P15 G1 - Cannot update BIOS

[StoveJeebs]

Hi all,

I've had my P15 G1 for about a year and a half now. I realized the other day I'm running BIOS version 1.26, which has various security vulnerabilities. I ran Commercial Vantage, and the BIOS update kept failing.
I figured no big deal, and downloaded the .exe, and it failed too, giving the following error "the process does not recognize this system the process has been canceled". I finally created a bootable USB using Lenovo's instructions in the install folder, and it failed too!

I tried the 3 or 4 earlier BIOS versions that were still newer than mine, and they all failed in the same manner. I contacted Lenovo Support, and they told me to wait until the new BIOS comes out.. I doubt that will work considering my current luck!


Any ideas? Googling this issue doesn't give many results! Thanks.

[BillMorrow]

hello and welcome to the forum..
you say "commercial vantage"..?

[RealBlackStuff]

@Bill:
Lenovo Commercial Vantage is for IT admins.

@Stove:
Maybe the BIOS update works if you use the regular Lenovo Vantage instead?

[StoveJeebs]

@Bill

Correct, I am an IT admin, I never the reason to use regular Vantage over Commercial Vantage.

@Real

I tried regular Vantage for the heck of it, and same story, the BIOS update fails! Any ideas on what's going on? Lenovo told me to call their "Software Support team" about this, and that warranty support couldn't help.

[BillMorrow]

@real educated me IRT commercial vantage..
only thing i can say is there is something going on with that particular thinkpad..
have you ever, in the past, updated the bios on that machine..?
unlikely the bios update is defective, unlikely but not impossible..

[RealBlackStuff]

Have you tried the .iso (bootable CD/USB)?

[StoveJeebs]

@Bill.

That's what I'm thinking.. Machine runs fine, but who knows there might be something wrong with it!
I don't recall... the BIOS has likely been updated before using Commercial Vantage, but that was over a year ago.


@Real

Yes, I tried using Lenovo's instructions, and created a bootable USB flash drive. It gave the same error that the .exe utility gives, really strange!

[StoveJeebs]

Update:

I am pleased to announce I was able to get the BIOS to update. I suspect the USB-C to HDMI adapter that was plugged in was causing it to give the "system not detected" message. I did try unplugging my dock, but I suspect I forgot to unplug that secondary adapter.
The only other thing that has changed is the power adapter/physical location of the machine..

Lenovo support was completely worthless, and refused to help in anyway whatsoever, I even paid for the 3 year extended warranty.. I don't think I'll be buying another Lenovo product.