W510 Bios 1.12 removed?

[aadiodavid]

Last week I found a new bios, 1.12, on the Lenovo site and it also showed up in the Lenovo system update utility.

Now, it is unavailable and only 1.09 is available.

When I flashed the Bios all went well, and the W510 rebooted and ran. But I soon discovered that the authentication of the certificate for Win 7 had disappeared and I had to go through the tedious phone procedure to authenticate as even the online process failed to authenticate the OS.

Perhaps this is why that Bios was removed, as it appeard not to deal with the certificate correctly.

[Jimbo]

You're right. In fact, it was still there last night when I checked for an update on IBM's site, so it was removed either last night or sometime today. Here's the drivers and software dowload page:

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/MIGR-74582.html

A version 1.12-1.08 is still listed for the T510/i. I don't remember if that was the same exact version number as was available for the W510. You should be able to tell, since you already have it on your machine.

I know that the update stopped the W510 from overheating and crashing during 3D game play, at least in some cases. But they must have found a significant problem with that update on the W510 (perhaps the problem that you describe), or else they wouldn't have pulled it. Which means they're probably racing to come out with a new update. It seems to take them 2-3 weeks to test and come out with a new BIOS update (although the new one may already be in the pipeline, so it may come out sooner).

[Davidvf]

I can confirm that this BIOS update has altered the Windows activation status (no longer activated). Unfortunately, Lenovo support was no help with their immediate suggestion of having to do a clean reinstallation!

Microsoft on the other hand was considerably more helpful. All you need is the product key (located under the battery on my ThinkPad) and they will give you a new key to enter which will return the Windows activation back to activated.

[blade117runner]

I know I should have waited instead of flashing 1.12 so quickly :-(

>> Microsoft on the other hand was considerably more helpful. All you need is the product key (located under the battery on my ThinkPad) and they will give you a new key to enter which will return the Windows activation back to activated. >>

Good tip. I'll give it a try. Nobody wants to do a reinstall.

I got a BSOD the other day with kernel_data_inpage_error and 0x0000007A stop error. Don't know whether it is the new bios to blame. I also notice another problem. My W510 has an external monitor connected to the HDMI port (using a HDMI to DVI adapter). When it boots up, I see the Windows logo on my laptop screen and then it just hangs. Switch it off and unplug the HDMI and it boots ok. Does W510 support flashing the bios back to an older version like 1.09 in this case?

BTW does Lenovo offer email support? All I see are phone numbers in the contact section of their web site. Thanks.

[Jimbo]

Blade117runner, here's some additional info on the kernel_data_inpage_error, if you're interested:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms793989.aspx

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=67084

http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/T400-T500-and-newer-T-series/T500-freezing-hard-drive-on-all-the-time/m-...

None of it will make you feel warm and fuzzy, however.

[blade117runner]

Thanks.

I just spent 2 hours today activating Windows because of the new bios. First I confirmed with Lenovo support that I can downgrade the bios which I did. Then I clicked the Change product key link under Windows Activation and typed in the product id off the Windows 7 sticker label under the battery. But it says the product id is invalid ! I called Microsoft. Basically they said since my Windows 7 is OEM, I need to contact Lenovo. I called Lenovo support and the only solution is re-install. They did suggest me to call Microsoft again. I called Microsoft and was able to talk to a helpful support person. He used Easy Assist to remote control/diagnose my computer. Finally got me a 8 6-digits number to enter in the automated phone activation dialog. It works ! And he explained that the reason that the product id was invalid is because the activation server is down ! WTF :-)

As to my Windows 7 hangs when doing a cold start with an external monitor connected to the HDMI port, I don't think it is related to the bios. I switched the ACHI drivers from Intel to Microsoft because of Windows' TRIM support for SSD. I suspect that's the reason.

[Davidvf]

Hi blade117runner

Glad you are able to get your software re-activated. I was able to do it with the same BIOS (1.12). Fortunately when I contacted Microsoft the first time they were happy to help me straight away rather than sending me back to Lenovo. One thing they did ask me to do was to disconnect the computer from the Internet during the activation process which led me to believe that using of the product key via the Internet would not work.

More interestingly, it is your comments regarding the computer hanging at the Windows logo screen when you have an external monitor (connected through HDMI). I have the same issue (albeit my monitor is connected through the DVI port connected to a Lenovo dock) and has been present before the BIOS update to 1.12. I have spent quite some time troubleshooting this issue with Lenovo and to date we have isolated the fault to either be with the NVIDIA drivers or with the actual GPU on the motherboard. One thing that has come up is the possibility that the screen resolution of the external monitor is different to the native resolution of the internal screen and when the drivers load and have to switch resolution, it causes the system to hang.

If I leave the external monitor unplugged from the dock at bootup, it never hangs. I merely plug in the external monitor into the DVI port after a minute or so and everything is sweet. Not a great solution but it does ensure a successful bootup each and every time.

Can you confirm your screen resolution of your external monitor?

I am also running SSD; but still have the Intel SATA AHCI controller operating. As far as I'm aware AHCI controller does not determine whether TRIM is operating on the SSD. There is a service in Microsoft Windows 7 which runs TRIM, if the drive supports it. Nevertheless, at this stage anything could be the reason for the paying.

At this stage Lenovo want to change out my motherboard and because the unit is so new they do not have any spares available at the moment (so much for paying for the next business day on site warranty service).

[blade117runner]

Hi Davidvf,

>> Can you confirm your screen resolution of your external monitor? >>

It is 1280x1024 which is different from the laptop. BTW my external monitor is set as primary monitor. What if you connect directly to the laptop?

>> There is a service in Microsoft Windows 7 which runs TRIM, if the drive supports it. >>

My understanding is the Intel driver does not pass the TRIM command to the drive but the Windows driver does. However there are discussions that the latest Intel Rapid Storage Technology driver V9.6.0.1014 supports TRIM.

What I did sometime last week, around the same time I flashed the new bios which I have now downgraded back to 1.09, was go to Device Manager, under IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers, update the Intel driver to the Windows one. Since then cold start becomes a problem as explained. You could make sure your Intel driver is the latest or switch to Windows to see if it makes any difference.

[tobyg]

I've downgraded back to 1.09 and still no luck.  I've responded in the post in the T400 forum because Mark seems to be paying attention to that thread.

No matter what I do, I can't get the SLIC table back.  My Windows 7 is now deactivated.  I refuse to call into Microsoft and activate, as that is just a temporary fix.  If I restore my machine, I'd have to do that again.  That is not right.

I have about 18 days left to return this machine.  If Lenovo can't fix this by then, back it goes.  Got burned on the T400s rebooting/shutting down issue, and now I got burned on this issue.  Hard to use a business notebook for business when your Windows isn't activated or your machine shuts down. 

[Mark_Lenovo Former Administrator]

Tobyg,

Please see my PM's of today....

Engineering is looking into the situation - we've pulled the BIOS from the web on Monday to prevent further occurences.

I don't have an official Lenovo solution to provide here yet, but do understand the sense of urgency and will provide an answer as soon as I have it.

Mark