Unlocking my Lenovo laptop, part 1 (2016) | Hacker News Reader

Unlocking my Lenovo laptop, part 1 (2016)

zmatt.net

111 pointsuserbinator40 comments

This is exactly why initiatives like coreboot and libreboot matter. [1]

Sadly since Intel ME was introduced, things went to shit real fast in terms of what UEFI / the BIOS does, allows or even supports. The embedded controllers are just as locked down by default as any other vendor's hardware. Same goes for the dependency on Intel's mrc.bin or microcode updates (ucode) that is unavoidable since Haswell/Ivy.

I'm waiting for a case in Europe that goes to court over this, because we have the right to repair. Without taking a case like this to court, nothing will change.

[1] https://www.coreboot.org/Embedded_controller

Maybe your post is just worded oddly, but Intel ME existed long before Haswell.

Yeah, I should rewrite this differently. What I wanted to say is the dependency on mrc.bin in Haswell and later generations, and the way microcode updates have changed in regards to signatures and everything that came with them.

Wonder if there are similar issues on AMD.

AMD has the PSP which is basically the same thing.

Is this a thing current Lenovo Thinkpads still have? If so, it is a deal breaker for me. I do not want to spend money on an expensive machine today, just to realize I cannot replace its battery two years from now.

I can still buy genuine Lenovo batteries for my Thinkpad T440p from 2014. Yes, they are not cheap (the 9cell battery cost ~140EUR in Germany). I did consider switching the cells myself, but given that a good 18650 costs around 7-8EUR, and all the work involved, I don't think it's worth it.

EDIT: I see now that all current Thinkpads have integrated batteries. What a shame. One more reason to keep my T440p alive as long as possible...

Buying hardware with 18650 cells seems to be the only sure-fire (no pun intended) way to get batteries replaced years later.

I think all of them do this, not just Lenovo. Even laptops with user-replaceable batteries are becoming rare. Ironically, the generic no-name Chinese laptops, or the "whitebox" OEM-direct models, are more likely to not have this stuff locked down.

No you can’t change the battery at all anymore with modern laptops.

Why not?

Ooh, this is interestingly relevant to me.. I've bought a bunch of X230's and X230T's recently, all of which have genuine batteries. I imagine a time when the genuine batteries are no longer produced/sold. Luckily it does seem there's a tool to allow using non-genuine batteries at https://github.com/hamishcoleman/thinkpad-ec

Mentioned in the article. It’s based on the article author’s work.

Oh, indeed, that's how I came to find it -- from the article! haha :)

My personal laptop is a MacBook Air from 2013 and surprisingly enough it takes whatever battery I throw in there. Very easy to replace. Runs Linux like a champ. See no reason to “upgrade”. Surprised thinkpads are more locked than apple!

TIL I can replace my battery. And one thing led to another and now I added some more life to my space key. yay

I upgraded my ram in my 2014 air and it is running like a champ!

Yeah mine has 4 gigs which is pretty lean. But it’s soldered on so no upgrade for me!

Trying to see the other side of this -- Lenovo isn't wrong that third party batteries are potentially dangerous, and they probably have a business interest in not having a reputation for Lenovo products being dangerous (even due to third party batteries).

FWIW, I recently bought aftermarket batteries for two older ThinkPads off of Amazon. After a few months of incredibly minimal use, one battery holds just under an hour of charge and the other holds about 10 minutes.

Aftermarket batteries are a crap shoot, but I think you run into counterfeits as well.

One thing to do particularly on Windows is to use Vantage to set the maximum battery charge - if you never charge past 85-90% lifespan should be longer with little enough capacity reduction that you won't notice it.

The 10 minute one probably has a bad cell.

>set the maximum battery charge

That's interesting. Does anyone know a way to do this on Linux?

>The 10 minute one probably has a bad cell.

I wonder why batteries are always hard soldered and glued. I guess it saves space and is cheaper, but it would be so awesome to pull and replace cells with the ease of a battery cage.

echo 80 > /sys/devices/platform/smapi/BAT0/stop_charge_thresh

As usual more information is in the Arch wiki https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/tp_smapi

Interesting, though it looks like tp_smapi stops around the T410 or T420 so maybe ~2010 systems? The workarounds for unsupported devices has relevant options for more modern systems.

> Does anyone know a way to do this on Linux?

Install 'tlp' and 'acpi-call-dkms', then do 'tlp recalibrate BAT0'. This will completely discharge the battery and afterwards charge it to the possible maximum. Then run 'tlp-stat -b' to see the capacity.

I've used new aftermarket batteries in several ThinkPads (X230, T440s, T400, T480) without any issues. I've heard similar from several other users I know. I'm wondering about this battery DRM, as I've never seen or heard of it until now.

I won’t buy Lenovo again because of the fact that my last one, a $1400 gaming laptop, the hinges broke less then a month after a warranty. They seem too cheap for what I paid.

when I saw this link, I was hoping it would show an elegant solution to bypassing Lenovo BIOS supervisor passwords. A used lenovo I bought recently had this pop up after the sitting too long (battery totally discharged I presume) Alas, looks like this is going to the trash (minus ssd and ram of course)

Depending on the model, this various from "extremely easy" to "cheap tool required". Search around, there's plenty of sites with that information (but the "official" sites would certainly not have it.)

Thanks for the tip. I looked around and for my x1 carbon it looks like "tools required" but still, too much work for me to feel certain on the outcome.

TLDR replace cells in original battery to save your time

You can't (easily), the chip detects it (if you disconnect the old cells and then connect the new ones) and self-destructs itself. You need to do this without interrupting the power. https://hackaday.io/page/247-replacing-lenovo-laptop-lithium...

At that point it seems easier just use battery as external source plugged through cable to charging connector and have another adapter for this cable for external charging.

Luckily I don't have to deal with any of these yet, though they seem to sell here used batteries for 40EUR, dunno about their real capacity.

Related recent video from Linus Tech Tips: https://youtu.be/Mkum7G-0vWg

Oh my, that's hard to watch. Why is he freaking out because of some welding sparks and throws perfectly fine battery packs into the bin?

I think the point he was trying to make was users shouldn’t try this unless they really know what they’re doing.

Well to me it looks like he does not know what he's doing. Like that "fume hood" 3m above his head, which will most definitely not protect him from the NiO fumes he's happily inhaling. And not being able to differentiate between a shorted cell and a welding spark.

Linus not knowing what he's doing is the trademark of their channel though

Alex is difficult to watch at times. He did some shouldering recently and with all the money they make they couldn’t even get a proper iron and just used a cheap crap one.

I still enjoy watching and learning things tho.

If you wanted expertise you would be watching gamers nexus or buildzoid.

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