1.69 WILL NOT work with any ThinkPad above a T30! Version 1.69 is available FREE from IBM's FTP site (if it is still there). What the link above could point to is V 1.72 made to look like it is 1.69!!!

If the image is in ZIP format, you have to unzip the file and run the exe; this will prompt you to create a DISKETTE. You need a Floppy and a floppy drive before you can run the utility. If this is really version 1.69 it will let you get to all the steps, but when it writes to the EEPROM with the new information it will error out. Also there are prefixes that must be entered for the data to be valid. Draco2527 wrote:1.69 WILL NOT work with any ThinkPad above a T30!

Version 1.69 is available FREE from IBM's FTP site (if it is still there). If you look at the thread I posted above, the OP Christian was able to use 1.69 successfully on a T40. He gives the procedure in the link. He wrote: 'you have to type S1 in front of the type/serial number'. I also posted a link to 1.69 above.

Yes, I read the posting! I guess we will see what happens when he runs it, it should come up with a red box stating that an error occured. I'm going to have to use the disk utilities to put the serial number in my T41 after a motherboard replacement. I don't have a USB floppy and my son told me about an alternative.

I took my '9 IN 1' memory card reader and writer and put in a MMC card. I used the IBM utility to make a Flash diskette. Then I copied all the files to my desktop except the 3 DOS system files: Command.com and IBMIO.com and IBMDOS.com. Then I made a DOS boot diskette under XP. Then I used this program: to format the MMC card and make it into a DOS bootable drive. You refer to the floppy you just formatted to get the DOS system files. Then I copied all the IBM files except the DOS system ones to the MMC card.

Then I tried it out on my thinkpad and it booted perfectly. This should work for a Flash Diskette and a Maintenance Diskette. KillaByte wrote:@draco2527: The HMD v1.69 *will* work with T42 ThinkPads if all you want to do is to update the serial number. I would however not try the testing routines etc. I guess the error message you were referring to is the one that pops up if you forgot to disable the write-protection of the EEPROM by pressing the ESC key at boot-time when you see the IBM logo on the screen. I've posted about the whole serial update process a while ago here: I am aware of the ESC issue!

Problem solved! I have version 1.62!!!!!FK.another sign that I am getting OLD! Sorry for any confusion I caused.

I just looked at the media, I have version 1.62 ( I obtained this from IBM, when I used to repair ThinkPads), since I could not get the thing to work on the T4X series I busted my a*s to get version 1.72 So I have V 1.62 and V 1.72 NOT version 1.69!!!! Anyways, up to what version of the HMD are they now? I made a boot 'disk' with the Thinkpad Hardware Maintenance Diskette version 1.74. There are a whole bunch of utilities on it with the latest date being 3/30/2005. I'm guessing the SERUPDT.EXE (and not the older SERUPDT2.EXE) is the one to update the serial number. ATUUIDAL.EXE, UUIDCALL.EXE, AUTOUUID.EXE must deal with UUID.

Does one calculate the UUID and one enter it into the EEPROM? IDCSUMAL.EXE & SCIACSUM.COM seem to refer to check sums, has anybody any idea when and if they need to be used? I've read on the forums that you have to press ESC while the 'IBM Access' screen is on to allow EEPROM writes. Is this correct? Also I've seen two opinions on what to enter before the serial number: either 1S or S1. Any ideas on which is right? Also I upgraded my systemboard from a (dead) Radeon 9000 (T41) to FireGL 128 T2.

If I enter in the old serial number will the IBM upgrade software assume my thinkpad has the 9000 or will it detect the FireGL? Sorry for all the questions but maybe any answers will help others too. Thanks, Lloyd. Kerensa wrote:I made the disk from the 1.69 download and booted from it. I pressed ESC when the logo appeared, but when I select to update the serial number (option 1). I get the message that the “EEPROM is locked”. Any suggestions would be helpful.

Would a newer version make any difference with this? Thank you ** got it, seemed the timing for hitting ESC was tricky for me. THANK YOU FOR THAT LAST LINE UPDATE I wasted lots of time, but stuck with it because of what you said. For those that follow in my steps - Boot the computer with the USB floppy drive set to the first boot device. Press AND hold the Esc key the second you see the normal boot screen with the IBM logo. If successful you will see various DOS style commands scroll before you. When the Hardware Maintenance Diskette starts, option one will now work and not say that the BIOS is locked.

View and Download Lenovo ThinkPad T440p hardware maintenance manual. UEFI BIOS downloads. Telephone numbers for Lenovo. Serial Number Of The System Unit.

All the best.

I like not having to worry about web pages flipping adjacent bits in memory (), so I wanted to update my bios. I didn't want to use the Windows update utility (not running windows) or Lenovo crapware system update center that's on windows, so I went the route of the bootable USB. From a Ubuntu system running FDE on a Lenovo Thinkpad 440s, I did the following: Downloaded this: More or less followed directions here: If you do have windows and don't want to shut down, here's how to query your Lenovo Bios version number using powershell (should work on any version of powershell, definitely 2.0+): (Get-WmiObject -class 'Win32_bios' -namespace 'root CIMV2' -computername '.' ).SMBIOSBIOSVersion Here's how to query if you're on ubuntu (and probably other linuxes): $ sudo dmidecode -s bios-version Unlike the tutorial linked above, my steps for creating the bootable USB are a little simpler, mostly because the tool, 'geteltorito' is installed by default in Ubuntu.

How to update: Step 1: Create the bootable USB: **Note, this assumes your usb is /dev/sdb1 • Download the iso here: • Run the following 2 commands: $ geteltorito -o bios.img gjuj13us.iso $ sudo dd if=bios.img of=/dev/sdb1 Done, USB should now be bootable. Updating the Bios with the bootable USB Then I shutdown, crossed my fingers, and booted from the USB (f12 brings up the boot media selection menu while booting if you haven't disabled that in Bios). If you don't care about details and just want to finish, select #2, next, Y, yes, yea, sure, do the thing, reboot without removing media, wait for flashing to happen, remove bootable usb, reboot, done. Detailed version: When the usb loads, I have three options: 1.

Read this first. This actually is pretty darn confusing and didn't really make sense the instructions are in Engrish, or were written by a drunk person. 'update system program'. This does what I'm here for., yes, I want to continue Don't remove USB, press System reboots into USB again Flashing takes about a minute or two, then reboots. I removed the flash drive while it was counting down and it rebooted happily into my disk encryption prompt, then into my OS. Option 3 was to manually change your serial number. I didn't have a need for this as far as I'm aware.

I kind of want to make it 'SKYNET' though. Next I'm going to enable boot protection, TXTmode, and security auditing on Bios and other strings and then will post an update on updating the bios when all that complication is added to the process. My next bios update should be considerably more complicated. Let me know if anyone had issues with this method. Your bios image may be different than mine if your computer is not the T440s.

Does anybody know how to set the new Machine Type and Serial Number after a motherboard replacement for an H535? The motherboard recently failed on my H535 (outside of the Lenovo warranty but still under my credit card's extended warranty). After a great deal of frustration and time, I was finally able to obtain a replacement motherboard from Lenovo. I have now installed the motherboard, and it is working.

However, upon every boot-up I am getting a POST error with two beeps that reads as follows: Error 00CE: Machine Type and Serial Number are INVALID Manufacturing Boot Sequence will be taken if no selection is made I presume the BIOS on the new motherboard needs to be programmed with the correct Machine Type and Serial Number from my computer. Well, my BIOS is by American Megatrends, and I discovered that they have a set of utilities that includes one called AMIDEDOS. It is intended for manufacturers to be able to change text strings stored in BIOS for things like the Manufacturer, Product Name, Version, Serial Number, UUID, SKU Number, Family, etc., which is what I needed to do. It is not intended for consumer use, but it is out there, and I was able to get it. When I ran the AMIDEDOS 'DMIEdit.exe' program (right-clicked and ran as administrator right from Windows 10) and clicked on 'System Information' in the list, I saw 'Product Name STRING INVALID' and 'Serial Number STRING INVALID'. The other fields seemed to have valid entries. I double-clicked on the invalid fields and changed them to 'H535' and my computer's serial number, respectively, and then clicked on 'Update ALL' at the top.

Much to my surprise, it reported that it had successfully saved the new information. And, perhaps even more astonishing was the fact that, when I rebooted, the double-beep and warning about invalid machine type and serial number had disappeared.

In addition, the BIOS showed the new values I had entered, and the 'Manufacturing Boot Sequence' option (which I understand can be much slower than a normal boot) had disappeared. Again, I am a bit astonished at how simple it was to actually fix the problem once I had the correct piece of software, which neither Lenovo nor American Megatrends apparently provides to owners, and it took hours and hours of research and searching to figure it out. Use this information at your own risk, though, as messing with BIOS apparently can lead to problems that are not easily fixed. That said, the changing of these text strings seems relatively safe. I will mention that I also ended up changing the boot method from 'LEGACY' to 'UEFI' in the BIOS after noticing that selection. Message edited by splinke.

Are you sure there's no bios downloads on the support page? Even if no updates are available because it's a new model there's usually a download for the original bios.

I'd go ahead and see if clearing the cmos helps. The battery itself should be good on a new motherboard but you might want to put a DC voltmeter to it. (It did ship with the battery didn't it?). Unless lenovo does things really different, the bios doesn't know what case the motherboard is installed in. Since the machine type and serial number is just a sticker on that case I'm wondering how the bios knows the difference. Maybe the motherboard you received wasn't completely programmed by lenovo before being shipped. Mikelinus, Thanks for your reply.

The numbers are shown in the BIOS (the Machine Type and Serial Number show 'INVALID', but other numbers are there). However, there is no option in the BIOS to change the numbers. I was able to obtain a Hardware Maintenance Diskette image for the Think branded Lenovo's (IBM's?), which is only supposed to be available to repair facilities.

I can boot from it and bring up the utility. However, when I make a selection to change the numbers, it says that the 'EEPROM is currently set to read-only', and that I should reboot and hit 'Esc' when the ThinkPad logo appears. I presume that, if I had a ThinkPad, that would make the EEPROM writeable, and I could fix the numbers.

However, my computer is an H535, which is technically in the IdeaCentre family of desktops--a completely different set of computers than the ThinkPad laptops. So, I am skeptical that hitting 'Esc' when the Lenovo logo appears would make the EEPROM writeable, and, even if it did, I am extremely concerned that the ThinkPad utility would overwrite something in the wrong place, preventing me from ever being able to boot my computer again. Message edited by splinke. DAVEINCAPS, Thanks for your reply. There are currently no BIOS downloads for the H535.

There is one for the H520, which may be the same, but I can't be sure. Similar to what I stated above, I am afraid to try that lest I ruin my computer, and I doubt it would do any good. As I now understand things from a ThinkPad Hardware Maintenance Manual, I may actually need to enter the numbers from my old motherboard. The Serial Number on my old motherboard is different than than the one on my computer. I could try the CMOS clearing thing where you unplug the computer and remove the CMOS battery (one did come with the new motherboard) for a minute to completely drain everything. It doesn't seem like that would do anything, but it may be worth a try. Lenovo is telling me I need to find an Authorized Provider, but none of the ones on their list are in business or offering Lenovo support any more.

So, I am in an impossible situation. Well, my BIOS is by American Megatrends, and I discovered that they have a set of utilities that includes one called AMIDEDOS. It is intended for manufacturers to be able to change text strings stored in BIOS for things like the Manufacturer, Product Name, Version, Serial Number, UUID, SKU Number, Family, etc., which is what I needed to do. It is not intended for consumer use, but it is out there, and I was able to get it.

When I ran the AMIDEDOS 'DMIEdit.exe' program (right-clicked and ran as administrator right from Windows 10) and clicked on 'System Information' in the list, I saw 'Product Name STRING INVALID' and 'Serial Number STRING INVALID'. The other fields seemed to have valid entries. I double-clicked on the invalid fields and changed them to 'H535' and my computer's serial number, respectively, and then clicked on 'Update ALL' at the top. Much to my surprise, it reported that it had successfully saved the new information. And, perhaps even more astonishing was the fact that, when I rebooted, the double-beep and warning about invalid machine type and serial number had disappeared.

In addition, the BIOS showed the new values I had entered, and the 'Manufacturing Boot Sequence' option (which I understand can be much slower than a normal boot) had disappeared. Again, I am a bit astonished at how simple it was to actually fix the problem once I had the correct piece of software, which neither Lenovo nor American Megatrends apparently provides to owners, and it took hours and hours of research and searching to figure it out. Use this information at your own risk, though, as messing with BIOS apparently can lead to problems that are not easily fixed. That said, the changing of these text strings seems relatively safe. I will mention that I also ended up changing the boot method from 'LEGACY' to 'UEFI' in the BIOS after noticing that selection.

Message edited by splinke.