crux161

Replacing the bios chip sounds like the best idea. The auction you listed says they will even flash the chip before sending it. Perhaps they would flash v2.07 for you sp ypu could do the v3.x whitelist patch. The only mahpr issue here is that you need to disassemble the laptop, find the chip, desolder it and solder the new on in place. Eveything should work fine again anfter that sir!

Well I guess that's why newegg had different specs. Keeps them from getting returns lol because they sold what they advertised. I'm glad I chose a SSD upgrade despite everything. Oh well mystery solved I guess.

To be clear it wasn't the recovery partition. It had some drivers and a norton installer but not the onekey data. That was hidden - and appeared next to the efi partition, but separate from it and the system partition. Why are you so certain the SSD component should be hidden in windows? How would the controller implement SSD caching for OS files etc? That doesn't make sense.

EDIT: OK Call me crazy. http://www.seagate.com/internal-hard-drives/laptop-hard-drives/laptop-solid-state-hybrid-drive/?sku=ST1000LM014 That's the drive according to the model number on it. But I swear I've booted more then one OS which does recognize the volume as being a separate device. At least that's what disk management console showed. My bad lol. @octiceps Not to sound rude, but ... um I own the laptop for one, lol. After opening it up and discovering the M2 SSD to be missing, I looked into the situation further. First off, Windows does show the drive be default as a separate 24GB disk, right along side the C volume. I assume that (and call me crazy) because windows saw two volumes, and I only removed 1 disk, which has the words SSHD on them, I'm guessing that's what it is. Second, linux confirms all the findings, showing a separate volume, which a higher transfer speed. I like my OCZ vertex a lot better, so until a second HDD (or should I say SSDH) cadd arrives, I'm housing this separately. Sorry to burst your bubble. Edit: I mean mine lol

@dmgloden Wow didn't notice that I guess because I didn't recheck it after the upgrade. Using OS X 10.9, and windows 8.1 pro the IGU appears disabled. I never usually only am able to detect it if the ultrabay card is out of the system. I imagine is could then potentially make use of Optimus in windows? I can't get OS X to do anything with the card even after it recognizes and loads the display -- well it won't enable QE CI. *sigh* at least everything seems to be working again in 8.1 @theholyfork The bios OS the laptop is independent of the VBIOS on the video cards. The bios of the system (CMOS) is restricted with a whitelist that prevents the installation of other wireless cards. The VBIOS is a component of the graphics system, and I believe for two nvidia cards to operate in SLI they need to be the same down to the VBIOS. I could easily be wrong, and the best cure for that is research. That's my understanding of the situation. Lenovo posted a fix for the VBIOS a while back, and the de-whitelisting mod is available here. You might be able to use the other card you ordered, I'm not aware of what adds are actually on the list other then the 2230. It's a great system if you just wanna run windows, before I upgraded I tried an install of windows 7, and after switching the HDD for the OCZ vertex 450, the "windows experience" jumped from 5.6 to 7.6 (CPU was the lowest scoring benchmark, not bad). Haven't tried gentoo but ubuntu plays nice.

@mrclassy I don't want to split hairs but the SSHD they provide does technically have the 24GB "SSD" it's just integrated in the same package as the HD. they actually listed mine as having 8GB, which I thought was wrong, thankfully it's the full 24. So technically it's all there... I still would like the option to add the real M.2 SSD though. If I can find a connector, the reflow isn't difficult, I do it all the time with my heat gun and multimeter (has temp sensor). A little solder paste and were good to go! After partial reassembly, testing, potential reseating, etc. still could be worth the work. If I could only find the friggin connector! The One part I can't just buy from china online.... Wow isn't that a first.

@dmgloden No worries! You IGU is by default, disabled! Windows runs on the first 750m card that you can't remove. If you're having an issue activating SLI there is an update in the lenovo forms where moderators in line with tech support first released the fix for windows 8.1. The issue is that when the new driver (anything newer than the release in sometime this last April) would break SLI functionality. After many complaints on the forum, they released new drivers and specifically -- this is Key -- a VBIOS update for the ultrabay 750m card which wasn't receiving the intended VBIOS update that apparently was already performed on the internal dedicated 750m. I don't understand how that works entirely, but for SLI to function I know the cards usually need to be the same so maybe the different VBIOS created an issue in windows 8.1. Performing the steps listed on the site I was able to restore SLI with the ultrabay card in windows 8.1 pro. I'll edit try to get the link up here if you can't find it on their forums. A lot of people are having trouble with the fix, but it was pretty simple for me — I mean, you unzip a file, run a bat, and click y, then restart lol. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

This is just my two cents, and I realize it'd be almost easier to buy a new machine. However, if the issue is upgrading the AMD dedicated graphics, and you wanted something newer - could a new logic board from a similar iMac of a newer setup be used to replace the current one, allowing for a better dedicated graphics option? A new logic board added to the price is a lot, I get that - but it's certainly cheaper than an new unit, and if the design doesn't change too much, and the power requirements are within a safe range I imagine it could work. I used to refurbish mac minis, and iMacs from near dead boards to working units. Apple parts can be a pain to get ahold of some times, but it seems more feasible than attempting a configuration on a mac that apple didn't make available as an upgrade at the time of purchase (not intended by apple anyways). I have a Mac mini I used for gaming that was the late 2011 before they pulled out the dedicated graphics option. Lol, still runs quite a bit better on benchmarks, but the OS etc is all on SSD, with a 2nd hd for larger storage etc. On a side note, have you considered an SSD to boot performance? I know it's a bit more costly, but it could be an option. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

if someone disassembled the y510p, and managed to surface mount the M.2 connector (which I haven't been able to find anywhere except maybe some salvageable parts on an M.2 adapter) they'd still need a solution for securing the drive, I don't recall if I saw a screw hole for the M.2 card securing mechanism (sometimes clips can be used instead in my experience. I would be confident doing surface mount soldering, but not random drilling on such an expensive PCB lol, especially if something important was on the other side (there shouldn't be right?). I wouldn't want the ssd wiggling loose whilst connected. On a lighter note, the HDD they include is a hybrid drive (SSHD?) which can be "spanned" in disk management under windows, or that "ready boost" feature it uses. Or you could make a fusion drive is you're running OS X. I personally replaced mine with an OCZ vertex 450 it's only 256GB, so I'm really missing the space the original drive gave, but my windows "experience" went from 5.6 up to 7.6 if I remember correctly. Really wouldn't mind having that M.2 SSD, and a 2nd HDD caddy to hot swap with the SLI card.

The optical drive they sold I believe was the blu-ray option, which cost more. This is a good reason why they wouldn't just want to sell a cheaper model, and the only item they considered an upgrade from the SLI option. The SLI config was the second most expensive package, and the blu-ray config was a little more. I really just want a 2nd hd caddy for this thing, that way I could hot swap my SLI for extra storage when the 256GB SSD I have fills up (just because it's data doesn't mean I can't horde it!)

A working path to both 10.8 and 10.9 have been found! I recently bought a y510p, SLI model. After a lot of research, I've found that it's possible to get the 10.8 hazard release (I really don't recommend distros) and 10.9 from the App Store with the Pandora installer. I needed use the following kernel flags at first: -v -x -s -f -F PciRoot=1 this is got me to single user, where I was able to strip out all kexts with Graphics drivers. There are instructions for this somewhere (will edit if I come across it again). Reboot. Less the conflicting kexts, you should get to the installer with no more than PciRoot=1. You will need an external keyboard and mouse unless you have the appropriate elan kexts, VoodooPS2 didn't work for me. Results so far: QE/CI is available if you remove the second nvidia ultrabay card. GraphicsEnabler woks well for this using the latest chameleon brach boot loader (part of the awesome Pandora installer). No wireless (Bluetooth worked out of the box though). Lan card nit found at allllll, need whitelist fix, and potentially Broadcom card like real MBPs. No sound, yet. I have hope there's some solution, maybe a DSDT fix eventually. VoodooHDA was a no go here too sadly. Battery PM working with voodoo and patch from pandora installer post install. USB 3.0 working. Card reader works out of the box, and so does the web cam! After er getting the battery's PM working, trackpad stops working (but not keyboard -- functionality comes from the same driver I believe). Was able to get a nice full 1920x1080x32 display with the IGU (ultrabay card removed). Keyboard backlight is built in to the keyboard so that works well too. Trackpad has issues detecting taps and gestures don't work, or randomly sometimes work for a brief moment. Ram detected fully, all 4 slots, with correctly populated info on occupied slots. I used smbios info from a macbookpro 8,1 for this but macbookpro 10,3 is probably more appropriate (uses a similar nvidia 750m ). That's all for now. Hope this helps someone.

In the haste of being so ready to mod this system, I find myself making armature mistakes. The version I have is 2.07, (74CN41WW) Rev3.7 is the InsydeH20 util. I just have to get my wireless card (Broadcom for hackintoshing like my old mbp 8,1). I've found a lot of good information and when I can scrape together some cash, you guys will certainly get something donated. Thanks for your quick reply and for the 2.07 release I just need to contribute a little and I'll be able to take part in the un whitelisting process and get my install of mavericks online! OS X apparently hates intel wireless cards... And yet Bluetooth, built into the same hardware as the wifi, worked out of the box with zero configuration on my part... But I digress. Thanks again! kind Regards, crux

Hello svl7! I recently bought a y510p, and have been tinkering around with it in my free time. I see recently you added support for versions 2.04, and 2.07. Unfortunately, after a disappointing trip to the bios menu I have version 3.07. I can't find official links anywhere from lenovo, but I could certainly make a backup of the bios. Is is there any chance at getting some help unlocking/un-whitelisting my wireless card on this version? Or is there a safe path to downgrade, and then lock perhaps? Any help you could provide in any way would be extremely helpful as research material is seemingly scarce online. I've been googling this is different ways for some time, just hoping for an update somewhere. Kind regards, Crux