W520 with B2 stepping QM67 chips - HDD/DVD/mSATA affected?

[pkincy]

Weren't we looking to get a further update from Lenovo engineers early this week?

The clock is ticking for many of us on returns.

Perry

[davidhbrown]

Bump. Any software tool that could help reveal the true chip identity would also be very welcome.

[Mark_Lenovo Former Administrator · Accepted solution]

Davidhbrown,

Thanks for the timely prompt 

The Lenovo official statement remains that all production ThinkPads shipped with B3 level chips.

Here is a proceedure suggested by engineering,  that may be employeed by more technically proficient users like yourselves...

You can use the ME Info program Intel provides for use with their Management Engine. 

Preparation: 

(1) Go to http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-77012 , which is a link for Intel AMT Management Engine Firmware

(2) Download 83rf30ww.exe (middle of the page)

(3) Run 83rf30ww.exe

NOTE - this will NOT install anything, and will only extract files onto your system (default location is C:\DRIVERS\WIN\ME)

After the ME Firmware Update Utility has been extracted, (assuming that you accept the default destination of

C:\DRIVERS\WIN\ME ) you can determine the PCH version as follows:

(4) Open a Command Prompt window as an Administrator

(5) Type CD DRIVERS\WIN\ME to switch to the folder selected in step 3 above

(6) Type MEInfoWin.exe  and press enter to display the ME information

(7) Scroll up or down as necessary to display the PCH Version: information line

If the PCH Version is:

600004, then your system is a B2 Stepping system

600005, then your system is a B3 Stepping system

(8) To avoid accidental updating of your system in the future, we strongly recommend erasing the C:\DRIVERS\WIN\ME directory after you are done.

Best regards,

Mark

[kimocal]

Awesome!  Thanks Mark for getting back to us like you said you would.  I greatly appreciate it.

[davidhbrown]

Very nice; thank you, Mark. I had actually already downloaded this last week as part of a general snarfing of everything W520-related, so I think even the most paranoid among us can be confident you didn't tweak it just now to fool us :

Intel(R) MEInfo Version: 7.1.10.1065
Copyright(C) 2005 - 2011, Intel Corporation. All rights reserved.

Intel(R) Manageability and Security Application code versions:

BIOS Version:                           8BET30WW (1.06 )
MEBx Version:                           7.0.0.53
Gbe Version:                            1.3
VendorID:                               8086
PCH Version:                            600005
FW Version:                             7.1.3.1053
UNS Version:                            7.1.2.1043
LMS Version:                            7.1.2.1043
MEI Driver Version:                     7.0.0.1144
Wireless Hardware Version:              1.1.70
Wireless Driver Version:                14.0.1.2
...
CPU Upgrade State:                      Upgrade Capable
...

Edit: Anyone know what that "Upgrade Capable" bit means? I had read about Intel selling $50 upgrade cards for some low-end Pentiums through Gateway back in September, but this is the i7-2820QM... i don't suppose I can "upgrade" that to the i7-2920XM for $50?   (Lenovo wants about $450, I think...)

[pkincy]

Thank you very much.  600005 is a good number.

Perry

[redmars49]

David, you posed a very interesting question. I am curious about the answer as well .

[antonius_primus]

I just received my W520 today, and decided to verify the stepping number.  I ran MEInfoWin.exe as an administrator and received the following error:

Intel(R) MEInfo Version: 7.1.10.1065
Copyright(C) 2005 - 2011, Intel Corporation. All rights reserved.

PMXUtil: Error during PMX Call: idrvdll.dll!IDRVInit(): Failed VerAddVersion() call

Error 9470: Fail to load driver (PCI access for Windows)
Tool needs to run with an administrator privilege account.

Lenovo Support recommends a reinstallation of the Intel AMT 7.1 Management Engine Firmware.  I reinstalled the driver, and experienced the same error.  Does anyone have any suggestions?

W520: Core i7-2720 QM

[mrmelp]

Did you right-click cmd.exe and pick "run as..." or did you run it while logged in as an administrator? Depending on your UAC settings, you may need to specifically tell Windows to run it as an administrator.