Apparently a lot of the black ones use 5.5v despite saying they use 3.3, something like that. If you search for it on reddit there is chatter about it.
Apparently the blue ones are at 3.3v, and I got mine off ebay very cheap & easy international. I wouldn’t bugger around with the black one if you are able to get a blue.
If you have the right equipment I was surprised how simple it turned out to be, for as complicated as it all seemed beforehand.
@catacombs he hasn’t had time to publish yet. Let me summarize quickly so you don’t have to wait longer:
git clone https://github.com/osresearch/headswget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/corna/me_cleaner/master/me_cleaner.pywget https://download.lenovo.com/pccbbs/mobiles/g1rg24ww.exef60e1990e2da2b7efa58a645502d22d50afd97b53a092781beee9b0322b61153 g1rg24ww.exe
28e9c1904690a39d9bbb913ddfde38f6f6a6428654105be3ca911fd53866b27a me_cleaner.py
inside the /heads/blobs/xx30 directory: innoextract ~/g1rg24ww.exe and then python ~/me_cleaner.py -r -t -O me.bin app/ME8_5M_Production.bin
back in the /heads directory: make BOARD=t430-maximized CPUS=$(nproc)
That’s the build with cleaned ME. To additionally set the HAP/AltMeDisable bit, do this after the build:
python ~/me_cleaner.py -s ~/heads/build/t430-maximized/heads-t430-maximized-*-bottom.rom
Then flash it (obviously your file names will be different, but you’ll get the idea):
sudo flashrom --programmer ch341a_spi -c "MX25L6406E/MX25L6408E" -r t430-8mb.rom
flashrom v1.2 on Linux 4.19.213-1.pvops.qubes.x86_64 (x86_64)
flashrom is free software, get the source code at https://flashrom.org
Using clock_gettime for delay loops (clk_id: 1, resolution: 1ns).
Found Macronix flash chip "MX25L6406E/MX25L6408E" (8192 kB, SPI) on ch341a_spi.
Reading flash... done.
sudo flashrom --programmer ch341a_spi -c "MX25L6406E/MX25L6408E" -w heads-t430-hotp-maximized-v0.2.0-1150-g0670bcd-bottom.rom
flashrom v1.2 on Linux 4.19.213-1.pvops.qubes.x86_64 (x86_64)
flashrom is free software, get the source code at https://flashrom.org
Using clock_gettime for delay loops (clk_id: 1, resolution: 1ns).
Found Macronix flash chip "MX25L6406E/MX25L6408E" (8192 kB, SPI) on ch341a_spi.
Reading old flash chip contents... done.
Erasing and writing flash chip... Erase/write done.
Verifying flash... VERIFIED.
sudo flashrom --programmer ch341a_spi -c "MX25L3206E/MX25L3208E" -r t430-4mb.rom
flashrom v1.2 on Linux 4.19.213-1.pvops.qubes.x86_64 (x86_64)
flashrom is free software, get the source code at https://flashrom.org
Using clock_gettime for delay loops (clk_id: 1, resolution: 1ns).
Found Macronix flash chip "MX25L3206E/MX25L3208E" (4096 kB, SPI) on ch341a_spi.
Reading flash... done
sudo flashrom --programmer ch341a_spi -c "MX25L3206E/MX25L3208E" -w heads-t430-hotp-maximized-v0.2.0-1150-g0670bcd-top.rom
flashrom v1.2 on Linux 4.19.213-1.pvops.qubes.x86_64 (x86_64)
flashrom is free software, get the source code at https://flashrom.org
Using clock_gettime for delay loops (clk_id: 1, resolution: 1ns).
Found Macronix flash chip "MX25L3206E/MX25L3208E" (4096 kB, SPI) on ch341a_spi.
Reading old flash chip contents... done.
Erasing and writing flash chip... Erase/write done.
Verifying flash... VERIFIED.
Good luck!
It me and @Sven that wrote it i want to get it out this week. Perhaps you can do a trail run for us? I can add you to the github?
Thanks to you guys for writing this up. For those not familiar with this discussion, Flashing the ROM on Think Pads is well known, but the documentation was written when the easily available hardware was different.
Right now I am obsessing which things to buy to attempt another Flash.
In my previous attempt I used a black CH 341A which uses 5 volts or so on the Flash, which is predicted to burn the ROM. One can use a Green PC Board model which uses 3.3 Volts, but that needs the voltage to be stabilized… . . Well that is explained in the notes. Just I miss perceived what it said.
I now read a website where someone said they damaged a resistor on the edge of an Lenovo Thinkpad X230 board, which they finally replaced with a wire, and the computer worked.
Yes, i will post my results back. But it may be awhile. Right now I am obsessing which bits and pieces I should buy to attempt the Flash. (I presume the black CH 341A might be damaged in some hidden way, and so I should replace bits for Flashing. Not sure which ones I want. Using a PI looks more natural. Finding a blue PC base for the CH341A looks difficult. I can modify a black one. Everyone seems to use a SOIC clip. I broke two Pomonoa Clips, where the blue material that makes it up crumbled. Likely a counterfeit Pomona. The cheap clip that was supplied with the black CH341A was solid in feel. But does not clip on in the same way. Likely whatever I order comes on 'slow boat from China." Has anyone tried the hooks instead of the Clip?
I expect the coming recession may bring some prices of some things down. I purchased a "Microsoft Approved Refurbished Thinkpad T430"for $132.00 plus tax. They promised they replaced capacitors on Mother Board as needed. Things like that. Then I did something odd, I purchased a two year insurance for forty dollars. My thought being that whoever was selling these things would be more likely to send me the one out of the stack he thought was likely to hold up. So it was like nearly two hundred. I would not return a laptop I damaged in messing with the BIOS/EFI, but if I break it, the sting is not so bad.
My general sense is that it is a bad idea to pay for Extended Warranty insurance for Electronics.
The recession might make a PI kit purchase more comfortable.
Re the flashing, i have always used ch341a on x220, x230, t430, w530 repeatedly over many years and never had a single issue. The only time I ever had an issue with the ch341a voltage was trying to modify the rom on a AsrockJ4500 based board, so I bought a cheap voltage converter i think for like 5 EUR. it piggybacks into the rom clip on the ch341a, steps everything to 3.3v and then has its own rom clip on the top.
While i have never had an issue using 5v ch341a on the lenovo laptops, that does not mean others do not. I always just saw it as an acceptable risk as im comfortable using a heat gun to replace a one of the roms if they break. They just never broke when using ch341a at 5v for me yet. and i cant even count how many times ive flashed lenovos now. thousands probably?
You can use a multimeter to confirm that VCC is 3.3V, it should only be the logic signals that are 5V. As long as VCC is 3.3V it’s safe to use.
I have flashed firmware on 7 difference ThinkPads with the black CH341A, never had any issues with it. The basic package with the programmer, test clip, and ZIF socket adapter is all you need.
I think I have all the parts. Yes, I will give it a go and record what happens, and highlight differences between what I expected and what happened.
No hurry. I have some other projects I need to work on. and I will be busy until after the July Fourth.
Work well. Been using it for a while now with no issues. Heads t430 maximized with nitrokey.
Qubes-HCL-LENOVO-2349DT9-20220809-092830.yml (959 Bytes)
Thank you for your HCL report @thewanderer and welcome to the T430 club!
I moved your post into the T430 superthread (in general I aim to have one thread per OEM/model in this category).
You report is online now!
@sven write-up is good.
Here is another one from tlaurion. Explains how to start from scratch to build heads. (Need to replace board with t430, not x230 as in write up but otherwise same).
I used this Tigard flasher, with a Pomonda soic clip. It works well out of the box and doesn’t require any modifications. The Pomona soic clips are more expensive but better quality than the cheap ones you get from China. I have used both.
There are two chips u49 and u99 that need flashing. The write up on skulls isn’t too bad for this part of the process. If you follow the skulls writeup and use a raspberry pi make sure you check your pinout, don’t just use the one they have. Pinouts change between raspberry pi versions. Also double check the flashrom pinout as per manufactures datasheet once you have identified which ones you have.
Unfortunately with the T430 you need to pull the whole system apart to get access to them. unlike the x230 they are easier to access. There is a good service manual that guides you through each step. My suggestion is to take photos along the way and to have a good method to sort and remember which screws went where.
Good luck.
G1ETC2WW (2.82) with the 1vyrain mod: https://1vyra.in/
After 1vyrain mod you have to re-enable Intel Virtualization & VT-d!
TPM activated in BIOS, but I didn’t test it with AEM yet.
Qubes-HCL-LENOVO-2347FY7-20230127-014255.yml (926 Bytes)
Thank you @iamroot for your HCL report, which is online now!
I’ve moved your post into this machine thread, so all the posts regarding the T430 are in one place.
@Sven I’ve read that you have two T430 each with the i7-3840qm.
In 1vyrain there’s the option to limit the TDP of the T430. Have you, or anyone else, tried something similar in Heads (like underclocking) to reduce the heat that’s coming from the CPU?
Nope, I don’t think that’s necessary either. The fans seem to handle it just fine (using a Thinkfan profile to make it less annoying).
I do have noticed though that R4.1 appears to need a lot more resources than R4.0. I’ll post about that soon.
Definitely looking forward to your post!
Thinking about upgrading my T430 (fhd upgrade + i7 = ~$300), but I came to the conclusion that maybe a Lenovo P50 would be a better investment in terms of CPU and especially memory…Not to forget the incredibly fast NVMe drive slots! Most importantly it seems to work well with Qubes too.
But I’ll never give up my T430 
Self-flashed t430 with heads-hotp-maximized. The Nitrokey USB dongle works great with this machine. Using edited thinkfan profile so the fans reach full-tilt when temps reach 70 degrees.
Big thanks to Sven’s write-ups and https://osresearch.net/
Thank you @Litter_Box for your HCL report, which is online now!
While I very much agree with your remark and link, the HCL is not the place for it.
Is there any protection against specter/meltdown in T430 processors? Xen/Coreboot probably can’t mitigate these vulnerabilities, do I understand correctly?