[ubuntu-uk] Update BIOS with dual boot

Wed Jul 18 10:36:43 UTC 2012

> If it is a recurrent problem that has been fixed in the past then I
> don't see how a BIOS upgrade will fix it.  What did they do to fix it
> previously I wonder.

Fan replacement
System board replacement
BIOS update.
Keyboard replacement

A person with the exact same problems on the same piece of hardware,
had the same thing done by the service centre. When the problem
recurred they updated the BIOS, based on what had happened previously,
and that fixed all the issues immediately (see post #5
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1937817).

j

On 18 July 2012 11:31, Colin Law <clanlaw at googlemail.com> wrote:
> On 18 July 2012 11:25, James Morrissey <morrissey.james1 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Having spoken to Lenovo, i am rather unsatisfied.
>>
>> Their story is that they don't know why the windows client won't work.
>> They also suggest that i use the live CD as a means for updating the
>> BIOS - this is the recommended method. Unbelievably (to my mind, at
>> least), they only have instructions for this using a CD. This is
>> currently hopeless for me as i have a thinkpad x121e which has no
>> optical drive, and i don't have an external drive on me. They say that
>> they can't provide me with any instructions on how to update the BIOS
>> using a USB as these are not officially supported. As such they say
>> that the only thing they can do is send the machine in to them - which
>> will take about 5 days.
>>
>> As background to this story i should note that i have had these same
>> acpi-related problems on two other occasions. Both times i have sent
>> the machine in to them and the (exact same) problem has recurred
>
> If it is a recurrent problem that has been fixed in the past then I
> don't see how a BIOS upgrade will fix it.  What did they do to fix it
> previously I wonder.
>
> Colin
>
>
>> This
>> will be the third time i send in the machine. The first time this
>> happened it was under international warranty and it took 3 weeks to
>> fix. That means that in the 10 months i have had the machine it will
>> have spent over a month in the shop, dealing with a recurrent problem.
>>
>> I really am rather disappointed, especially as Lenovo's thinkpad range
>> is meant to be pretty good for linux and have pretty good support in
>> general.
>>
>> j
>>
>> On 18 July 2012 09:09, James Morrissey <morrissey.james1 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> Hi Anton,
>>>
>>> -contacting lenovo about that matter may be a good starting point
>>>
>>> I'll be on it when they open this morning.
>>>
>>> However having a quick look
>>>> (choosing a lenovo x121e on the site) and going through the 6 step process
>>>> to select the OS (chose win7) it comes back with a "bios update bootable cd
>>>> iso"-have you tried that method?
>>>
>>> That's what i am trying to do! I can't get a bootloader onto the USB.
>>> As i understand, this is what i have to do as the ISO doesn't contain
>>> one. Someone please tell me if i am wrong.
>>>
>>> also the lenovo site
>>>> cautions against updating it (in the readme.txt along with the files) if it
>>>> is running fine
>>>
>>> Its not running fine: I have lost use of function keys, fan has
>>> stopped working and shutdown on lid close doesn't work.
>>>
>>> Something to research/ask potentially- if for some reason
>>>> the windows update method (from within win7 that failed on you) doesnt like
>>>> grub or something like that isnt there an easy way to delete grub (backing
>>>> it up first), hence fooling the system that it is only a single boot and
>>>> then running the update? after that booting from a live cd and reinstalling
>>>> grub???
>>>
>>> This looks tricky. I'll save it for a last resort, but surely i should
>>> be able to get a bootloader onto the USB so that i can run the update
>>> from there.
>>>
>>> Will let you know what Lenovo say.
>>>
>>> Thanks again,
>>>
>>> j
>>>
>>> On 18 July 2012 07:25, Anton Kanishchev <antonk20117 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> Hi James,
>>>>
>>>> I have had a chat with my friend regarding updating the bios on a dual boot.
>>>> what model of thinkpad do you have? He has never had to go through grub4dos
>>>> to update his, so unfortunately he cant help there.He has updated dual boot
>>>> setups via windows as you mentioned in your first email(worked in his
>>>> case)-contacting lenovo about that matter may be a good starting point.It
>>>> may just be a corrupt file or something. However having a quick look
>>>> (choosing a lenovo x121e on the site) and going through the 6 step process
>>>> to select the OS (chose win7) it comes back with a "bios update bootable cd
>>>> iso"-have you tried that method? Since it is booting from the cd (please
>>>> correct me someone if the following is wrong) it doesnt really matter if it
>>>> is a multi boot set up or not as it is only taking files from the bootable
>>>> cd and updating the bios on the laptop. if you do (have) download(ed) the
>>>> bios disk is there a md5sum you can check for errors? also the lenovo site
>>>> cautions against updating it (in the readme.txt along with the files) if it
>>>> is running fine. Something to research/ask potentially- if for some reason
>>>> the windows update method (from within win7 that failed on you) doesnt like
>>>> grub or something like that isnt there an easy way to delete grub (backing
>>>> it up first), hence fooling the system that it is only a single boot and
>>>> then running the update? after that booting from a live cd and reinstalling
>>>> grub???
>>>>
>>>> On 17 July 2012 21:50, Kris Douglas <krisdouglas at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> On 17 July 2012 21:07, James Morrissey <morrissey.james1 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>> > Hi all,
>>>>> >
>>>>> > Digging up an old thread as i am still trying to solve this problem.
>>>>> > Hoping someone can help me update my BIOS from a live USB.
>>>>> >
>>>>> > After having these problems come back
>>>>> > http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=12106970#post12106970; i got
>>>>> > the reply which falls at the bottom of the thread.
>>>>> >
>>>>> > So i am now trying to update my BIOS, from 1.15 to 1.16.
>>>>> >
>>>>> > Having tried to use the native windows client as i did last time my
>>>>> > machine remains on 1.15. Getting the files for the 1.16 from here:
>>>>> > http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/downloads/default.page? and following
>>>>> > the instructions here:
>>>>> > http://download.lenovo.com/ibmdl/pub/pc/pccbbs/mobiles/8quj09us.txt, i
>>>>> > don't get any on-screen instructions for step 14("Select 'Update
>>>>> > ThinkPad BIOS' and follow the instructions on the screen.") and when i
>>>>> > check system information in Win7 i still see the BIOS are 1.15.
>>>>> >
>>>>> > So now i am trying to follow the instructions for creating a live ISO
>>>>> > contained here:
>>>>> >
>>>>> > http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/BIOS_Upgrade#Using_grub4dos_.28also_for_Linux.29.
>>>>> > My sense is that it would also be good to learn how to do this update
>>>>> > without windows.
>>>>> >
>>>>> > So now:
>>>>> >
>>>>> > I have formatted my pen drive to FAT32.
>>>>> >
>>>>> > sudo fdisk -l gives:
>>>>> >
>>>>> >    Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
>>>>> > /dev/sda1   *        2048     2459647     1228800    7  HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
>>>>> > /dev/sda2         2459648   109043711    53292032    7  HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
>>>>> > /dev/sda3       109045758   625141759   258048001    5  Extended
>>>>> > /dev/sda5       109045760   608542719   249748480   83  Linux
>>>>> > /dev/sda6       608544768   625141759     8298496   82  Linux swap /
>>>>> > Solaris
>>>>> >
>>>>> > Disk /dev/sdc: 4011 MB, 4011851776 bytes
>>>>> > 124 heads, 62 sectors/track, 1019 cylinders, total 7835648 sectors
>>>>> > Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
>>>>> > Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
>>>>> > I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
>>>>> > Disk identifier: 0x0004629e
>>>>> >
>>>>> >    Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
>>>>> > /dev/sdc1   *          62     7834071     3917005    c  W95 FAT32 (LBA)
>>>>> >
>>>>> >
>>>>> > Following the instruction on grub4dos
>>>>> >
>>>>> > (http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/BIOS_Upgrade#Using_grub4dos_.28also_for_Linux.29),
>>>>> > i navigate the terminal, to the gub4dos-0.4.4 folder and try:
>>>>> >
>>>>> > ~/grub4dos-0.4.4$sudo ./bootlace.com /dev/sdc1
>>>>> >
>>>>> > But i get the error:
>>>>> >
>>>>> > "Error: Invalid partition table. Must specify --floppy explicitly for
>>>>> > floppy.
>>>>> > BOOTLACE writes GRLDR BOOT RECORD to MBR or to the boot area of a file
>>>>> > system.
>>>>> > Usage:  bootlace.com  [OPTIONS]  DEVICE_OR_FILE
>>>>> > Options: --read-only, --floppy[=N], --boot-prevmbr-first,
>>>>> > --boot-prevmbr-last,
>>>>> > --no-backup-mbr, --force-backup-mbr, --mbr-enable-floppy,
>>>>> > --mbr-disable-floppy,
>>>>> > --mbr-enable-osbr, --mbr-disable-osbr, --duce, --time-out=T,
>>>>> > --hot-key=K,
>>>>> > --preferred-drive=D, --preferred-partition=P, --sectors-per-track=S,
>>>>> > --heads=H,
>>>>> > --start-sector=B, --total-sectors=C, --install-partition=I, --lba,
>>>>> > --chs,
>>>>> > --fat12, --fat16, --fat32, --vfat, --ntfs, --ext2, --serial-number=SN,
>>>>> > --restore-mbr, --mbr-no-bpb, --chs-no-tune
>>>>> > DEVICE_OR_FILE: Filename of the device or image. For DOS, a BIOS drive
>>>>> > number
>>>>> > (in hex 0xHH or decimal DDD format)can be used to access the drive."
>>>>> >
>>>>> > I see that someone
>>>>> > (http://ubuntuforums.org/archive/index.php/t-1163031.html) has
>>>>> > suggested that the command should be: sudo
>>>>> > /boot/Grub4DOS/stage2/bootlace.com --floppy=7 /dev/sdb7, but since i
>>>>> > am worried about wiping my whole hard disk i am worried about
>>>>> > experimenting (i don't want "sudo /boot/Grub4DOS/stage2/bootlace.com
>>>>> > --floppy=1 /dev/sdc1" to write to sda1 as opposed to sdc1).
>>>>> >
>>>>> > I have been overwhelmed by the grub4dos readme file, so if anyone as
>>>>> > any ideas on either 1) how to get grub4dos working, or 2) how i make a
>>>>> > live usb from the Lenovo ISO to update my BIOS, i'd appreciate it.
>>>>> >
>>>>> > Sorry for the long and complicated issue.
>>>>> >
>>>>> > Thanks,
>>>>> >
>>>>> > j
>>>>> >
>>>>> >
>>>>> > On 31 January 2012 21:32, James Morrissey <morrissey.james1 at gmail.com>
>>>>> > wrote:
>>>>> >> Thanks for all the help on this.
>>>>> >>
>>>>> >> I ended up using the windows utility and the whole process was
>>>>> >> painless. Instructions were here:
>>>>> >> http://download.lenovo.com/ibmdl/pub/pc/pccbbs/mobiles/8quj08us.txt
>>>>> >>
>>>>> >>> I've just had a look at BIOS updates for my Thinkpad Edge 11 and
>>>>> >>> they're
>>>>> >>> delivered as a bootable CD so there will presumably be a similar
>>>>> >>> option for
>>>>> >>> the Thinkpad X121e.
>>>>> >>>
>>>>> >>
>>>>> >> Yes, one is available here:
>>>>> >> http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/downloads/detail.page?DocID=DS019251,
>>>>> >> but the windows route seemed easier.
>>>>> >>
>>>>> >> Thanks again.
>>>>> >>
>>>>>
>>>>> Hello, did you try running the bios flash utility as administrator on
>>>>> windows by explicitly right-clicking it. That's always a good way for
>>>>> it to fail.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> Kris Douglas.
>>>>>  www.krisd.eu
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> ubuntu-uk at lists.ubuntu.com
>>>>> https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk
>>>>> https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> ubuntu-uk at lists.ubuntu.com
>>>> https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk
>>>> https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
>>>>
>>
>> --
>> ubuntu-uk at lists.ubuntu.com
>> https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk
>> https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
>
> --
> ubuntu-uk at lists.ubuntu.com
> https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk
> https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/