Did I Screw Up? Any Hope for Success? Programming BIOS CHIP

[elzorroazul777]

Before I go further down the rabbit hole, I'd like to know if I have created a dead-end in my repair process. I am attempting to reflash my Lenovo X1 Extreme Gen 2's BIOS chip after a power interruption corrupted the BIOS data during an update.

I do not have backups of the data I pulled off the chip using a CH341A 24 25 Series EEPROM https://www.amazon.com/Organizer-Soc...Q%3D%3D&sr=8-5

I also wrote to the chip BIOS files found on Lenovo's website thinking this was the way to program the chip. After doing this the laptop was totally bricked, in that pressing the power button did absolutely nothing. Prior to that, with the "corrrupted files" still on the chip the laptop's keyboard would light up and fans would turn on but black screen and no POST.

After more research, I found that the programmer I used supplies too much voltage and needed to be modified to supply 3.3v.

Assuming the chip isn't damaged, I had a proper programmer such as the TL866II, and a proper bios dump from a member of this forum for my specific model/hardware would I still be able to move forward with this repair given I have no BIOS dump from my chip?

[ktmmotocross]

Re: Did I Screw Up? Any Hope for Success? Programming BIOS CHIP

this programmer use 3.3V. if that chip is newer 1.8V type u can damage chip. u must use 1.8V adapter.
give source of that bios or find another rom and flash it

mostly u dont damage chip

[reformatt]

Re: Did I Screw Up? Any Hope for Success? Programming BIOS CHIP

For future reference, always dump off your EEPROM before re-writing it. At least you will have a fallback if things go wrong. I've applied 3.3V to 1.8V EEPROMS before without any ill effects.

Try a known good dump first. If the machine is still lifeless, then you most likely have a corrupted EC as well. BIOS updates sometimes update the EC ROM. Happened to me once in my early days of flashing, that I corrupted the EC on a HP with a bad BIOS dump. I was able to recover this with a SVOD programmer though. From a quick glean on the net, the block diagram for this model shows it is using a MEC1653 EC. Programmable, but you'll need to know the JTAG points for this board and the right programmer to do it with.

[elzorroazul777]

Re: Did I Screw Up? Any Hope for Success? Programming BIOS CHIP

Thank you for the reply. I believe I may be in over my head on this one as I think you are on to something with regards to the EC. I had been running Manjaro Linux on the device and was prompted with firmware updates. The first update I went with was for BIOS. Thinking back on it, that updated just fine. After BIOS update, upon reboot I was prompted with another firmware update; this time for Thunderbolt 3. It was during that update that the system appeared to stall and after some time I powered off. This is where the damage was done as powering on the laptop caused a nearly lifeless laptop; keyboard lights up, fans turn on, but nothing else. I'm still all quite new to this of course but I think I have an idea of what the EC chip looks like on the board. There are two 8 pin chips on the board, one on the left side and one on the right near the thunderbolt ports. The one on the left side I have identified as the BIOS chip. The one on the right seems like it could be the Thunderbolt 3 controller...or if that's what you would call the EC. Either way, it was the Thunderbolt 3 firmware update which caused the initial problem. After writing to the BIOS chip the laptop became lifeless: no lights, no fans.

I have had difficulty finding any posts online related to this problem with my specific model of Lenovo laptop. This includes finding any BIOS dumps, so I think I am blazing my own path here on this one.

Do you have any advice for soliciting BIOS dumps from people who have the same hardware? I've not done a dump myself but it looks like it can be done virtually (ie not physically plugging a programmer to the chip to get the dump) with software.

[reformatt]

Re: Did I Screw Up? Any Hope for Success? Programming BIOS CHIP

There is a 8MB EEPROM for the Thunderbolt on the block diagram. This isn't the EC, as it's (usually) a 128 pin IC.

In other lappies I've worked on with USB-C, if you don't get 20V negotiated then it does result in a rather lifeless machine. A USB-C ammeter is handy to ascertain what is being negotatied, but this will likely tell you that you're stuck at 5V. I guess you'll require a good dump of this EEPROM, you could request this in the BIOS section. There are 3 firmware files in the BIOS update for Linux, but no idea what these correspond to.

Other option is to reach out to Lenovo support, and state that the update bricked your machine. They might offer to exchange the board. You can only ask. It's not the first time I've come up against a firmware update that has bricked a machine. Dell is my most recent one!

[elzorroazul777]

Re: Did I Screw Up? Any Hope for Success? Programming BIOS CHIP

reformatt, you've been great. Thank you for the solid information! "MXIC MX25l25673G" "MXIC 25V8035F" these are the two EEPROM chips on the board. Do you know how I can tell what is what?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqHAFk_Oy9Q

This video has been great helping me gain knowledge for this repair.

[elzorroazul777]

Re: Did I Screw Up? Any Hope for Success? Programming BIOS CHIP

For future reference, always dump off your EEPROM before re-writing it. At least you will have a fallback if things go wrong. I've applied 3.3V to 1.8V EEPROMS before without any ill effects.

Try a known good dump first. If the machine is still lifeless, then you most likely have a corrupted EC as well. BIOS updates sometimes update the EC ROM. Happened to me once in my early days of flashing, that I corrupted the EC on a HP with a bad BIOS dump. I was able to recover this with a SVOD programmer though. From a quick glean on the net, the block diagram for this model shows it is using a MEC1653 EC. Programmable, but you'll need to know the JTAG points for this board and the right programmer to do it with.

I am at the point where I am realizing this is the problem. https://github.com/flashrom/flashrom#readme Flashrom's readme states "Do not use flashrom on laptops (yet)! The embedded controller (EC) present in
many laptops might interact badly with any attempts to communicate with the
flash chip and may brick your laptop." I believe this is what has caused the problem, as the symptoms point to this.

[mcplslg123]

Re: Did I Screw Up? Any Hope for Success? Programming BIOS CHIP

MX25L25673G is 32 mb chip and is very likely your main bios.
MX25V8035F- is 1MB chip and may be the ec firmware.

[reformatt]

Re: Did I Screw Up? Any Hope for Success? Programming BIOS CHIP

Schematic is paid only, I can see a block diagram for it though. This one seems to be different to the last one I looked at. What EC is on the board? Is it a MEC or Nuvoton? 128pin or 169pin BGA?

The 32MB is BIOS, the 1MB is for Thunderbolt on the one I'm looking at. Hard to tell whether the EC needs programming or not, or it gets its code from the main BIOS chip on boot up. Schematic would be nice.

[elzorroazul777]

Re: Did I Screw Up? Any Hope for Success? Programming BIOS CHIP

Schematic is paid only, I can see a block diagram for it though. This one seems to be different to the last one I looked at. What EC is on the board? Is it a MEC or Nuvoton? 128pin or 169pin BGA?

The 32MB is BIOS, the 1MB is for Thunderbolt on the one I'm looking at. Hard to tell whether the EC needs programming or not, or it gets its code from the main BIOS chip on boot up. Schematic would be nice.

Reformatt,

I don't have a multimeter, but I should. I found out something interesting by observing my programmer while it is connected to the EEPROM chip. I connected the test clip to the BIOS chip before connecting the programmer to a power source (i.e. plugged it in usb port). I had the laptop plugged in ac power. I could see that the 'dead' laptop was sending power back to the programmer. When I clipped it in, while still being unplugged from a usb port, the little red power light lit up on the programmer.

I then decided to see what would happen when I pressed the power button, with the ac unplugged, the red light lit up again on my programmer for a few seconds. This tells me that power is being properly supplied around my board. I'm not sure where to go from here, as I have tried quite a few BIOS roms without any luck.

[reformatt]

Re: Did I Screw Up? Any Hope for Success? Programming BIOS CHIP

The EC (embedded controller) runs it's own firmware and is sometimes called the startup chip. That firmware is either loaded externally (via it's own EEPROM or from the main BIOS) or an internal ROM within the EC itself (usually 128KB). You haven't indicated what EC is on the board but from the sounds it, that is your problem.

If it turns out you need to reprogram your EC, you need something like a SVOD programmer to do that. This is likely beyond your skill set by the sounds, so you might want to investigate sending the board to someone. Or get an exchange board from Lenovo.

[elzorroazul777]

Re: Did I Screw Up? Any Hope for Success? Programming BIOS CHIP

The EC (embedded controller) runs it's own firmware and is sometimes called the startup chip. That firmware is either loaded externally (via it's own EEPROM or from the main BIOS) or an internal ROM within the EC itself (usually 128KB). You haven't indicated what EC is on the board but from the sounds it, that is your problem.

If it turns out you need to reprogram your EC, you need something like a SVOD programmer to do that. This is likely beyond your skill set by the sounds, so you might want to investigate sending the board to someone. Or get an exchange board from Lenovo.

It may not be beyond my potential skill set, but it is definitely beyond my current skill set lol. It's not dire that I fix this laptop, but I figured it's worth exhausting all reasonable options before putting it away.

I couldn't figure out where the EC itself is located. I looked on top and underneath the motherboard but couldn't find a NUVTON NPCX897K. I did locate the JTAG points, so that's good.

I'm just about ready to hang my hat up on this one. Thank you for all your advice!

[reformatt]

Re: Did I Screw Up? Any Hope for Success? Programming BIOS CHIP

Your EC is NPCX897KA0BX (U6801). As with most EC's, there are no datasheets publicly available for it. So cannot say for sure it is programmable as there is very little about it on the net. The block diagram indicates there is a SPI connection to the ThinkEngine chip TC62D517XBG-GP (TE1). You'd think that one or the other has the programming. Both are BGA unfortunately too, so programming would require some info on JTAG points etc.

I don't see any EC dumps on the net, only BIOS. If you had the original BIOS dump that would have been a start at least. But most of this info is not published unfortunately. All the programmers out there to do EC's are all done by reverse engineering.

[SMDFlea]

Re: Did I Screw Up? Any Hope for Success? Programming BIOS CHIP

Hi friend, if this is still pending then i can try my best to build a fresh bios for you. But i need few details like motherboard part no, cpu number and machine serial no. Please let me know.

bios request thread https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showthread.php?t=110993