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So, why does Lenovo create BIOS restrictions?


pedrobearmon

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Among other things. What's the purpose of stopping someone who has already bought the machine from upgrading the components? It just seems like a massive, unnecessary restriction. I've heard that this is on a number of laptops, not just Lenovo. My guess is that you're supposed to buy a whole new laptop when you want a new feature. That way more money is leeched from you. Any other thoughts about why this is?

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Among other things. What's the purpose of stopping someone who has already bought the machine from upgrading the components? It just seems like a massive, unnecessary restriction. I've heard that this is on a number of laptops, not just Lenovo. My guess is that you're supposed to buy a whole new laptop when you want a new feature. That way more money is leeched from you. Any other thoughts about why this is?

so in case if you mess up and screw something up they don't have to spend money fixing it. after all it's fraud protection, something that should be changed but never was

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Probably to cut the lifespan of the product to improve future sales once the hardware becomes too outdated. Another reason may be that the legal division recommends to do whatever is possible to limit user upgrades in case of liability issues. Bad decisions can come from anywhere really.

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With my Lenovo G500(budget notebook) luckily my wifi mini pcie slot does not have a whitelist, it had recognized my egpu right away. I learned also at the official Lenovo forums that replacing the cpu will void the warranty, weird policy

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

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I read somewhere that this is also due to FCC regulations. I don't remember the details but it was something to do with getting the laptop certified by the FCC for use and not having to vet each and every wireless card out there. Not sure why it would apply here but not on a desktop computer.

I did a quick google search but I was unable to find the original thread I read about this but here is a quote:

The Wireless card Whitelisting is due to FCC regulation, which states that certain classes of devices must be Certified by the FCC themselves in the "End-Use Configuration" to be legal to sell, use, take on Airplanes etc...IBM (Now Lenovo) Whitelist Wireless cards to ensure that the device will always conform to the FCC approval that the device was evaluated for.
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I'm pretty sure it's mostly a liability thing. Lame but considering their average end user it's probably not as dumb of a choice as it seems. I just wish we didn't have to go through third party tools to mess with some basic BIOS settings. My old machine never gave me trouble there.

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Am wondering that myself. My centrino card keeps dropping wifi signal for no reason. I'm looking forward to Flash the mod Bios soon.

As for reason, i think they cut some deal with Intel in order to boost future sales and lock user to hardware.

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Probably to cut the lifespan of the product to improve future sales once the hardware becomes too outdated. Another reason may be that the legal division recommends to do whatever is possible to limit user upgrades in case of liability issues. Bad decisions can come from anywhere really.

This. It's win-win for them. It shortens the lifespan of the device, and also makes it easier to troubleshoot if they know every possible hardware combination.

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I ask myself this same question...I bought a BCM94352 and asked the vendor if it'd work for my laptop because I had this same fear, they told me it'd fit. So yes, it FITS, but its not compliant with lenovo's whitelist...so I'm in the process of removing that whitelist...such a shame they limit customers options.

[h=1][/h]

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I believe it is to ensure earlier future sales. Personally it makes me look for a different manufacturer next time around.

From a tech support point of view, most people that change their own hardware in a laptop, rarely use it and expect a warranty to be voiid on some modifications.

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As not all vendors have restricted their BIOS's, it could be experimenting with customer reactions. Locking down hardware forces consumers to buy up, buying one level higher than the need "just in case", since options do not exist. Future sales will likely be hurt unless all comparable vendors lock down the BIOS as well.

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The other issue that Lenovo wants to avoid is users modifying the laptop with a new device and then sending it out for service when there's nothing wrong with the laptop itself. All this causes is oxymoronic problems like "My wireless card died, instead of fixing it myself, now i need to send it to lenovo". Their service rep told me that it was like shooting themselves in the foot, what they planned to reduce repairs and needless shipping now caused more issues.

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