M710q Please my bios clean me

[menshawy]

where is DMI PLEASE

[THXFX]

Re: Please my bios clean me



try..

can someone upload peste bios file again? the link provided by peste don't work, when open the link it give this error: Invalid File Specified

[fromthebrink]

I found a Lenovo ThinkCentre 710q (7th gen i3, 8gb ddr4, 256 gb) and monitor ( TIO24 gen 3) at a thrift store for $15 dollars.

A friend needed a gaming setup with a newer CPU (he has a gen 4 i5-4460). Games like DayZ and CS2 crashed often. His rig had bad airflow since it was near the floor and full of dust. I wanted to fix both issues: give him better performance in a small system that could sit off the floor.

My plan was to upgrade the guts, attach it to the monitor, and save space. But it didn't go that smoothly.

When I powered it on, it was running Chrome OS—Amazon's locked-down version. This made it useless outside of Amazon's work environment.

Worse, the BIOS had no UEFI options to boot from another drive!

That kicked off a long process. I learned a lot and noted every step, including links. I had to dig through tons of incomplete resources, ( Credit to assquitoe https://www.badcaps.net/forum/troubl...me?view=thread at bad caps for the most comprehensive post I could find on this project to date)

1. Flashing the BIOS: Installing and running Flashrom to remove ChromeOS bios

• 710q bios: https://www.badcaps.net/forum/troubl...me?view=thread
  -See comment from peste
• CH341A chip + SOIC8 Clip programmer (good quality cable from first experience on amazon). https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07VNVVXW6...fed_asin_title
• fantastic instructions with not only how to identify your BIOS chips but also how to hook up cable to chip, ensuring that pin 1 is consistent throughout the hardware setup.
  -We will refer back to this later: https://youtu.be/lmYXiE2fQ6E?list=TL...a7wwNDA1MjAyNQ
• I had to use a steam deck as all my attempts with creating a virtual machine failed and its what I had on hand. Virtual box and HyperVM refused to work with all my troubleshooting steps. This is best with a separate PC that runs Linux exclusively.

Steam deck nuance with removing read/write

passwd deck
sudo steamos-readonly disable \\protection before and after installation

\\ We will do this again at the end to leave it how we found it

Downloading Flashrom from Arch repository on Linux with Steam OS. https://www.reddit.com/r/SteamDeck/c...ur_steam_deck/

sudo pacman-key --init

sudo pacman -Syy

sudo pacman -Syu

sudo pacman-key --populate holo

sudo pacman-key --populate archlinux

sudo pacman -S vi \\Installing a package to test out repository set up

sudo pacman -S flashrom

Prepare the CH341A Chip programmer

Unplug the PC and remove the CMOS battery before any changes.
BIOS chip is under the SSD; it says "Winbond" and starts with "25" or "24".
Pin 1 is near the circle on the chip. Match red wire of the SOIC clip to pin 1.
25 series = left side of programmer; 24 series = right side.

USB-C male to USB-A female adapter-https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C4KWHRT5?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title

Using the above adapter, plug CH341A into available usb slot. This is where the adapter from USB A to C comes into play, steam deck limited to one USB-C port...

Red light means that we are getting power.
green light on opposing side of USB interface means we are actively running.

Time to test and use the set up!

sudo flashrom --programmer ch341a_spi -r new1.bin (see video above for command source)
sudo flashrom --programmer ch341a_spi -r new2.bin
sudo flashrom --programmer ch341a_spi -r new3.bin

new#.bin are new files that we create when reading the old/already present bios Son the chip.
to ensure their validity we can compare hashes between each read of the present bios file

sha512sum new1.bin \\( see video above)
sha512sum new2.bin
sha512sum new3.bin

Results of above entries should yield the exact same strings of numbers and characters as each new#.bin is a copy of the same bios
As this is a sanity/safety check, I have NO idea what I would of done if the values were different. If they had been dissimilar I probably would have re-seat the SOIC8 clip and tried again

Once we verify all hashes are the same, we can identify the default directory of the new#.bin files. This way we can upload the stock Lenovo bios for the 710q without needing to specify a directory location in the final write command (bios link & video link)

On the steam deck the default directory was he "Home" screen of the SteamOS flavor of Linux. (/home/deck)
After unzipping the bios .rar file, I placed the stock bios in same location as .bin files (again, /home/deck)

sudo flashrom --programmer ch341a_spi -w 11.6.10.3197+outimage.bin ("1.6.10.3197+outimage.bin" was default name of bios from badcaps forum link)

wait 15-30 min.
final result (see video) should verify write and say "VERIFIED"


at this point we need to see if it worked. unplug programmer.
Plug display cable, power, and keyboard to boot into bios (f1 spam)
If you see the Lenovo splash screen, it worked. BIOS date in BIOS menu should be dated to ~ 2017
Now update the BIOS to the newest version.

sudo steamos-readonly enable
sudo passwd -d deck

2. Updating BIOS 2 electric boogaloo flash installation media

• Rufus, tool for creating USB media that updates BIOS: https://jackstromberg.com/2020/02/tu...-devices-bios/

- use this guide step by step to create the media for up to date bios

• 710q BIOS Update package: https://pcsupport.lenovo.com/us/en/p...ry=BIOS%2FUEFI for the 710q

Specifically want: BIOS Update (USB Drive Package) m1ajt5ausa.zip

In BIOS:
Disable PXE Boot (Devices -> PXE Option ROM -> Disable)
Set boot to USB HDD
PC was defaulting to boot from a network connection regardless of any changes to boot order.
set to load from USB hdd after PXE boot disabled

next time you boot you should see on screen instructions as the PC recognizes BIOS update media on flash drive
I left my serial number and other meta data the same. I didn't want to find out if changing any of that would alter the boot (although I don't think it would)
It will restart several times, then take you back to Lenovo splash screen
press f1 to get back to bios, you should see updated BIOS version from 03/2025. Success!

That is it if you just came here for flashing the BIOS. The rest will be about installing Windows from USB ( in my case, the same USB, just formatted again) and discussion about using the set up for light to intermediate gaming with an externally mounted GPU.

3. Installing Windows from flash installation media

Had issues with either USB port or bad Win 10 installation media. This created a boot loop.
Fix:

• - Reflash USB, recreate it from Win 10 installation media tool .exe (https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/soft...load/windows10)

• - Use another port, I did both at the same time, unsure which one fixed it

In BIOS: set CSM to "enabled", boot mode to "auto", and boot priority to "legacy first"

** goes without saying, but after Win 10 set up, f1 back into BIOS set up and change boot order to primary drive that you just installed Windows on or you will boot loop!

[Bios Cracker]

Lenovo m710q
Type 10YC
S/N PC0Y8EAY
Problem - Attached in Pic. Not booting further, need to change to windows
Any Help.

hoaca388 SMDFlea

[Bios Cracker]

Lenovo m710q
Type 10YC
S/N PC0Y8EAY
Problem - Attached in Pic. Not booting further, need to change to windows
Any Help.

[hoaca388]

Hello, I cannot access the bios settings of Lenovo Thinkcentre M710q. I tried the shared files, but I could not get an image. I am sharing my original file and product information. I would be glad if you could help, thank you.
machine type : 10yc
model number : s00p2m
SN : PC1H6TVD
Product : 10ycs00p2m

Are you using Chrome OS ?

[kafkaf]

Hello, I cannot access the bios settings of Lenovo Thinkcentre M710q. I tried the shared files, but I could not get an image. I am sharing my original file and product information. I would be glad if you could help, thank you.
machine type : 10yc
model number : s00p2m
SN : PC1H6TVD
Product : 10ycs00p2m

[Firas Al Zatreh]

Hi , technically my first post here, I am trying to bypass the Amazon Chromium firmware for multiple M170q's
I Used the bios file in this thread ( by peste) and 6 of the 7 PCs worked fine , they are all identical with minor differences in bios chips, the 7th PC won't post , it powers on as soon as I plug in the DC jack , I tried to flash the bios many times with the exact same file I used for the rest 6 PCs but no luck , any ideas?
I Used the CH341A programmer

Update : turns out its a dead bios chip , replaced with other 128Mbit / 16 MB and worked just fine

[Firas Al Zatreh]

Hi , technically my first post here, I am trying to bypass the Amazon Chromium firmware for multiple M170q's
I Used the bios file in this thread ( by peste) and 6 of the 7 PCs worked fine , they are all identical with minor differences in bios chips, the 7th PC won't post , it powers on as soon as I plug in the DC jack , I tried to flash the bios many times with the exact same file I used for the rest 6 PCs but no luck , any ideas?
I Used the CH341A programmer

[ordinateur]

Re: Please my bios clean me

try..

Successful convertion from a ChromeOS like stuck interface to Windows with this file. Great job

[m710q_flash]

Re: M710q Please my bios clean me

It seems that all the knock-off clips/clamps are generally junk, if I were doing this more than once I would get a Pomona clip. I got lucky with my el cheapo version, I actually bought a ch341a_spi kit that I ended up only using the clip from.
After reading this I had decided not to use it: https://libreboot.org/docs/install/s...not-use-ch341a
So many have had success with it though, so who knows, but I didn't want to risk it.

I ended up using a Raspberry Pi 3B to do the programming with the latest version of RaspiOS (bookworm) and used the flashrom that was in the repo.

While we have the same machine 10YC and version 1.1motherboard, I also have a different model number on my label.

I attached a picture of the motherboard with the chip I flashed circled in green.

[FriendoZA]

Re: M710q Please my bios clean me

Try using the latest version of flashrom, earlier versions didn't detect my chip properly.

That wasn't so successful:

me@wave:~/Desktop$ sudo flashrom --programmer ch341a_spi -r
flashrom v1.3.0 on Linux 5.15.0-86-generic (x86_64)
flashrom is free software, get the source code at https://flashrom.org

Using clock_gettime for delay loops (clk_id: 1, resolution: 1ns).
Error: Unknown programmer "ch341a_spi". Valid choices are:
dummy, serprog, buspirate_spi, rayer_spi, pony_spi, linux_mtd, linux_spi.
Please run "flashrom --help" for usage info.

Broke my clamp in the process. FML. Now I wait for a replacement.

[m710q_flash]

Re: M710q Please my bios clean me

flashrom v1.2 on Linux 5.15.0-86-generic (x86_64)

Try using the latest version of flashrom, earlier versions didn't detect my chip properly.

[m710q_flash]

Re: Please my bios clean me

try..

Thank you for this. I have an m710q 10yc s00p00 motherboard v1.1 and read my bios chip(locked to Amzn)with a raspberry pi and a chip clip(generic pamona clip)@ 16,777,216 bytes. I tried to flash the bin from the Lenovo firmware package on their site and only got an error with flashrom.
Error: Image size (8388608 B) doesn't match the expected size (16777216 B)!

So I used the one in post #2, it kept failing to verify the image to the W25Q128.V chip but it did allow me to boot from a USB memory stick that I had set up to install Tiny10, used Tiny10 to run the Win10 firmware flashing utility from Lenovo site to make sure that the firmware was correctly and completely installed then reset to factory defaults. Now the system is working properly with Ubuntu 23.04 installed. Once 23.10 ISO is finished I will actually install that.

Thank you so much for posting!

For those that also get a failure, make sure that you have your USB installation media set up properly and ready to go, I was surprised that it worked even though verification didn't work and the sha1sum of the dump afterwards was different than what was written it still got the job done, so don't give up.

On mine pressing F12 while booting was used to select the boot media.

Not sure if posting my original firmware file would do any good but if needed let me know.

[FriendoZA]

Re: M710q Please my bios clean me

Serial number ?

RULES UPDATE for BIOS requests/offers *AVOID BANNING, READ BEFORE POSTING*
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showthread.php?t=103569

.

Outer casing: PC1HNYKW
Board label: 8SSB20S93654H1DG04G002R / SB20S93654

(I've included pictures)

[SMDFlea]

Re: M710q Please my bios clean me

Mine's presenting the same symptoms as @rgorbie. However, I did not flash the backup back onto it. I don't see any other chip on the board.
The md5sum of the 2 separate backups matched. So did the md5sum of the bios read after flashing the bios in the second post of this thread i.e. it's successfully flashing. Just not working/booting. Any ideas?

Serial number ?

RULES UPDATE for BIOS requests/offers *AVOID BANNING, READ BEFORE POSTING*
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showthread.php?t=103569

.

[FriendoZA]

Re: M710q Please my bios clean me

post the original bios..

Mine's presenting the same symptoms as @rgorbie. However, I did not flash the backup back onto it. I don't see any other chip on the board.

sudo flashrom --programmer ch341a_spi -r backup_test1.bin

flashrom v1.2 on Linux 5.15.0-86-generic (x86_64)
flashrom is free software, get the source code at https://flashrom.org

Using clock_gettime for delay loops (clk_id: 1, resolution: 1ns).
Found Macronix flash chip "MX25L12805D" (16384 kB, SPI) on ch341a_spi.
Found Macronix flash chip "MX25L12835F/MX25L12845E/MX25L12865E" (16384 kB, SPI) on ch341a_spi.
Multiple flash chip definitions match the detected chip(s): "MX25L12805D", "MX25L12835F/MX25L12845E/MX25L12865E"
Please specify which chip definition to use with the -c <chipname> option.

I couldn't specify the chip as per the label on it:

sudo flashrom --programmer ch341a_spi -r backup_test1.bin -c "MX25L12873F"
flashrom v1.2 on Linux 5.15.0-86-generic (x86_64)
flashrom is free software, get the source code at https://flashrom.org
Error: Unknown chip 'MX25L12873F' specified.
Run flashrom -L to view the hardware supported in this flashrom version.

Tried the other options:

me@wave:~$ sudo flashrom --programmer ch341a_spi -r backup_test1.bin -c "MX25L12835F"
flashrom v1.2 on Linux 5.15.0-86-generic (x86_64)
flashrom is free software, get the source code at https://flashrom.org

Error: Unknown chip 'MX25L12835F' specified.
Run flashrom -L to view the hardware supported in this flashrom version.
me@wave:~$ sudo flashrom --programmer ch341a_spi -r backup_test1.bin -c "MX25L12845E"
flashrom v1.2 on Linux 5.15.0-86-generic (x86_64)
flashrom is free software, get the source code at https://flashrom.org

Error: Unknown chip 'MX25L12845E' specified.
Run flashrom -L to view the hardware supported in this flashrom version.
me@wave:~$ sudo flashrom --programmer ch341a_spi -r backup_test1.bin -c "MX25L12865E"
flashrom v1.2 on Linux 5.15.0-86-generic (x86_64)
flashrom is free software, get the source code at https://flashrom.org

Error: Unknown chip 'MX25L12865E' specified.
Run flashrom -L to view the hardware supported in this flashrom version.

Only this worked:

me@wave:~$ sudo flashrom --programmer ch341a_spi -r backup_test1.bin -c "MX25L12805D"
flashrom v1.2 on Linux 5.15.0-86-generic (x86_64)
flashrom is free software, get the source code at https://flashrom.org

Using clock_gettime for delay loops (clk_id: 1, resolution: 1ns).
Found Macronix flash chip "MX25L12805D" (16384 kB, SPI) on ch341a_spi.
Reading flash...done

The md5sum of the 2 separate backups matched. So did the md5sum of the bios read after flashing the bios in the second post of this thread i.e. it's successfully flashing. Just not working/booting. Any ideas?

[peste]

Re: M710q Please my bios clean me

I believe I have the same issue as Psychomaniac, I have a M710Q 10YC, but the motherboard is the IX2QIH v1.1 (and not the v1.0 that others have), so yes, I believe it has 2 BIOS chips, a Winbond and an MX25L12873F.

When I flash the MX25 with the modded file from step 2 in this thread, I just get a black screen when powered on. Flash back to original BIOS and Amazon Chromium comes back on.

Sounds like there is a 2nd chip to flash with this model? Should I post the Winbond file? Let me know what I can do and I'll post it.

post the original bios..

[rgorbie]

Re: M710q Please my bios clean me

look carefully on the board, do you have two bios chips? or one?

I believe I have the same issue as Psychomaniac, I have a M710Q 10YC, but the motherboard is the IX2QIH v1.1 (and not the v1.0 that others have), so yes, I believe it has 2 BIOS chips, a Winbond and an MX25L12873F.

When I flash the MX25 with the modded file from step 2 in this thread, I just get a black screen when powered on. Flash back to original BIOS and Amazon Chromium comes back on.

Sounds like there is a 2nd chip to flash with this model? Should I post the Winbond file? Let me know what I can do and I'll post it.

[ssd012]

Re: Please my bios clean me

it's no secret ... I use this ... read here ...

https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showthread.php?t=88533

brother how to update serial number in bios using this tool &how to use this tool plz help me