Lenovo ThinkStation P520 BIOS file needed

[Forest79]

Hello,

I got a Lenovo ThinkStation P520 (Type 30BF) from a friend, asking me for a repair. Windows 11 offered a firmware upgrade as an optional update, and it failed.
The emergency flash procedure from the hardware manual has also failed. So, I asked an acquaintance with better skills to flash the BIOS directly.

However, the chip (a Macronix MX25L25673GMI-08G) has a size of 32 MB, and the BIOS file from the Lenovo website (extracted with UEFITool) has a little more than 16 MB. Thus, the software my acquaintance used (SiberiaProg v1.45, with a CH341A Programmer) did not work. He sent me the file he could read from the chip, but I could not find strings in it that match with the BIOS file from the Lenovo website. I guess this file from the chip is simply garbage.

If anyone having the knowledge how to do this reads this post: Could you please create the required 32 MB BIOS file for me?
The serial number of the machine is S4JQ2779.

Thanks a lot in advance!


P.S.:
Or, alternatively: Is there a guide describing how to edit the BIOS files?
I guess I have to cut something from the beginning (and perhaps also from the end) of the original file, so it is exactly 16 MB (16777216 Bytes). But where do I cut? And then: Should I simply put the 16 MB content twice into a file with 32 MB (33554432 Bytes)? Or fill the 16 MB file with zeros, up to the needed size of 32 MB? And, finally: In some posts I saw that the serial number is required. Is it necessary to enter this number somewhere into the file?

[volinakis]

Re: Lenovo ThinkStation P520 BIOS file needed

Hello,

I got a Lenovo ThinkStation P520 ...

Post your bios dump here. And read the rules.

[Forest79]

Re: Lenovo ThinkStation P520 BIOS file needed

Hello,
thanks for the quick answer!
I left the BIOS dump out because I thought it would be useless. But here it is:

[hardware1]

Re: Lenovo ThinkStation P520 BIOS file needed

Hello,
thanks for the quick answer!
I left the BIOS dump out because I thought it would be useless. But here it is:

Here is your New BIOS, try it and let me know.

It's better to use NeoProgrammer software with the CH341A.

[Forest79]

Re: Lenovo ThinkStation P520 BIOS file needed

Hello,
thank you for your help!

Unfortunately, it does not work:
The attached monitor stays black (it does not power-up from power saving). An attached USB DVD drive with a Windows 10 install disc is being accessed periodically for less than a second (with a few seconds pause in between), but obviously the PC does not boot from the disc: Only the LED of the DVD drive lights up, there is no sound from the drive indicating that it is really reading the disc (this sound can only be heard for the first 4 or 5 times after switching on the PC).
Another observation: If I switch NumLock off at the keyboard, it is switched on again when the PC accesses the USB DVD drive again.

There was a beep, only once when I switched the PC on for the first time after flashing the chip (the CR-2032 battery is not installed). Since then, there is no beep anymore when I switch on the PC.

All in all, the PC behaves quite the same as before I flashed the chip with NeoProgrammer.

Hopefully, this might give you a hint for the cause of the problem.

Again, thank you for your help!

[hardware1]

Re: Lenovo ThinkStation P520 BIOS file needed

Hello,
thank you for your help!

Unfortunately, it does not work:

All in all, the PC behaves quite the same as before I flashed the chip with NeoProgrammer.

Hopefully, this might give you a hint for the cause of the problem.

Again, thank you for your help!

You're welcome.

Did you select verify the chip after programming it and the process ends find?
Is the Caps-Lock key responding when you are pressing it?

[Forest79]

Re: Lenovo ThinkStation P520 BIOS file needed

Hello,

Did you select verify the chip after programming it and the process ends find?
Is the Caps-Lock key responding when you are pressing it?

yes, I had the written data verified in NeoProgrammer, and it said "Success".

When I press the Caps-Lock key, the corresponding LED at the keyboard lights up. However, the LED turns off as soon as the next access to the attached USB DVD drive happens (and the NumLock LED turns on again if I have also pressed NumLock).
If the USB DVD drive is detached, the LEDs for NumLock and Caps-Lock work as usual (i. e. they just light up and turn off when the corresponding key is pressed).

I saw that meanwhile there is a new BIOS Version (S03KT60A) at the Lenovo website. The readme file names as one of the two changes:

-Update J3/J9/JY BIOS flash tool.

I wonder if the previous BIOS flashing routine had a flaw in it which might have caused the flashing failure with Windows Update.

Now that your BIOS file is flashed onto the chip:
Should I perhaps try the emergency flashing procedure again, this time with the new version 60? Or could this possibly just create confusion for possible further proceedings?
(Before posting here, I have tried this emergency procedure with versions 58 and 59. The emergency flashing procedure consists of setting a jumper on the mainboard and booting the update CD from a drive attached internally via SATA cable. The update CD has to be burnt from the ISO from the Lenovo webiste.)

Again, thank you very much!

[hardware1]

Re: Lenovo ThinkStation P520 BIOS file needed

Hello,

When I press the Caps-Lock key, the corresponding LED at the keyboard lights up. However, the LED turns off as soon as the next access to the attached USB DVD drive happens (and the NumLock LED turns on again if I have also pressed NumLock).
If the USB DVD drive is detached, the LEDs for NumLock and Caps-Lock work as usual (i. e. they just light up and turn off when the corresponding key is pressed).

Again, thank you very much!

As far as I know, If the Caps-Lock/Num-Lock is respond when pressing it, that means it's not a BIOS issue. You can start looking for a Hardware problem, or wait for someone else might have another opinion.