How to Upgrade the Thinkpad x61 BIOS

[spreeendaz]

That might change things... thanks for bringing it to my attention. But I don't think so. I assume you have an x61/x61s, you have a BIOS installed which is after 2.06/1.03, and you want to roll back to 1.11/1.02?

The way I interpret their message, I'm guessing that will be impossible. I'm not sure what would happen if you tried... It could be anything. Given the new developments, I guess I would err on the side of caution if I were you.

The only BIOSes I went back and forth between were 2.14 and 2.07. I never went as far back as 1.11, though, so I can't lend any personal experience.

Mike

I am a bit confused with the notation here. I have the 1.11 version, which is higher than 1.03. Does it mean I can't rollback ? Does the 1.xx updates notation apply to the first version of the BIOS and 2.xx to the second edition ? So the 1.11 version has nothing to do with being lower than 2.06, since they are in two different series, but is higher than 1.03, so I can't rollback ?

[mbsullivan]

I am a bit confused with the notation here. I have the 1.11 version, which is higher than 1.03.

There are two numbers associated with every BIOS release. The first is the BIOS version number (current version: 2.20), and the second is the embedded controller version (current version: 1.03). When I put a slash between versions (like "2.20/1.03"), I'm referring to a BIOS/embedded controller pair. See the table at the bottom of this page for the version history.

Does it mean I can't rollback?

If I'm understanding it correctly, then "no, you can't rollback". It is my guess that because you have 1.11/1.02, then upgrading to any BIOS revision associated with the 1.03 embedded controller will prevent you from downgrading to one with an earlier version of the embedded controller. Therefore, upgrading to any newer version will prevent you from going back to any BIOS earlier than 2.06/1.03.

Hope this helps!
Mike

PS: You said the following previously:

The new Embedded Controller is blocking my non-IBM battery (new battery "management" I guess) and I'd like to be able to use my battery once again.

How do you know that the embedded controller is the one causing problems with your battery? If you have 1.11/1.02 installed right now, then:

1. You don't have the newest embedded controller. Upgrading might fix your problem.
2. There's no public BIOS release with an older embedded controller. Every release other than the very first BIOS has v1.02 or newer... So I don't see how you could ever downgrade to something earlier.

I guess I don't understand your problem -- if your battery is already broken by 1.11/1.02, then I don't see why you'd have to worry about rolling back to it.

[PetePhillips]

Hi

First of all, i used the tutorial to upgrade my X61s from 1.06-2.20 and it has worked perfectly as far as i can tell. The BIOS reports 2.20. Excellent stuff.

One thing I didn't understand - when the USB stick boots, there is a menu with 3 options. 0 was cancel (i think), so I selected option 1, expecting to be go back to the menu. However, after a VERY loud beep (after the first minute or so) it then says it will take another minute, then you get another beep (quite disconcerting!), and then it asks you to remove the CD and select the reboot option (or whatever term it uses).

I did this and it then clearly goes through some internal checks, then rebooted OK.

My question is what is the third option (option 2) which I *think* refers to updating the model number ? Is it necessary to rerun the procedure and select the 2nd option ?

Pete

[mbsullivan]

My question is what is the third option (option 2) which I *think* refers to updating the model number ? Is it necessary to rerun the procedure and select the 2nd option ?

No, this option is unnecessary. It's most likely for corporate users.

It sounds like you selected the right option, and successfully upgraded your BIOS. Congrats!!!

Mike

PS: Which method did you use, the Windows or Linux version?

[PetePhillips]

PS: Which method did you use, the Windows or Linux version?

The Linux version (of course!).

Pete

[mbsullivan]

The Linux version (of course!).

Pete

Excellent! You're the first one to have tried it (and told me), apart from myself. I'm glad it worked!

Just out of curiosity, how big was the thumb drive that you loaded the image onto?

Mike

[PetePhillips]

2Gb

(hadn't realised i was being a trail blazer! <gulp>)

Pete

[nswilliams]

Linux only instructions worked fine for me. I did find these instructions a little ambiguous at first though:
sudo mount -o loop [path to ISO file] [mount point]
sudo cp -af [mount point]/* [path to USB folder]

[mbsullivan]

Linux only instructions worked fine for me. I did find these instructions a little ambiguous at first though:
sudo mount -o loop [path to ISO file] [mount point]
sudo cp -af [mount point]/* [path to USB folder]

I'm glad it worked! Thanks for the feedback...

I added the following sentence after the code snippet. Do you think it helps?

Where [path to ISO file] is the path to the CD ISO image, [mount point] is wherever you want to mount the CD image to (you can choose this, /cdrom/ works), and [path to USB folder] is the location of your mounted USB drive.

Mike

[cprov]

Excellent! It worked perfectly. Thanks a lot.