Lenovo Y580 / Y480 'unlocked' BIOS versions

[svl7]

Interesting, I assumed that removing the check would be enough... especially since it seems to work fine for other users. Then again, I never had a system with a Wlan card whitelist.

[berghaus]

I don't know, but maybe some unlocked options in bios affected wlan card... anyway, spend over 24 hours on this problem i've found easy way, just replace DEVID in stock bios.

[syonturiqeru]

what are the best solution if this problem is happening????

[kozak79]

Is there a way to bypass the "The version of rom file isn't newer than version of bios"? My Lenovo Y580 has bios v.207

Thanks

[troysir69]

hey thanks alot for the bios works perfect.

[svl7]

Is there a way to bypass the "The version of rom file isn't newer than version of bios"? My Lenovo Y580 has bios v.207

Thanks

Ah... yeah. There is. I forgot to implement this in the file I uploaded, need to fix this. Either you wait until I get around to fix it, or you can do it yourself, I described the solution in this post.

[Glenwing]

Hiya! Thanks for this. I was wondering something, and this might be beyond your ability, but I figured I'd ask. I just replaced my old Thinkpad T61 with a Y480, and I noticed something. I use an external monitor, and on my T61 I had the options set so that when the laptop was open it would use the laptop screen, and when the lid was closed it would switch to the monitor by itself. So it would only use one of the two screens; if the laptop screen was available it would prefer that one, but if the laptop lid was closed, it would output to the monitor instead. I've messed around with options in the OS, in the Intel HD graphics manager, in the NVIDIA manager, but I can't seem to replicate my old setup. However on the Y480 I can either use only the laptop display or only the monitor, and closing/opening the laptop doesn't cause any switching. They were both running the same OS and both had NVIDIA graphics so not much is different there, and in the official Y580 BIOS patch notes there was a bugfix regarding the behavior of extended displays when the laptop lid is closed... so I'm assuming my issue is also at the BIOS level. Is there any way you could mess around with that, or is it beyond you?

(PS. the monitor was connected through VGA on both laptops)

Thanks again

[svl7]

Which GPU do you have in your system? 640m? Did you try to set it up with the [win]+p menu?

[Glenwing]

No I've got the GT 650M, with 3630QM Cpu. Using win+P I have 4 options, Disconnect Projector, Duplicate Displays, Extended Display, and Projector only. Disconnect projector uses the laptop screen only and always, whether it is open or not, and Projector Only uses the monitor only and always, whether the laptop lid is open or not. Duplicate and extend, well, you know what those do Intel HD Graphics and Media in the control panel have the same options though worded differently. Duplicate, Extend, or Single Display. When I select single display, it gives me a dropdown menu to choose my primary monitor, however whichever one I choose it always and only uses that one, so is the same as the win+P. NVIDIA manager has no display config section whatsoever.

[svl7]

Ah, I see... well, that is most likely bios related, the 650m vbios is ok (unlike the 640m). Anyway, I can't see anything related to the lid mentioned in the bios change log... No lid specific lid settings in the bios I guess?

Can't do anything about this, sorry.

[Glenwing]

Alright. One other thought, the Fn+F2 key combo turns off the backlight, and until I looked closely I used to think it turned the display off. It could be that when I close the lid it just turns the backlight off, and the display itself is still outputting, which might explain why it doesn't switch automatically; the laptop display is still "on". No way to really verify though on my end the backlight/screen doesn't shut off until the screen is practically all the way closed.

In case you were wondering, here's the BIOS notes, version 2.20 was when they changed the Y580 display behavior.

Summary of changes for BIOS update - ThinkPad R60, R60i (Types: 94xx)

Also, I can use your same unlocked BIOS for my GT 650M version, right?

[Glenwing]

O.o apparently those patch notes are for the R60... I could have sworn it was for Y580 haha... not sure where I got that idea from.

(Sorry for the triple post mods... XD)

[svl7]

No way to really verify though on my end

Also, I can use your same unlocked BIOS for my GT 650M version, right?

Actually there is a way to verify... if two displays are active the GPU is in a higher power state, this means as long as two monitors are are working the memory frequency will be higher than with only one. You should be able to verify this witn Nvidia Inspector or by looking at the GPU-Z sensor tab.

Yes, you can use the bios.

[Glenwing]

Hmm yeah it seems to be that the display is still active and the backlight just turns off when I close the lid... I ran a CAD program, right-click+drag moves the camera angle. When I right click and move my mouse around fast the GPU temp increased... so I set it to extended monitors, moved the program over to the laptop display and closed the lid. Had HWMonitor open on my monitor, and moved my mouse off the screen to where the laptop display extension theoretically was. Not only did it let my mouse move off the screen, but when I right clicked and dragged blindly I registered the same temp increases and when I opened the lid the viewing angle on the CAD program had changed... so I guess it just shuts off the backlight when I close it T_T

Thanks anyway for looking into it.

[keebler19]

Post deleted... figured out I could use 7 zip to extract the whitelisted bios into all the files and not simply an exe file.

Thanks svl7 for all your work on this.

[reiyu]

any news if we're getting OC/OV vBios?

[svl7]

Do you have a 640m or 650m?

[reiyu]

660m. would be awesome if it's like the ghz edition just like the dell.

[daniel_siq]

Thanks for this mod, svl7! Its so painful to see a bios with so few settings.

I tried to change some video settings for benchmarking and things were fine before changing the primary display to pci. I wish i had read the entire post before doing that, because now i know that the output is always throught hd4000.

So, i have no visuals now. am i still able to enter the bios and change it blindly? The computer doesnt seem to be starting all the way o windows, It lights up and has keyboard light control, but i hear no hdd activity apart from the initial spin up, so i'm assuming its stopped at a system error?

I'm also wondering what are the easiest ways to reset the bios. I read about 30s power button hold with no ac and no batt but its missinfo, doesnt work. I've also tried cmos battery removal but it is glued to very delicate metal plates so that doesnt seem to be an option. I read about some usb drive method, how does that work? Has anyone tried this on this model with the modded bios?

I'm afraid i'll have to take my y580 to a lenovo repair center, and that may take a while, so if you know of any ways i could revert the bios on my own would be really helpful

[blowntaha]

Thanks for this mod, svl7! Its so painful to see a bios with so few settings.

I'm afraid i'll have to take my y580 to a lenovo repair center, and that may take a while, so if you know of any ways i could revert the bios on my own would be really helpful

I went through the EXACT situation. Start the computer, and then immediately start tapping the hell out F2 (just kidding, just get into BIOS), then...

IIRC, you tap: left, enter, left, enter, F10, left, enter. If you're computer doesn't restart, then you need to try right a bunch of times instead of left, if it still doesn't restart then you're doing something wrong, or maybe you did more than just change the primary display to pci.

If that does not work, then replace the underlined with: tap right a bunch of times, at least 10.

Basically, what you are doing with the sequence of keystrokes is trying to get to the "Load default settings" and then "save and quit" (F10), and the default answer for "are you sure XXXXX" is no.

Anyways, good luck! I remeber when I was in a panic when nothing would display to the screen lol. Oh, and btw, you can download the pics of the menus from earlier posts, open it up on a diff comp/phone and do it from there (that is how i did it, now i just basically memorized it).

[daniel_siq]

Thanks so much for the reply and instructions, blowntaha!

I followed the steps, saw the pictures, and still nothing. The fact that the computer was not going into windows is a good indicator that it is completely bricked. I just wish it was as easy to reset the bios in a notebook as it is with a jumper switch in desktops. I'm sending it in to lenovo, i guess theres nothing more i can do about it

[svl7]

I followed the steps, saw the pictures, and still nothing. The fact that the computer was not going into windows is a good indicator that it is completely bricked.

You didn't try the usb recovery method yet? Not sure whether it's implemented in your bios, but worth a try I'd say.

Recovery file name is: QIWY3.bin

Download the official bios update from Lenovo and extract the .rom file, rename it accordingly (see name above).

Then follow this procedure: http://forum.techinferno.com/alienware-m18x/1981-how-recover-bad-flash-alienware-m18x-r2.html

The key might be different, but the idea stays the same. You might need to try some key combos, google for other possible combinations. If the file on the USB drive is loading you should see the LED of the drive flashing. The system might be beeping for quite a while. Don't interrupt it until it reboots.

[jollsn]

Be advised !

If you try to completely disable your INTEL video card using the new settings/options made available in the new unlocked y580 bios you will disable as well :

the laptop LCD screen and the HDMI port

since the lcd screen inverter and the HDMI output are directly connected/tied thru the motherboard to the INTEL GPU on the processor ... no bios option will be able to disable it properly because its not designed for that at the circuitry level

On this machine design you can disable the NVIDIA GPU completely but not the other one (the Intel graphics or IGFX) ... when all enabled the intel one manages the Nvidia and the switching goes on thru the optimus scheme implemented at hardware/driver level between the intel GPU inside the CPU and the Nvidia GPU

http://www.nvidia.com/object/LO_optimus_whitepapers.html

If I understand, there is no possibility to use some nvidia optimisations like NVidia Surround (Optimise : How To Setup NVIDIA Surround on GeForce 600 Series GPUs | GeForce)..

Am I right?

Thanks!

[yahtzee]

Thank you for all the work on this svl7.

Has anyone tried an Intel 6250 in this laptop? I don't know how to check if the card has a proper DEVID as @berghaus mentioned for the 6300. I would go with the 6205 but the 6250 is only $12.00 and I might someday want WiMAX (I guess).

If anyone could help, I'd really appreciate it. I'm new to bios modding. I'm still trying to figure out how to mod a y530's too.

[MiMtnBiker]

Hi, new to the forums.

I successfully flashed my BIOS with the no whitelist version of the unlocked BIOS and tried to install an Intel 6205 WLAN adapter. I suspect that I received a bad WLAN card, but wanted to confirm it first. Has anyone else successfully installed an Intel 6205 in their Y580 using the no whitelist version of the unlocked BIOS? After I installed the 6205, I received an error that there was no WLAN adapter installed in my laptop. It also did not show up in the device manager (Win7 x64). Am I right to say that something should show up?

Thanks for the help and the work in making this BIOS.