Mojo

USB drives are less than $10 and pretty handy to have.

my stuff, as promised~

I updated the 8.01 BIOS according to the instructions you provided. No problems thus far, no 104 error. I have a 300 Mbps connection now using a Centrino 6205. Hooray! I'll do this when I get home and can boot to dos. I can't seem to get the application to run with administrator privileges using runas so I'll boot from the a win98 boot disc and run it from there.

Use InsydeFlash to backup your BIOS image and post it here for looking at. InsydeFlash backup.fd /g Use that through the command line after you've navigated to the folder that contains InsydeFlash utility.

Where did you even find a 5DCN90WW BIOS to flash?

That link was helpful. I extracted every module from the stock 2.07 BIOS and the one serg008 modified and then hashed all of the modules to see which ones had been changed. The 11D378C2-B472-412F-AD87-1BE4CD8B33A6 had been changed (referenced in the link) as well as the 4082D1D0-1744-4EE3-803E-B8EE3F07B2FE module. There may have also been a difference in some padding. I don't know why the second module has modified, but the presence of the first module seems to agree with the link. I removed the module from the 11D378C2-B472-412F-AD87-1BE4CD8B33A6 BIOS I ripped. I then opened the BIOS with an application and explored its memory space with a hex editor. The message about detecting an unauthorized wifi card had been removed (you can find it if you do the same thing the unmodified version.) I am convinced that deleting the module should remove the whitelist. The only problem is that I can't get the BIOS to flash. I get an SMI 0x25 error when flashing (with EC disabled.) The same error is thrown even when trying to flash the BIOS I dumped using InsydeFlash (although it seems to get about 2/3 the way through flashing before the error is thrown instead of immediately with my modified BIOS.) Not quite sure what to do at this point. Also, I was able to download the BIOS from the link, but just in case, here is another. filehosting.org - download page for QIWY3.bin

Thank you for this advice. It seemed to work, although it does not copy the EC portion of the BIOS file. The InsydeFlash tool has an option to disable EC flashing and no size errors are thrown when attempting to flash the BIOS I dumped. I believe this should be safe to modify, although I am not an expert. It would be nice to have someone take a look at it. I uploaded it here.

No. Version 8.01 is not available for download from Lenovo support. If you want a modded 8.0x BIOS, you will need to wait until Lenovo releases one (to fix some unrelated issue). You could try flashing a modded 2.07 BIOS by changing some of the options in the InsydeFlash tool, although the results of doing that are uncertain and I wouldn't recommend doing it. Your best bet is to request the original 8.01 BIOS from Lenovo on their forums or through their phone support, or to find some BIOS bug so that they will upload an updated 8.0x version (which would then be modified to remove the whitelist.) Also, to other users (someone with a Y580 that shipped with Windows 7). There is a [backupROM] option in the InsydeFlash tool. I have been unsuccessful at getting this to dump the BIOS currently on the laptop (it only creates a backup of the BIOS you are about to flash). It is supposed to do both, although this may be because I haven't actually tried to flash any BIOS (since I don't have a modded 8.01 to flash, or any 8.01 for that matter.) It would be nice if one of you (the users with the 2.0x) could try turning the backup option on and flashing the stock 2.07 bios or any of the modded 2.0x bios to see if the tool will actually dump your bios upon a flash attempt. If it does, then it may allow 8.0x users a way to obtain a modifiable 8.01 bios allowing us all to remove the whitelist.

Can you or anybody else who has installed the 2.07 BIOS (modded or not) use this tool to create a backup of your BIOS and post it here?

I do not know whether it is possible to use a 2.07 BIOS on the models that ship with 8.01. I have also been led to believe that modifying the 8.01 BIOS is not possible unless it is made available to download from Lenovo (using a tool to backup the BIOS does not get the entire image, leading me to question the usefulness of such a tool.) I tried calling Lenovo support today to get them to post it online, but I didn't have much success. I found it difficult to convey to them what I was even requesting. Perhaps others can try too.

It won't. Your firmware will likely be the 8.0x firmware. There is not currently a BIOS hack for that line.

My Y580 arrived a few days ago. I've installed a 128 gb mSATA drive and put Windows 7 on it. It's running very nicely. The 6205 is here as well. Was busy with school earlier this week, but I have time now if svl7 has time for bios experimentation.

svl7 is definitely a champ. Those who have benefited from his work thus far should definitely buy him a beer! Laptop should arrive today, the 6205 won't arrive until Friday though. Should give me enough time to get Windows 7 set up on the mSATA drive though.

That's how these things go. Good advice often falls on deaf ears.

I plan on putting Windows 7 onto mine. Maybe this will lead to more success.

It's worth noting that Macbook Pros are essentially overpriced ultrabooks. They are all built around the same CPUs and chipsets (Intel Core i5/i7) with Intel HD integrated GPUs. If he's looking to avoid ultrabooks, he's already failed. As far as a recommendation, here's mine. I ordered a Lenovo Y580 just recently (Newegg.com - lenovo IdeaPad Y580 (59345717) Notebook Intel Core i7 3630QM(2.40GHz) 15.6" 8GB Memory 1TB HDD Blu-ray Combo NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660M). It doesn't come equipped with an SSD hard drive, although I ordered a 128 GB mSATA SSD HD for $100 (Amazon.com: MyDigitalSSD 128GB BP3 Bullet Proof 3 mSATA III (6G) SSD Solid State Drive - MDMS-BP3-128: Computers & Accessories) to use as a system drive. The only flaw thus far is the lack of support for dual band wifi cards, although there have been some custom bios files released in this forum to address this issue. You can even buy the dual band wifi cards Lenovo installs in their other machines (Amazon.com: Adpt 6205 Half Height Minicard (bulk) By Intel: Computers & Accessories) for $13. The system does slightly exceed the weight requirements though, weighing in at 2.8 kg. Overall though, for $1113 you get the following - CPU - Intel Core i7-3630QM Quadcore 2.4GHz with dynamic overclocking up to 3.4 GHz GPU - NVIDIA Geforce GTX 660M and Intel HD 4000 RAM - 8 GB DDR3 SSD - 128 GB mSATA III system drive HDD - 1TB 5200 RPM HD data drive Optical Drive - A blu-ray combo drive Wifi - Dual band (pending a successful custom bios flash) Display - 1920 x 1080 LED backlit, 15.6" Performance wise, it's better than any Macbook Pro available and much much cheaper for any of the Macbook Pros that are even close.

I created an account here because this thread was of particular interest to me. It is clear that there are different firmware versions being released with the Y580 that are related to differences in hardware and that a modified 8.0x firmware version will be necessary for some users in order to remove whitelist enforcement. I have fount at least six different versions of this product on Newegg, there may be others. Newegg.com - lenovo IdeaPad Y580 (20994CU) Notebook Intel Core i7 3610QM(2.30GHz) 15.6" 6GB Memory DDR3 1600 750GB HDD 5400rpm DVD±R/RW NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660M Newegg.com - lenovo IdeaPad Y580 (20994EU) Notebook Intel Core i7 3610QM(2.30GHz) 15.6" 8GB Memory DDR3 1600 750GB HDD 5400rpm DVD±R/RW NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660M Newegg.com - lenovo IdeaPad Y580 (59345715) Notebook Intel Core i7 3630QM(2.40GHz) 15.6" 6GB Memory 750GB HDD NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660M Newegg.com - lenovo IdeaPad Y580 (59345717) Notebook Intel Core i7 3630QM(2.40GHz) 15.6" 8GB Memory 1TB HDD Blu-ray Combo NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660M Newegg.com - lenovo IdeaPad Y580 (59353260) Notebook Intel Core i7 3630QM(2.40GHz) 15.6" 8GB Memory 750GB HDD + 16GB SSD HDD NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660M Newegg.com - lenovo IdeaPad Y580 (209942U) Notebook Intel Core i7 3610QM(2.30GHz) 15.6" 8GB Memory DDR3 1600 1TB HDD 5400rpm Blu-ray RAMBO (Re-writeable) NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660M One major difference not immediately evident in these is the type of panel that is being used. Some of them have a 720P panel while some utilize a 1080P panel. A resolution of 1366 x 768 is also listed for some, although I think it may just be the same 720P panel. Perhaps this has something to do with the different firmware versions in the thread, although perhaps not. I have a Y580 on the way (the 59345717). I am very interested in getting a dual band Wifi card working with this version for both myself and others. I would be happy to allow svl7 access to it through Team Viewer if it would be helpful. For those of you who have attempted using a modified BIOS, would you mind posting the Y580 version you have as well as the firmware version it shipped with and whether or not your attempts were successful?