BEFORE you put the Thinkpad into developer mode, the Read/Write switch must be flipped to the ON position. Once done with the SN change, the Read/Write switch must be turned back to the OFF position. See pictures below.

Get to developer mode: Lenovo Thinkpad X131e

On the motherboard the Read/Write Switch must be turned to the ON position. See Picture 6.1 above.

On this device, both the recovery button and the dev-switch have been virtualized. Our partners don't really like physical switches - they cost money, take up space on the motherboard, and require holes in the case.

This device has unique requirements for entering recovery mode!

• • You must first remove all power from the system, both the battery and the AC plug. Then when power is re-applied you have 20 seconds to enter recovery mode:

    • Press ESC + Refresh + Power

In this system the removal of power sources will force the Embedded Controller to restart and stay in read-only code to ensure the recovery mode is secure.

To invoke Recovery mode:

• • Hold down the ESC and Refresh (F3) keys and poke the Power button.

  • To enter Dev-mode you first invoke Recovery, and at the Recovery screen press Ctrl-D (there's no prompt - you have to know to do it). It will ask you to confirm, then reboot into dev-mode.

  • Dev-mode works the same as always: It will show the scary boot screen and you need to press Ctrl-D or wait 30 seconds to continue booting.

Once in the command prompt continue to the next page, if not in a command prompt retry the above steps.

Once in developer mode: Lenovo Thinkpad X131e

Type as shown below, if it’s Capital leave it Capital, if its lowercase leave it lowercase. Spaces are important make sure if there is a space you type it in the terminal.

• • Type: chronos

    • Press Enter

  • Type: sudo su

    • Space after “sudo”.

    • Press Enter

  • Type: vpd -l (lowercase L)

    • Space after “vpd”.

    • Once you type vpd -l, this will display the current motherboards information including the motherboards current serial number.

    • Press Enter

  • Type: vpd -s "1s_mt_model_sn"="1S628323U0000000000”

    • Replace the 000’s with the Device Serial number from the original device.

    • Space after “vpd”, Space after “-s”.

    • 1S628323U will be the same for every 131 device, just add the serial number to the end with no spaces.

    • Make sure the serial number is CAPITAL letters.

    • Press Enter

    • If flashromPartialWrite() error displays go back to where the read/write switch is located and make sure it is in the correct location. See Picture 6.1, 6.2.

  • Type: vpd -s “serial_number”=”0000000000”

    • Replace the 000’s with the Device Serial number from the original device.

    • Space after “vpd”, Space after “-s”.

    • Make sure the serial number is CAPITAL letters.

    • Press Enter

  • Type: dump_vpd_log --force

    • Space after “dump_vpd_log”.

    • Press Enter

  • Type: dump_vpd_log --full --stdout

    • Space after “dump_vpd_log”, Space after “--full”.

    • Press Enter

  • To close the command line session, type EXIT to close shell and EXIT to close the terminal.

  • Switch the Read/Write Switch back to the OFF Position and screw the device back together.

  • Leave the device in developer mode once the repair is completed, so that the QC Team can Verify the SN Change.