What's the brand and model of my laptop BIOS chip? (without having to open the case)

[jcrcarmo]

Hi folks,

 
Greetings from Brazil!  Not sure I'm posting in the right place, but I have a question:  how do I find out the brand and model of my BIOS chip without having to open my laptop?  I can't find this information anywhere.  Been searching for days... I have a Lenovo Ideapad 300-15ISK 80RS (motherboard Paris 5A8).  Thanks a lot for your time and help! I really appreciate it!
 
Best regards,
 
JC.

[espionage724]

Boot into Linux somehow (can use a LiveUSB of Ubuntu), install flashrom, and run sudo flashrom -p internal

If the BIOS chip can be read, it usually reports what it is. Seemingly on newer laptops though, this will either report nothing specific, many different chips, or nothing at all (I had this happen earlier on a Coffee Lake laptop).

[jcrcarmo]

Boot into Linux somehow (can use a LiveUSB of Ubuntu), install flashrom, and run sudo flashrom -p internal

If the BIOS chip can be read, it usually reports what it is. Seemingly on newer laptops though, this will either report nothing specific, many different chips, or nothing at all (I had this happen earlier on a Coffee Lake laptop).

Thanks, espionage724!  Really appreciate your time and help.  I'm going to try that right now.

[jcrcarmo]

Boot into Linux somehow (can use a LiveUSB of Ubuntu), install flashrom, and run sudo flashrom -p internal

If the BIOS chip can be read, it usually reports what it is. Seemingly on newer laptops though, this will either report nothing specific, many different chips, or nothing at all (I had this happen earlier on a Coffee Lake laptop).

Hi again, spionage724.  I followed your Linux suggestion and flashrom did not tell me a lot...  It says I have an "Opaque Flash Chip".  Didn't find info on that.

[espionage724]

Boot into Linux somehow (can use a LiveUSB of Ubuntu), install flashrom, and run sudo flashrom -p internal

If the BIOS chip can be read, it usually reports what it is. Seemingly on newer laptops though, this will either report nothing specific, many different chips, or nothing at all (I had this happen earlier on a Coffee Lake laptop).

Hi again, spionage724.  I followed your Linux suggestion and flashrom did not tell me a lot...  It says I have an "Opaque Flash Chip".  Didn't find info on that.

Ah, that's the word I was looking for. I had a laptop a while back that also did that Opaque Flash Chip thing (basically nothing specific).

On Windows, Flash Programming Tool (FPT) if you attempt to flash anything (FPTW64.exe -W test.bin) may also show a flash device (on the same Coffee Lake laptop that didn't show anything on flashrom on Linux, FPTW64 on Windows 10 worked fine). You can get it in a CSME System Tools package at: https://www.win-raid.com/t596f39-Intel-M...Tools.html

In my case, the flash chip is a W25Q128FV:

[jcrcarmo]

Boot into Linux somehow (can use a LiveUSB of Ubuntu), install flashrom, and run sudo flashrom -p internal

If the BIOS chip can be read, it usually reports what it is. Seemingly on newer laptops though, this will either report nothing specific, many different chips, or nothing at all (I had this happen earlier on a Coffee Lake laptop).

Hi again, spionage724.  I followed your Linux suggestion and flashrom did not tell me a lot...  It says I have an "Opaque Flash Chip".  Didn't find info on that.

Ah, that's the word I was looking for. I had a laptop a while back that also did that Opaque Flash Chip thing (basically nothing specific).

On Windows, Flash Programming Tool (FPT) if you attempt to flash anything (FPTW64.exe -W test.bin) may also show a flash device (on the same Coffee Lake laptop that didn't show anything on flashrom on Linux, FPTW64 on Windows 10 worked fine). You can get it in a CSME System Tools package at: https://www.win-raid.com/t596f39-Intel-M...Tools.html

In my case, the flash chip is a W25Q128FV:

Hi espionage724!  First of all, thank you so much for all your time and help.  I was able to identify my flash device with Intel FPTW64.  I used the command line  'FPTW64.EXE -D test.bin' and it says my chip is W25Q64BV !!!