@lfb6 - Yes, all done with admin CMD prompt. Apart from the issues with the discrete graphics and external display ports, everything appears to be working fine. I'm already running the latest 1.62 bios.

I didn't remove the .FL1, as I though that was only in the instructions for running from a USB drive. Just tried again without the .FL1 file, and no difference. Also cleaned up the path name to the files, but again, no change.

Thought I'd try running the same command on the .FL1 file to see what happened, and this got further, although ultimately failed. It did try to flash the EC FW though.



I think I may need to try flashing from DOS, but not sure if the error above indicates a problem with the files.

Thanks,
Ian.

Looks like EC FW is messed up then "Region Not found" refers to region not found in chip or at address etc (not a file not found issue)
Yes, try EC flash as I outlined, but in DOS - Wait, what is above screenshot from, that looks like DOS???

@IanP50 Thanks!

Zitat von lfb6 im Beitrag #119

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.....How's a normal bios flash performing? Is there some feedback? Is the system rebooting? Can you see anything regarding which kind of environment they're using, like the reboot and do it in EFI environment? What if you reflash the latest bios? Do you get an information which parts get updated/ Which were omissed since same version...? ...

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Zitat von Lost_N_BIOS im Beitrag #122

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Wait, what is above screenshot from, that looks like DOS???

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Zitat von lfb6 im Beitrag #123

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.....How\'s a normal bios flash performing? Is there some feedback? Is the system rebooting? Can you see anything regarding which kind of environment they\'re using, like the reboot and do it in EFI environment? What if you reflash the latest bios? Do you get an information which parts get updated/ Which were omissed since same version...? ...

---

@IanP50 Thanks for the picture. Possibly Efi shell, the flasher in last efi volume in bios has text that would fit, the BootX64.efi has a flasher included, too.

But: What do you see after a reboot, when you did flash the bios? Is there just the flash you showed and one reboot, or is there another reboot and another flashing session for transfering EC firmware to the separate chip?

Zitat von lfb6 im Beitrag #125

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But: What do you see after a reboot, when you did flash the bios? Is there just the flash you showed and one reboot, or is there another reboot and another flashing session for transfering EC firmware to the separate chip?

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@lfb6 - Just tried to update the EC FW from DOS, but got the following error.



This one's really fighting now...

Thanks,
Ian.

@IanP50 That wont work, you can't start an efi programm in DOS

But be careful, I'd suggest not to use the DOS tools ("dosflash.exe") yet. The notebook described in the article has another file structure. Tha bios is quite similar with flasher at the end, but the EC firmware is no longer the little EC firmware we see for your model, but a 12 MB file, described as 'parts of an old bios' combined with a little piece of EC firmware'.

Maybe the flash commands require the fl1/fl2 files put together to a 'real' bios region?

(Efi shell: Format an USB stick in Fat32, create a folder efi, in this folder create a folder boot, into this folder you copy bootx64.efi [see zip], that's it.. Boot, check for usb stick volume, f.ex. fs0 -> "fs0:" "enter" and you're in something that looks similar to a dos shell.)

Zitat von IanP50 im Beitrag #121

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Thought I'd try running the same command on the .FL1 file to see what happened, and this got further, although ultimately failed. It did try to flash the EC FW though.

....

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I mentioned all that previously, when doing the EC FW flash, it will copy stuff to BIOS or NVRAM, reboot and then stuff actually happens and then on next reboot the changed EC FW is shown within BIOS.
This is all described in the guide I initially linked - http://zmatt.net/unlocking-my-lenovo-laptop-part-3/

@IanP50 - Your error/image at post #127, that is not DOS?? And "Shell.EFI" is being used, so UEFI/Shell not DOS there also. Be sure you have BIOS in Legacy mode
You can see the EC FW version on BIOS main page, correct? If you flash back down to 1.59, using stock exe, does that change? If yes, then how about when flashing back up to 1.62?
Never mind, just as lfb6 mentioned, all are same/same, at least for 42 and 44 BIOS exe package. I assume when he mentioned that, maybe they had same version/name, but would be diff in some way, but I compared and exact hex match.

Do you have any older BIOS update exe's that are not hosted at Lenovo site anymore, so we could check their EC FW version, and maybe try to downgrade to the old BIOS and old EC FW, to see if it changes the EC FW as shown in BIOS or not, then go back to new, to see if it fixes things.
Ohh! I see at their site, try this >> 1.52 (N1EET79W) - 1.17 (N1EHT37W) << Flash down to that if it will let you, and see if EC FW changes in BIOS Main page after BIOS flash/ec update.
https://download.lenovo.com/pccbbs/mobiles/n1euj35w.exe

@lfb6 - IF DOS flasher is included in the stock package for this system then it should be fine (never mind, I looked, it's not). Either way though, DOS or Shell, outcome should be same/same, so if it's a fail then it's a fail
Probably as I mentioned, EC FW is corrupted, thus flasher can't find it now, which would also be the reason it's not fixed with BIOS update or downgrade.

No, no compilation is done for this, it's done automatically during normal BIOS update with the file as-is, so we should leave them that way

@IanP50 There might be a switch in bios enabling rollback- but Lenovo bios simulator uses quite old versions...

@Lost_N_BIOS - This was before I downgraded the bios. Currently running 1.62.



This is after the downgrade.



This was just using the standard Lenovo installer. It rebooted to install the bios, and after that was done, it rebooted again to flash the EC FW. Although the bios now shows the EC FW version has changed, I'm not confident that it has been flashed. When it booted the second time to flash the EC FW, I got the Lenovo boot splash screen, and very briefly saw a message below the splash logo that said it was going to update the EC FW. It flashed up so quickly that I didn't get a chance to take a picture, but if it was there for more than a couple of seconds, I'd be surprised. After this, the system appeared to almost power off, and immediately rebooted and started Windows. It all just seemed too quick. I certainly didn't get anything like the screen shot on #121.

I'll update back to 1.62 this evening, and see if I can video the process.

@lfb6 - Thanks. I checked that setting, and it was already set to allow rollback.

Thanks,
Ian.

@IanP50, @Lost_N_BIOS



That was very first boot after brick with the foreign 'good' bios dump. This dump is 1.49 and has EC firmware 1.17. Bios is still showing the 'true' version of the firmware in the separate chip which is still updated (1.18). So if it displays now a lower version I'd like to accept that the EC firmware really got downgraded since the version displayed has nothing to do with what's in the padding in the bios chip


BTW: Did you check external monitors after ME firmware update? Seems there was some trouble at least with other 6th gen Lenovo laptops?
https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/ThinkPad-X-...ate/m-p/4535575
https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/ThinkPad-X-.../4091511?page=3

EDIT2 The 1 MB chip dumped in #99 (W25Q80BLNIG_dump.rar) has the Thunderbolt firmware in his first part

@lfb6 - It certainly appears to have updated the EC FW, but it just seemed to happen too quickly.

Yes, I've tried the external monitors, but still nothing. Still have the Nvidia GPU error in device manager.

I think we've probably taken this one as far as we can. I've still got a pretty decent laptop for everyday use, which is considerably more than I had when it was bricked.

I am still going to have to buy a replacement though, as I need the discrete graphics to run CAD software. I actually discussed it with my boss today, and he's agreed to cover half the cost of the new laptop, as I use it at work quite a lot. That takes some of the sting out of it, and I get a shiny new system.

Thanks again to both of you for all your hard work.
Ian.

@IanP50 Thanks for the answer. Time for update- EC firmware is 281 kB, that's less than the 20th part of a bios region update. If bios update would take about 2 minutes, EC firmware update would be about 5 seconds...

There are only few things left, most important would be the Thunderbolt firmware- it is actually related to powering external monitors. Despite of the possiblity of being corrupted during the brick you're still on an old version. Another thing would be the question if you did use the original Lenovo graphics package? There might be differences to native manufacturers drivers.


Anyway- I can understand your decision, especially after having found a good solution with your employer for a replacement.


If you'd decided to continue I had recommend the following last step just to be sure that there's no corruption in the Thunderbolt system:

1. Update for Power Management Driver:
- Lenovo Power Management Driver (64-bit) 1.67.16.42, 16 Dec 2019
https://download.lenovo.com/pccbbs/mobiles/n2hku07w_x64.exe
(Thunderbolt firmware requires Power Management driver is updated to v1.67.12.19, so it'd recommended to update to latest version)

2. Update for Thunderbolt firmware:
- Intel Alpine Ridge Thunderbolt Firmware 25, 09 May 2017
https://download.lenovo.com/pccbbs/mobiles/n1etf08w.exe

3. Update for Thunderbolt software:
- Intel Thunderbolt software 17.3.74.400, 03 Mar 2020
https://download.lenovo.com/pccbbs/mobiles/n1ete11w.exe

4. Reinstall original Lenovo graphics driver, if that's not the already installed package:
- ThinkPad Video Features (NVIDIA N16S / Quadro N16P)26.21.14.433205 Oct 2020
https://download.lenovo.com/pccbbs/mobiles/n1edl40w.exe

@lfb6 - Sorry for the late reply. I've been setting up my new laptop

Just ran through all the updates you posted, and still no change. Still got the error (Code 43) on the Nvidia driver, and still nothing when I connect an external monitor.

I've been a long term fan of IBM/Lenovo Thkinpads, but they just seem a little fragile in the software department now. There's so many reports of people with brand new machines getting bricked by a simple bios change. I've gone for an HP Zbook Studio G7 this time. Hopefully this will be more reliable.

Thanks,
Ian.