booger_sniffer5000 Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 First off, I'd like to start off by saying that this will, without a doubt, void your warranty. If you aren't comfortable pulling apart your laptop and possibly damaging it, then do not proceed. Flashing your BIOS can brick your laptop, if you don't know what you're doing, DON'T DO IT. That being said, all I needed to get to the BIOS chip was a screwdriver and an old gift card (to separate the casing without damage.) Hey guys, it's been a bit since I've been active, but my MacBook recently died on me and I picked up a T450S to replace it, so I'm back in the hackintosh game. Of course those of us with this laptop know that it has the Intel HD5500, which isn't an issue to get working if you have the proper DVMT prealloc memory set. Well, this becomes an issue when the proper memory size isn't set, and there's no way to change it in the BIOS. Looking at FireWolf's guide: http://www.firewolf.science/2015/04/guide-intel-hd-graphics-5500-on-os-x-yosemite-10-10-3/ (awesome guide, btw) (Added note: I'm running El Capitan) You see that he suggests changing the memory size within an EFI shell, which I found doesn't work with Phoenix BIOSes...so I had to resort to a modded BIOS approach, which luckily worked. Anyway, I want to make it clear that I don't want to take credit for work I have not done: I have only put together this small guide, really. Now, the unfortunate thing is that the BIOS chip cannot be flashed with a modded BIOS through a simple software approach, it must be done with an EEPROM flasher and a test clip. I used a simple CH341A programmer which can be had for cheap on eBay from China, and a SOIC8 SOP8 test clip (also from eBay.) I believe I only spent around $10 for both when I bought mine. There is a nice guide on using them over on bios-mods.com: https://www.bios-mods.com/forum/Thread-REQUEST-Lenovo-IdeaPad-S405-Whitelist-Removal?page=3 Just a few tips I'd like to add though: make sure the clip is seated properly (touching the correct pins, etc.) I used a flashlight to make sure it was on. I disconnected my main batteries for this, and left my CMOS battery connected (I disconnected the CMOS battery after the flash for maybe 30 seconds to clear the CMOS.) Also, it took me a bit of time to realize the proper way to connect the clip to the socket on the programmer (I will take a picture when I get back home.) I have also attached the software I used to flash the chip, as older versions do not seem to work properly with this size BIOS chip. You can download the software from my Dropbox here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/qqs2bg1iq5m30jj/CH341A.rar?dl=0 You'll want to disable your antivirus for this, as mine seemed to not like it. I didn't write the software (it was written by some Chinese company), so I can't guarantee it's not malicious, but it works just fine and I haven't had any issues. Basically, the software procedure to flash is set the proper chip (I used the W25Q128BV profile, which is not the EXACT model number of my chip, but worked just fine), read/backup the original BIOS (IMPORTANT), erase the chip, and then flash the chip. The modded BIOS that I used is just an unlocked BIOS that I requested over at bios-mods.com, and BDMaster so nicely helped me out. Note that the BIOS version I used is 1.14 (iirc), so it is not the latest version, but works just fine. The modded BIOS can be downloaded from my Dropbox, along with my original backup, if you want: Modded BIOS: https://www.dropbox.com/s/4svhlyw04ipznkj/Firmware.bin?dl=0 Original BIOS: https://www.dropbox.com/s/a0l11dqczquy4bx/BIOS.rom?dl=0 If the modded BIOS helped ya out, consider throwing the guy a donation for his hard work (I donated to him also): http://goo.gl/EzxWhW Anyway, once you've got the BIOS flashed, you have to get your BIOS settings setup. Here are the values I changed: Advanced -> System Agent (SA) Configuration -> Graphics Configuration: DVMT Pre-Allocated -> 128MB DVMT Total Gfx Mem -> 256MB Config -> Display: Total Graphics Memory 256MB Startup: UEFI/Legacy Boot -> UEFI Only CSM Support -> Yes That should get you on track. After that, you have to set Clover to load the proper profile (or you could use DSDT.) This is outlined in FireWolf's guide at the top of this post, but basically, you set: InjectIntel = True ig-platform-id = 0x16160002 After that, give it a reboot and you should have full hardware acceleration. I'm willing to answer anybody's questions, too. Also, please note that all I did was compile information/research made by other people much smarter than me, into a guide, I cannot take credit. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tluck Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 glad to see a post about T450 or T450s - was thinking of getting one to replace my T420... was curious about the wifi situation. there are some posts/rumors about whitelist. it seems this bios mod was about gfx - very cool. but what is your wifi situation? did you replace the wifi with OS X compatible chip? was a modded bios required this too? thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
booger_sniffer5000 Posted December 9, 2015 Author Share Posted December 9, 2015 glad to see a post about T450 or T450s - was thinking of getting one to replace my T420... was curious about the wifi situation. there are some posts/rumors about whitelist. it seems this bios mod was about gfx - very cool. but what is your wifi situation? did you replace the wifi with OS X compatible chip? was a modded bios required this too? thanks. There is no whitelist, I have replaced my WIFI card with this: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JGFA50U?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00 BCM94352Z M.2 It works perfectly in OS X with kext mods/injection. However, for some reason, it does not work in Windows (and some say not in Linux?). I've tried multiple drivers in Windows, the card is detected in device manager and apparently powers on and off fine, but it does not detect any networks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tluck Posted December 10, 2015 Share Posted December 10, 2015 wow. thats great news. this makes me comfortable to move forward on getting one then. can you post your dsdt and clover config.plist? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UberMarcus Posted January 1, 2016 Share Posted January 1, 2016 Finally, I successfully unlocked my bios image. You need to do some more processes to be done in addition to the above. Firstly bios image uploaded should be used as a reference. That means you need to select some parts (menu unlocked, whitelist unlocked) in it, and apply them into your own bios image, and then you can write that updated image to your flash. For doing this, you'll need UEFITool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alisol Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 thank you for your information. can i use this modified bios on thinkpad e450? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mircsicz Posted February 26, 2016 Share Posted February 26, 2016 thanks for all the info's, but I'ld like to request one more info: do you have a picture from your T450s? I'ld like to know where the eeprom is located... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spamec Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 wow. thats great news. this makes me comfortable to move forward on getting one then. can you post your dsdt and clover config.plist? Hi Tluck! I would follow instructions available at https://github.com/shmilee/T450-Hackintosh(not my work, but it's a great resource to start and test various settings). My biggest issue is weak support of touchpad + buttons (random clicks, wrong button support), but I have zero knowledge of programming so can't complain... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tluck Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 cool. thanks for the pointers. i think i may wait a little bit and see if things improve. my aging T420 is still working ok for now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
precursor Posted April 17, 2016 Share Posted April 17, 2016 Hi booger_sniffer5000, Thank you for the guide. I was trying to follow it when I found that the link is dead. Could you re-upload it? Thanks a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
booger_sniffer5000 Posted May 30, 2016 Author Share Posted May 30, 2016 Sorry about the slow response, don't come on here often. CH341A Software: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B_af0NFZ8yETaWxwVm5SLVo5VXc Modded BIOS: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B_af0NFZ8yETR1g1VUl4TllhS2M Stock BIOS: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B_af0NFZ8yETMlVyNWI5bjRqZDQ EDIT: Bad links Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sorizion Posted September 5, 2016 Share Posted September 5, 2016 @booger_sniffer5000, Do you get the 5 beeps, pause, then 5 beeps when starting laptop? Thanks Sorry about the slow response, don't come on here often. CH341A Software: http://s000.tinyupload.com/index.php?file_id=73341382605427855655 Modded BIOS: http://s000.tinyupload.com/index.php?file_id=15561501606552954364 Stock BIOS: http://s000.tinyupload.com/index.php?file_id=43119188858940497972 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sorizion Posted September 16, 2016 Share Posted September 16, 2016 Nevermind my last post. I resolved this issue with 5 beeps and still have TPM enabled. I also placed header into empty card reader slot so I can program SPI flash externally any time. Thx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
booger_sniffer5000 Posted January 12, 2018 Author Share Posted January 12, 2018 The links in my last post seem to be pointing to the wrong place, and it won't let me edit. Here's an updated link, I'll be looking into modding the latest BIOS soon, which fixes the Spectre vulnerability...will post if/when I figure that out. https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B_af0NFZ8yETZTNuQXdyYVZDdWc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gi10 Posted January 13, 2018 Share Posted January 13, 2018 There is no whitelist, I have replaced my WIFI card with this: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JGFA50U?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00 BCM94352Z M.2 It works perfectly in OS X with kext mods/injection. However, for some reason, it does not work in Windows (and some say not in Linux?). I've tried multiple drivers in Windows, the card is detected in device manager and apparently powers on and off fine, but it does not detect any networks. I know that the thread has not been active for a long time ... I see that you are still an active user. I have the same problem in the wifi dw1560(works on osx but not in windows or linux) with a x1 carbon 2015, the whole 5 generation of lenovo seems to have this problem. Did you get it fixed? Did you try another wifi card such as the dw1830 ?. Thanks for your help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
booger_sniffer5000 Posted January 15, 2018 Author Share Posted January 15, 2018 I know that the thread has not been active for a long time ... I see that you are still an active user. I have the same problem in the wifi dw1560(works on osx but not in windows or linux) with a x1 carbon 2015, the whole 5 generation of lenovo seems to have this problem. Did you get it fixed? Did you try another wifi card such as the dw1830 ?. Thanks for your help Funny I actually just ordered a DW1830 over the weekend, waiting for it to show up. I'll update the thread once I figure out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
booger_sniffer5000 Posted January 20, 2018 Author Share Posted January 20, 2018 The DW1830 seems to be working without a hitch in Windows, will find out more with further testing. No whitelist on the latest BIOS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
booger_sniffer5000 Posted January 25, 2018 Author Share Posted January 25, 2018 So, modded BIOS wasn't necessary this time around it seems. My DVMT settings are correct through the new BIOS, no modding at all. I don't know if it was a change in the new BIOS, or if my settings were kept through the upgrade. But, working fine, just flashed the latest BIOS directly from Windows. Wireless is working great in macOS, works great in Windows. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sorizion Posted January 26, 2018 Share Posted January 26, 2018 Thank you for the update. @booger_sniffer5000 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
izajasz Posted January 8, 2019 Share Posted January 8, 2019 Does somebody knoq how to fix 5 beep problem with T450s modded BIOS ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spiderman Posted April 30, 2020 Share Posted April 30, 2020 On 11/20/2015 at 8:10 PM, booger_sniffer5000 said: First off, I'd like to start off by saying that this will, without a doubt, void your warranty. If you aren't comfortable pulling apart your laptop and possibly damaging it, then do not proceed. Flashing your BIOS can brick your laptop, if you don't know what you're doing, DON'T DO IT. That being said, all I needed to get to the BIOS chip was a screwdriver and an old gift card (to separate the casing without damage.) Hey guys, it's been a bit since I've been active, but my MacBook recently died on me and I picked up a T450S to replace it, so I'm back in the hackintosh game. Of course those of us with this laptop know that it has the Intel HD5500, which isn't an issue to get working if you have the proper DVMT prealloc memory set. Well, this becomes an issue when the proper memory size isn't set, and there's no way to change it in the BIOS. Looking at FireWolf's guide: http://www.firewolf.science/2015/04/guide-intel-hd-graphics-5500-on-os-x-yosemite-10-10-3/ (awesome guide, btw) (Added note: I'm running El Capitan) You see that he suggests changing the memory size within an EFI shell, which I found doesn't work with Phoenix BIOSes...so I had to resort to a modded BIOS approach, which luckily worked. Anyway, I want to make it clear that I don't want to take credit for work I have not done: I have only put together this small guide, really. Now, the unfortunate thing is that the BIOS chip cannot be flashed with a modded BIOS through a simple software approach, it must be done with an EEPROM flasher and a test clip. I used a simple CH341A programmer which can be had for cheap on eBay from China, and a SOIC8 SOP8 test clip (also from eBay.) I believe I only spent around $10 for both when I bought mine. There is a nice guide on using them over on bios-mods.com: https://www.bios-mods.com/forum/Thread-REQUEST-Lenovo-IdeaPad-S405-Whitelist-Removal?page=3 Just a few tips I'd like to add though: make sure the clip is seated properly (touching the correct pins, etc.) I used a flashlight to make sure it was on. I disconnected my main batteries for this, and left my CMOS battery connected (I disconnected the CMOS battery after the flash for maybe 30 seconds to clear the CMOS.) Also, it took me a bit of time to realize the proper way to connect the clip to the socket on the programmer (I will take a picture when I get back home.) I have also attached the software I used to flash the chip, as older versions do not seem to work properly with this size BIOS chip. You can download the software from my Dropbox here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/qqs2bg1iq5m30jj/CH341A.rar?dl=0 You'll want to disable your antivirus for this, as mine seemed to not like it. I didn't write the software (it was written by some Chinese company), so I can't guarantee it's not malicious, but it works just fine and I haven't had any issues. Basically, the software procedure to flash is set the proper chip (I used the W25Q128BV profile, which is not the EXACT model number of my chip, but worked just fine), read/backup the original BIOS (IMPORTANT), erase the chip, and then flash the chip. The modded BIOS that I used is just an unlocked BIOS that I requested over at bios-mods.com, and BDMaster so nicely helped me out. Note that the BIOS version I used is 1.14 (iirc), so it is not the latest version, but works just fine. The modded BIOS can be downloaded from my Dropbox, along with my original backup, if you want: Modded BIOS: https://www.dropbox.com/s/4svhlyw04ipznkj/Firmware.bin?dl=0 Original BIOS: https://www.dropbox.com/s/a0l11dqczquy4bx/BIOS.rom?dl=0 If the modded BIOS helped ya out, consider throwing the guy a donation for his hard work (I donated to him also): http://goo.gl/EzxWhW Anyway, once you've got the BIOS flashed, you have to get your BIOS settings setup. Here are the values I changed: Advanced -> System Agent (SA) Configuration -> Graphics Configuration: DVMT Pre-Allocated -> 128MB DVMT Total Gfx Mem -> 256MB Config -> Display: Total Graphics Memory 256MB Startup: UEFI/Legacy Boot -> UEFI Only CSM Support -> Yes That should get you on track. After that, you have to set Clover to load the proper profile (or you could use DSDT.) This is outlined in FireWolf's guide at the top of this post, but basically, you set: InjectIntel = True ig-platform-id = 0x16160002 After that, give it a reboot and you should have full hardware acceleration. I'm willing to answer anybody's questions, too. Also, please note that all I did was compile information/research made by other people much smarter than me, into a guide, I cannot take credit. i have thinkpad 450S I5-5300U intel Hd gfx 5500, Intel(R) Dual Band Wireless-AC 7265,SSD, 8 gb ram. can u share your clover folder so i dont have to do much tinkering. it would be very helpful to me. thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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