bios update for thinkpad edge 320 seems impossible

b0b2 · 2012-01-09 14:38:20

hi,
i tried to update my bios, because the current version will hardblock wlan after standby.
flashrom doesnt support the laptop. there are no BIOS executables(just win exe and an .iso with .img in it).
i also tried this: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Th … IOS-Update:
but the laptop fails booting from my usb sticks even though i could install arch linux from one of those usb sticks.
after i select the usb drive the screen flashes shortly and I'm back where i can select my boot device.
both USB-devices can be booted from a different laptop. wtf?
not sure if dumb or just trolling........

help appreciated

/edit
did it once again (exactly like the 525364 times before) and it worked..........
*rolls-eyes*

Last edited by b0b2 (2012-01-09 14:58:46)

txus · 2012-01-09 17:32:25

Ho ho, this seems familiar...

I was in the same situation until yesterday evening with my x121e about bios flashing, and i have had my wifi hardblocked before. Step by step:

1. USB booting: Apparently the BIOS implementation by Lenovo doesn't boot off an MBR drive if none of the partitions have been marked with the "boot" flag. Doesn't matter which, just flag one as boot (in case of a USB stick probably the only one there is), and voila, grub/grub2 loads. This has driven me crazy all christmas long, btw. "Source": http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=59&t=101183

2. BIOS flashing: http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/BIOS_upda … tical_disk Just adapt it to boot off your usb drive: install grub/grub2 on your usb, copy over memdisk and the extracted bios.img, create an appropiate config for grub, profit.

3. Wifi hardblocking: This one was tricky. Apparently the Lenovo implementation of UEFI is faulty, and you can't modify the UEFI boot manager, because if overwrites other parts of the firmware. When you install grub2-efi and install it with grub_efi-install (or similar, don't remember the exact command) you create a new entry in the UEFI boot manager, and same happens if you follow the grub2 wiki page where it uses efibootmgr. Assuming you have followed the wiki and your directories are the same, you will have to boot my copying your "/boot/efi/efi/grub/grub.efi" to "/boot/efi/efi/boot/bootx64.efi". "Source": https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+sour … omments/25

Tell me how it goes. Hope it helped!

P.S.: Maybe I should think about getting stuff on the wiki...

cfr · 2012-03-11 02:12:42

txus wrote:

3. Wifi hardblocking: This one was tricky. Apparently the Lenovo implementation of UEFI is faulty, and you can't modify the UEFI boot manager, because if overwrites other parts of the firmware. When you install grub2-efi and install it with grub_efi-install (or similar, don't remember the exact command) you create a new entry in the UEFI boot manager, and same happens if you follow the grub2 wiki page where it uses efibootmgr. Assuming you have followed the wiki and your directories are the same, you will have to boot my copying your "/boot/efi/efi/grub/grub.efi" to "/boot/efi/efi/boot/bootx64.efi". "Source": https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+sour … omments/25

It is great to have confirmation that flashing the bios works using the usb key work around from think wiki. (I'm still not quite sure I follow it, though!)

I don't follow your third point. Are you saying that installing grub2 using efibootmgr, for example, causes the wifi to be hard blocked? If so, does upgrading the bios remove the grub2 entry and does keeping it unblocked require not reinstalling it?

My wifi is OK but my bluetooth is blocked (though it wasn't until a couple of days ago - it mysteriously unblocked itself a while after I'd given up and stayed like that until I had to restore the system from backup...). I don't see how the ubuntu bug you linked to supports the claim that "you can't modify the UEFI boot manager, because it overwrites other parts of the firmware", for example.

I don't deny the UEFI is buggy. It is for sure. I'm just not following the connections between the claims in your third point and the bug report. Copying grub.efi to bootx64.efi will not, I think, affect whether wifi is hard blocked! Copying that file is part of the standard installation procedure for grub2 - I don't think it has anything to do with the bugs in this firmware.

Last edited by cfr (2012-03-11 02:13:35)

Arch Linux

#1 2012-01-09 14:38:20

bios update for thinkpad edge 320 seems impossible

#2 2012-01-09 17:32:25

Re: bios update for thinkpad edge 320 seems impossible

#3 2012-03-11 02:12:42

Re: bios update for thinkpad edge 320 seems impossible

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