So I had in possession some Lenovo T14s Gen 20WN laptops that had Absolute Persistence enabled and locked. So I used the usual editing of the BIOS to unlock the AP feature.
However, one pooped out on me when it tried to go to Self healing mode in which the other 4 did and had no issues. This one started flashing the LED's on the keyboard and whatnot. Just wont work. I tried flashing the original BIOS back and while it worked to POST, as soon as I loaded Windows, it crapped out again.
So I attempted to clean the ME with the bios to see if it was something there that was...
OntarioTL
Member
Last Activity: Today, 03:21 PM
Joined: 02-23-2022
Location: London
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I know this is a 32Mb file, but I believe you can still use Autopatcher to remove the password. From my experience, it also wipes the computrace as well. So if you add a password to your P52 (one you remember) and pull the BIOS image again, then run autopatcher to remove the password and computrace at the same time. You cannot run autopatcher without a supervisor password which is why I mention to add a password before proceeding....Leave a comment:
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Thanks Volinakis, I will follow your recommendations. I'm sure it will work like the last one.
This was where I am puzzled as I looked at the original BIOS file through HxD and what I though was the enable and disable for AbtState, but it already has AA553C instead of AA5533F. I thought this was for another option that was mixed in. Under UEFItools it showed it as it should so this is why I was getting a headache.
Alright, after examining your screenshot, I gave HxD a shot again. With the search I should have used the "search all" feature which gave me 4 results....Leave a comment:
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Ok, so I attempted to modify another BIOS with the same AbtState enabled. I thought it would be easy to modify though UEFItools but of course the option is greyed out. The older UEFItools I've used can extract but it's not as simple as the HEX view from the newer version as it isolates that particular item. I've looked at other posts about how to change this option AA553F to AA553C , but I have noticed from Hexviewer that this option is not always located near the AbtState or it may not be for AbtState at all. My head hurts between this and a E15 Bios issue.
I hate asking for help,...Leave a comment:
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Well this morning I flashed to what I believed is a clean ME version of this BIOS I posted. It did not work. I would think I had done the clean ME procedure right, but who knows.
I even borrowed another clean ME bios for this particular model from another forum post just in case. Still no post.
So unfortunately even though I am attempting to fix this myself, I may need help afterall....Leave a comment:
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I take it back. It worked. For some reason this morning I managed to have it boot without the Absolute activated before I was about to try your suggestions. Strange, but happy nontheless. Thanks for the help!
Now to make my day brighter, I hope to get this E15 working after a botched BIOS update....Leave a comment:
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Sorry, I didn't include the system board model number. Found the board number from Aliexpress order FE4A0/FE5A0 NM-C421 Rev. 1.0
I did work on the bios file I attached and cleaned the ME at my home after grabbing it from here. Not sure it will work until tomorrow. However, I tried to modify the file with the new BIOS update from Lenovo and it's a FL1 file which is smaller than the actual BIOS size so it's probably just an update. I have no idea where to start there and I have looked at guides but not exactly wrapping my brain around it at the moment.
Fingers crossed....Leave a comment:
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Lenovo E15 corrupt BIOS
So I attempted to replace a Lenovo E15 laptop that had a buggered system board with a board from Aliexpress. All went fine and I updated the Serial # and Model which was the same 20RD as the original.
Booted fine and got into the desktop of Windows. Run Lenovo Vantage and it finds a BIOS update. So I proceed and all seems fine until it reboots to complete the update. This is where when I returned from the washroom I saw the power LED blinking and the Num lock on. I let it sit there for quite sometime and no picture. I had no choice to power down and remove the battery along with... -
Unfortunately it did not work. I do see what I did on my attempt that screwed me up however. I noticed the difference between yours and hoaca that there were 2 changes where yours was only one. Would that be the issue?...Leave a comment:
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I was experimenting on a T490s that has no password but absolute activated. I want to disable it of course. I thought it would be in the MEC1663 but I was wrong as I know with password reset with the MEC trick works to gets rid of Absolute or Computrace on other models. Secondly examining the last request original BIOS and fix applied by volinakis and hoaca388. I decided to compare my BIOS image and make the two adjustments I see in the fix with no luck. Am I missing something here? Or is the value different per activation and deactivation?
My untouched BIOS image before I made changes....Leave a comment:
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Ok, got it to work on the first try. Not as easy as I said. Simple to compare when you have a fixed and original BIOS. Hard to find the same string when address locations are off a little per BIOS image....Leave a comment:
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I'm hoping it's the last. But you are right, the laziness got the better of me. I just compared the previous fixed files and the original lock file with hex comparator. Is it really that easy? I was worried Dell went all Lenovo on us.
I'll try it myself and see....Leave a comment:
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Thanks again Rex!
Of course I would have another one drop in my lap.
Dell Latitude 5420 Core i7 11th gen
Service Tag: 61676J3...Leave a comment:
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Thanks Rex!! Worked like a charm.
Ok it took me a bit to grab the other BIOS images since one was an XMC chip. Now that I figured that out after searching, here they are.
Dell Latitude 5420 Core i7 11th gen
Service Tag: 6SJ8HK3 and 6T5K4J3
Thanks again for the assistance!!!...Leave a comment:
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Well this sucks that you can't use the old system of password unlockers for Dell.
I have 3 of these Lattitude 5420 systems that I'm asking for help with. I will start with one for now and test it out first.
Dell Latitude 5420 Core i7 11th gen
Service Tag: G41J2F3
Early thanks to whom helps out!!!
Out of curiosity. If one unit has been wiped of the admin pw with the fixed BIOS file, can I use the same BIOS file from the first one on the other 2 since I have to re-enter the service tag anyway?...Leave a comment:
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Oh crap! Thanks for the heads up Flea. Of all the suffixes I tried, none that you suggested was attempted. Either way, I got the BIOS file I found on here wiped the pw and also revived another unit that would not post properly....Leave a comment:
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Thanks for any help that would have come my way. However, I found a BIOS image that worked and bypassed the password. So I guess it was stored in the BIOS after all. Learn something new everyday.
I removed my dump so not to gunk up the forum server with unnecessary files....Leave a comment:
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Now before you send me links to the password generator as I have tried both on [URL]https://www.biosbug.com/dell/[/URL] and [URL]https://beta.bios-pw.org/[/URL] as they both spit out the same Result CODE to enter in order to override the password, it does not work with this unit whether it is just hitting enter or CTRL and Enter. Still says wrong password entered.
I did try to flash with other E7470 clean ME files I found on the forums here, but while some got passed POST, it still has the password intact to override.
I'm curious, is the password even on the BIOS chip...Leave a comment:
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Re: Help with part for Lenovo X1 Yoga Gen 3
Thanks Flea!Leave a comment:
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Help with part for Lenovo X1 Yoga Gen 3
I had a customer do a number on one of the USB-C ports enough that they pushed it in on the board. It crushed and looks like shorted one of the capacitors (C3402 on the board diagram).
Some pads will have to be redone as some ripped too along with a new USB port.
However, my biggest deal is locating the capacitor replacement part.
On the board diagram it lists it as SC1U25V2KX-2-GP, but I can't find it in a online search. All I get is other board diagrams that have the same part. And yes, I'm a noob enough that I can't decode the part number or manufacture...
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