X61s Bios Update Tool crashed, ThinkPad still running what to do now?

[thomas_]

Hi,

I just run the ThinkPad BIOS Update Utility from the latest ThinkVantage System Update.

As stated by the BIOS Update Utility I closed all my applications and proceeded. I selected  Update ThinkPad BIOS". Then the BIOS Update Utility froze during the process (it displayed that it is now writing the backup file of the old bios). After some time a window from Windows popped up and said that the program hangs and closed the BIOS Update Utility.

Now I am not sure if the BIOS on my notebook is in a healthy state or not!

So I tried to do the update manually again. I downloaded the ThinkPad BIOS update utility from the Lenovo website [1] (Version 3.24). But when I start the BIOS Update Utility and select “Update ThinkPad BIOS” it shows me an error message:

Driver Loading failed.
 
The Utility cannot proceed.

My ThinkPad is a X61s (7666-B4G), running Windows 7 SP1, 32bit

• Any recommendations what I can try next?

• Is it safe to reboot the computer, or is it bricked now?

Kind regards

Thomas

[1] http://support.lenovo.com/de_DE/downloads/default.page

[thomas_]

The system did a reboot and now it is finaly dead.

When it was still running i tried different methods to do new clean reflash of the bios but could not find any solution which worked.

Is there still hope to recover the ThinkPad? 

[PeterTWJ]

Hi thomas_

Is your X61s still under warranty? If your machine is still under warranty, you could contact Lenovo Support. If not, you could try contact Lenovo Support and they would quote you for the repair. (If they are able to reflash or swap chip, would be cheap, hopefully not replaced the system board, as would be very expensive).

If you are on a tight budget, you could try this:

http://www.theeldergeek.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=21209

Hopefully, 2012 would be a better year for all of you!

Happy New Year! 

Peter
ThinkPad: W520 (4284-A99)

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[thomas_]

Thank you Peter for the reply.

No, waranty is over. 

I tried the Phoenix Crisis Recovery right now, but it did not work. 

I read in different forums thaht the Phoenix Crisis Recovery method can not work on X60/X61 because it stores the bios in compressed form on the chip. 

I think the only option is to reflash the bios chip externaly.

[PeterTWJ]

Hi thomas_

Maybe you can call Lenovo Support for a quote or a third-party shop for a external reflash. I am not sure which is more cost effective.

Happy New Year! 

Peter
ThinkPad: W520 (4284-A99)

=============================================

Does someone’s post help you? Give them kudos as a reward, as they will do better to improve 

Mark it as solved if the solution works for you, so it could be reference for others in the future 

Dolby Home Theater v4 (Essential/IdeaPad/ThinkPad)

http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/General-Discussion/Dolby-Home-Theater-v4-for-most-Lenovo-Laptops/td-p/62...

[Mornsgrans]

Hello thomas_

you can ask the users "Nobby" or "tcone" in the german thinkpad-forum.de.

Both have experiences to reanimate the BIOS.

A third one is laptopheaven.de (user "laptopheaven" in the thinkpad-forum.de)