thePENTIUM
asked on
Thinkpad 770 Bios upgrade without battery
Hey there
I'm trying to upgrade my laptop's bios. However, the flasher from IBM requires that I have a battery. Is there anyway to bypass this? Perhaps a different flasher or faking a fully charged battery? I read a couple of articles for a different model that would probably work, except that the file names are different. Here:
batteryless bios upgrade yes, i have a method which can upgrade the bios without a fully charged battery..
first of all ,you need to make a bios-update floppy disk and another clean bootable disk with no config.sys and autoexec.bat
then copy the following files from the bios-update disk to the bootable disk:
phlash.exe and
$0179000.FL1
$0179000.FL3.
and rename the
$0179000.fl1 to bios.rom ,
$0179000.fl3 to platform.bin
finally use the bootable disk to reboot.
And turn to driver letter a:>,just type "phlash",
this program will automatically search for the file platform.bin(the manufacturer specific initialization file) and use the default file bios.rom to update bios. everything will be done just as using the bios-update disk. And this method will not detect whether
you use a AC adaptor/battery nor not. warning: take the risk with your own...this is NOT a safe way to update the bios which IBM recommended.though it really works
I don't have an *FL3 file, mine is FL2. And I don't have a phlash file.
Thanks!
I'm trying to upgrade my laptop's bios. However, the flasher from IBM requires that I have a battery. Is there anyway to bypass this? Perhaps a different flasher or faking a fully charged battery? I read a couple of articles for a different model that would probably work, except that the file names are different. Here:
batteryless bios upgrade yes, i have a method which can upgrade the bios without a fully charged battery..
first of all ,you need to make a bios-update floppy disk and another clean bootable disk with no config.sys and autoexec.bat
then copy the following files from the bios-update disk to the bootable disk:
phlash.exe and
$0179000.FL1
$0179000.FL3.
and rename the
$0179000.fl1 to bios.rom ,
$0179000.fl3 to platform.bin
finally use the bootable disk to reboot.
And turn to driver letter a:>,just type "phlash",
this program will automatically search for the file platform.bin(the manufacturer specific initialization file) and use the default file bios.rom to update bios. everything will be done just as using the bios-update disk. And this method will not detect whether
you use a AC adaptor/battery nor not. warning: take the risk with your own...this is NOT a safe way to update the bios which IBM recommended.though it really works
I don't have an *FL3 file, mine is FL2. And I don't have a phlash file.
Thanks!
ASKER
Alright... I think IBM just wants to make money off of the batteries....
I've been flashing BIOSes on desktops since I began in computers and never had a power problem.
Anyways
I have the 770X.
The TYPE is 9549-71U
Ok the BIOS update disk is bootable, so there are lots of files on that thing:
UPDTFLSH.EXE
$0036000.fl1
$0036000.fl2
Command.com
Config.sys
Flash2.exe (remote flasher)
IBMBIO.com
IBMDOS.com
Prod.dat
updtrom.exe
userint.exe
utilinfo.exe
I've been flashing BIOSes on desktops since I began in computers and never had a power problem.
Anyways
I have the 770X.
The TYPE is 9549-71U
Ok the BIOS update disk is bootable, so there are lots of files on that thing:
UPDTFLSH.EXE
$0036000.fl1
$0036000.fl2
Command.com
Config.sys
Flash2.exe (remote flasher)
IBMBIO.com
IBMDOS.com
Prod.dat
updtrom.exe
userint.exe
utilinfo.exe
I'll do some research for you tomorrow, but you can buy batteries from other makers than IBM.
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
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ASKER
Ok I went ahead and bought a battery off of ebay.
I got one that was "in oem packaging".
It was just a clear plastic bag so who knows.
Thanks "Chris Schumann"!
This is extra, you don't have to answer if you don't want to, but I was wondering what I should do when I get the new battery. Should I do a complete cycle to maximize battery life or something like that?
Thanks for all your help
~thePENTIUM
I got one that was "in oem packaging".
It was just a clear plastic bag so who knows.
Thanks "Chris Schumann"!
This is extra, you don't have to answer if you don't want to, but I was wondering what I should do when I get the new battery. Should I do a complete cycle to maximize battery life or something like that?
Thanks for all your help
~thePENTIUM
If it's a new battery (which I'm guessing), two or three deep cycles will prepare it nicely. It will ensure your system knows when it's full and when it's low, and that will be accurate.
If it's old, then one deep cycle will calibrate the levels.
If it's old, then one deep cycle will calibrate the levels.
ASKER
k thanks a lot man, will do.
~thepentium
~thepentium
boy that's what i call an expert. buy a battery.
here we have a guy who just wants a work around for the nanny software that refuses to update the bios because the battery isnt fully charged and someone recommends that he buy a new battery.
i thougjht this was an experts exchange. the poor guy probably doesnt want to spend 100 bucks on a new battery when the laptop is barely worth that.
the solution is to use phlflash instead of the nanny flash2.exe that ibm (or lenovo) came up with.
the phlflash is the phoenix bios flash update program. you can usually rename the .fl1 file to bios.rom and the .fl2 or .fl3 (whichever) to platform.bin and run the phlflsash program.
i thougjht this was an experts exchange. the poor guy probably doesnt want to spend 100 bucks on a new battery when the laptop is barely worth that.
the solution is to use phlflash instead of the nanny flash2.exe that ibm (or lenovo) came up with.
the phlflash is the phoenix bios flash update program. you can usually rename the .fl1 file to bios.rom and the .fl2 or .fl3 (whichever) to platform.bin and run the phlflsash program.
2 - What is the model number? (TYPE on the back, like 2645-123)
3 - Please list the files on the floppy that gets made from your download.
I'm sure we can get this to work. You might consider buying a used but kind-of working battery (off eBay perhaps) just to have on hand for this kind of thing. The reason they want a battery is in the one-in-a-million chance your power fails while writing to the BIOS chip, which could make your machine unbootable.