ThinkPad T410/T510 Intel IGP/Optimus Unlock Request

[punchinello]

Hello everyone,

I'm looking for that same unlock to my Lenovo t410 2522-4bu with Intel i5 520m and NVIDIA Quadro NVS 3100M. Is there any chance to unlock the current BIOS Version (3.19) to offer the option to switch between integrated graphics chip and the dedicated one.
I think it is worth a try.

Thanks in advance.

[sequencesequence]

Hi,

Could you please post a dump of your Quadro's BIOS using nvflash? You'll need a DOS boot disk/flash drive. I think we should see if there is a difference between Optimus-enabled and older Quadro BIOS', I'll try to find someone who can provide us with more samples., I'll post a dump from my T510 later this weekend.

http://downloads.guru3d.com/NVFlash-5.95...-2590.html

If you're a Linux user, this will also work: http://nouveau.freedesktop.org/wiki/DumpingVideoBios

Also, could you please check your Quadro's BIOS version and Device ID?
They can be displayed using GPU-Z: http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/203...0.5.5.html

My T510's Quadro BIOS Version is 70.18.87.00.00 on Device ID 10DE - 0A6C

There are possibly other differences between the different versions of Quadro NVS3100m, but we should at least investigate this. I'm seriously curious about how the BIOS determines whether or not to show the menu by default. It sure would be awesome if we can just re flash the VGA BIOS and Lenovo was just too wimpy to support that!

[AHMED HOSSAM]

I guess that you want to see nvram setting in his bios but this will be useless .
When adjusting any unlocked option , it automatically adjust nvram defaults and then go to the routines .
Its the same when you just adjust the option directly from nvram .
The problem is not showing the option as i have made it visible in your bios .
The problem is a hardware problem or the routines in the bios .

Now you say both notebooks are the same but one has optimus and the other not .
The routines checks the integrated and the nvidia vga and decide to show the options or not .
I have cracked this routine and made the option visible but when you adjust it the notebook didn't boot or just delete this adjustment .
This means its like ahardware issue in the intel graphics controller which is responsible for switching between both integrated and nvidia .

[sequencesequence]

I guess that you want to see nvram setting in his bios but this will be useless .
When adjusting any unlocked option , it automatically adjust nvram defaults and then go to the routines .
Its the same when you just adjust the option directly from nvram .
The problem is not showing the option as i have made it visible in your bios .
The problem is a hardware problem or the routines in the bios .

Now you say both notebooks are the same but one has optimus and the other not .
The routines checks the integrated and the nvidia vga and decide to show the options or not .
I have cracked this routine and made the option visible but when you adjust it the notebook didn't boot or just delete this adjustment .
This means its like ahardware issue in the intel graphics controller which is responsible for switching between both integrated and nvidia .

So the BIOS is simply setting some values in nvram, which are then read by some piece of video hardware while the computer boots?

I can move this discussion to another forum if you'd like, if your modified BIOS placed the right values into nvram and it still didn't work then I suppose your work is done. I just didn't know if you were certain that the routines you bypassed had no effect on initializing the other GPU, but it seems you know now.

The reason I wanted to see some VGA BIOS dumps is that we don't know exactly what differences exist between optimus-enabled and discrete graphics versions of these ThinkPads. There is probably some type of EEPROM that has to be rewritten, I just wanted to know if the VGA BIOS needs to be as well. I should probably take some pictures of my motherboard to try and determine which EEPROM may need to be rewritten.

There are some interesting developments with Optimus support under Linux, for example I can turn off my Nvidia GPU using an ACPI call.
http://linux-hybrid-graphics.blogspot.com/
Honestly I thought enabling the Intel IGP could be as simple as that and possibly a VGA BIOS flash, but I guess not!

Thanks!

[punchinello]

Hi,

So nvflash.exe is telling me when I'm trying to save the current BIOS to a file, that my EEPROM is not supportet to do so.
But atleast I can provide you with my BIOS-Version (70.18.88.00.06) and Device ID (10DE-0A6C).

What does that tell us? Both our notebooks use the same graphic card model with a different BIOS-Version?

[AHMED HOSSAM]

you just misunderstood my previous reply .

i will explain in another way :-

in your first post in this thread you gave me links to bios with optimus option and one before adding this option .
all changes between both bioses are alot of changes in power management module and alot of other modules but i`m 100% sure that the vga bioses arenot changed or not even updated .................... vga bioses are the same but alot of changes in other modules................this makes us sure that VGA BIOS IS NOT RELATED TO THE OPTIMUS OR DISCRETE OPTIONS .

When i unlock the discrete or optimus option , i only show it no more ............ not playing with routines controlling the work of this option as its found in another module not the one i`m editing .
when i unlock options like frequency ratio and user try it , he reported that the option made the notebook unbootable after adjusting it ........................ the reason is that this option is only for extreme cpus .
its the same for your notebook , i have unlocked the option and you found it useless or made the notebook didn`t boot ................ its a hardware issue ....... AND ITS WELL KNOWN THAT NOT ALL NVIDIA CARDS SUPPORT OPTIMUS TECHNOLOGY .

You said in your first post that an engineer said that the difference is BIOS UPDATE , EEPROM lets stop at this :
EEPROM is found in the nvidia cards and its a hardware related issue ............ to fix it , you should try a card with EEPROM and then test.

ACPI is making the windows control all hardware including the GPU and you can do what ever you want in the gpu through modifying ACPI tables and yes you can turn of and on anything in the notebook even the GPU .

Now , there are no changes in the vga bioses of two bioses , one with optimus option and one without it .
so don`t waste your time looking into this .
the intel integrated graphics controller is the one responsible for outputting the frames of both nvidia card and integrated card to the display .
it may be a hardware issue inside this controller .
OR its just the EEPROM in the vga bios .

[ahmadexp]

So guys, is there finally a way to unlock the T410-2516CTO to enable Optimus?
Please let me know. I might be able to use my hacking experience.

[AHMED HOSSAM]

Currently , i have unlocked the optimus option but its not working and made the notebook didn`t boot after adjusting it .
i believe its a problem in the intel controller or something missing in the nvidia card .
please let me knew if you can help in any thing .

[ahmadexp]

Currently , i have unlocked the optimus option but its not working and made the notebook didn`t boot after adjusting it .
i believe its a problem in the intel controller or something missing in the nvidia card .
please let me knew if you can help in any thing .

Were you able to bring your laptop to normal condition? What is your laptop's model. I have experience with Microcontrollers and some more ...

---

Currently , i have unlocked the optimus option but its not working and made the notebook didn`t boot after adjusting it .
i believe its a problem in the intel controller or something missing in the nvidia card .
please let me knew if you can help in any thing .

Were you able to bring your laptop to normal condition? What is your laptop's model. I have experience with Microcontrollers and some more ...

I was thinking, maybe I can give a shot. It might be dependent on the model. Can you send me the modded bios.

[sequencesequence]

Were you able to bring your laptop to normal condition? What is your laptop's model. I have experience with Microcontrollers and some more ...

---

I was thinking, maybe I can give a shot. It might be dependent on the model. Can you send me the modded bios.

Ahmed Hossan doesn't have one of these ThinkPads, and I think I was the only person to test the modified BIOS. Nothing bad happened, info is posted earlier in this thread. The modified BIOS attached to post 9: http://www.bios-mods.com/forum/Thread-Th...0#pid30440

http://www.mediafire.com/?ob8lqz1thf5x2l5
I tried it on my T510 4313-CTO , I think it can be flashed to any T510. I'm not sure if T410 uses an identical BIOS.