The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Upgrading X301 BIOS Without a DVD Drive

    Discussion in 'Lenovo' started by Rambler, Jul 21, 2009.

  1. Rambler

    Rambler Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    41
    Messages:
    142
    Likes Received:
    3
    Trophy Points:
    31
    Hi,

    I've just received my X301 and I'm looking at upgrading the BIOS via a USB drive.

    I thought that I'd update the BIOS in a similar way to my T61, i.e. format the USB key with the HP format tool and copy the files extracted from the ISO to the USB key.

    I've downloaded the latest X301 BIOS and it seems that Lenovo have applied a hidden attribute to the ISO file. I've also burned a copy using my desktop and I still cant see any BIOS files like I can with the T61 ISO images.

    As I'm running Vista x64 I cant use the .exe updater either.

    Is there anyway to get the ISO files onto a USB key or do I need to buy an external writer?

    Thanks
     
    Rambler, Jul 21, 2009
    #1
  2. ZaZ

    ZaZ Super Model Super Moderator

    Reputations:
    4,982
    Messages:
    34,001
    Likes Received:
    1,415
    Trophy Points:
    581
    Are you having an issue which cannot be fixed without a BIOS update? I am a firm believer in not updating without a reason to do so.
     
    ZaZ, Jul 21, 2009
    #2
  3. sxr71

    sxr71 Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    21
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    Did you try Winrar? What do you mean by hidden attribute? The files inside are hidden or the .iso is hidden? Can you change the attribute?
     
    sxr71, Jul 21, 2009
    #3
  4. Rambler

    Rambler Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    41
    Messages:
    142
    Likes Received:
    3
    Trophy Points:
    31
    yes, ive tried winrar, ultra iso and magic iso.

    the files are hidden inside the iso. Ive tried to change this with ultra and magic iso but it cant be done.

    Its strange as the iso for the X301 is ~24Mb compared to a ~3Mb iso for the T61.

    I suspect lenovo is hiding the bios files to prevent people like Zender hacking the bios's to work with unauthorised WWAN and WLAN cards.
     
    Rambler, Jul 21, 2009
    #4
  5. chrixx

    chrixx Product Specialist NBR Reviewer

    Reputations:
    641
    Messages:
    1,859
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    chrixx, Jul 22, 2009
    #5