, e.g., FILENAME.iso, just download that, instead of mucking around with image files.

If you are going to update the firmware by booting from a CD, you need to turn FILENAME.IMG that you extracted above into an .iso file.

The El Torito Bootable CD Specification is a wonderful thing. Thanks to it, a bootable CD can be made with a bootable floppy image 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 tool1. Run a command as follows:

# genisoimage -b 1WUJ25US.IMG -c boot.catalog -o bootcd.iso 1WUJ25US.IMG #or older mkisofs

Where *.IMG is the name of the image file extracted above. This creates a CD with one file on it and marks that file as the boot image.

You can now burn the bootcd.iso to a CD in your favorite CD-burning program.

ATTENTION!
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 unfix-able problems. Proceed at your own risk!

Boot from the CD to update your firmware. Remember to have both BIOS and ECP firmware boot-CDs ready, as needed, and use them in the proper order.

Successful tests

Model Tested by, and comments
600E 2645-4AU
  • George Tellalov <gtellalov_dontspamme@bigfoot.com>. BIOS 1.16 from spsdin36.exe worked perfectly with the method bootable cd from floppy image. I highly recommend this upgrade because it made my ibm-acpi module load (it wouldn't load before) and fixed some suspend to ram problems. Here's the cd image I used. Use at your own risk. You can send me a chocolate if it works for you ;)
600E 2645-5bU
  • Mike Vincent<matchstc-putobvioushere.com>. Bios 1.16 from spsdin36.exe and then to the boot cd worked great for me. Thought I had bricked it three separate times using a "real" floppy! Each from different diskettes .The updater would start, give me the "going to take30 seconds" speech...and then access the HD for 10 minutes. Each time it would reboot fine. Did the cd as described above...worked great first time. Perhaps 10 year old seldom used floppy disc drives have some challenges?
600X 2645
  • Jonathan Byrne <jonathan@RemoveThisToMailMe.yamame.org>. BIOS 1.11 from spsuit55.exe worked perfectly using cabextract/CD method.
600X 2645
  • Andy Barnes <andy@RemoveThisToMailMe.itchypaws.co.uk>. As per Jonathan above, extracted BIOS 1.11 from spsuit55.exe using cabextract, created a CD boot image and burnt to CD. Worked flawlessly - thanks to everyone who contributed to this article!
A20p 2629-6VU
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.
A31p 2653
  • Matthias Meinke largeeddy@gmx.at, BIOS 1.09 1NET15WW flashed fine with cabextract/CD method.
A31 2652
  • Aaron Denney, BIOS 1.13 flashed fine with cabextract/CD method. The cabextract/CD method also worked for BIOS 1.10.
R30
  • Jarrod, 30 August 2007, Thinkpad R30 Type 2656-E0M. BIOS updated to 1.40 (1CETF0WW) using floppy disk/mkisofs/cdrecord. Worked fine, no problems.
R31
R40
  • Matthew Lambie, http://lambie.org
  • Antti S. Lankila, update to 1.27 via direct use of phlash16.exe against a BIOS image. Normal method did not work because the battery is dead.
R50 1836-3SU
  • jlbartos <jlbartos at hotmail dot com>
R50e 1834-PTG
  • item <item at freemail dot hu> : successfully finished with cabextract/CD method for "1wuj25us.exe" (BIOS version 1WET90WW (2.10), Release Date: 2006/12/22)
  • Christos Nouskas <nouskas at gmail dot com>: upgraded to BIOS version 1WET90WW (2.10) and EC version 1VHT28WW (1.04) using GRUB (BIOS first / EC second)
R51 1829
  • Robert Uhl <rob dot uhl at gmx dot de>, Jellby <jellby at yahoo dot com>
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.
R51 2887
  • Ingo van Lil <inguin at gmx dot de>
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
T20
  • Franz Hassels <fhassel at suse dot com>
T22
  • Daniel Maier <nusse teamidiot de>
  • Mathias Behrle (with cabextract/CD method, Version 1.07 => 1.12) --Mathiasb 11:58, 14 December 2006 (CET)
  • Bob Skaroff (cabextract/CD), 1.06 => 1.12
  • Leo Butler (cabextract/CD), 1.11 => 1.12
T23
  • Bart Snapp <snapp at uiuc dot edu> Note: I followed IBM's instructions to flash the BIOS first and the Embedded Controller second.
  • Moy Easwaran: BIOS 1.18 / EC 1.06a via cabextract and CD-boot. The BIOS-update exe generated errors in Windows 2000.
  • Joe Renes: BIOS 1.18 / EC 1.06a on 2006-03-20 via cabextract and CD-boot. Piece of cake.
  • Raphael Errani: BIOS 1.20 / EC 1.06a on 2006-11-06 via cabextract and CD-boot (using mkisofs). Worked without errors. 1st Bios, 2nd EC
  • Myron Getman: BIOS 1.20 / EC 1.06a on 9/10/08 via cabextract --> k3b --> CD-boot. Worked like a charm. First BIOS update with Linux!
  • Leo Butler: BIOS 1.13 / EC 1.04 to 1.20/1.06a via cabextract and syslinux/memdisk boot through grub. Worked like a charm and no wasted CD.
T30
  • Martin Gühring <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
T40
T40p
  • Lukas Krähenbühl, ismo at pop dot agri dot ch
  • Thomas Achtemichuk, tom at tomchuk dot com. BIOS 3.15 flashed fine with cabextract/CD method
  • paper, BIOS 3.23 (1RETDRWW) flashed fine with cabextract/genisoimage method.
T41
  • Lev Givon (Bios 3.15 / EC 3.04) <lev at columbia dot edu>
  • Ernesto Hernández-Novich (Bios 3.19 / CP 3.04) < emhn at usb dot ve >
  • James Ballantine (Bios 3.21 / CP 3.04) using nondisk/cabextract/CDRW
  • Vladimir Pycha (to Bios 3.23 / EC 3.04, from Bios 3.20 / EC 3.04) using nondisk/cabextract/CDRW. Booted with external USB optical drive (I have internal drive broken) - at the beginning of the boot sequence press PAUSE, then wait several seconds, then ENTER, then F12 and select the drive. Without pressing PAUSE I am not able to boot from USB optical/hard drive as the drive does not show in the F12 boot list menu.
T41p
  • Nils Newman, work great. (Version: Bios 3.14 / Embedded Controller 3.04)
T42 2373-JXG
  • magarzo <mdr.magarzo at gmail.com> (BIOS v.3.23 / Embedded Controller v.3.04 / both with cabextract to non-diskette v. plus Bootable CD)
T42
  • Dan (BIOS 3.20 / EC 3.04, cabextract/CD method) <tronic171 at evilphb.org>
  • Hirosh Dabui <hirosh@dabui.de>
T42p
  • Robert Schiele <rschiele@uni-mannheim.de>, Joern Heissler <joern@heissler.de>, Hirosh Dabui <hirosh@dabui.de>
T43 1871-W34
  • Florian Boucault <florian at boucault dot ath dot cx> (Version: Bios 1.23 / Embedded Controller 1.03)
T43 1871-4AG
  • Martin McDowell 28-Feb-2010
  • BIOS 70ET62WW (1.22) to 70ET69WW (1.29),
  • ECP 70HT26WW (1.03) to 70HT28WW (1.05)

Both successfully upgraded from CD Image made from the instructions on this website.

T43 2886
  • Till Heikamp <t dot heikamp at geniusbytes dot com> (Bios 1.22 to 1.29, Embedded Controller 1.03 to 1.06)
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>
T60
  • 1951 Roman Komkov <roman at komkov dot org dot ru> (Bios 1.07 to 2.13) Successfully upgraded from CD Image
  • 8744-HCG Konstantin Khorenko <horenko at mail dot ru> (Bios 1.06 to 1.18) Successfully upgraded from CD Image
T61
  • Kai Weber <kai.weber at glorybox dot org> (Bios 1.06 to 1.26) Successfully upgraded from CD Image
T410
  • Pablo Zometa (BIOS 1.35)
X20
  • Neil Caunt <retardis at gmail dot com>
X21
  • Patrick Leickner <ranma at web dot de>, (BIOS 2.21->2.25 / EC 1.31->1.36) via non-disk/cabextract/mkisofs/cdrecord
X22
  • David Emery <dave at skiddlydee dot com>, (EC 1.30, BIOS 1.32 using non-disk/cabextract/CD method)
X23
  • Nils Faerber <nils dot faerber at kernelconcepts dot de> (Embedded Controller 1.30, BIOS 1.32 with cabextract/CD method)
X30
  • Hella Breitkopf, www (Embedded Controller 1.04, BIOS 1.07 with cabextract/CD method)
  • William Roe <willroe at gmail dot com> (Embedded Controller 1.06, BIOS 1.09 - cabextract/mkisofs/wodim)
X31
  • Grzegorz KuÅ›nierz <koniu at sheket dot org> (Embedded Controller 1.08, BIOS 3.01 with cabextract/CD method)
X31
  • Paul Litwack <paullitwack at gmail dot com> (Embedded Controller 1.08, BIOS 3.02 with cabextract/unetbootin method)

cabextract & unetbootin are staight foward(toggle floppy image instead of iso image in unetbootin dialog) No problems with update software. x31 has to be cajoled into booting from usb. Boot hangs when pendrive is present. Hit the key to bring up the boot menu. Unplug the pendrive. Let the boot menu come up. Plug in the pendrive. Select the pendrive in the boot menu and it boots.

X40
  • Robbie Stone <robbie@serendipity.cx>
  • Andy Shevchenko <andy.shevchenko@gmail.com> (Fine by cabextract/CD method)
Z60m
  • Morle 01:09, 17 Nov 2007 (CEST), (Embedded Controller 1.18 and Bios 1.24 with cabextract/CD method)

Unsuccessful tests

Model Tested by, and comments

Booting using GRUB

ATTENTION!
Many have warned not to use the SYSLINUX image-loader memdisk to boot firmware update images.
Help needed
Who are these "many"? Link to a discussion?

Once the bootable image, FILENAME.IMG, is extracted from the .exe, it can be booted directly through GRUB without the need of burning a CD, using the SYSLINUX image-loader memdisk.

Locate the memdisk file from the syslinux package. You can search for it with find:

# find /usr -name memdisk #or just use "dlocate memdisk" or "locate memdisk" if these programs are installed

If /usr/.../memdisk is not present, syslinux is not installed. You will need to install it to boot a .IMG from GRUB.

Copy both the FILENAME.IMG and memdisk files into /boot directory. For example:

# cp ./FILENAME.IMG /usr/share/syslinux/memdisk /boot/

Open /boot/grub/menu.lst in your favourite editor. Copy the active section into a new section, and edit the new section:

Parameter Instructions Example
title Pick a name for the new section. This will show up in the GRUB boot menu. title IBM ECP Update
root Do not change. This is the partition containing the /boot directory root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/memdisk will allow you to boot an image file. kernel /boot/memdisk
initrd This is the name of the firmware-updater image file, e.g., 1IUJ13US.IMG initrd /boot/1IUJ13US.IMG

Do not modify the original section in /boot/grub/menu.lst, or you might not be able to boot back to the operating system.

If you have two firmware updates to do, you will need a section for each firmware's FILENAME.IMG in /boot/grub/menu.lst.

NOTE!
If both BIOS and ECP are to be updated, be sure to update them in the proper order.
ATTENTION!
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 unfix-able problems. Proceed at your own risk!

Reboot your computer, entering the GRUB menu and selecting IBM BIOS Update, or whatever you named the new section in /boot/grub/menu.lst.

GRUB2

With grub2, one would append the following to /boot/grub/grub.cfg : 

menuentry "My BIOS Upgrade" {
set root=(hd0,0) #should match the others in your grub.cfg
linux16 /boot/memdisk
initrd16 /boot/1WUJ25US.IMG #or whatever yours is
}

Successful tests

Model BIOS ECP Tested by Notes
R30 2656-64G v.1.40 Yuri Spirin
R40 2723 1OHJ11WW.IMG 1PUJ25US.IMG Qunying memdisk from syslinux 3.70 (slackware 12.1)
R50e 1834NV1 1WUJ25US.IMG Jidanni memdisk from syslinux-common 2:3.84+dfsg-1 (Debian), grub2 (1.96+20080724-16)
R51 2888
T23 2647 1AUJ20US.IMG 1AHJ06US.IMG cthon memdisk from syslinux 4.02-1 (arch linux)
T40 2373 1RUJ37US.IMG 1RHJ10U2.IMG Euphoria memdisk from syslinux 1:3.31-4 (Debian package version)
T40 2373 1RHJ10U2.IMG
(3.04, 2004-11-15)		 1RUJ37US.IMG
(3.23, 2007-07-03)		 Morphics cabextract and memdisk from syslinux 3:1.36-4ubuntu5
T41 2373 1RUJ37US.IMG
(3.23, 2007-07-03)		 Tonko Fedora 12
T41p 2373 1RUJ37US.IMG
(3.23, 2007-07-03)		 Deggel cabextract and memdisk from syslinux 3.71 on gentoo
T41p 2373 James Lee
T42 2373 1RUJ37US.IMG Simon Csaba Endre Ubuntu 10.04 Pre-update versions: BIOS v3.21 / ECP v3.04 After-update versions: BIOS v3.23 / ECP v3.04
T42p 2374 1RUJ37US.IMG 1RHJ10U2.IMG Achim Derigs Debian GNU/Linux sid, works with `linux16 ...' and `initrd16 ...' only
X31 2673-CBU Jan Topinski
X31 2672-CXU TheAnarcat
X31 2672-JBU 3.02 1QUJ19US.IMG 1.08 1QUJ08US.IMG twbxf4 worked flawlessly
X31 2673-58G FaUl
X31 2672-PG9 Starox a big moment between starting update and the updating window
X31 2672-PG9 v3.02 1QUJ19US.IMG v1.08 1QHJ08US.IMG TeeLittle Apr 10, 2010: Using Debian 5.0 "Lenny" + package syslinux-common (Version: 2:3.71+dfsg-5). Pre-update versions: BIOS v2.11 / ECP v1.03
X40 2371 2.07 1uuj21us.exe 1.62 1uhj10us.exe Jakob Truelsen Worked on two X40-2371
X40 2386 2.08 1uuj22us.exe 1.62 1uhj10us.exe Galen Seitz memdisk from syslinux 3.61

(More successful grub tests are scattered in the previous table too.)

Unsuccessful tests

Model BIOS ECP Tested by Notes
R32 2658-NWU 2.16 1MUD23US.IMG n/a Mike Millman Boots into the BIOS flashing program just fine, but when it comes time to start the update process, the system hangs completely. Luckily, it hangs before it actually modifies anything... A hard reboot got me back into a working system. I would not recommend this route!
Template:R52e 1846-CGL 1.29
76UJ28UD.IMG		 1.01 Laszlo Takacs Boots into BIOS flashing program but it hangs up before the upgrade process. I used memdisk from syslinux-4.01.
T43 2668-F7G 1.29 1YUJ18US.IMG Maus3273 I got into the bios program, but the machine never restarts after initiating the upgrade.
X41 2525-FAG 2.09 74UJ15US Uwe Kleine-König booted fine (Debian syslinux 2:3.71+dfsg-5), but didn't succeed to write, just hang at "Don't restart or remove diskette etc. pp" (not bricked). Worked fine via CD method.
X41 2525-F8G 2.06 74UJ12US.IMG
2.07 74UJ13US.IMG
2.09 74UJ15US.IMG		 Lauri Koponen hangs while initializing the actual BIOS flashing process
ECP: 1.02 74HJ03US.IMG works

GRUB2 Boot CD Image

Download the bootable iso file from the Lenovo Website. Copy the file 'memdisk' from the syslinux package to /boot. Also create a symlink, so you do not have to change the grub configuration for each bios upgrade: 

sudo su -
cp /home/youruser/Downloads/6uuj12uc.iso
cp /usr/share/syslinux/memdisk /boot
ln -s 6uuj12uc.iso biosupgrade.iso

Now create the boot entry: 

cat >> /etc/grub.d/40_custom <<EOF
menuentry "Lenovo BIOS Upgrade" {
    set root=(hd0,1)  # <-- check for correct numbering
    linux16 /boot/memdisk iso
    initrd16 /boot/biosupgrade.iso
}
EOF
update-grub

Reboot an Select "Lenovo BIOS Upgrade".

For the next Bios Upgrade you'll just need to copy the new iso file to /boot and adjust the symlink.

Successful tests

Model BIOS ECP Tested by Notes
X100e 2876-55G 6xuj05uc.iso User:nikel
Template:Edge 1.17 6yuj04uc.iso User:theBro Current memdisk from syslinux worked (5/2010), the one provided by Ubuntu 9.10 did not.
X200s 1.13 6duj40uc.iso User:theBro Current memdisk from syslinux worked (5/2010), the one provided by Ubuntu 9.10 did not.
X200s 3.14 6duj41uc.iso 1.06 Dag Wieers Using memdisk from syslinux 4.01
X201 3626-A14 1.15 6quj05uc.iso 1.09 6quj05uc.iso Alexander List memdisk from syslinux 3.86
Edge 13" 0197-6GG 1.18 6yuj05uc.iso User:fethio Current memdisk from syslinux worked (5/2010), the one provided by Ubuntu 9.10 did not.
Edge 13" 0197-34Q 1.21 6yuj08uc.iso User:Kapil Current memdisk from syslinux debian version 2:4.02+dfsg-7
Edge 13" 0197-34Q 1.18 6yuj05uc.iso User:Kapil Current memdisk from syslinux debian version 2:4.01+dfsg-1
X200s 3.15 6duj42uc.iso User:lawnjam Memdisk 4.02 worked, the one provided by Ubuntu 10.04 did not.
X201 1.22 6quj08uc.iso 1.11 Dag Wieers Using memdisk from syslinux 4.03
T410s 1.41 6uuj12uc.iso 1.12 regatus Gentoo + memdisk (syslinux 4.0.3)

Booting from a Floppy

ATTENTION!
Using a floppy disk is NOT recommended.

This is how IBM/Lenovo intended it. Use their .exe files to create a bootable floppy with the flash update on it. Boot from the floppy and there you go.

So, why is it not recommended?

  1. If something goes wrong, your ThinkPad may be permanently damaged
  2. Floppy disk drives are not reliable
  3. Floppy disks are not reliable
  4. It only works with /dev/fd0, meaning it won't work with a USB floppy

So, even though Lenovo is now offering "Linux diskette" updaters, that will create a bootable floppy under Linux, using a floppy is still not recommended. Besides, many people don't even have a floppy drive on their ThinkPad.

If you really want to do it with a floppy, some tips:

  • Use a clean (in the physical sense) floppy drive
  • Use new floppies
  • Test floppies for errors before starting update process
  • Have multiple copies of the update disks ready--if one should fail, replace it with a copy
  • Should DOS complain of a read error, only respond wth "Retry"
NOTE!
Should the system encounter a disk read error during the flash process, and you select "Abort", your system could be permanently damaged.

Booting from a USB Flash drive

Updating the BIOS in MS-DOS mode

(This process works for most Thinkpad models that has Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7 OS)

1. Using HP USB Boot Utility, create a bootable USB flash drive [http://www.bay-wolf.com/utility/usbkey/win98boot.zip DOS using Windows 98 Boot Disk Floppy Image.

2. Extract the (*.ima) from the ISO BIOS image (e.g. WinRAR will do this).

3. Using a tool that can open .IMA files (such as WinImage), extract all files to a temporary folder.

4. Run the HP tool, select the USB device, I used FAT32, create a DOS bootable disk and point at the win98boot folder - then "Start". Warning: this formats the USB flash drive and all data will be erased!

5. Once complete (you could test if it boots at this point), copy the extracted BIOS files from the temporary folder you created to the USB flash drive.

6. Boot from USB flash drive by pressing F11 within the BIOS boot logo. At the DOS command prompt, type "updflsh" and then follow the prompts by pressing "Y" or Enter. Make sure that you have a fully charged battery pack and the AC Adapter is firmly plugged before proceeding with the BIOS update. DO NOT Power off the laptop or unplug the USB flash drive while the update is in progress or else update will fail and your computer will be unable to boot and system board may need to be serviced.

This process takes around 1-2 minutes. A long beep followed by a short beep will notify you that the update is complete and the system will automatically power off.

7. Power on the laptop then enter the BIOS setup by pressing F1 and Load BIOS defaults.

Using grub4dos (also for Linux)

grub4dos is a GNU GRUB fork with interesting features. One of them is the ability to boot ISO images directly off USB flash drives. Contrary to the name, GRUB for DOS works fine on Linux. Follow these steps:

  • Download the latest grub4dos package at http://download.gna.org/grub4dos/ (I needed 0.4.4 for my USB2 drive - 0.4.3 did not work.)
  • Unpack
  • Insert your FAT-32 formatted pendrive
  • Run sudo ./bootlace.com /dev/sdX, where /dev/sdX is the device name assigned to your pendrive (use sudo fdisk -l to figure this out). Be very careful to get the device correct or else you could overwrite your hard drive! This creates grub4dos boot sector in MBR of the flash drive.
  • Copy the files grldr and menu.lst to the root directory of your pendrive.
  • Convert the ThinkPad .IMG file to a .ISO file using genisoimage -b 1yuj18us.img -c boot.catalog -o 1yuj18us.iso 1yuj18us.img
  • Copy the ISO image to the root directory of your pendrive (e.g. 1yuj18us.iso).
  • Edit menu.lst on the pendrive and include the following section (of course putting the appropriate ISO image name):
title thinkpad-bios
map (hd0,0)/1yuj18us.iso (hd32)
map --hook
chainloader (hd32)
boot
  • Reboot and press F12 to select booting from USB.
  • If all went well, you should be able to boot the Thinkpad's ISO image and flash the BIOS. I tested it successfully on T400. Wanted 20:23, 16 July 2010 (UTC)

Using UNetbootin

Unetbootin 422 worked with the image files unpacked with cabextract on my x31.

Help needed
How exactly did you do this? It failed for me. Does it work only with .IMG files that are converted to .ISO files, or can .ISO files provided by Lenovo also work (how?)

Booting from a Network Boot Image

BIOS, ECP, CD/DVD and Harddisk firmware disks can be booted over the network with PXELINX as part of the SYSLINUX package. This requires that you have a DHCP and tftp server configured and setup properly on your network, and is probably not for the faint of heart.

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

This worked on the R31, X22, T21, T30 and T41p with various firmware updates. On the X22, it worked with ECP 1.30 but not with BIOS 1.32

Updating without battery or with dead battery

This is a last-resort approach. Use this only if everything else fails.

The BIOS updater may refuse to update a BIOS without a battery, or if the battery charge is too low. In that case, extract the disk image with cabextract as per instructions above and dd it to an usb stick. (This will destroy the data on it, of course.) Acquire a pure DOS boot cd such as Windows 98 recovery CD and boot that.

Use F8 to abort the boot sequence of a windows 98 boot CD. If you need CD-ROM support, load CD-related things but say no to everything else. In particular, avoid loading himem.sys and doskey, as the presence of either program causes Phoenix bios flash tool phlash16.exe to abort.

Change to the volume where flash2.exe and other tools are installed, and execute "flash2.exe /u". This should bypass the battery check and perform the flashing. If that doesn't work, check if the update disk contains a tool called "phlash16.exe". This can be used directly to flash the image, and the invocation is typically "phlash16 /exit $01c80000.fl1".

This method won't work for the Thinkpad 560X (and likely other older models). Since the 560X is a bit older, it won't be a big surprise if the battery is dead as a dodo. Here's how to update the bios in this case: download the spsdi833 bios update and create the update floppy. If you have trouble creating this disk, download an archive with the files and put them on a floppy. Don't worry about making it bootable. Also, you will need a DOS bootdisk. A Windows 98 bootdisk will be fine. Boot the system with the W98 bootdisk, do not load CD-rom support. Remove the W98 bootdisk and put the disk with the BIOS update in the drive. If you would now run UPDTFLSH you would get the battery message, so don't do that. If you open UPDTFLSH.exe with a text editor, you would find some lines about UPDTROM. UPDTROM is the actual flash tool, but you can't simply run it just like that. Run the following:

  • updtrom /np /prep1
  • updtrom /np /prep2
  • updtrom /np /prep3
  • updtrom /np /romcmp /romflsh /prep4
  • updtrom /np /h8flsh /h8img /model

Yes, you need to run updtrom five times. Hold your breath and reboot the machine. It's done.

Perhaps not all these lines are necessary, but to be sure I ran them all, and this worked for me. So I suggest you do the same. This could probably be done from the harddisk as well, but I did not test that.

After updating

Lenovo recommends reseting your BIOS settings to their factory defaults after a firmware update.

DMI IDs

Please consider updating the List of DMI IDs after updating your BIOS.

Special Cases

  • In one case, see (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.

Updating Thinkpad X Series

The special update instructions for X1, X1 Carbon, X1 Carbon G2, X1 Carbon G3, X1 Carbon G4, X1 Carbon G5, X1 Carbon G6, X1 Carbon G7, X1 Carbon G8, X1 Extreme, X1 Extreme G2, X1 Hybrid, X13, X20, X21, X22, X23, X24, X30, X31, X32, X40, X41, X41 Tablet, X60, X60s, X60 Tablet, X61, X61s, X61Ls, X61 Tablet, X100e, X120e, X121e, X130e, X131e, X140e, X200, X200s, X200 Tablet, X201, X201i, X201s, X201si, X201 Tablet, X201i Tablet, X220, X220i, X220 Tablet, X220i Tablet, X230, X230i, X230s, X230 Tablet, X230i Tablet, X240, X240s, X250, X260, X270, X280, X300, X301, X390, X395 Thinkpads are quite long. You can find them at the page BIOS_Upgrade/X_Series.



FOOTNOTES [Δ]
  1. For lots of detail on making and burning .iso files, see The Linux Documentation Project (tldp.org): 3.1 Writing CD-ROMs (pure data).
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