Lenovo Flex 5 14ARE05 Ethernet Upgrade (potentially need to mod BIOS?)

[raspberrypihole]

Hello, I need some advice about my Lenovo laptop. I previously posted a similar thread to reddit but somehow it's removed, and upon more research, I've discovered an infuriating thing called "WiFi whitelisting", so I hope to find help here.

 

I have a Lenovo Flex 5 laptop Ryzen 4700U, 16/256GB. The laptop all the USB ports (BT, webcam) are broken, screen has minor crack and digitizer and stylus not work. It is likely I might replace this laptop given the condition, and it probably worth pennies on Facebook/Craig b/c I think most normal people care about the things that is broken, but it has perfectly functioning hardware that needs repurposing. I plan on tinkering with it, perhaps run Ubuntu, CasaOS or Proxmox.

 

I plan on replacing the built-in WiFi card (PN:01AX713) (QUALCOMM ATHEROS QCNFA344A) which is NGFF card and A+E key, with a gigabit ethernet or 2.5 GbE. This video indicates these A+E keyed "WiFi Card" Ethernet controllers exists. I think these should work because:

• The ethernet controller uses PCIe x1, which is also what the laptop WiFi uses; the WiFi on my system is still working so PCIe is fine (have verified with HWinfo that the slot is indeed PCIe)

The ethernet controllers I'm looking at are mostly RTL8125B, I225-V for 2.5G and RTL8111 for GbE.

Links: Realtek Taobao I225 Taobao and also image below for those cannot access taobao.

 

I've seen various good reviews and horror stories on both Intel and Realtek, but those are on proper customizable desktop PC or soft routers. And upon some research, I learned this disgusting practice of whitelisting WiFi cards and prevent booting from Lenovo. So that means I must modify my BIOS in order to use the ethernet?

 

I own a CH341a with SOP8 clip and have previously flashed Asus B150M in order to install modified Intel ES CPU, but that was easier since the BIOS was provided by CPU seller and there are good instructions. However, when searching for my specific model and removing whitelist, I could not find any helpful resources. Is what I want to do even possible? If so, what are some forums or resources I could look into about Lenovo Flex 5 whitelisting unlock? Or maybe a place to download modded bios for my machine? I don't really care about minor "inconvenience" of modded BIOS like no warranty, Windows key removed, it already out of Lenovo warranty and Costco warranty already refused it once.

 

I was looking forward to tinker with this, since the laptop is HDMI 1.4 so it cannot be repurposed to HTPC and lack of webcam/mic/USB makes it unsuitable for online meetings for my parents. I don't know other ways to repurpose this. My friend just went to China and I can have access to limitless option of cheap electronics that's why I'm starting this project now.

[OhYou_]

I would say good luck, even the thinkpads of that year do not have any patches released.
https://github.com/digmorepaka/thinkpad-firmware-patches

But I am pretty sure at least the thinkpads no longer whitelist the wlan slot as of 2018 ish.
so its likely your flex whatever also might not have a whitelist.
Have you actually tried installing the thing?

be careful with ch341a, the amd laptops from lenovo are all 1.8v bios chips. I was able to flash one with a raspberry pi with 3.3v power/3.3v logic, but I would probably not do it with a ch341a as they are 5v logic

also keep in mind there will never be a modified bios you simply download and flash. the laptops, the bios is all uniquely keyed to each machine. in all cases you would have to dump your bios and patch out the whitelist, or send it to someone to do it. anything else is probably some malware

[Biohazard777]

1 hour ago, raspberrypihole said:

The ethernet controllers I'm looking at are mostly RTL8125B, I225-V for 2.5G and RTL8111 for GbE
...
I've seen various good reviews and horror stories on both Intel and Realtek, but those are on proper customizable desktop PC or soft routers.

I have one of those RTL8125B in my Lenovo ThinkCentre M720q.
Haven't had any issues (running on Alma Linux 9.3, Kernel 5.14):

Spoiler

 

iperf3 test, I'm getting ~2.35 Gb/s:

Spoiler

 

Runs stable, doesn't get too hot, under full load for 5 minutes hottest spot is ~47c:

Spoiler

 

1 hour ago, raspberrypihole said:

And upon some research, I learned this disgusting practice of whitelisting WiFi cards and prevent booting from Lenovo. So that means I must modify my BIOS in order to use the ethernet?

I mean Lenovo M720q Tiny has more similarities with a laptop than a desktop heh, no whitelisting was needed to get it working.
Anyhow, these things are cheap, I'd just buy one and try it.

 

[raspberrypihole]

18 hours ago, OhYou_ said:

But I am pretty sure at least the thinkpads no longer whitelist the wlan slot as of 2018 ish.
so its likely your flex whatever also might not have a whitelist.
Have you actually tried installing the thing?

The item is still in China my friend will bring it back when he done the trip. I'm hoping this is the case and the installation will be plug and play (maybe few driver install). If it fails I could install it in a normal desktop or worst case scenario I lose C$15.

18 hours ago, OhYou_ said:

be careful with ch341a, the amd laptops from lenovo are all 1.8v bios chips

I believe I have the 1.8V adapter for the CH341a. 

 

18 hours ago, OhYou_ said:

also keep in mind there will never be a modified bios you simply download and flash. the laptops, the bios is all uniquely keyed to each machine. in all cases you would have to dump your bios and patch out the whitelist, or send it to someone to do it. anything else is probably some malware

Thanks, that's good to know. I've found WinRaid and BioMod.com that focus on bios modding and these seems promising, perhaps there are other sources I haven't found yet. I also saw some Taobao listing for modding Lenovo BIOS for 10 RMB (C$2), I could try that as well.

 

17 hours ago, Biohazard777 said:

I mean Lenovo M720q Tiny has more similarities with a laptop than a desktop heh, no whitelisting was needed to get it working.
Anyhow, these things are cheap, I'd just buy one and try it.

I actually have been searching for those Tiny PC on my local Marketplace. I saw one last year for C$150 which was sold under a day and then scalped for C$350. Nothing good atm but it's on my radar. Btw for your RTL8125B in the Lenovo Tiny, does it support ASPM and enter higher package C-states, you can check with powertop, Wolfgang's Channel also has a lot of video on this topic.

 

 

I will try it when I have access to the item and I'll report back the progress here (or make a new post if this one dies) or if I need additional help like BIOS modding.

[Biohazard777]

19 hours ago, raspberrypihole said:

Btw for your RTL8125B in the Lenovo Tiny, does it support ASPM and enter higher package C-states, you can check with powertop, Wolfgang's Channel also has a lot of video on this topic.

It does, Package reaches C10, here is my powertop output:

Spoiler

 

I'd just like to add that, even without tuning c-states this thing sips power.
When I got it (and set up all the things I wanted on it) I had it plugged into a smart socket, the total power used was ~10 kW for the whole month,
so ~0.33 kW daily.

Spoiler

3x 5W LED bulbs would draw approximately the same amount of power. 

 

 

[raspberrypihole]

On 3/13/2024 at 4:12 PM, OhYou_ said:

I would say good luck, even the thinkpads of that year do not have any patches released.
https://github.com/digmorepaka/thinkpad-firmware-patches

But I am pretty sure at least the thinkpads no longer whitelist the wlan slot as of 2018 ish.
so its likely your flex whatever also might not have a whitelist.
Have you actually tried installing the thing?

be careful with ch341a, the amd laptops from lenovo are all 1.8v bios chips. I was able to flash one with a raspberry pi with 3.3v power/3.3v logic, but I would probably not do it with a ch341a as they are 5v logic

also keep in mind there will never be a modified bios you simply download and flash. the laptops, the bios is all uniquely keyed to each machine. in all cases you would have to dump your bios and patch out the whitelist, or send it to someone to do it. anything else is probably some malware

Confirming that the the model of Lenovo Flex 5 do not have any WiFi whitelisting, I was able to install the network card and it was detected immediately in both Windows and Linux. No need to modify the BIOS or other hacky workarounds.