Service Forum

[storm525]

Hello Viktor,

just one question. I have Thinkpad T61 14.1 wide with NVidia GPU, wich doesn´t boot. Firstly, I was pretty certain, it could be the "famous" GPU chip, so I orderen new one and let it replaced by professional.

When I wanted to turn it on, only the lights for numlock, capslock, are flashing, and the lights for chargin, battery and what I call "funny" Z are still on, but the laptop doesn´t boot.

I tried post card, which shows 0 = it means no readings from BIOS, or corrupted CPU, and probably whole motherboard could be defective.

My thoughts are, it is the bios itself. Can I replace the bios chip from T61 14,1 wide with Thinkpad T61 15,4? And, where can I find those chips, if I will try to do it this way.

...Or, maybe you could have some other suggestion for me..

Thanx in advance.

[victor]

Hello,

No, the BIOS can't be replaced because is married to the TCPA chip AT97SC3203. If the BIOS is corrupt then we have to repair it. We, at allservice, can extract te TCPA signature and build a new BIOS from scratch exactly for your model using the original certificates, etc.

If you need our BIOS repar service then it is free with each SPEG programmer, in case you don't have a SPI flash programmer for it. Otherwise, the BIOS repair service is $35 for non SPEG users.

But anyway, just for test you may put a foreign BIOS chip and the laptop must start with 0192 error on screen, so you'll know if the board is working.

Regards
_________________
Victor Voinea
ALLservice HQ, Romania.

[storm525]

Thanx for quick reply..and where I can find those chips, if I want to exchange them?

Do U have a pics of the locations on the board?

[victor]

It is a 8 pin SOIC usually marked with some green/blue ball of paint
_________________
Victor Voinea
ALLservice HQ, Romania.

[status_symbol]

victor,

I replace my bios chip on a T60p with one that claimed to reset the SV password. When I boot the laptop I get the typical date time error, but no "0192: System Security - Embedded Security hardware tamper detected" error. I am, however, still prompted to give a power on password, so now I need to explore other avenues. Will I still be able to extract the password with a circuit interface device, or do I need to worry about matching the TCPA to the BIOS first?

Thanks in advance

[bob]

Hi,

Such "unlock chips" are just a hoax. It's quite amazing why people still buy them and get scammed.

Now, put the original BIOS chip back and throw the other one away.

Then check this post here: http://www.allservice.ro/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1061#1061

You need PC8394 tools for that T60. You may order it from our store
www.allservice.ro/store/utils/

Cheers

[status_symbol]

Bob, thanks for getting back to me so quickly. The problem I have is I no longer have the original chip, so I am not sure if I can use an extraction method without the original BIOS chip. I am also unclear why I am not getting the 0192 error? Any thoughts?

Thanks

[bob]

Then we have to build a neutered BIOS for it too. The service is available for SPEG licensed users only. 0192 appears when the BIOS does not match the TCPA chip signature.

So let me resume:
-0192 is one problem that requires SPEG;
-SVP lock is another problem that requires PC8394 tools.

[status_symbol]

I understand that the if I were getting a 0192 error, it would indicate that my bios is not paired to the TCPA chip. If however, I am not getting a 0192 error after replacing the bios chip would this indicate that I do not need a new bios built.

I wanted to make sure the bios is all taken care of before I move on to messing with recovering the SVP lock.

Thanks again for all your help, and prompt responses on this one.

[victor]

Hello,

If the BIOS is not showing 0192 then that's a step forward.
But since you lost the original BIOS as you say then I guess that would be a lot of fun.
_________________
Victor Voinea
ALLservice HQ, Romania.