How can I change values in *.wph bios platform configuration file

Hi

I have two questions:

1. How can I change platform configuration in a combined WPH BIOS rom file (analogue to platform.ini configuration)

2. What is the file name to be used in CRISIS recovery disk? (presumably bios.wph should do it)


Details:

I plan to bios mod an old pre-UEFI Lenovo computer with Phoenix bios , and before doing that I wanted to make sure that the CRISIS recovery method works. Unfortunately flashing doesn’t proceed presumably due to Lenovo checking battery levels before starting flashing, because the battery is dud.

I learned that battery check could be bypassed by setting a configuration value in the corresponding “platform.ini” file, but this BIOS file for this machine doesn’t have a separate BIOS rom and platform.ini file, it has a 1060KB ROM file, which I guess is actually a combined BIOS file + WPH configuration.

So I wonder

- how can I change wph configuration in the combined rom file? Is there a tool to do that, or what should I change if I have to modify it in binary
- How can I make sure crisis is expecting a file named “bios.wph” or some other file name?

Exe file for BIOS could be downloaded from https://download.lenovo.com/pccbbs/mobiles/68et37ww.exe . I’m attaching the extracted ROM file from the exe.

Thanks

Lenovo 3000 N200 BIOS.zip.zip (621 KB)

PHLASH.INI - is the equivalent of Insyde BIOS “Platform.in” here in this Phoenix BIOS
Your BIOS does not have .FL1/ or .FL2 files, nor does it use WPH format for it’s ROM/BIN either.

Just extract the exe and then run WinPhlash, if you edit Phlash.ini and set Advanced=1 you get settings in advanced button area you can adjust, but none power/battery related.

Additionally, you can add this to that file (may not be needed, you may be able to flash with it as-is)
[AC_Adapter]
Flag=1
BatteryCheck=0
BatteryBound=0
LauncherAcWarning=messagestringA02
SecurityAcWarning=messagestringA02

Or, see also - http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/BIOS_Upgra…th_dead_battery

Crisis recovery, you need to find specific information for this exact model, then you will know name from that info/guide, otherwise it may not apply to this system at all.
Generally, if this is possible Crisis folder is either included with the BIOS download/exe or is available on the BIOS download page

If you are this worried about a bad flash, I would shell out the $10 or so to find a battery on ebay.

Hi,



I couldn’t find any info for this specific model, so I went with a generic guide and generic download. All went well, it starts in crisis mode but does not proceed with flashing, just sits there spinning fans with a blank screen. That is why my theory is either it fails the battery check (as per this blog post http://blog.thecoreme.org/tag/wincrisis/ ) , or it expects another file name. Hence my questions.




I can try that, but will phlash16.exe use PHLASH.INI in CRISIS mode?



It is not called *.wph but it is a 1060 KB file. Something else must been appended to it. And this generic wincrisis tool i’ve been using expects either a WPH file or a ROM+Platform.bin. No mention of a phlash.ini, so i must somehown generate a platform.bin or modify the builtin configuration in EL10305A.ROM.

wincris error.PNG

I’ve found an interesting stuff. an older version of a bios update file contains some header sources and documentation for winphlash: https://download.lenovo.com/ibmdl/pub/pc…es/68af03us.exe

Here’s what it says about precedence of options:



But unfortunately plash.ini does not seem to be used by phlash16.exe:





So it looks like I have to change embedded configration/wph section of the BIOS ROM file.

Another option would be using /O option of phlash16.exe, but I don’t know how it’d be possible to pass options to the exe in CRISIS mode.