PSA: Check the 3.3V rail on your CH341a with a multimeter to make sure it actually outputs 3.3V. "Wait, haven't you posted this video already?" Yes! I've already made a tutorial on unlocking the BIOS on T440p. However, part of the tutorial involved sending the BIOS to an anonymous person from an online forum and paying them to mod your BIOS. That video is now unlisted. After uploading the video I've been approached by Stefan Schmidt (Thrimbor), who shortly afterwards developed and released the patches that unlock the whitelist. In this video I describe the whole process from A to Z, including patching and signing the BIOS file (no 10 beeps on startup). You can read more on the methodology and development of the patches on Stefan's blog: thrimbor.github.io/2019/09/24/removing-the-m2-whitelist-on-a-thinkpad-t440p.html The BootGuard bypass method as well as the patches unlocking memory settings and the advanced menu were developed by XX and paranoidbashthot paranoid.anal-slavery.com
hi, I followed your video to remove whitelist my w541, there 2 bios chips 25Q032 (4MB) and N25Q064 (8MB), which bios dump should I patch? sorry im dumb
Super spannendes und schön gemachtes Video! TH-cam hat leider viel zu wenig ThinkPad-Content und gerade die Mods, Frankenpads und kleinen Bastelprojekte finden fast nur in Foren statt - wobei die Foren leider auch immer ruhiger werden. Es freut mich daher sehr, dass Du diese spannenden Themen hier in unterhaltsamen Videos präsentierst.
"If you clicked on this video, chances are you own a 40 series Lenovo Thinkpad..." I do not, but this is a Wolfgang upload, so I have to watch it anyways
Oh My gosh, the whitelist problem has caused me to pull my hair out more times than I care to count. I love that you made this video! I might try this on one of my old ThinkPads. You have very little reason not to try when it costs you all of $12!
Hello Wolfgang, first, thanks for the awesome Video. I have a W540, where I wanted to install an AX210 WiFi Card. So I went trough all the steps in your video and your written instructions. Everything worked out well. So thought I.... I read the BIOS file, verified it, literally followed your steps 1:1 after watching and reading it like 3 times in a row, just to make sure I get everything 100%. I then patched the BIOS, signed it, verified it (successfully) and flashed it back to the 4MB Chip on the board. W540 is a pain in the bu** as you have to completely disasselmbe the whole Machine. There are also 2 Chips, one 8MB, where the patch does not work (I tried :D) and the 4MB on which the patch works. EDIT: I just read on the pinned comment, that I must apply the patch on the 8MB chip, and not the 4MB Chip, that's for the W541, should be the same for the W540. Anyway, I tried to patch the 8MB Bios file, but then I get a simply and unhelpful "Error" from UEFIPatch. It worked perfecty on the 4MB Bios file. When I then reassembled the machine, it POSTed with the same whitelist error as before, but interestingly, the modded BIOS with more functions was completely there and functional. So looks like one function of the patch worked, the other one did not. I'm honestly clueless. I'm also taking myself out of the "possible errors". It's not my first time stripping laptops or phones completely apart. I'm also extremely picky and cautious with my disasselmbe and assemble processes. So, with me being clueless, does anybody has any helpful advise? I can't believe I'm the only one having this issue... Thanks a lot!
Here's info for the T540p: specify the chip name when reading or writing using flashrom, like: sudo flashrom -p ch341a_spi -c "MX25L3273E" -w xxx.img Do not modify xx_40_patches_v7.txt, and it will patch just fine. The T540p relies on the patch for the W541, as well as the T440p to work. I've installed an AX200 with no problems. Also, you will have to take apart the entire laptop to reach the BIOS chip, It's the lower chip, further away from the SIM card slot. Everything else is done as the video shows.
Hey Tyler, where exactly is this BIOS chip on the system board? I’ve disassembled everything except the heatsink and fan and can’t find it even under a magnifying glass. I have the W541.
@@vonniehudson The chip labeled MX25L3273E is on the underside of the motherboard, by the SD Card/ExpressCard slot. You will have to separate the motherboard from the chassis to access the chip
Thank you so much for making this video. This is exactly what I needed and it works perfectly. The wire clip was a little finicky so I had to make sure it was able to read the bios a few times before I felt comfortable writing over it. Great content and new subscribe!
Many thanks for this video. Successfully performed the BIOS reflash dance on my T440p today. Your comment about "if it says it can't detect the chip, try re-connecting the clip" was 100% on the money, because even though I thought I'd got a really good connection on two attempts, it wasn't until the third that flashrom actually worked to read the BIOS. Reading the BIOS took 35 seconds, which was a bit nerve wracking. Now I just need to find out what all those new BIOS menu options mean.
Used this guide to re-flash the BIOS. All went well. I wasn't too confident of the clips fitment onto the BIOS chip. Also, I thought the 'pip3 install pycryptodome' was for Mac users, as my package manager had a python3-pycryptodome package, however after wasting some time wondering why I couldn't sign the BIOS image, I learned installing pycryptodome through pip3 is necessary on Linux too.
Coreboot is now on the W541 (and probably the W540) as well so try that out too. Dedicated graphics don't work but everything else seems to. Takes a bit to cold boot too, it seems like the more RAM you have the longer it takes
Thanks so much for the tutorial. I installed my new AX200 in my t440p today after doing the whitelist on Saturday. I did have a couple hangups in the install, including some timeouts and something failed, but it seems to be working fine for the time being. If I ever remember or figure out exactly what the errors I was getting, I'll share them in this thread. Again, thank you so much!
I can confirm that this works on a T440. The only change is to not add the last step for the signature, the device will not boot the OS if you do. The 10 beeps are present, but do not go off every time the device is rebooted; I'm not sure why but I can't be bothered to investigate. Good luck to anyone that attempts this, and be sure to back up what you can't afford to lose. Cheers!
Just to share my experience doing this, I had my bios version at 2.54, and just to be safe I downgraded my bios to 2.52 to avoid any compatibility issue with the patch. Just check in your bios that option that allow user to downgrade the bios. In the lenovo t440p website you can download and downgrade any version you want, download 2.52 bios flasher and let the sw do the job. In my case it freezes my computer (panic!), after 10 minute I pressed the power button once and it unlocked by itself. After that It resumed the procedure and reboot, and later successfully downgraded the bios. After all of that, I just followed the nice guide and worked flawlessy. The first dump and diff I had was not good, and noticed my flasher usb port was not soldered properly, a drop of solder solved my issues, and everything went fine. Just don panic and everything will be ok.
Hi guys, it is said in read me (bios 2.5x text file) that it is not possible to roll back to any previous version. Could you detailed the option you changed to allow downgrade ? I tried the tutorial yesterday using 2.55 bios version and ended with a beeping computer. first the t440p started fine but no internet connection was available (original --> BCM94360NG wifi card swap) just like if no card was present. I will open it again and verify if cables are still connected but it would be strange that they disconnected. Then I restarted the computer and it beeped crazily. First time doing bios flash and using terminal command. I might have done something wrong with files/folders location as text/folders names changed since the video upload --> even if all signing /verifying / flash were validated in terminal I will try to reflash original 2.55 bios, then downgrade to 2.52 as you did and try again
@@baptistecroissant475 I found that option under the tab Security-> UEFI BIOS Update Option-> Secure RollBack Prevention "Disabled". Before I don't think I had any special BIOS with this option, so this should do the trick. If you have a good binary of the stock bios, just flash it and you should not have any problem to let your pc live again.
@@michelemarrazzo4167 Thanks ! This option is disabled I succeed to boot Windows but unfortunately was not able to install old 2.52 bios version "gluj40us.exe". Software says that "BIOS image file does not match this system" even if I double checked that this is right model. I read somewhere that the flashing process of bios (following the tutorial) may have cause the impossibility to downgrade (no idea what). What do you think about it ? Do you you how to force it ? I found this video tutorial but I dont know if it will work : th-cam.com/video/EoV-NxwEVOs/w-d-xo.html Before testing I am gonna try to reflash the old stocked bios
@@baptistecroissant475 I don't really know whats happening here, but I imagine that the lenovo sw check the signature of the bios, and find out that the bios installed is not something he expect. But it's pure speculation here, I think that if you install the stock version everything should work as expected. I want to add that I don't have never tried to use a different wifi card, because someone has done a kext for the intel card, and it works really well. I did it mostly because I want to change tdp using the bios. And for fun of course.
@@michelemarrazzo4167 Thanks I think it is exactly what you describe. Gonna try that this week. ITLWM + kext allows you to access wifi and bluetooth but i would like something without any software limitation AND airdrop etc Gonna let you know
Hi Wolfgang! Love the channel! 👋🏽 Big fan of your sense of humor. I’m glad I’m not the only nerd who loves Thinkpads. 🤔😆 I would very much like to get your tool set. Can you suggest where I can pick one up please? Thank you! 😀
Precious info here thanks. Also reassured me when I saw L540 in your patch list, I wasn't sure I would find one for my need. Now the most difficult thing seem to be finding the correct bios chip on the mobo Also, I bought a ThinkPad bc I thought they were great and customizable, but I'm disappointed by such a whitelisting. What is the new to-go for having freedom and good conception in laptops? Dell?
Don’t worry, Lenovo only had the whitelist in two generations of Thinkpad. They got rid of it in Broadwell Thinkpads and they haven’t had it ever since
@@WolfgangsChannel This looks like a similar amount of work to flashing coreboot since you still need a hardware programmer, so I think you might as well flash coreboot.
Great video! However there is one detail missing, with MX25L3206E chips writing/reading may be unreliable, if this happens it is needed to supply extra power to the chip, this can be easily done by plugging in the charger and ethernet cable. The GBe mac address is stored in the SPI rom along with other parts of the firmware, the 3.3v rail for the SPI roms is powered from the rail for the GBe. Making the machine wait for Wake-On-Lan powers this rail on.
True. Have to say though, I've tried the WoL method on X230 since I've heard it's safer than supplying the power directly to the chip, but it never worked for me. CH341a with a pre-wired SOIC-8 clip seems to be much more stable than an RPi + a hand-wired clip.
Mine works. Try it again, but don't touch the patch.txt file. It worked for me. I also upgraded my bios to the latest available version beforehand. Using AX200 work fine.
I made the experience following this guide that my Thinkpad did not boot after flashing the bios. And a reflash with the original was not possible because somehow the mentioned adapter in the video does not support QSPI Mode (as it is recommended in the manual of the bios chip W25Q32FVSIQ) for flashing this kind of chips. And even if you use a more appropriate programmer for this like I did (TL866 II Plus from XGecu) you won't be able to write to the chip through the clip. You actually have to solder out the chip, solder it on an adapter and flash with the programmer soldering it back again afterwards. Only this option fixed my Thinkpad to boot again (with advanced bios options and removed whitelist). Another additional point is that the mentioned programmer uses non appropriate voltage for writing these kind of chips. I was also in a long exchange with Klemm on this Topic. So there are many thinks to consider when you want to do this. (Soldering that kind of chip can crash your motherboard easily within seconds, because there is not a lot of space for the heat to concentrate only on the chip and you are always heating the around lying components which can cause them to melt) I like what Wolfgang is doing and I took it a way further the inspiration if you are interested in the modified heatpipe that's my "franken" version of it :) www.reddit.com/r/thinkpad/comments/g8a291/challenge_accepted_a_dual_heatpipe_heatsink_for/
@@WolfgangsChannel I did check, 5V, needs some soldering. I guess you were lucky/smart enough to get one that properly supports both options. It's just you didn't cover this in the video and I got confused a little bit.
I rarely comment a TH-cam video but this one really deserve it ! Thanks a lot for you work, I managed to flash the BIOS of my T440p without trouble (just did 5 BIOS dump versions #Paranoid) !
thanks a lot, this really worked for me with BIOS 2.35 on T440p. Question; Can I upgrade to the last BIOS version 2.52 without losing the bypass? thanks
FYI, you must run this with UEFIpatcher 0.28.0. I accidentally downloaded 0.26.0 and it threw the error "Function called with invalid parameter" Just wanted to throw that out there in case someone is having issues getting this to work. Who knows, may help someone...
@@WolfgangsChannel I have now tried the AX200 wifi card in the X240 and yep, it didn't work. So now, i have ordered the kit to flash the BIOS and remove the white list. Will post here if that (remove white list) works for the AX200 wifi card:)
@@brum2302 If it works, it will work for all the cards. The question is whether it's gonna work for X240. As of now, there's no official support, but you can try the T440 patch
Hello on minute 4:40 you mention to go open a terminal and go to the UEFIPatch folder and type sudo flash....etc. How do I go to the folder? Great video by the way.
6:10 I was going to interject that you should use *pip install --user* , to avoid needing root & potentially creating conflicts with the system package manager - but apparently it now does that by default whenever you don't have permission to write to the system directories. Neat! (◡‿◡✿)
@@leysont Not sudo per se, but in general everything in /bin, /lib, and /usr (except /usr/local) should be owned by the system package manager. Otherwise you quickly make a mess. E.g. a package installed with pip may be overwritten by apt (which may already break things); and then if you remove it with one package manager, the other one doesn't know about it and still expects it to be there. All kinds of issues. Manually installed binaries/libraries should go in ~/.local, /usr/local, or maybe /opt.
@ ./UEFIPatch bios1.img xx40_patches_v5.txt -o bios_patched.img after hitting enter I'm hit with a error, and I can't think of what's wrong. any assistance would be great. I'm working with a W540 if that helps.
when I get to the step at 5:43 I get "./UEFIPatch: error while loading shared libraries: libQt5Core.so.5: cannot open shared object file: no such file or directory". what do I do? edit now I'm getting "bash: ./UEFIPatch: no such file or directory" I am also trying this on bios version 2.44 idk if this matters.
I did this to my t440p so i could get the most performance out of it and to hackintosh it. When i was finished I almost shit my self because it would not turn on. The battery was dead and just needed to charge.
Ofcourse when I decide to go ahead and try this on my T480, the link with the patches is dead, and there's no wayback machine mirror or anything similar for xx_80_patches_v6.txt. Great video though, as always!
I have bios version 2.51 on my t440p wondering if I should update to 2.52 (same one used in your video) or keep it at 2.51, dont know which would provide best chances of this hack working.
Slightly related question...would the latest USB port WiFi adapters be ‘faster’ (better bandwidth?) than the built in WiFi adapter in the W540? Also would plugging it into a usb 3.0 port instead of 2.0 make any speed difference? Thanks
Absolutely not! PCIe cards are faster and provide better signal (AX200 has maximal speed of 2.4Gbps) There are USB WiFi adapters that provide comparable speeds, but they're expensive and have a clunky design (external antennas, bulky housing, etc.)
I don’t recommend using flashrom with CH341a on Windows since it requires installing unsigned device drivers. You’ll also need to substitute „flashrom“ with „flashrom.exe“
Hey Mate, really appreciate all your videos, personally just got my T440P this wedesday and went straight into catalina 10.15.7 but unfortunately i didnt update the BIOS before hand as i was not aware its something i should have done, currently i have working wifi with intel wifi but i ordered a DW1820A off ebay and foundout the hard way this card was not on the whitelist (i has seen this video previously but i thought the DW1820A was already whitelisted by lenovo) im wondering if im on BIOS 2.32 whats your suggestion for getting the DWA1820A whitelisted? for example should i update the bios first to 2.52 (can i do this using mac only?) and order the kit on ebay to then flash it myself? or before i do this is there potentially any chance the lenovo bios 2.55 or something else other than updating to 2.52 or staying on 2.32 and removing the whitelist would solve the issue? im not super tech savvy, but i dont have any windows instalation on this disk so i cant just boot into windows and update the BIOS that way, thats my biggest problem that im not sure how i should flash the BIOS from mac to update it to 2.52 to start.
I tried DW1820a on my t440p and couldn't make it work. The only way to make sure the OS even boots with the card connected to the laptop, is to replace one of the built-in kexts with El Capitan version. However, that causes glitches, reboots and the system has like 25% chance of crashing on resume.
@@WolfgangsChannel could be your version of the card, the version i bought was expensive and seems to be one that should work, from what i have read other users reporting if i can get the bios to accept the DW1820A i think i can get it to run just fine. but this is VERY good to know, thanks, if i recall your version of the card was the $10 on on aliexpress?
@@WolfgangsChannel also another few things. sorry, if you didnt get your DW1820a to work, what card did you get to work that you did use the BIOS mod for? and have you got airdrop working on T440P? lastly have you got cardreader working on T440P on catalina? i cant seem to find confirmation from a single person who has.
@@connormccaffrey I bought mine on eBay and it seemed to be the version that works, judging by what was written on the card. Realistically, you have two options: DW1650 or an OG Airport card from a Macbook Air and an M.2 adapter. I've documented the process here: notthebe.ee/airport.html AFAIK, this particular card might not be compatible with Catalina so do your research before buying it. I've only used Mojave on my T440p. I don't own the machine anymore, unfortunately.
@@WolfgangsChannel thanks for this, good info, based on jloisels github it seems very hard not to believe DW1820a is working in catalina because a few posts basically say it is fully working. DW1830 wouldnt be a smart move, it used 3x3 configuration and putting this into a 2x2 laptop can cause problems, essentially if connecting to a 3x3 router one of the signals is gonna be much worse and will create odd issues. ive ordered a kit to mod the bios, so once its modded i will try DW1820a and if it doesnt work i will try DW1650, thanks again wolfgang!
6:24 What key is used to sign the BIOS? Is it embedded in the BIOS image itself? Surely Lenovo isn't just checking that *any* key has signed the BIOS??
It would seem that way “The signing tool generates a throw-away key every time it signs an image. This is usually not an issue, but if, for whatever reason, you want to use a specific private key to sign the image, be aware that the signing tool currently does not support that.” github.com/thrimbor/thinkpad-uefi-sign
I get an error when I try to run ./UEFIPatch bios1.img xx40_patches_v5.txt -o bios_patched.img any tips? Edit: I was trying to modify the BIOS dump of the 8MB bios chip, this is wrong, you must do it to the 4MB bios chip!
Where is that chip? I’ve completely disassembled my W541 and can’t find that little 4MB chip. The only thing I’ve left on is the heatsink and fan. Is it under that?
I read on some Reddit post that you can downgrade this Bios (2.52) to version to 2.36, which has no whitelist. Unfortunately, it cant be done with Bios >= 2.53. In case it can be done. Would there be any downside of doing the downgrading?
Could you help me find patches for Lenovo G500? (with the celeron 1005M, from 2013.) I wish to upgrade it with an i7 3630QM, but the forums say it has a CPU whitelist also removing the Wi-Fi whitelist would also be nice. Thank you very much in advance.
Can you tell me what the problem might be? I made a modification according to the instructions - the advanced menu works, but the wifi - intel AX200 does not work, that is, the white sheet did not turn off ... Is there a chance to fix this? laptop Lenovo T540p
hey the site that has the patched bios isn't loading for me. It looked like it was getting blocked by my dns, so I tried changing that. and kept trying different things but basically anything I did didn't work. I saw that site linked somewhere else when looking earlier and it didn't work from there either.
Great video! I want to upgrade my Lenovo Thinkcentre M92Z AIO with a WiFi card. Can this be done? This computer came with an Intel Centrino Wireless-N 2230. Recently I bought an Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260 for upgrade. When I installed it, of course, I got an error about "unauthorized card" etc... Then I learnt that I need to remove the whitelist set by Lenovo. Can someone please advise? Where can I find a patch file for this? Any other tip is much appreciated. Thanks!
hey i was wondering if anyone can help me? I'm at 5:43 and when I type in the command it says"zsh: no such file or directory: ./UEFIPatch". is there something I messed up on? i have the UEFIPatch, xx40_patches_v5.txt, bios1.img and bios2.img in the UEFIPatch_0.28.0_mac folder
![ลองสุ่มไอโฟน 990 โกงมั้ย? [ โกงมั้ยครับ ep.101 ] | DOM](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/bfsWe0j492k/mqdefault.jpg)
PSA: Check the 3.3V rail on your CH341a with a multimeter to make sure it actually outputs 3.3V.
"Wait, haven't you posted this video already?"
Yes! I've already made a tutorial on unlocking the BIOS on T440p. However, part of the tutorial involved sending the BIOS to an anonymous person from an online forum and paying them to mod your BIOS. That video is now unlisted.
After uploading the video I've been approached by Stefan Schmidt (Thrimbor), who shortly afterwards developed and released the patches that unlock the whitelist. In this video I describe the whole process from A to Z, including patching and signing the BIOS file (no 10 beeps on startup).
You can read more on the methodology and development of the patches on Stefan's blog: thrimbor.github.io/2019/09/24/removing-the-m2-whitelist-on-a-thinkpad-t440p.html
The BootGuard bypass method as well as the patches unlocking memory settings and the advanced menu were developed by XX and paranoidbashthot paranoid.anal-slavery.com
@@paranoidnela Thank you, I will edit the credits to include you!
Can this tutorial work on Thinkpad X1 Carbon 2nd Gen with Haswell Processor???
is it possible to remove superuser password from T440p i am locked out because of tamper protection
hi, I followed your video to remove whitelist my w541, there 2 bios chips 25Q032 (4MB) and N25Q064 (8MB), which bios dump should I patch? sorry im dumb
@@teddiindra6220 8MB
Super spannendes und schön gemachtes Video! TH-cam hat leider viel zu wenig ThinkPad-Content und gerade die Mods, Frankenpads und kleinen Bastelprojekte finden fast nur in Foren statt - wobei die Foren leider auch immer ruhiger werden. Es freut mich daher sehr, dass Du diese spannenden Themen hier in unterhaltsamen Videos präsentierst.
Thankfully Lenovo removed the Wi-Fi whitelist on next year's ThinkPads, AKA the ones with Broadwell processors.
Yeah now they're just physically whitelisting WiFi chips by soldering them to the motherboard :p.
@@lucaspeltie yep, Lenovo either makes laptops spectacular, or catastrophically wrong.
Anything after Haswell is not worth it imho.
Czeekaj why?
@@32BitLink Depends on the person.. Risk tolerance :)
"If you clicked on this video, chances are you own a 40 series Lenovo Thinkpad..."
I do not, but this is a Wolfgang upload, so I have to watch it anyways
Haha true. I was looking at my macbook pro, be like "yeah... ThinkPad 🌚"
I just tested it against T440p with the most recent UEFI Bios (GLETA1WW 2.55) and ME (9.1.45.3000). Works like a charm. Thanks!
Why am I having a feeling that this channel gonna become really popular someday!
I love how your hair changes in every video. And those tattoos 😍
Thanks for another useful video Wolfgang!
The production quallity is getting higher and higher, what a nice development to be able to witness.
Sehr schönes Video :)
Thank you very much!
Dont let this remade video distract you from the fact Wolfgang looks super cute
Gay
@@HentaiNat We're all gay here. This video has a Jojo reference for christ's sake
@@WolfgangsChannel Gaylord
@@WolfgangsChannel DJSJFKSKFKDJG I've been exposed
@@WolfgangsChannel Gay or European? (obscure theatre reference) :P
Thank you for a brilliant walkthrough of the process. Respect to you and others who actually help make products long lasting.
Would love to see you make a similar video for Coreboot
why? is there any advance using coreboot?
@@riesenblut7 it's open source, that's one of the main reasons why I prefer it
Oh My gosh, the whitelist problem has caused me to pull my hair out more times than I care to count. I love that you made this video! I might try this on one of my old ThinkPads. You have very little reason not to try when it costs you all of $12!
Hello Wolfgang,
first, thanks for the awesome Video.
I have a W540, where I wanted to install an AX210 WiFi Card.
So I went trough all the steps in your video and your written instructions.
Everything worked out well. So thought I....
I read the BIOS file, verified it, literally followed your steps 1:1 after watching and reading it like 3 times in a row, just to make sure I get everything 100%.
I then patched the BIOS, signed it, verified it (successfully) and flashed it back to the 4MB Chip on the board.
W540 is a pain in the bu** as you have to completely disasselmbe the whole Machine.
There are also 2 Chips, one 8MB, where the patch does not work (I tried :D) and the 4MB on which the patch works.
EDIT: I just read on the pinned comment, that I must apply the patch on the 8MB chip, and not the 4MB Chip, that's for the W541, should be the same for the W540. Anyway, I tried to patch the 8MB Bios file, but then I get a simply and unhelpful "Error" from UEFIPatch. It worked perfecty on the 4MB Bios file.
When I then reassembled the machine, it POSTed with the same whitelist error as before, but interestingly, the modded BIOS with more functions was completely there and functional.
So looks like one function of the patch worked, the other one did not.
I'm honestly clueless. I'm also taking myself out of the "possible errors". It's not my first time stripping laptops or phones completely apart. I'm also extremely picky and cautious with my disasselmbe and assemble processes.
So, with me being clueless, does anybody has any helpful advise?
I can't believe I'm the only one having this issue...
Thanks a lot!
Hi! I have this exact same issue with a Thinkpad T540P model, secret menu on there, but the whitelist not gone
Here's info for the T540p:
specify the chip name when reading or writing using flashrom, like: sudo flashrom -p ch341a_spi -c "MX25L3273E" -w xxx.img
Do not modify xx_40_patches_v7.txt, and it will patch just fine. The T540p relies on the patch for the W541, as well as the T440p to work. I've installed an AX200 with no problems.
Also, you will have to take apart the entire laptop to reach the BIOS chip, It's the lower chip, further away from the SIM card slot. Everything else is done as the video shows.
Hey Tyler, where exactly is this BIOS chip on the system board? I’ve disassembled everything except the heatsink and fan and can’t find it even under a magnifying glass. I have the W541.
Is it 8mb or 4mb?
@@vonniehudson The chip labeled MX25L3273E is on the underside of the motherboard, by the SD Card/ExpressCard slot. You will have to separate the motherboard from the chassis to access the chip
Thanks for the detailed description! Finally my T440p work with AC7265.
Thanks for finally bringing this out. Starting my CS degree this September! Thanks for all your videos, Wolfang!
Thank you so much for making this video. This is exactly what I needed and it works perfectly. The wire clip was a little finicky so I had to make sure it was able to read the bios a few times before I felt comfortable writing over it. Great content and new subscribe!
Many thanks for this video. Successfully performed the BIOS reflash dance on my T440p today. Your comment about "if it says it can't detect the chip, try re-connecting the clip" was 100% on the money, because even though I thought I'd got a really good connection on two attempts, it wasn't until the third that flashrom actually worked to read the BIOS.
Reading the BIOS took 35 seconds, which was a bit nerve wracking.
Now I just need to find out what all those new BIOS menu options mean.
Used this guide to re-flash the BIOS. All went well. I wasn't too confident of the clips fitment onto the BIOS chip. Also, I thought the 'pip3 install pycryptodome' was for Mac users, as my package manager had a python3-pycryptodome package, however after wasting some time wondering why I couldn't sign the BIOS image, I learned installing pycryptodome through pip3 is necessary on Linux too.
Coreboot is now on the W541 (and probably the W540) as well so try that out too. Dedicated graphics don't work but everything else seems to. Takes a bit to cold boot too, it seems like the more RAM you have the longer it takes
Thanks so much for the tutorial. I installed my new AX200 in my t440p today after doing the whitelist on Saturday. I did have a couple hangups in the install, including some timeouts and something failed, but it seems to be working fine for the time being. If I ever remember or figure out exactly what the errors I was getting, I'll share them in this thread. Again, thank you so much!
Glad it helped
Would you mind linking to the AX200 you bought? Im pretty noob with this stuff and im not sure which model to buy :(
Man, this guy is awesome. Like how you present your information, smoothness, and humor.
I appreciate that!
I can confirm that this works on a T440. The only change is to not add the last step for the signature, the device will not boot the OS if you do. The 10 beeps are present, but do not go off every time the device is rebooted; I'm not sure why but I can't be bothered to investigate. Good luck to anyone that attempts this, and be sure to back up what you can't afford to lose. Cheers!
Just to share my experience doing this, I had my bios version at 2.54, and just to be safe I downgraded my bios to 2.52 to avoid any compatibility issue with the patch. Just check in your bios that option that allow user to downgrade the bios. In the lenovo t440p website you can download and downgrade any version you want, download 2.52 bios flasher and let the sw do the job. In my case it freezes my computer (panic!), after 10 minute I pressed the power button once and it unlocked by itself. After that It resumed the procedure and reboot, and later successfully downgraded the bios. After all of that, I just followed the nice guide and worked flawlessy. The first dump and diff I had was not good, and noticed my flasher usb port was not soldered properly, a drop of solder solved my issues, and everything went fine. Just don panic and everything will be ok.
Hi guys, it is said in read me (bios 2.5x text file) that it is not possible to roll back to any previous version. Could you detailed the option you changed to allow downgrade ?
I tried the tutorial yesterday using 2.55 bios version and ended with a beeping computer. first the t440p started fine but no internet connection was available (original --> BCM94360NG wifi card swap) just like if no card was present. I will open it again and verify if cables are still connected but it would be strange that they disconnected. Then I restarted the computer and it beeped crazily.
First time doing bios flash and using terminal command. I might have done something wrong with files/folders location as text/folders names changed since the video upload --> even if all signing /verifying / flash were validated in terminal
I will try to reflash original 2.55 bios, then downgrade to 2.52 as you did and try again
@@baptistecroissant475 I found that option under the tab Security-> UEFI BIOS Update Option-> Secure RollBack Prevention "Disabled". Before I don't think I had any special BIOS with this option, so this should do the trick. If you have a good binary of the stock bios, just flash it and you should not have any problem to let your pc live again.
@@michelemarrazzo4167 Thanks ! This option is disabled
I succeed to boot Windows but unfortunately was not able to install old 2.52 bios version "gluj40us.exe". Software says that "BIOS image file does not match this system" even if I double checked that this is right model. I read somewhere that the flashing process of bios (following the tutorial) may have cause the impossibility to downgrade (no idea what). What do you think about it ? Do you you how to force it ? I found this video tutorial but I dont know if it will work : th-cam.com/video/EoV-NxwEVOs/w-d-xo.html
Before testing I am gonna try to reflash the old stocked bios
@@baptistecroissant475 I don't really know whats happening here, but I imagine that the lenovo sw check the signature of the bios, and find out that the bios installed is not something he expect. But it's pure speculation here, I think that if you install the stock version everything should work as expected.
I want to add that I don't have never tried to use a different wifi card, because someone has done a kext for the intel card, and it works really well. I did it mostly because I want to change tdp using the bios. And for fun of course.
@@michelemarrazzo4167 Thanks I think it is exactly what you describe. Gonna try that this week.
ITLWM + kext allows you to access wifi and bluetooth but i would like something without any software limitation AND airdrop etc
Gonna let you know
Lenovo didn't start the trend of whitelisting Wi-Fi cards. IBM did. See the ThinkPad T30 for reference.
Thanks for using the new partition feature.
Sorry, what are you talking about exactly?
@@WolfgangsChannel I think it's taking about the TH-cam timeline which is divided in the sections you specified in the description (right?)
@@TheilSYN oh!
yeah, it's amazing, makes longer videos much easier to navigate
yea i was talking about that
Hi Wolfgang!
Love the channel! 👋🏽 Big fan of your sense of humor.
I’m glad I’m not the only nerd who loves Thinkpads. 🤔😆
I would very much like to get your tool set. Can you suggest where I can pick one up please?
Thank you! 😀
Thanks!
I got mine at Lidl 😂 was meaning to buy something more "professional" but this has been working just fine
Thanks for this video. It was my first from your channel, now I'm subscribed.
Precious info here thanks. Also reassured me when I saw L540 in your patch list, I wasn't sure I would find one for my need. Now the most difficult thing seem to be finding the correct bios chip on the mobo
Also, I bought a ThinkPad bc I thought they were great and customizable, but I'm disappointed by such a whitelisting. What is the new to-go for having freedom and good conception in laptops? Dell?
Don’t worry, Lenovo only had the whitelist in two generations of Thinkpad. They got rid of it in Broadwell Thinkpads and they haven’t had it ever since
@@WolfgangsChannel Doesn't the T500 have a whitelist?
@@vinaypundith2283 I think on all generations up to Haswell you can remove it with software methods. Poor wording on my part
I have never used a linkpad however I am here to tell y'all that wolfgang is getting prettier by the day 😍
great video! if I wanted to Coreboot after installing this Advanced BIOS, what would the process be? my laptop has this advanced BIOS installed
I'm not familiar with the process of corebooting T440p, but I might make a tutorial on that as well, while I still have the machine on my hands.
hey thanks for reply, it's X230
@@WolfgangsChannel Yeah I was also wondering whether this would be usefull when corebooting a T440 (which should be fairly similar)
@@WolfgangsChannel This looks like a similar amount of work to flashing coreboot since you still need a hardware programmer, so I think you might as well flash coreboot.
@@WolfgangsChannel Yes!! Have T440p, T430 and T420 that I want to coreboot.
Wow so much work getting a new wifi card work in a laptop.
I can verify this method still works on the current bios for T440p (version 2.56) I just did it to mine.
Great video! However there is one detail missing, with MX25L3206E chips writing/reading may be unreliable, if this happens it is needed to supply extra power to the chip, this can be easily done by plugging in the charger and ethernet cable. The GBe mac address is stored in the SPI rom along with other parts of the firmware, the 3.3v rail for the SPI roms is powered from the rail for the GBe. Making the machine wait for Wake-On-Lan powers this rail on.
True. Have to say though, I've tried the WoL method on X230 since I've heard it's safer than supplying the power directly to the chip, but it never worked for me. CH341a with a pre-wired SOIC-8 clip seems to be much more stable than an RPi + a hand-wired clip.
Hey! Thanks for the video! Will this work on T540p?
1:13
The patch for T440p/W540/T540 is *not* compatible with the T540p.
@@oureuphoriant thanks but :(
Mine works. Try it again, but don't touch the patch.txt file. It worked for me. I also upgraded my bios to the latest available version beforehand. Using AX200 work fine.
I made the experience following this guide that my Thinkpad did not boot after flashing the bios. And a reflash with the original was not possible because somehow the mentioned adapter in the video does not support QSPI Mode (as it is recommended in the manual of the bios chip W25Q32FVSIQ) for flashing this kind of chips. And even if you use a more appropriate programmer for this like I did (TL866 II Plus from XGecu) you won't be able to write to the chip through the clip. You actually have to solder out the chip, solder it on an adapter and flash with the programmer soldering it back again afterwards. Only this option fixed my Thinkpad to boot again (with advanced bios options and removed whitelist).
Another additional point is that the mentioned programmer uses non appropriate voltage for writing these kind of chips.
I was also in a long exchange with Klemm on this Topic. So there are many thinks to consider when you want to do this.
(Soldering that kind of chip can crash your motherboard easily within seconds, because there is not a lot of space for the heat to concentrate only on the chip and you are always heating the around lying components which can cause them to melt)
I like what Wolfgang is doing and I took it a way further the inspiration if you are interested in the modified heatpipe that's my "franken" version of it :)
www.reddit.com/r/thinkpad/comments/g8a291/challenge_accepted_a_dual_heatpipe_heatsink_for/
That's wild 😧 I've flashed 4 different Thinkpad models using this programmer and never came across an issue like that. The more you know!
now I need to ask permission to my boss to tamper with the laptop
Hi, thanks for the video! I do have a question regarding the voltage of your CH341a, though. Is it 5V of 3.3V?
Mine has a jumper to switch from 5V to 3.3V, you can also check the voltage with a multimeter just to be sure.
@@WolfgangsChannel I did check, 5V, needs some soldering. I guess you were lucky/smart enough to get one that properly supports both options. It's just you didn't cover this in the video and I got confused a little bit.
Good point
Finally a video with Linux in it, at least a little
Come on, the last one was pretty much all Linux
Yeah, even though it wasn't focused on OS stuff, I have to admit that it was mostly involving Linux
I rarely comment a TH-cam video but this one really deserve it ! Thanks a lot for you work, I managed to flash the BIOS of my T440p without trouble (just did 5 BIOS dump versions #Paranoid) !
Just what i need and i will do this soon. Thanks for the content!
thanks a lot, this really worked for me with BIOS 2.35 on T440p. Question; Can I upgrade to the last BIOS version 2.52 without losing the bypass?
thanks
I think so, but do a backup beforehand just in case
Thanks for the tutorial. I have one question, will this method work on Lenovo Y510P?
One of the most useful hacks in my opinion.
Du bist dank der Jojo reference jetzt mein lieblings weeb im internet, geile content
xD
I can confirm that this works for the latest bios version 2.55 on Lenovo Thinkpad T440p
Finally! I've been waiting for this one :)
damn my W541 will have a new AX adapter thanks to you my friend. THANKS
Don’t thank me, thank the people who worked on the patches 😁
Which bios chip do you flash when doing this with W540 / W541. 4Mb or 8MB chip?
@@Joseph_Coutts 8MB. 4MB chip houses Intel ME firmware
FYI, you must run this with UEFIpatcher 0.28.0. I accidentally downloaded 0.26.0 and it threw the error "Function called with invalid parameter"
Just wanted to throw that out there in case someone is having issues getting this to work. Who knows, may help someone...
windows decided to magically update my bios to 2.55 from my modded 2.52, came here to comment the same process works on 2.55 :)
I have the W541 will the same instructions work for that?
Did you try it? Just found this video and have a W541
thanks man, i will do with my w540 soon
Good video. By the way, could the x240 or T440p accept the new AX200 wifi card ? Thanks.
I haven’t tried, but in theory it should work
@@WolfgangsChannel I have now tried the AX200 wifi card in the X240 and yep, it didn't work. So now, i have ordered the kit to flash the BIOS and remove the white list. Will post here if that (remove white list) works for the AX200 wifi card:)
@@brum2302 If it works, it will work for all the cards. The question is whether it's gonna work for X240. As of now, there's no official support, but you can try the T440 patch
Hi @@brum2302 could you tried the whitelist removal on the x240?¿
Hello on minute 4:40 you mention to go open a terminal and go to the UEFIPatch folder and type sudo flash....etc. How do I go to the folder? Great video by the way.
cd /directory/where/you/unpacked/UEFIPatch (e.g. in my case /Users/notthebee/Downloads/UEFIPatch
Can this method handles WWAN whitelist too ? I have a. Case..
very good edition and also explanation thx man for your time (Y)
6:10 I was going to interject that you should use *pip install --user* , to avoid needing root & potentially creating conflicts with the system package manager - but apparently it now does that by default whenever you don't have permission to write to the system directories. Neat! (◡‿◡✿)
Why does sudo create conflicts with the package manager?
@@leysont Not sudo per se, but in general everything in /bin, /lib, and /usr (except /usr/local) should be owned by the system package manager. Otherwise you quickly make a mess. E.g. a package installed with pip may be overwritten by apt (which may already break things); and then if you remove it with one package manager, the other one doesn't know about it and still expects it to be there. All kinds of issues.
Manually installed binaries/libraries should go in ~/.local, /usr/local, or maybe /opt.
@ ./UEFIPatch bios1.img xx40_patches_v5.txt -o bios_patched.img after hitting enter I'm hit with a error, and I can't think of what's wrong. any assistance would be great. I'm working with a W540 if that helps.
Did you find a solution? Is it Function called with invalid parameters?
@@monsieurduchemin2693 unfortunately not. But yes that's that showed.
I couldnt solve it on ubuntu but it worked on windows
when I get to the step at 5:43 I get "./UEFIPatch: error while loading shared libraries: libQt5Core.so.5: cannot open shared object file: no such file or directory". what do I do?
edit now I'm getting "bash: ./UEFIPatch: no such file or directory"
I am also trying this on bios version 2.44 idk if this matters.
What distro are you on? On deb-based distros, try: sudo apt-get install libqt5gui5
@@WolfgangsChannel I’m on the lastest Ubuntu
Heeeeey it worked!!! Thanks!!
@@WolfgangsChannel now I’m getting “ bash: Thinkpad-UEFI-sign/sign.py: no such file or directory”
I did this to my t440p so i could get the most performance out of it and to hackintosh it. When i was finished I almost shit my self because it would not turn on. The battery was dead and just needed to charge.
Ofcourse when I decide to go ahead and try this on my T480, the link with the patches is dead, and there's no wayback machine mirror or anything similar for xx_80_patches_v6.txt. Great video though, as always!
There you go github.com/digmorepaka/thinkpad-firmware-patches
@@WolfgangsChannel thank you mate!!!
What smart wristband are you wearing? Do you recommend it?
Mi Band 4 and no 😁
If they made a Casio F91W with a heart rate monitor and a vibration alarm I would buy it with no hesitation
I have bios version 2.51 on my t440p wondering if I should update to 2.52 (same one used in your video) or keep it at 2.51, dont know which would provide best chances of this hack working.
Slightly related question...would the latest USB port WiFi adapters be ‘faster’ (better bandwidth?) than the built in WiFi adapter in the W540? Also would plugging it into a usb 3.0 port instead of 2.0 make any speed difference? Thanks
Absolutely not! PCIe cards are faster and provide better signal (AX200 has maximal speed of 2.4Gbps)
There are USB WiFi adapters that provide comparable speeds, but they're expensive and have a clunky design (external antennas, bulky housing, etc.)
Wolfgang's Channel thanks for the answer 👍🏻
I noticed you were using OSX for this. If I use windows command prompt will the commands be the same or will it change a bit?
I don’t recommend using flashrom with CH341a on Windows since it requires installing unsigned device drivers. You’ll also need to substitute „flashrom“ with „flashrom.exe“
Bro u should totally make a vid on upgrading ur t440p to Big Sur 😳
Not until the RC comes out :D No use for an OS where nothing works but "hey guys look it boots up".
@@WolfgangsChannel yep hx for the tutorial man! I'm planning on doing this but I need to fix my second computer lmao.
Thanks for the video bud!! Does this work on a Lenovo T480?? Thanks!
T480 doesn't have a WiFi whitelist
@@WolfgangsChannel thanks a lot!! What would be the best wifi card for the T480?? Is it compatible with wifi6??
Not sure. In theory, it should be compatible with any M.2 card
whats does that symbol represent on your tattoo ?
Is it some kind of mandala ?
hi, its a great video. thanks. for the linux environment, can i use the windows 10 in-built "Windows sub-system for Linux" to do the flash rom? thanks
Unfortunately no, since WSL runs in a virtual machine and doesn't have direct access to hardware.
@@WolfgangsChannel thanks for the clarifications
Hey Mate, really appreciate all your videos, personally just got my T440P this wedesday and went straight into catalina 10.15.7 but unfortunately i didnt update the BIOS before hand as i was not aware its something i should have done, currently i have working wifi with intel wifi but i ordered a DW1820A off ebay and foundout the hard way this card was not on the whitelist (i has seen this video previously but i thought the DW1820A was already whitelisted by lenovo)
im wondering if im on BIOS 2.32 whats your suggestion for getting the DWA1820A whitelisted?
for example should i update the bios first to 2.52 (can i do this using mac only?) and order the kit on ebay to then flash it myself? or before i do this is there potentially any chance the lenovo bios 2.55 or something else other than updating to 2.52 or staying on 2.32 and removing the whitelist would solve the issue?
im not super tech savvy, but i dont have any windows instalation on this disk so i cant just boot into windows and update the BIOS that way, thats my biggest problem that im not sure how i should flash the BIOS from mac to update it to 2.52 to start.
I tried DW1820a on my t440p and couldn't make it work. The only way to make sure the OS even boots with the card connected to the laptop, is to replace one of the built-in kexts with El Capitan version. However, that causes glitches, reboots and the system has like 25% chance of crashing on resume.
@@WolfgangsChannel could be your version of the card, the version i bought was expensive and seems to be one that should work, from what i have read other users reporting if i can get the bios to accept the DW1820A i think i can get it to run just fine. but this is VERY good to know, thanks, if i recall your version of the card was the $10 on on aliexpress?
@@WolfgangsChannel also another few things. sorry, if you didnt get your DW1820a to work, what card did you get to work that you did use the BIOS mod for? and have you got airdrop working on T440P? lastly have you got cardreader working on T440P on catalina? i cant seem to find confirmation from a single person who has.
@@connormccaffrey I bought mine on eBay and it seemed to be the version that works, judging by what was written on the card.
Realistically, you have two options: DW1650 or an OG Airport card from a Macbook Air and an M.2 adapter. I've documented the process here: notthebe.ee/airport.html AFAIK, this particular card might not be compatible with Catalina so do your research before buying it.
I've only used Mojave on my T440p. I don't own the machine anymore, unfortunately.
@@WolfgangsChannel thanks for this, good info, based on jloisels github it seems very hard not to believe DW1820a is working in catalina because a few posts basically say it is fully working.
DW1830 wouldnt be a smart move, it used 3x3 configuration and putting this into a 2x2 laptop can cause problems, essentially if connecting to a 3x3 router one of the signals is gonna be much worse and will create odd issues.
ive ordered a kit to mod the bios, so once its modded i will try DW1820a and if it doesnt work i will try DW1650, thanks again wolfgang!
Have you ever patched a BIOS/EFI from the binary delivered by Lenovo website to a chip via CH341a ?
6:24 What key is used to sign the BIOS? Is it embedded in the BIOS image itself? Surely Lenovo isn't just checking that *any* key has signed the BIOS??
It would seem that way
“The signing tool generates a throw-away key every time it signs an image. This is usually not an issue, but if, for whatever reason, you want to use a specific private key to sign the image, be aware that the signing tool currently does not support that.”
github.com/thrimbor/thinkpad-uefi-sign
I get an error when I try to run ./UEFIPatch bios1.img xx40_patches_v5.txt -o bios_patched.img any tips?
Edit: I was trying to modify the BIOS dump of the 8MB bios chip, this is wrong, you must do it to the 4MB bios chip!
Where is that chip? I’ve completely disassembled my W541 and can’t find that little 4MB chip. The only thing I’ve left on is the heatsink and fan. Is it under that?
I've got the same problem.
How do I know if it is chip 8 or 4?
I read on some Reddit post that you can downgrade this Bios (2.52) to version to 2.36, which has no whitelist. Unfortunately, it cant be done with Bios >= 2.53. In case it can be done. Would there be any downside of doing the downgrading?
You might miss out on some firmware improvements, microcode and security updates
Wolfgang´s, How to enable the CPU Lock Configuration menu to enable CFG Lock?
It was not possible with this patch, is there another one?
Still works for BIOS Version 2.56 on a T440p.
What would theoretically be the best WiFi card I could possibly put in after removing the white list?
Could you help me find patches for Lenovo G500? (with the celeron 1005M, from 2013.)
I wish to upgrade it with an i7 3630QM, but the forums say it has a CPU whitelist also removing the Wi-Fi whitelist would also be nice.
Thank you very much in advance.
Can you tell me what the problem might be?
I made a modification according to the instructions - the advanced menu works, but the wifi - intel AX200 does not work, that is, the white sheet did not turn off ...
Is there a chance to fix this?
laptop Lenovo T540p
Would it be possible to do this for an old Lenovo G450 and G470?.
dont you have the bin file already patch just to write on the spi flash without doing all that?
No, because theres also some stuff written on it that is unique to the laptop, iirc
Do you know if there is a modified bios solution for lenovo w540 to avoid the verification of original charger wattage???
@Wolfgang's Channel I would love a video about disabling Intel ME and AMD PSP or at lest how to mitigating exploitation and abuse of them.
Keep up the great work, man!
Is there no such solution for Thinkpad P53?
Will these same steps apply to an X1 Carbon 2nd gen?
Do you happen to know if there is a patch file for the Lenovo E540 or if the patch file that you provided would work without corrupting the system?
It's like I said in the video - the models that are listed in the file are supported, if you want to try other models, do it at your own risk.
xx40_patches will not work for your model
can this be used to upgrade the TPM to 2.0 so i can still use my laptop when windows 11 rolls out?
Hi! What about L530? 1vyrain sadly doens't support it..
for x131e can you remove whitelist wlan ID ?
Hi from Romania ,
I own a ProBook 6360b and I would like to switch to wifi6, is there a similar package for it too? thx
Any chance that this works on an E540 Thinkpad as well?
I was unlocked through the site bios. but virtualization is disabled in it. how to do to turn on?
hey the site that has the patched bios isn't loading for me. It looked like it was getting blocked by my dns, so I tried changing that. and kept trying different things but basically anything I did didn't work. I saw that site linked somewhere else when looking earlier and it didn't work from there either.
Hi everyone, do you think what was reported in the video can also work with a Lenovo thinkcentre m73 tiny that mounts a haswell processor?
Thank you
Great video! I want to upgrade my Lenovo Thinkcentre M92Z AIO with a WiFi card. Can this be done? This computer came with an Intel Centrino Wireless-N 2230. Recently I bought an Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260 for upgrade. When I installed it, of course, I got an error about "unauthorized card" etc... Then I learnt that I need to remove the whitelist set by Lenovo. Can someone please advise? Where can I find a patch file for this? Any other tip is much appreciated. Thanks!
hey which wifi card do you use? do you recommend any other one?
AX200 is a pretty popular choice unless you’re using Hackintosh
./UEFIPatch bios1.img xx40_patches_v5.txt -o bios_patched.img outputs command not found on Linux, any suggestions?
It looks like they do this on the forums just by sending files back and forth. How?
hey i was wondering if anyone can help me? I'm at 5:43 and when I type in the command it says"zsh: no such file or directory: ./UEFIPatch". is there something I messed up on? i have the UEFIPatch, xx40_patches_v5.txt, bios1.img and bios2.img in the UEFIPatch_0.28.0_mac folder
try "chmod +x UEFIPatch"