Need help to re-enable igpu with my laptop

[luigihfr01]

Hi,

I am not sure where to post it, but, kindly transfer it accordingly to the right place.

i have a Lenovo ideapad Gaming 3 15IHU6 and I have accidentally disabled the integrated intel iGPU via advanced BIOS options (planned to disable IRIS Xe and leave nvidia as primary and only gpu).
After saving and rebooting it, I don’t have display on either my laptop screen or via HDMI.

It can still display externally via usb-C which only works once windows OS running and I am not able to access BIOS settings since the internal LCD and external displays won’t ‘display’ anything.

I have not set the BIOS to flash to an older build as well, so, I have limited options…
I am not sure about taking this to the Official Service Center as I might violated by accessing advanced settings.

I would like to ask for advice/insights

[mintyleaf]

Can you just disconnect battery (and CMOS battery if present too), hold power button for a while in order to reset BIOS?

[luigihfr01]

I have disconnected both CMOS battery & laptop battery. I held the power button for minute or so to fully drain it, but it didn’t display still after turning it back on. I was wondering if there is another battery inside the board similar to CMOS, it might be responsible of not resetting the bios even though the CMOS battery is removed.

[luigihfr01]

I also waited for almost an hour for it to be fully drained, but it still didn’t display.

[mintyleaf]

I had a problem with multiple efivars which didn’t got reset with regular bios settings
I did chattr -i /sys/firmware/efi/efivars/* and rm /sys/firmware/efi/efivars/* under linux and everything got reseted after reboot
I guess something like that can be done under windows since you stuck with it for now

another approach is to use Dell PFS Extractor → UEFITool → IFRExtractor to find that variable you set to disabled state and modify that uefi variable somehow (I saw the powershell module for modifying UEFI variables, or maybe there are some other fancy windows approach)

[ambad4u]

so…, if we just place the NVME with some linux distro and try to perform:
chattr - /sys/firmware/efi/efivars/*
and do
rm /sys/firmware/efi/efivars/*

it may have a chance resetting the iGPU of that laptop?

[mintyleaf]

yup, “chattr -i”

basically you making that mounted representation of efi variables writable, then deleting it, which leads them to reset

if iGPU was disabled by one of efivars which didn’t get reset since they are not “factory default” user accessible bios settings - then it can help

[ambad4u]

can those efi vars can be read as well?
as far as we did with his laptop, it was with the igpu settings that was turned off.
does folders under “/sys/firmware/efi/efivars/*” also represents those found in the advanced bios?

but i agree that deleting the whole thing would be better…, if it works, we’ll not touch those particular advanced settings ever

thank you for the insights, we will try & i hope this will work in this scenario…

[lfb6]

I strongly recommend a complete and valid backup of the firmware. Try Intel ME tools 15, flash programming tool

fptw64 -d spi.bin

If that gives an error message try dumping the different regions separately:
fptw64 -DESC -d fd.bin
fptw64 -ME -d me.bin
fptw64 -BIOS -d biosreg.bin

After confirming a valid backup (at least of the bios region and flash descriptor) it’s either finding the corresponding store / setting in NVRAM and changing it back or emptying the complete NVRAM.

Similar problem, fixed by rewriting one corresponding byte in NVRAM:

Semi-Bricked IdeaPad 300-15ISK 80Q7 (H2O UEFI)

Well then, apparently it’s not a good idea to set the aperture size to 2GB after unlocking the firmware (I really have no idea why I had done so), since now I cannot boot to any OS, nor access the firmware settings via F2, with only a black screen and a blinking cursor greeting me. Interestingly enough, the keyboard does respond, as evidenced by numlock and caps lock turning on and off as expected. Trying to recover via Crisis is not really working for me as of yet (filename is D5_Crisis.bin, …

[luigihfr01]

Thank you for the advice. Do you have a guide/URL on how to do the backup via Intel ME tools 15?

[lfb6]

Intel (Converged Security) Management Engine: Drivers, Firmware and Tools (2-15)

Intel (Converged Security) Management Engine: Drivers, Firmware and Tools for (CS)ME 2-15 Last Updated: 2022-09-08 Intel Management Engine Introduction: Built into many Intel-based platforms is a small, low power computer subsystem called the Intel Management Engine (Intel ME). This can perform various tasks while the system is booting, running or sleeping. It operates independently from the main CPU, BIOS and OS but can interact with them if needed. The ME is responsible for many parts of a…

Version 15.0

The commands I’ve written already?

[ambad4u]

i have seen this link but uncertain which of them to use. (for my friend)
is it “CSME 15.0 Consumer H B”???

we will try: “CSME 15.0 Consumer H B” and report back.

thanks again & our apologies, we are not that ‘versed’ with the tools here.

[lfb6]

@ambad4u

is it “CSME 15.0 Consumer H B”???

we will try: “CSME 15.0 Consumer H B” and report back.

You don’t need a CSME- firmware, you need TOOLS as in CSME System Tools v15.0

And be careful with the syntax, fpt will write without checking for content! Just use it for reading / backup! It needs to be run in console with admin rights.

(And don’t use the addresses from the mentioned thread, those are machine specific!)

[ambad4u]

just an update…
the owner just brought it to Lenovo Service & was suggested for motherboard replacement.

i thank you for the efforts of helping us out.
Happy Holidays to All!!!

[lfb6]

Thanks for the feedback!

Yes, Lenovo wont even offer you reprogramming the firmware, only thing they offer is a new board.

This machine would’ve been savable with a high probability, maybe one would have to start with an completely empty NVRAM and maybe one would’ve needed a CH341 programmer in the end. A little sad, but of course the most safe way if you feel unsure (and can afford the money).