R
Ross Vumbaca
- Jan 1, 1970
- 0
Hi,
In an amazing act of stupidity last year, I accidentally killed my
laptop during a BIOS upgrade (failed BIOS flash).
It's an IBM R32 Thinkpad, and IBM will not fix it (unless I want to
throw out the entire motherboard and replace it for a price that exceeds
the value of the entire machine - what great 'repair' techniques they have).
I did a bit of research and poking around, and I found the firmware chip
on my machine. It uses an Intel ICH3 southbrige, and the firmware is
actually a Low Pin Coun/Firmware Hub (LPC/FWH) style chip (ST M50FW080).
It's basically a sort of serial bus, which can have a few devices
sitting on it, and each device has a unique ID based on how you strap a
few of the device's pins.
To make matters worse, its a miniature TSOP SMT chip, and there is no
way I can de-solder it without destroying everything (let alone re-flash
it).
Also, the image that it's meant to have in it, is some sort of special
image, and cannot be extracted from the BIOS upgade progam alone.
The good news was that I found an edge connector next to the firmware
chip that provides access to the 'LPC/FWH' bus, so it would be easy to
hook into the bus if I wanted to do anything..
After a bit of thinking, I figure what I can do to fix it is:
i) Hire a laptop of the exact same model (found a place that offers it)
ii) Copy the BIOS from working laptop via software
iii) Purchase chip of same type as my firmware - 'ST M50FW080'
iv) Flash purchased chip with image copied from working laptop
v) Connect this new chip to the LPC bus, configure strap pins so that it
takes the ID of the original chip, change strap of original chip so it
is not going to be used, power up and hopefully boot machine
vi) Flash the original chip via software
If anyone understood all this, is that an ok plan, or am I about to
destroy my machine completely?
My first problem, is getting hold of the flash chip. I found that Arrow
in the US sells it for the great price of ~$5 US, but then they add ~$10
US handling to it, and charge some outrageous amount or shipping
,
making it unaffordable for me.
Does anyone know where I can get hold of an 'ST M50FW080' locally? I
think some Intel 845 based motherboard might be using this chip but I
don't have a PC with this chipset, and can't tell..
Thanks,
Regards,
Ross..
In an amazing act of stupidity last year, I accidentally killed my
laptop during a BIOS upgrade (failed BIOS flash).
It's an IBM R32 Thinkpad, and IBM will not fix it (unless I want to
throw out the entire motherboard and replace it for a price that exceeds
the value of the entire machine - what great 'repair' techniques they have).
I did a bit of research and poking around, and I found the firmware chip
on my machine. It uses an Intel ICH3 southbrige, and the firmware is
actually a Low Pin Coun/Firmware Hub (LPC/FWH) style chip (ST M50FW080).
It's basically a sort of serial bus, which can have a few devices
sitting on it, and each device has a unique ID based on how you strap a
few of the device's pins.
To make matters worse, its a miniature TSOP SMT chip, and there is no
way I can de-solder it without destroying everything (let alone re-flash
it).
Also, the image that it's meant to have in it, is some sort of special
image, and cannot be extracted from the BIOS upgade progam alone.
The good news was that I found an edge connector next to the firmware
chip that provides access to the 'LPC/FWH' bus, so it would be easy to
hook into the bus if I wanted to do anything..
After a bit of thinking, I figure what I can do to fix it is:
i) Hire a laptop of the exact same model (found a place that offers it)
ii) Copy the BIOS from working laptop via software
iii) Purchase chip of same type as my firmware - 'ST M50FW080'
iv) Flash purchased chip with image copied from working laptop
v) Connect this new chip to the LPC bus, configure strap pins so that it
takes the ID of the original chip, change strap of original chip so it
is not going to be used, power up and hopefully boot machine
vi) Flash the original chip via software
If anyone understood all this, is that an ok plan, or am I about to
destroy my machine completely?
My first problem, is getting hold of the flash chip. I found that Arrow
in the US sells it for the great price of ~$5 US, but then they add ~$10
US handling to it, and charge some outrageous amount or shipping
,making it unaffordable for me.
Does anyone know where I can get hold of an 'ST M50FW080' locally? I
think some Intel 845 based motherboard might be using this chip but I
don't have a PC with this chipset, and can't tell..
Thanks,
Regards,
Ross..
