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Lenovo ThinkPad T450S HD5500 Full Hardware Acceleration


booger_sniffer5000
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First off, I'd like to start off by saying that this will, without a doubt, void your warranty. If you aren't comfortable pulling apart your laptop and possibly damaging it, then do not proceed. Flashing your BIOS can brick your laptop, if you don't know what you're doing, DON'T DO IT. That being said, all I needed to get to the BIOS chip was a screwdriver and an old gift card (to separate the casing without damage.)

 

Hey guys, it's been a bit since I've been active, but my MacBook recently died on me and I picked up a T450S to replace it, so I'm back in the hackintosh game. Of course those of us with this laptop know that it has the Intel HD5500, which isn't an issue to get working if you have the proper DVMT prealloc memory set. Well, this becomes an issue when the proper memory size isn't set, and there's no way to change it in the BIOS. 

 

Looking at FireWolf's guide:

 

http://www.firewolf.science/2015/04/guide-intel-hd-graphics-5500-on-os-x-yosemite-10-10-3/

 

(awesome guide, btw)

 

(Added note: I'm running El Capitan)

 

You see that he suggests changing the memory size within an EFI shell, which I found doesn't work with Phoenix BIOSes...so I had to resort to a modded BIOS approach, which luckily worked. 

 

Anyway, I want to make it clear that I don't want to take credit for work I have not done: I have only put together this small guide, really.

 

Now, the unfortunate thing is that the BIOS chip cannot be flashed with a modded BIOS through a simple software approach, it must be done with an EEPROM flasher and a test clip. I used a simple CH341A programmer which can be had for cheap on eBay from China, and a SOIC8 SOP8 test clip (also from eBay.) I believe I only spent around $10 for both when I bought mine. There is a nice guide on using them over on bios-mods.com:

 

https://www.bios-mods.com/forum/Thread-REQUEST-Lenovo-IdeaPad-S405-Whitelist-Removal?page=3

 

 

Just a few tips I'd like to add though: make sure the clip is seated properly (touching the correct pins, etc.) I used a flashlight to make sure it was on. I disconnected my main batteries for this, and left my CMOS battery connected (I disconnected the CMOS battery after the flash for maybe 30 seconds to clear the CMOS.) Also, it took me a bit of time to realize the proper way to connect the clip to the socket on the programmer (I will take a picture when I get back home.) I have also attached the software I used to flash the chip, as older versions do not seem to work properly with this size BIOS chip.

 

You can download the software from my Dropbox here:

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/qqs2bg1iq5m30jj/CH341A.rar?dl=0

 

You'll want to disable your antivirus for this, as mine seemed to not like it. I didn't write the software (it was written by some Chinese company), so I can't guarantee it's not malicious, but it works just fine and I haven't had any issues.

 

Basically, the software procedure to flash is set the proper chip (I used the W25Q128BV profile, which is not the EXACT model number of my chip, but worked just fine), read/backup the original BIOS (IMPORTANT), erase the chip, and then flash the chip.

 

The modded BIOS that I used is just an unlocked BIOS that I requested over at bios-mods.com, and BDMaster so nicely helped me out. Note that the BIOS version I used is 1.14 (iirc), so it is not the latest version, but works just fine. The modded BIOS can be downloaded from my Dropbox, along with my original backup, if you want:

 

Modded BIOS:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/4svhlyw04ipznkj/Firmware.bin?dl=0

 

Original BIOS:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/a0l11dqczquy4bx/BIOS.rom?dl=0

 

 

If the modded BIOS helped ya out, consider throwing the guy a donation for his hard work (I donated to him also):

 

http://goo.gl/EzxWhW

 

Anyway, once you've got the BIOS flashed, you have to get your BIOS settings setup. Here are the values I changed:

 

Advanced -> System Agent (SA) Configuration -> Graphics Configuration:

     

     DVMT Pre-Allocated -> 128MB

     DVMT Total Gfx Mem -> 256MB

 

Config -> Display:

     Total Graphics Memory 256MB

 

Startup:

     UEFI/Legacy Boot -> UEFI Only

     CSM Support -> Yes

 

That should get you on track.

 

After that, you have to set Clover to load the proper profile (or you could use DSDT.) This is outlined in FireWolf's guide at the top of this post, but basically, you set:

 

InjectIntel = True

 

ig-platform-id = 0x16160002

 

After that, give it a reboot and you should have full hardware acceleration. :)

 

I'm willing to answer anybody's questions, too.

 

Also, please note that all I did was compile information/research made by other people much smarter than me, into a guide, I cannot take credit.

 

 

 

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

glad to see a post about T450 or T450s - was thinking of getting one to replace my T420... was curious about the wifi situation. there are some posts/rumors about whitelist. it seems this bios mod was about gfx - very cool. but what is your wifi situation? did you replace the wifi with OS X compatible chip? was a modded bios required this too? thanks. 

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glad to see a post about T450 or T450s - was thinking of getting one to replace my T420... was curious about the wifi situation. there are some posts/rumors about whitelist. it seems this bios mod was about gfx - very cool. but what is your wifi situation? did you replace the wifi with OS X compatible chip? was a modded bios required this too? thanks. 

There is no whitelist, I have replaced my WIFI card with this:

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JGFA50U?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00

 

BCM94352Z M.2

 

It works perfectly in OS X with kext mods/injection. However, for some reason, it does not work in Windows (and some say not in Linux?).

 

I've tried multiple drivers in Windows, the card is detected in device manager and apparently powers on and off fine, but it does not detect any networks.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Finally, I successfully unlocked my bios image. You need to do some more processes to be done in addition to the above. Firstly bios image uploaded should be used as a reference. That means you need to select some parts (menu unlocked, whitelist unlocked) in it, and apply them into your own bios image, and then you can write that updated image to your flash. For doing this, you'll need UEFITool.

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  • 1 month later...
  • 3 weeks later...

wow. thats great news. this makes me comfortable to move forward on getting one then. can you post your dsdt and clover config.plist? 

 

Hi Tluck!

I would follow instructions available at https://github.com/shmilee/T450-Hackintosh(not my work, but it's a great resource to start and test various settings). My biggest issue is weak support of touchpad + buttons (random clicks, wrong button support), but I have zero knowledge of programming so can't complain...

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  • 1 month later...
  • 1 month later...

Sorry about the slow response, don't come on here often.

 

CH341A Software:

 

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B_af0NFZ8yETaWxwVm5SLVo5VXc

 

Modded BIOS:

 

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B_af0NFZ8yETR1g1VUl4TllhS2M

 

Stock BIOS:

 

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B_af0NFZ8yETMlVyNWI5bjRqZDQ

 

EDIT: Bad links

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  • 3 months later...

@booger_sniffer5000,
 
Do you get the 5 beeps, pause, then 5 beeps when starting laptop?
 
Thanks
 

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 1 year later...

The links in my last post seem to be pointing to the wrong place, and it won't let me edit. Here's an updated link, I'll be looking into modding the latest BIOS soon, which fixes the Spectre vulnerability...will post if/when I figure that out.

 

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B_af0NFZ8yETZTNuQXdyYVZDdWc

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There is no whitelist, I have replaced my WIFI card with this:

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JGFA50U?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00

 

BCM94352Z M.2

 

It works perfectly in OS X with kext mods/injection. However, for some reason, it does not work in Windows (and some say not in Linux?).

 

I've tried multiple drivers in Windows, the card is detected in device manager and apparently powers on and off fine, but it does not detect any networks.

 

 

 

I know that the thread has not been active for a long time ... I see that you are still an active user.

 

 

I have the same problem in the wifi dw1560(works on osx but not in windows or linux) with a x1 carbon 2015, the whole 5 generation of lenovo seems to have this problem. Did you get it fixed? Did you try another wifi card such as the dw1830 ?. Thanks for your help

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I know that the thread has not been active for a long time ... I see that you are still an active user.

 

 

I have the same problem in the wifi dw1560(works on osx but not in windows or linux) with a x1 carbon 2015, the whole 5 generation of lenovo seems to have this problem. Did you get it fixed? Did you try another wifi card such as the dw1830 ?. Thanks for your help

Funny I actually just ordered a DW1830 over the weekend, waiting for it to show up. I'll update the thread once I figure out.

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So, modded BIOS wasn't necessary this time around it seems. My DVMT settings are correct through the new BIOS, no modding at all. I don't know if it was a change in the new BIOS, or if my settings were kept through the upgrade. But, working fine, just flashed the latest BIOS directly from Windows. Wireless is working great in macOS, works great in Windows.

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  • 11 months later...
  • 1 year later...
On 11/20/2015 at 8:10 PM, booger_sniffer5000 said:

First off, I'd like to start off by saying that this will, without a doubt, void your warranty. If you aren't comfortable pulling apart your laptop and possibly damaging it, then do not proceed. Flashing your BIOS can brick your laptop, if you don't know what you're doing, DON'T DO IT. That being said, all I needed to get to the BIOS chip was a screwdriver and an old gift card (to separate the casing without damage.)

 

Hey guys, it's been a bit since I've been active, but my MacBook recently died on me and I picked up a T450S to replace it, so I'm back in the hackintosh game. Of course those of us with this laptop know that it has the Intel HD5500, which isn't an issue to get working if you have the proper DVMT prealloc memory set. Well, this becomes an issue when the proper memory size isn't set, and there's no way to change it in the BIOS. 

 

Looking at FireWolf's guide:

 

http://www.firewolf.science/2015/04/guide-intel-hd-graphics-5500-on-os-x-yosemite-10-10-3/

 

(awesome guide, btw)

 

(Added note: I'm running El Capitan)

 

You see that he suggests changing the memory size within an EFI shell, which I found doesn't work with Phoenix BIOSes...so I had to resort to a modded BIOS approach, which luckily worked. 

 

Anyway, I want to make it clear that I don't want to take credit for work I have not done: I have only put together this small guide, really.

 

Now, the unfortunate thing is that the BIOS chip cannot be flashed with a modded BIOS through a simple software approach, it must be done with an EEPROM flasher and a test clip. I used a simple CH341A programmer which can be had for cheap on eBay from China, and a SOIC8 SOP8 test clip (also from eBay.) I believe I only spent around $10 for both when I bought mine. There is a nice guide on using them over on bios-mods.com:

 

https://www.bios-mods.com/forum/Thread-REQUEST-Lenovo-IdeaPad-S405-Whitelist-Removal?page=3

 

 

Just a few tips I'd like to add though: make sure the clip is seated properly (touching the correct pins, etc.) I used a flashlight to make sure it was on. I disconnected my main batteries for this, and left my CMOS battery connected (I disconnected the CMOS battery after the flash for maybe 30 seconds to clear the CMOS.) Also, it took me a bit of time to realize the proper way to connect the clip to the socket on the programmer (I will take a picture when I get back home.) I have also attached the software I used to flash the chip, as older versions do not seem to work properly with this size BIOS chip.

 

You can download the software from my Dropbox here:

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/qqs2bg1iq5m30jj/CH341A.rar?dl=0

 

You'll want to disable your antivirus for this, as mine seemed to not like it. I didn't write the software (it was written by some Chinese company), so I can't guarantee it's not malicious, but it works just fine and I haven't had any issues.

 

Basically, the software procedure to flash is set the proper chip (I used the W25Q128BV profile, which is not the EXACT model number of my chip, but worked just fine), read/backup the original BIOS (IMPORTANT), erase the chip, and then flash the chip.

 

The modded BIOS that I used is just an unlocked BIOS that I requested over at bios-mods.com, and BDMaster so nicely helped me out. Note that the BIOS version I used is 1.14 (iirc), so it is not the latest version, but works just fine. The modded BIOS can be downloaded from my Dropbox, along with my original backup, if you want:

 

Modded BIOS:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/4svhlyw04ipznkj/Firmware.bin?dl=0

 

Original BIOS:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/a0l11dqczquy4bx/BIOS.rom?dl=0

 

 

If the modded BIOS helped ya out, consider throwing the guy a donation for his hard work (I donated to him also):

 

http://goo.gl/EzxWhW

 

Anyway, once you've got the BIOS flashed, you have to get your BIOS settings setup. Here are the values I changed:

 

Advanced -> System Agent (SA) Configuration -> Graphics Configuration:

     

     DVMT Pre-Allocated -> 128MB

     DVMT Total Gfx Mem -> 256MB

 

Config -> Display:

     Total Graphics Memory 256MB

 

Startup:

     UEFI/Legacy Boot -> UEFI Only

     CSM Support -> Yes

 

That should get you on track.

 

After that, you have to set Clover to load the proper profile (or you could use DSDT.) This is outlined in FireWolf's guide at the top of this post, but basically, you set:

 

InjectIntel = True

 

ig-platform-id = 0x16160002

 

After that, give it a reboot and you should have full hardware acceleration. :)

 

I'm willing to answer anybody's questions, too.

 

Also, please note that all I did was compile information/research made by other people much smarter than me, into a guide, I cannot take credit.

 

 

 

 

i have thinkpad 450S I5-5300U intel Hd gfx 5500, Intel(R) Dual Band Wireless-AC 7265,SSD, 8 gb ram.

can u share your clover folder so i dont have to do much tinkering. it would be very helpful to me. thank you.

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