bios repair FL490/FL590 NM-B931

[cornelus1978]

THe serial, model, motherboard number are in the pictures posted.

as history i can say, buyed on an auction, no display posted, i followed the corupted bios situation, flashed few bin's from this forum, and the board only booted with that posted days ago who has missing ME, and now with Volinakis file (outimage.bin).

the battery problem was on both bioses, freeze on trying to boot with battrery attached, work normaly without battery

hope i explained good, and sorry if my english is not so good

thank U

[Lovro25]

Hello all,
Can someone help with this bios? The laptop turns on but shows no picture.
Lenovo Thinkpad L590
SN: PF13NJ4K

[zuu327]

THINKPAD L590 S/N ;PF-26FHJ2

NM-B931 REV 1.0

NO DISPLAY PLZ FIX THIS FILE ANY ONE CAN HELP ME

[ErParucca]

Copy it from another bios to yours using a hex editor. 45 56 53 41

I bought a replacement motherboard but only a NOK was available. Could you please be more specific about which portion of the BIOS has to be copied between the systems?

Thanks!

[SMDFlea]

I bought a replacement motherboard but only a NOK was available. Could you please be more specific about which portion of the BIOS has to be copied between the systems?

Thanks!

Only the windows key is in the bios, the serial number and other DMI in the EC. What are you wanting to copy, the key ,DMI or both. Do you have the backup from both boards.

[ErParucca]

Only the windows key is in the bios, the serial number and other DMI in the EC. What are you wanting to copy, the key ,DMI or both. Do you have the backup from both boards.

apologies. Let me rephrase that: I had a HW failure on a motherboard. I bought a new one but it's NOK (no windows key) as the others were 10x more expensive. I'd would like to move the windows license from the old MB to the new one. Not for me (I know MAS and plenty other tools to activate windows) but just in case I will sell my laptop in the future, to offer a seamless experience to the possible future buyer.

Thanks!

[SMDFlea]

apologies. Let me rephrase that: I had a HW failure on a motherboard. I bought a new one but it's NOK (no windows key) as the others were 10x more expensive. I'd would like to move the windows license from the old MB to the new one. Not for me (I know MAS and plenty other tools to activate windows) but just in case I will sell my laptop in the future, to offer a seamless experience to the possible future buyer.

Thanks!

If you have a bios programmer and know how to use a hex editor it`s fairly easy to copy it from your old board bios to the new one. Post both your bios if you`re unsure and i`ll do it for you.

[ErParucca]

If you have a bios programmer and know how to use a hex editor it`s fairly easy to copy it from your old board bios to the new one. Post both your bios if you`re unsure and i`ll do it for you.

I do but I didn't get at which offset of the content I have to make the edit: you wrote "45 56 53 41": what does that refer to? Thx!

[SMDFlea]

I do but I didn't get at which offset of the content I have to make the edit: you wrote "45 56 53 41": what does that refer to? Thx!

EVSA ,it`s been mentioned before on the forum. The key is at the end of one of the EVSA areas. On some models after a bios update the key can be at a slightly different offset. You can search for the key by looking for hex 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 1D 00 00 00 .It isn`t just the key you need to copy, its the other part around it as well , you`ll see what i mean

[ErParucca]

EVSA ,it`s been mentioned before on the forum. The key is at the end of one of the EVSA areas. On some models after a bios update the key can be at a slightly different offset. You can search for the key by looking for hex 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 1D 00 00 00 .It isn`t just the key you need to copy, its the RSA part as well , you`ll see what i mean

apologies, I must have missed that post/message during my search; thanks for the reference, now I know what to search for/write

[ErParucca]

damn, the single BIOS chip on these machines is a 512Mb/64MB one and it's a WSOP: it requires 10+ minutes of applying pressure to read it and I fear how long it will take to write is there any faster alternative to CH341A? Or at least something than can do read->verify->verify->re-read if not ok->next block rather than reading all only to realize later that there was an error?

[Sparo]

Get a better programmer for faster reading > Section 1.1.1. https://www.badcaps.net/forum/troubl...=2#post1622421
Also many prefer soldering wires beteen chip and adapter instead of applying pressure with the probe. Maybe that will fix your 10+ minute issue if you don’t want to upgrade?
But the best way IMO is to unsolder the chip. It’s necessary for many newer models anyway because you usually can’t read/write them in-circuit unless you cut the Vcc track

[ErParucca]

Laziness makes us smart

[Sparo]

I been there x) but like I said this "hold" won’t work on newer models that don’t allow in-circuit programming. The only way is to isolate the chip AKA unsolder / cut Vcc

[ErParucca]

EVSA ,it`s been mentioned before on the forum. The key is at the end of one of the EVSA areas. On some models after a bios update the key can be at a slightly different offset. You can search for the key by looking for hex 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 1D 00 00 00 .It isn`t just the key you need to copy, its the other part around it as well , you`ll see what i mean

Thanks, I was indeed able to find the area thanks to your direction. Problem being that the hex pattern you provided only seems to exist when a license is installed: there's no trace of it in the BIOS' content that doesn't have a license so I know what to paste following up your example but not where to paste it

For those coming here for similar reasons: EVSA is often considered es a typo by search engines because it's a rare acronym compared to others (for example EVGA); if you want to search more about it, better to search for "EFI Variable Storage Area".

[tracker1]

Lenovo L590 power on no picture
Need help to fix bios pls
Type 20LW-000VGE
MB NM-B931 REV 1.0
SN PF-154AQ6

[MegaGlobal]

Lenovo L490 20Q6 SN/ PF29MXCE,
with my original bios, it cant display, i already try to clean but still same,
i tried bios #47 working but DMI missing. i tried to writing dmi, eror because eeprom locked R/W.
anyone can help or add dmi from orig to bios #47?

here attc my bios and bios #47
thanks for help

[Sparo]

Lenovo L490 20Q6 SN/ PF29MXCE,
with my original bios, it cant display, i already try to clean but still same,
i tried bios #47 working but DMI missing. i tried to writing dmi, eror because eeprom locked R/W.
anyone can help or add dmi from orig to bios #47?

here attc my bios and bios #47
thanks for help

Hi try this BIOS file

Lenovo L490 (type 20Q5, 20Q6) Laptops (ThinkPad) - Type 20Q6
Machine Type Model 20Q6S1VS00
BIOS Version 1.21 (R0ZET43W)
WinKey/12C0000-12CFFFF