T61/X61 SATA II 1.5 Gb/s cap - willing to pay for a solution

Tell me please: Was your machine restarted automatically after flashing or you rebooted it manually?

 

Hi, I have a similar model (Type 8889-6UG) with the OCZ Vertez II 60gb SSD drive. The bios upgrade worked for me (with iso-CD). Here is my actual performance result compared to the former one.

Before:
http://img62.imageshack.us/img62/9846/atto.png

After:
http://img546.imageshack.us/img546/2650/attobiosupdate.png

Can somebody please confirm the result if it's fine? I've seen other results with better write performance for the SSD.

The write performance even got in the lower filesize worse. Is that ok?

 

I have now switched in the bios from AHCI mode to Compatibility mode in the SATA configuration part.

The write performance now is much better, but what about the read performance?

See here the atto benchmark result:
http://img529.imageshack.us/img529/1031/attobiosupdatecompatibi.png

I am confused. What is the optimum configuration?

 

Run CrystalDiskMark for a better reflection of performance. AHCI's NCQ will seriously accelerate the Q=32 4kb read/write. In any case the modded bios sees you far exceeding the SATA-I ~130MB/s read/write barrier.

 

It's fine.
AFAIK TRIM doesn't work in Compatibility mode, so better stick with AHCI.

 

It restarted automatically.

 

Thanks for your answers! Here is the ChrystalDiskMark report:

Compatibility:
http://img716.imageshack.us/img716/5131/chrystaldiskmarkcompati.png

AHCI:
http://img29.imageshack.us/img29/5100/chrystaldiskmarkahci.png

There is one more issue with AHCI enabled: There is a timeout of 40s(!!! !!!) on booting before the Win7 "Starting Windows" label appears. What could be the reason? I already had the same behavior with the non-patched BIOS.

 

Your SF1200-based Vertex 2 is definitely underperforming. He's a 60GB SF1200-based fresh Renice X3:

http://img833.imageshack.us/img833/4992/crystalzu.jpg

I too found sequential writes go to 65MB/s if a lot of non-compressible data is written to the drive. The fix is to do a secure erase. Also your 4KB Q=1 read speeds are very low. Would be worth checking you have aligned the partitions to the NAND block size OR just do a fresh Win7 install to have it take care of that for you.

 

It is a fresh Win7 installation. IMHO Win7 brings a correct alignment with the standard format process. AS SSD Benchmark says 1024K alignment, what seems to be OK.

I wonder if I should reclaim the SSD because of its bad performance.

 

I got a problem when i try to install the Intel Rapid Storage Technology , it says that my computer dosent meet the minimum requirements for installing the software . i have X61 (7674) with W7 ultimate , i need to see if the bios upgrade work

//B

 

Middleton, I would like to make a donation as I said I would do if I end up using your modded bios (page 32). Well I just flashed my T61 and it's still working, so I'm assuming all is fine. Strangely the reason was upcoming Penryn CPU and not the SATA2. The flash went flawlessly under XP

please either post paypal address on here, or PM it to me. I believe good work always deserves credit

also, if you happen to unlock the last multiplier - hell I'll donate again

 

You don't need my help in unlocking the last multiplier. Anyone can make dual IDA BIOS by himself - check this link.

I stopped receiving donations because at the moment I can't support this thread as well as before. Besides paypal doesn't allow to receive money in my country (only sending allowed). I don't want to disturb Kevin anymore (the man who helped me to receive donations via his paypal account).

 

I think I will try soon IDA hack myself, and I've got some questions:

• Can I modify your already modded BIOS?
• Can it broke due fact that is was already modified?
• Can it lose your changes after my modification?
• And finally: Is there any way of testing it before flashing? I'm little bit scared

 

Any thoughts on that Fn-Ctrl not working?

 

It seems I know why CTRL-FN swap is not working on your machine. Send me email (you can find my address here).

• Can I modify your already modded BIOS? - Yes.
• Can it broke due fact that is was already modified? - No.
• Can it lose your changes after my modification? - No.
• And finally: Is there any way of testing it before flashing? I'm little bit scared - You can't test the mod before flashing.

I'm afraid I need to update all BIOS packages because of CTRL-FN ISO flash issue. So I can simultaneously add dual IDA mod to T61/R61 BIOSes. If you're ready to wait some time, then you'll get IDA capable mod from me. But I can't tell you the exact date of IDA mod release. Unfortunately at the moment BIOS patching has the lowest priority in my life.

 

Thanks!
Now I will definitely wait for another release.
As it was the last time, I can test R61i 8918 BIOS when it's ready.

 

I used the non-FN/CTRL swap version for my T61; can not test it right now but the fact that I'm typing right now speaks for itself. I dont have time to mod the IDA, but if you do it I'll contribute to your work.

speaking of which, send me your name and location (country and city) so that I can send you my donation for what you did already . I can do this by Western Union (which I dont like as they charge a lot), or by MoneyGram (which I prefer). However, doing it this way rather than paypal will take some time as I need to go to location where we have this service.

keep up good work

 

I very much appreciate your willingness to donate. But non-paypal ways are inconvenient for both you and me. So let's leave everything as it is.

 

middleton,

Thank you. I almost forgot about my T61p. I had Vista on it and just never got around to using it. Anyway, I used your BIOS for the SLIC 2.1 upgrade. Win7 OEM installed just perfectly. Where do I make a donation? I may just add a SSD just to make it speedier.

 

Sounds sweet !

 

I don't get what ia this SLIC doing for all your laptops. I had Win7 installing and working on my R61 just fine long before upgrading to a middleton bios.

 

I wasn't the first who embedded SLIC 2.1 into T61p BIOS. Guys from forums.mydigitallife.info had done it long before I started to make ThinkPad BIOS mods. My only merit is that I created so called "Ultimate BIOS" combining together my own SATA-II, Thermal Sensing Error, CTRL-FN patches with SLIC 2.1, whitelist, SXGA+ mods.

As for donation, see above my answers to miro_gt.

But the exact date of IDA mod release is unknown even for me .

If you're a legal owner of Windows 7, then you don't need to know anything about SLIC 2.1.

 

I wasn't and still never had an issue.

 

I have T61p 6459.

I updated the BIOS few months ago and everything was perfect.

After two months I have experienced the 1 long beep, 2 short beeps problem which bricked my laptop. I got the motherboard replaced but I am afraid to do the update again.

Did anyone experience a similar situation by any chance?

Thanks,

 

^ sounds like you GPU gave out.

When you flash the BIOS - it either works or not.

 

I updated with this Bios and works great! Thank Middleton to build this. Specially my disk performance went up a lot. From max 131 now to 255 and min 157 so very happy!! thanks.

T61P/T9300/4GB/W7U-64 OCZ SSD 80GB and WD 320GB.

 

I'm 100% sure that it was GPU fault.

 

Hi middleton, can T61p BIOS be further modified to accept booting from Intel 310 SSD as a mini PCIe disk?

T61 working with Intel 310 ssd? - Lenovo Community

Many many thanks

bfok

 

no.   the system planar doesn't have the necessary physical leads to handle SATA over PCIe.   it's a hardware limitation, not one of software or BIOS.

 

Hi guys. Recently replaced my x61 tablet's hdd with an intel x25-m. This morning tried to flash the bios. All seemed to go well. Screen beeped and then showed "flashing... Done." Then screen went black like it was rebooting. The indicator lights for battery, a/c cord, and power on remained lit but no reboot. Should I assume the worst?

 

Well decided to send it to these guys: www.aqstech.com based on a post by another forum member. They received my laptop today. I'm told that it will ship back to me tomorrow. $99 plus shipping. And just to clarify, I'm certain the problem was caused by user error.

 

It is said that there is a SATA to PCIe bridge IC integrated on such PCIe Intel 310 SSD. Hence with a revised BIOS the new SATA device should be recognized and with a revised BIOS such device should be bootable.
If a revised BIOS is in place this should be the best upgrade on old thinkpad systems for fast OS to top of HDD for data storage. Thanks

 

If that was to work it would be amazing

 

Hi, very helpful hack!
I would flash my T61 upgraded from T7300 to T8300 and with thermal sensing error.

I would like to know if it is possible to disable fn-ctrl switch or if it is permanent? I like them where they are .

 

you get two versions of the BIOS - one with the swap and one without it. I used the one without it.

 

@miro_gt, thank you, my fault!

 

For all Bios developers:
http://biosbits.org/

with this tool (grub2 based) you can test you bios implementation. Seems like it was published today...

 

Is there a BIOS patch to fix the same issue for a T500?

 

there's no need.   the T500 and newer systems don't have this "issue."

welcome to the forum, btw.

 

Have flashed my x61 with the ctrl + fn swap...

All fine, except that it's not swapped the keys...

Just looked in the rar file - both ISO filles (the one with the swap, and the one without...) are named the same and have identical contents...

Any chance of a link to version 2.21 with the ctrl+fn swapped keys version?

Cheers

John

 

Give a shout when you can receive donations again.
I flashed the bios long ago, but didn't actually use it untill I installed a T8100 in my T61 today and thus I would like to honour my word and offer you my monetary thanks
On that note, I'd like to hear from anyone who can help me determine if the strange crashes that I am seeing after installing the T8100 can be related to this bios and the penryn/merom compatibility or if I simply bought a defective CPU (or if something entirely else has gone wrong)
I posted a detailed description of the crashes at This Link

 

my notbook is t61 15''4,witch one is fit?

 

^ the one that says T61 ... LOL

 

Just wanted to report back that my problems turned out to be caused by bad contact between CPU and heatsink as the T8100 seems a little "lower" that the T7300. Bios hack works fine, no temp warning at boot, safety shutdown on critical temp still works
On a side note, any thoughs/experiences in regards to Sata3 backwards compatibility and a Sata2 modded TP?

 

Willing to pay for SATA solution but not now.

Until SSD prices drops significantly (like, A BIG drop in price, which will happen after ages) that's the right time to do it for me.

 

Hi. Could someone help me please.

I've just flashed my x61 to the lastest bios by executing the WINUPTP.EXE as administrator. Before this i use Windows 7 32bit.

If i want to install Windows 7 64bit, do i need to flash my bios again using the ISO file.

Thanks a lot.

 

No, once you flashed the BIOS you don't need to do it again even if you change to a different operating system.

 

Owh ic..
Means that even though i've only patch the BIOS for the 32 bit OS.. i can still install the 64bit OS rite.. previously i only patched the BIOS for 32bit OS not the 64 bit ..

Cause i thought that the previous BIOS i used to patch is for 32 bit OS..
Therefore i thought i need to repatch another BIOS for 64bit OS that are included by middleton...

Thanks a lot k...

 

The BIOS files itself is universal but the interface to flash the files (WinFlash) can only operate in a 32 bit environment. If you use Lenovo's WinFlash program to upgrade the BIOS then you have to do it with a 32 bit Windows OS which is inconvenient if you have either a 64 bit OS (even Windows) or Linux.

You can alternatively burn a Bootable Flash CD to bypass this limitation which will flash the BIOS for you regardless of what OS you have on your system.

 

Owh ic.. thanks a lot for your reply..
Really appreciate it.

By the way i have a few question regarding SSD:
i. SSD need to be defrag or not. Or allignment is enough. What tool/software
is suitable.
ii. Any effect if i format the SSD because i heard that it will reduce the
lifespan.
iii. SSD can be partition or not. Any effect if partitioning SSD because i heard most people never partition the SSD.