Lenovo Thinkcentre/ThinkStation Tiny (Project TinyMiniMicro) Reference Thread

[wiggy]

Hello,

I have an m90q gen 5. I planned to run Windows and Hyper-V on it but it seems to hang at the POST if virtualisation is enabled in the BIOS, and Windows wants to use it.

Installing Server 2025 works but the m90q will hang at the POST if the Hyper-V role is added. Disabling virtualisation in the BIOS settings will then let Windows boot but Hyper-V obviously doesn't work. Windows 11 was similar.

Proxmox works so I haven't lost all hope.

edit: I had already previously installed the latest BIOS version M5KKT20A,

Has anyone come across this before?

Thank you

 

[yada68]

Guess the i9-9900 ES works in the M920q.

Just replaced the i5-8500T with the i9-9900 ES and it seems to work pretty good without any issues so far. Other than it being identified as 'Genuine Intel CPU 0000', physical specs about the same as my i9-9900K. There are (3) main deviations... TDP @65W, base @2.6GHz, boost @4.2Ghz on the M920q when running Topaz Photo AI. Temps under load are roughly 75-84 Celsius, 30-31 when idle.

Had to reinstall the Nvidia Tesla P4 Grid driver to get the P4 recognized again, assuming its due to hardware change in Windows 11.

Bought the unit for about $160 at AliX.

HI, i have a m920q and i want to know if you made any changes to the heatsink or its the m920q stock one.

THANKS!

 

[besseddrest]

hi all, so i've finally setup a p3 tiny gen 1 - purchased via used parts (mostly)

one thing that happens is when i plug in the power it will automatically start up - lights, fan, but no post, then shuts off. Usually then i have to hold down the power button for several seconds till it lights up, and then i can use it normally. It might actually turn on by itself instead of me manually doing it, but i just choose not to wait for it

and so my question is - what is this first cycle of powering up? I'll double check my bios again but i believe i've already disabled any 'auto power on' type of setting. It would be nice to just plug the power in, and then have it only power up when i press the power button, like i would have expected

I'm using a non-Lenovo brand 240w power adapter. The only other thing is maybe this only happens when first plugged into power, and i shouldn't experience this any time after, until its unplugged again.

 

[besseddrest]

another note, maybe this is more appropriate for arch/linux sub on reddit but ill give it a try here

i went from m75q gen 2 => p3 tiny

so that's AMD 5650GE w/ integrated graphics => intel i5 13500T integrated graphics

but now on the p3 i have a AMD WX3200 dGPU

The performance overall seems better but a minor thing is i open ghostty run btop, and btop is just incredibly slow, even after adjusting the update. I can tell because when i click or try to go to settings it receives my input after a delay. I've tried uninstalling btop, deleting the configs folder it creates, then reinstalling. reboot/startup also seems to take a bit longer: Lenovo logo seems to sit for a little longer but once i select the kernel img it seems fine from there

So just to go over what i've done so far is basically I just took my nvme SSD and moved it over, and most things have worked just fine so far, just this little laggy btop

when i first set it up i ran mkinitcpio -P and just most recently i remembered there are intel specific packages, so at the moment i've installed intel-ucode; all other intel graphics related packages are already on my system

in my BIOS i've set to auto detect, that means it checks for my dGPU first, else iGPU

i suppose, i should check if the correct drivers are being used, maybe for some reason i thought that would be automatic.

 

[besseddrest]

false alarm re:btop

There was a setting "RSMI pcie speeds for AMD cards" which was set to true, with the warning it may be slow for some AMD gpus, set to false. fixed

 

[flusterbuster]

Hey all, first, I bought a used tiny machine listed as a p340, even the outside front plate shell says p340, but everything in the bios and service tag says it is P350, what heck?

Anyways, the real reason I am posting is that I installed two different 10g cards, one is an intel x520-DA1 (EEPROM patched) and a SuperMicro AOC-STG-i2T.

Both have the same issue where If they plugged in (sfp or ethernet cable) proxmox refuses to boot and hangs on `loading initial ramdisk`. Removing the `quiet` option on grub reveals it is also just stuck on `EFI stub: Loaded initrd from LLINUX_EFI_INITRD_MEDIA_GUID device path`.

If I turn the system off then remove the cable, it boots successfully into proxmox. Furthermore, I can just replug the cable back to both NICs and works perfectly fine. VMs can use the bridge network I made.

Is there some sort of trick? I have used this same card (x520) on a different proxmox build on my Dell PE T420 just fine. Any ideas? The thought of having to unplug the cable to boot seems asinine.

on the x520 I am using a 10Gtek 10G SFP+ DAC Twinax Cable
on the AOC-STG-2T, 6COM 10baset Transceiver on the switch and a regular cat6

The system for anyone curious
```
CPU: 11700t
RAM: 64gb
Storage: 2x 2TB Crucial P310 NVMEs
Boot Drive: Kingston NV3 500GB 2230 w/ M.2 A/E adapter (removed wifi card)
```

Update: I sorta fixed it by disabling iommu. Now the system boots perfectly while it is connected. Not sure why this happens, and I don't need that feature on this system, hurray i guess lol

 

[wiggy]

Hello,

I have an m90q gen 5. I planned to run Windows and Hyper-V on it but it seems to hang at the POST if virtualisation is enabled in the BIOS

Just in case useful to anyone - disabling 'Total Memory Encryption' in the BIOS avoided hanging during the POST.

 

[Gr3yh0und]

I am running out of ideas. For my P3G2 I know have the 4x Riser as well in addition to the x8, but ASPM still does not seem to work for me. Any ideas for debugging @WifiCable ? I couldn't test the Intel X710/XVV710 yet, but my RTL8127 full reports ASPM enabled. I am still waiting for a riser cable to have the space to wiggle around without destroying the Riser YET.

 

[RayBloodyPurchase]

I've got a M90q Gen 3 with pcie riser and have an issue changing the nic card.

Currently installed is a functional 2 port SFP+ card (CX322A). As I don't need the 2nd port, and have a couple of CX311A cards laying around, I decided to swap out the dual for a single. Essentially less heat, less power, and moreover less space.

The trouble is that Win11 will not detect either of the single port cards (do not appear in the device manager). One of the cards was operational in another pc, so at least one of them I know is good. Figured as they are the same mfg, and I belive same chipset, it would be a simple swap. What am I missing? Do I need to reset the bios?

Love this little box and this is really the only issue I've had with it.

 

[TheGman83]

I've got a M90q Gen 3 with pcie riser and have an issue changing the nic card.

I assume you have the x16 riser (5C50W00933)? See my posts on previous page, but essentially this riser only seems happy with x8 and x16 cards. If you want to use an x1 or x4 card you need the 5C50W00909 riser. This resolved my issue.

 

[RayBloodyPurchase]

Yes, it's a 8x/16x riser. I'll have to give the 4x riser a shot once I can get my hands on one. Thank you for the suggestion.

 

[klacika]

How to get the Supermicro AOC-SGP-i4 working in Thinkcentre ? Just solder/connect two pins as shown in the picture.

 

[Nozle]

Hello,

I have a cluster of three Lenovo M90Q Gen 4 motherboards, each with an Intel 13500 processor and 64GB of RAM, along with two NVMe drives and an Intel x710 DA2 GPU updated to the latest version.

The problem is that I can't get the package state (c) to be higher than c2. I've configured PowerTop Autotune and PowerSave, everything is up to date, but I can't get it to go beyond c2.

Any recommendations on how to solve this?

Thanks in advance.

 

[jja2000]

I have an M90q Gen 5, bought a 5C50W00933 riser and have an Intel Arc Pro B50. It does not show up in Windows or Linux, it displays the UEFI firmware fine, it shows the splashscreen fine.

Why is this not working? If you set the video device to auto it will even show the display in Windows, but the device does not show up or show anything on the screen.

 

[jja2000]

I have an M90q Gen 5, bought a 5C50W00933 riser and have an Intel Arc Pro B50. It does not show up in Windows or Linux, it displays the UEFI firmware fine, it shows the splashscreen fine.

Why is this not working? If you set the video device to auto it will even show the display in Windows, but the device does not show up or show anything on the screen.

Okay so I wrote this in desparation. Turning off ASPM seems to have fixed it...
I think I'm gonna shoot Lenovo an email.

 

[akariii]

Having a random-ish issue with my trust m75q-1. IT sems to hard freeze to no vide ouput, no usb device power, totally unresponsive once every 1-3 days and it has been going on for maybe 3 months now. I have never seen when it happens in person but it will happen overnight. I tried everything with drivers, ram testing, ssd test, the included diagnostics, and nothing changed. ave not tried a full windows reset just yet but i'm seeing no windows errors or anything of the sort when it crashes. Anyone have any recommendations? Starting to suspect hardwarefailure (motherboard?)

 

[treg]

Mini tutorial for Lenovo M720q BIOS modding : Above 4G decoding, Resizable-Bar, etc.

For those interested in modding their M720q/M920q/M920x/P330 Tiny, I managed to BIOS mod mine thanks to this guide. However, I did it a little bit differently. It will also work for the M920q/M920x/P330 Tiny : stick to the link guide (for dual chips reasons). I beg your pardon for my bad english. I will not take any responsability if you brick your computer !

I added pictures too.


My Lenovo M720q :

- CPU : Intel Core i5-9500TE.
- GPU : AMD Radeon Pro WX 4100 4GB.
- RAM : 2x8GB 3200MHz (running at 2666MHz) DDR4. Don't remember the brand...
- M.2 NVMe SSD : SANDISK WD_BLACK SN7100 500GB.
- WiFi/Bluetooth module : Intel AX210 with FRU part number.
- Power brick : a genuine Lenovo 135W brick. Other bricks (170W, 230W, 300W...) are useless.
- Genuine top cover from a Lenovo P330 Tiny bought on AliExpress for GPU breathing lmao : I don't have receivte it yet at the time of writing the guide.
- Genuine bracket bezel for Quadro GPUs bought on AliExpress : I don't have receive it yet at the time of writing the guide. Should be compatible with my Radeon Pro WX 4100. Make sure to buy the bracket for Tiny5.


1. Backup your BIOS using a CH341A programmer

First, remove the CMOS battery and unplug the power brick. Install Flashrom (I used Arch Linux) and prepare a CH341A. No need to do a 3.3v mod, the programmer already uses 3.3v. Locate your BIOS chip and make sure pin 1 of the CH341A (the red wire) is on pin 1 of the BIOS chip. In my case, the BIOS chip is a GD25B127DSIG and Flashrom on Arch Linux didn't find it ! I needed to specify other chips names from the same brand (GD25Q128E/GD25B128E/GD25R128E/GD25Q127C). If you have a Winbond chip, you can stick to the guide I linked above. The CH341A was recognized natively without the need of installing drivers. The experience was way better than the Windows one lmao. The programmer was plugged on a USB 2 cable plugged into a USB 2 port of my ASRock B650I Lightning WiFi.

The commands I used :

a. First command to create one backup : sudo flashrom -p ch341a_spi -c "GD25Q128E/GD25B128E/GD25R128E/GD25Q127C" -v -r backup1.bin .
b. Second command to create the second backup : sudo flashrom -p ch341a_spi -c "GD25Q128E/GD25B128E/GD25R128E/GD25Q127C" -r backup2.bin .
c. Third and last command to compare the two backups : diff backup1.bin backup2.bin . If nothing returns, you're good.

It can take quite some time (be patient), if Flashrom doesn't work, you need to replace the CH341A pliers correctly, etc. If everything worked fine, you will have your backups in your personal folder. I know the pliers are awful... Hopefully, I did it in a first shot ! Please keep the backups...


2. Edit the BIOS file

You need : UEFITool NE Alpha 68, UEFITool 0.28.0 (not NE !!!), ifrextractor v1.5.1 (the latest version doesn't work with UEFI web editor) and UEFI editor... and patience.

I edited backup1.bin. I just followed the guide I linked above. Personally, I wanted to have Above 4G decoding visible in the BIOS, PL1/PL2 controls, etc. I also disabled BD-PROCHOT as the guide said (be careful !). You can enable Thunderbolt support, etc. Take your time and be careful about the modifications you make. I renamed the new BIOS file as "bios_main_mod.bin".

The command I used :

- sudo flashrom -p ch341a_spi -c "GD25Q128E/GD25B128E/GD25R128E/GD25Q127C" -w bios_main_mod.bin . It will also take a long time. If it's a success, you will a have a "Sucess" or a "Done" message. If not, do as I said above : "replace the pliers", etc.


3. Boot your computer

Re-plug everything (CMOS battery and the power adapter), power on your Tiny and if you have an output, it's a great sign. Access the BIOS and check for the options you added previously in UEFITool 0.28.0. If you don't want Resizable-Bar, you can skip 4. and 5. sections and go directly to the last sections of my mini tutorial.


4. Adding Resizable-Bar support (Optional)

I wanted to push the BIOS mod further with Resizable-Bar support. Unplug your Tiny, remove your CMOS battery, etc. "Here we go again". I used ReBarUEFI and just follow the "UEFITool method (recommanded)" section. No need to use UEFIPatch. Just UEFITool 0.28.0 to add ReBarDxe.ffs. I uploaded in UEFITool my previous "bios_main_mod.bin". I named the new BIOS file "BIOS.bin" after adding the module.

The command I used :

- sudo flashrom -p ch341a_spi -c "GD25Q128E/GD25B128E/GD25R128E/GD25Q127C" -w BIOS.bin

"It will take some time"...


5. Boot your computer and enable Resizable-Bar

This time, Resizable-Bar will not be a visible option in the BIOS ! Above 4G decoding needs to be enabled with aperture size set to 2048mb. Now boot Windows (in my case, Windows 11), launch GPU-Z or any monitoring tool, and you will see that Resizable-Bar is disabled ! You need to run ReBarState.exe and enter "32" to get Resizable-Bar working. It will prompt you to reboot your PC. Reboot and look again : Resizable-Bar is now enabled ! Bravo, félicitations (I'm french) !!!

I don't know if it's possible to do that on Linux. I saw that ClearCMOS will not delete the Resizable-Bar module but it will disable it ! You will need to re-enable ReBar with ReBarState.exe. To disable ReBar, ClearCMOS or run ReBarState.exe and put "0".


6. Some observations and final words

It was fun to achieve a BIOS mod. I already did this kind of modding with the previous Tiny generation. However, for M710q/M910q/M910x/P320, you can add Intel Core, Xeon and ES LGA 1151/BGA 1440 CPU support. As I'm aware, it's not possible to do that on the Tiny5 generation.

Resizable-Bar is a must with Intel ARC GPUs in order to get the most out of them. Without Resizable-Bar, you lose so much performance ! Remember that Lenovo Tinys support a maximum of 50W out of the PCIe slot. You will need to undervolt/power limit any GPUs that consume more than that.

(...)

Do you know if it is possible to delete the WiFi/Bluetooth modules whitelist ? If so, I'm very interested. Natively, you can only use modules with FRU part number or the ones listed on your Lenovo Tiny page. I would like to use a WiFi 7 module.

Feel free to reach me on Discord : chiracopolis. I answer generally very quickly !


Au revoir !

Bonjour Alexandre


as it happens last month I purchased a p330 here in Algiers and returned it after I assessed that rebar was a no-go for me, as I had not found any clear indication of a sucess story in that regard.


Now I discover that you made it work on your m720q, kudos for that, it gives us hope to finally stick a modern gpu in that little box!


My goal is to use the p330 as a virtualisation/homelab platform at home,
as a mobile workstation to experiment with car fusion sensors aboard my Overlanding SUV, play with some AI stuff on the go,
as well as use it a a travel capable gaming rig for MS Flight Simulator


So pairing it with an Intel ARC B50 LP would be an ideal scenario given the form factor, at least that was my initial thought.


Before I repurchase the p330 tiny or similar, I have two questions.
Please excuse my ignorance, never did bios mods before.
I have read your contribution carefully and had stumbled upon the linked archived guide before, but I am unclear on the following:


- P330 should have a dual chip bios /eeprom setup: do you think it would be possible to complete the bios mod without desoldering the chips?
-is there any chance the bios file you created for your m720q can be uploaded in another machine, be it m720q or ideally p330, or does a different bios file need to be created for each machine for some reason?


Merci d'avance de vos éclairages / Thanks in advance for your kind feedback


Ps: here is a link re: a WiFi 7 mod, on a 6th gen m710q though, has useful details on differences between specific variants starting at 2mns.

 

[besseddrest]

Bonjour Alexandre


as it happen last month I purchased a p330 here in Algiers and returned it after I assessed that rebar was a no-go for me, as I had not found any clear indication of a sucess story in that regard.


Now I discover that you made it work on your m720q, kudos for that, it gives us hope to finally stick a modern gpu in that little box!


My goal is to use the p330 as a virtualisation/homelab platform at home,
as a mobile workstation to experiment with car fusion sensors aboard my Overlanding SUV, play with some AI stuff on the go,
as well as use it a a travel capable gaming rig for MS Flight Simulator


So pairing it with an Intel ARC B50 LP would be an ideal scenario given the form factor, at least that was my initial thought.


Before I repurchase the p330 tiny or similar, I have two questions.
Please excuse my ignorance, never did bios mods before.
I have read your contribution carefully and had stumbled upon the linked archived guide before, but I am unclear on the following:


- P330 should have a dual chip bios /eeprom setup: do you think it would be possible to complete the bios mod without desoldering the chips?
-is there any chance the bios file you created for your m720q can be uploaded in another machine, be it m720q or ideally p330, or does a different bios file need to be created for each machine for some reason?


Merci d'avance de vos éclairages / Thanks in advance for your kind feedback


Ps: here is a link re: a WiFi 7 mod, on a 6th gen m710q though, has useful details on differences between specific variants starting at 2mns.

"ITG Gear" on YouTube just did this exact upgrade (p330 Tiny + Arc B350):

 

[besseddrest]

I have a p3 Tiny ThinkStation Gen 1 and the time it takes for the 'firmware' step in boot is about 1 min 10 sec long. Trying to understand what the issue might be here

I've tried a firmware update with fwupd and it seems Embedded Controller & TPM firmware could not be updated successfully

When i turn on Secure Boot (thinking that maybe something about it's enabled/disabled state prevents me from updating) I get a error dialog Secure Boot violation - Invalid signatures.

I don't intend on using Secure Boot as I use a full Arch linux install (no dual boot). What are some ways to check wahts happening all the way up to the Lenovo boot logo?

 

[AlexandreFNR]

Bonjour Alexandre


as it happen last month I purchased a p330 here in Algiers and returned it after I assessed that rebar was a no-go for me, as I had not found any clear indication of a sucess story in that regard.


Now I discover that you made it work on your m720q, kudos for that, it gives us hope to finally stick a modern gpu in that little box!


My goal is to use the p330 as a virtualisation/homelab platform at home,
as a mobile workstation to experiment with car fusion sensors aboard my Overlanding SUV, play with some AI stuff on the go,
as well as use it a a travel capable gaming rig for MS Flight Simulator


So pairing it with an Intel ARC B50 LP would be an ideal scenario given the form factor, at least that was my initial thought.


Before I repurchase the p330 tiny or similar, I have two questions.
Please excuse my ignorance, never did bios mods before.
I have read your contribution carefully and had stumbled upon the linked archived guide before, but I am unclear on the following:


- P330 should have a dual chip bios /eeprom setup: do you think it would be possible to complete the bios mod without desoldering the chips?
-is there any chance the bios file you created for your m720q can be uploaded in another machine, be it m720q or ideally p330, or does a different bios file need to be created for each machine for some reason?


Merci d'avance de vos éclairages / Thanks in advance for your kind feedback


Ps: here is a link re: a WiFi 7 mod, on a 6th gen m710q though, has useful details on differences between specific variants starting at 2mns.

Hello my friend,

Yes, the P330/M920q/M920x have dual chips. You actually need to desolder the other chip as stated in the link I provided. I don't think that you can bypass that...