[Removed] Lenovo ideapad Z565

[jericho]

@jhill1977
Not sure why it isn't working for you. Look for platform.ini file in the same folder and chek if the file name of the ROM is the same as required. Also make sure u run the Insyde Flash utility as admin.

@Camilo
After a long research from different sources I found that Lenovo uses the same bios for several models: Z465, Z565 and G565. I personally tried them, including G565 with whitelist removed from you. And it works fine. The initial version of the bios on my Z565 was 36CN15WW(V2.01) and 36CN19WW(V2.05) on G565.

Now the interesting part:
It seems that there are models, sold in PRC which are with newer bios - 36CN24WW (V2.10) - Click Here - and even 36CN25WW (V2.11), which I am still unable to find. Still a mystery to me why Lenovo doesn't publish them for download on the support website.

My humble request to Camilo is if he has the time and the mood ) to mod the new bios to show the advanced menu and remove whitelist.
10x in advance

[Balian67]

I have the Lenovo z565 with the phenom cpu. The question I have is how did you flash the .rom file to your BIOS? I have the Phoenix WinFlash UEFI tool. I put the modified .rom file I downloaded from this thread in the "Specify New BIOS File" box. I have already made a successful backup of the BIOS (BEFORE I tried to flash the new one).

WinFlash Operation is set to "Flash New BIOS Only". I run it and it fails. Then when I click ok I get a bluescreen and the computer reboots and it NEVER overrode my old BIOS. I can still access the locked BIOS and everything. I noticed you flashed it successfully.

Another note. I have Windows 7 64 Bit and I have tried the InsydeFlashx64.exe from somewhere on the internet but it says that it cannot load the driver. When I moved the .dlls from the folder to my system32 folder it said that my BIOS doesn't support InsydeFlash.

I have also checked out FLASHIT.exe and it said it didn't support Win 7 64Bit and none of these programs will run in compatibility mode.

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OK, I downloaded the package for the OLD bios for the z465 from one of the posts, took out the bios file from the Win 7 64 Bit folder, modified the .ini file to show the BIOS2.ROM filename (I renamed the advanced bios to BIOS2.ROM) then saved it...Moved the BIOS2.ROM file to the Win 7 64 Bit folder then ran the .exe and it flashed the custom BIOS file. I NOW have all the advanced options. I thank GOD for my experience with modifying .ini files and figuring this crap out myself. I ALSO thank the person who unlocked all the options in this bios for us. IF anyone needs to know in more detail what I did or have NO idea what I mean by what I said then PM me and I'll be glad to explain in detail

NOW, I just have to figure out if I can allocate around 2GB (out of the 8GB I just bought) of ram to my Radeon HD 4200. (Which was the MAIN purpose of risking the flashing of the BIOS) I'll play around with the bios options later. IF any of you know how to do this off the bat I'd very much appreciate the information. Thanks.

[jericho]

Balian67, glad u made it with the bios flash. According to the IGP ( Radeon 4270) I think its not possible to increase the size to more than 250 MB. no matter how much ram u have AFIK its limited by the RS880 chipset of the mobo.
Ofcourse all the credits to bios modification go to Camilo , the others (incl myself) we are just happy testers

[jhill1977]

@jhill1977
Not sure why it isn't working for you. Look for platform.ini file in the same folder and chek if the file name of the ROM is the same as required. Also make sure u run the Insyde Flash utility as admin.

@Camilo
After a long research from different sources I found that Lenovo uses the same bios for several models: Z465, Z565 and G565. I personally tried them, including G565 with whitelist removed from you. And it works fine. The initial version of the bios on my Z565 was 36CN15WW(V2.01) and 36CN19WW(V2.05) on G565.

Now the interesting part:
It seems that there are models, sold in PRC which are with newer bios - 36CN24WW (V2.10) - Click Here - and even 36CN25WW (V2.11), which I am still unable to find. Still a mystery to me why Lenovo doesn't publish them for download on the support website.

My humble request to Camilo is if he has the time and the mood ) to mod the new bios to show the advanced menu and remove whitelist.
10x in advance

Well after reading another post, I downloaded the Z465 BIOS from Lenovo and extracted the BIOS contents using 7zip. I then renamed the modified Z565 bios to match the bios file in the Z465 package, and voila' it worked.

I wasn't so much interested in the advanced features menu, as I was removing the WiFi WHITE-LIST from the stock Lenovo BIOS. On a side note, the modified BIOS includes a NUMLOCK on setting, which was missing in the stock BIOS. I always thought it was annoying to having enable the NUMLOCK key each boot, especially on a laptop with a separate numeric keypad. Anyways, thanks everyone for all the hard work and assistance in this process.

J HILL

[aerospaced]

@jhill1977
Not sure why it isn't working for you. Look for platform.ini file in the same folder and chek if the file name of the ROM is the same as required. Also make sure u run the Insyde Flash utility as admin.

@Camilo
After a long research from different sources I found that Lenovo uses the same bios for several models: Z465, Z565 and G565. I personally tried them, including G565 with whitelist removed from you. And it works fine. The initial version of the bios on my Z565 was 36CN15WW(V2.01) and 36CN19WW(V2.05) on G565.

Now the interesting part:
It seems that there are models, sold in PRC which are with newer bios - 36CN24WW (V2.10) - Click Here - and even 36CN25WW (V2.11), which I am still unable to find. Still a mystery to me why Lenovo doesn't publish them for download on the support website.

My humble request to Camilo is if he has the time and the mood ) to mod the new bios to show the advanced menu and remove whitelist.
10x in advance

Well after reading another post, I downloaded the Z465 BIOS from Lenovo and extracted the BIOS contents using 7zip. I then renamed the modified Z565 bios to match the bios file in the Z465 package, and voila' it worked.

I wasn't so much interested in the advanced features menu, as I was removing the WiFi WHITE-LIST from the stock Lenovo BIOS. On a side note, the modified BIOS includes a NUMLOCK on setting, which was missing in the stock BIOS. I always thought it was annoying to having enable the NUMLOCK key each boot, especially on a laptop with a separate numeric keypad. Anyways, thanks everyone for all the hard work and assistance in this process.

J HILL

I plan to install a dual band wifi card and intend to flash the BIOS on my Z565 per your instructions above. Will a backup copy of original BIOS on machine be automatically created enabling me to to revert back should there be problems? Thanks.

[aerospaced]

Flashed new BIOS on Z565 per above directions - went perfect. Now have advance settings plus NWL! Ready to upgrade wifi card. Many thanks to all.

[Olivertrst]

Camilo,
Have there been any updates to the Lenovo Z565 BIOS that you know of? I have one with the AMD Vision CPU and Windows 7 but am still getting the error message when I try to update my Wireless card.
I read through the string but was hoping to get a new BIOS to load.

Any help you could provide would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

Olivertrst

[m000]

resurrecting an ancient thread. all links provided are dead and buried. would appreciate if still have the latest flash files for advance settings plus NWL.

Lenovo Z565

36CN24WW (V2.10) <-- Still latest?

Thank you

[Maxinator500]

Sorry guys, my attempts to get the file LENOVO-36CN25WW(V2.11).zip reuploaded have failed. I've been waiting for help for weeks, and nothing, but V2.11 definitely exists.
V2.11 is now available! Not modified: LENOVO-36CN25WW(V2.11).zip.