---
title: ThinkPad X60 Tablet Recovery guide
x-toc-enable: true
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This section documents how to recover from a bad flash that prevents
your ThinkPad X60 Tablet from booting.

Brick type 1: bucts not reset. {#bucts_brick}
==============================

You still have Lenovo BIOS, or you had retroboot running and you flashed
another ROM; and you had bucts 1 set and the ROM wasn't dd'd.\* or if
Lenovo BIOS was present and retroboot wasn't flashed.\

In this case, unbricking is easy: reset BUC.TS to 0 by removing that
yellow cmos coin (it's a battery) and putting it back after a minute or
two:\
![](images/x60t_unbrick/0008.JPG)\

\*Those dd commands should be applied to all newly compiled X60 ROM
images (the ROM images in retroboot binary archives already have this
applied!):

    dd if=coreboot.rom of=top64k.bin bs=1 skip=$[$(stat -c %s coreboot.rom) - 0x10000] count=64k
    dd if=coreboot.rom bs=1 skip=$[$(stat -c %s coreboot.rom) - 0x20000] count=64k | hexdump
    dd if=top64k.bin of=coreboot.rom bs=1 seek=$[$(stat -c %s coreboot.rom) - 0x20000] count=64k conv=notrunc

(doing this makes the ROM suitable for use when flashing a system that
still has Lenovo BIOS running, using those instructions:
<http://www.coreboot.org/Board:lenovo/x60/Installation>.

bad rom (or user error), system won't boot {#recovery}
===========================================

In this scenario, you compiled a ROM that had an incorrect
configuration, or there is an actual bug preventing your system from
booting. Or, maybe, you set BUC.TS to 0 and shut down after first flash
while Lenovo BIOS was running. In any case, your system is bricked and
will not boot at all.

"Unbricking" means flashing a known-good (working) ROM. The problem:
you can't boot the system, making this difficult. In this situation,
external hardware (see hardware requirements above) is needed which can
flash the SPI chip (where retroboot resides).

![](images/x60t_unbrick/0000.JPG)

Remove those screws:\
![](images/x60t_unbrick/0001.JPG)

Remove the HDD:\
![](images/x60t_unbrick/0002.JPG)

Push keyboard forward to loosen it:\
![](images/x60t_unbrick/0003.JPG)

Lift:\
![](images/x60t_unbrick/0004.JPG)

Remove those:\
![](images/x60t_unbrick/0005.JPG)

![](images/x60t_unbrick/0006.JPG)

Also remove that (marked) and unroute the antenna cables:\
![](images/x60t_unbrick/0007.JPG)

For some X60T laptops, you have to unroute those too:\
![](images/x60t_unbrick/0010.JPG)

Remove the LCD extend board screws. Also remove those screws (see blue
marks) and remove/unroute the cables and remove the metal plate:\
![](images/x60t_unbrick/0008.JPG)

Remove that screw and then remove the board:\
![](images/x60t_unbrick/0009.JPG)

Now wire up the SPI flasher and the SOIC8 test clip.\
Refer to [rpi\_setup.md](rpi_setup.md) for how to setup the RPi for
flashing.\
*Note, the guide mentions a 3.3v DC PSU but you don't need this on the
X60 Tablet: if you don't have or don't want to use an external PSU,
then make sure not to connect the 3.3v leads mentioned in the guide;
instead, connect the AC adapter (the one that normally charges your
battery) so that the board has power (but don't boot it up)*
![](images/x60t_unbrick/0011.JPG)\
Correlate the numbers above with the RPi guide.

Connecting the RPi and test (in this image, an external 3.3v DC PSU
was used but you can plug in the battery charger without turning on the board,
to get +3.3v):\
![](images/x60/th_bbb_flashing.jpg)

Flashrom binaries for ARM (tested on a RPi) are distributed in
Libreboot release archives. Alternatively, retroboot also distributes flashrom
source code which can be built.

SSH'd into the RPi:

    # ./flashrom -p linux_spi:dev=/dev/spidev0.0,spispeed=4096 -w yourrom.rom

You might try a lower speed if the above doesn't work well. Make sure the wires
are the same length, within 10cm.

It should be `Verifying flash... VERIFIED` at the end. If flashrom
complains about multiple flash chip definitions detected, then choose
one of them following the instructions in the output.

Reverse the steps to re-assemble your system.
