[ Up ] [ Your TP Model ] [ TP HM Manuals ] [ Making probes ] [ Soldering to EEPROM ] [ GND Connection ] [ 390 390E 390X ] [ 600 ] [ 600e ] [ 600x ] [ A20 A21 A22 m/p ] [ A30 A30p A31 A31p ] [ G40 G41 ] [ L412 ] [ L512 ] [ L520 ] [ R30 ] [ R31 ] [ R32 ] [ R40 ] [ R400 ] [ R50 and R51 ] [ R51e ] [ R52 ] [ R60 ] [ R61 R61i ] [ R500 ] [ SL410 ] [ SL510 ] [ T20 T21 T22 T23 ] [ T30 ] [ T40/p T41/p T42/p ] [ T400 ] [ T400s ] [ T410 ] [ T420 ] [ T43 T43p ] [ T500 ] [ T510 ] [ T60 T60p ] [ T61 T61p ] [ W500 ] [ X100e ] [ X130e ] [ X200 ] [ X200T ] [ X201 Tablet ] [ X220 ] [ X30 ] [ X31 ] [ X300 ] [ X301 ] [ X40 and X41 ] [ X60 X60s ] [ X60Tablet ] [ X61 X61s X61t ] [ Z60 ] [ Z60m ] [ Z61 ] [ Z61m ] [ Z61T ] [ Other Models ]

Please visit the Home page for new developments

Instructions on how to actually unlock your ThinkPad (TP) are in the User's Guides

EEPROM Location and Type

Z61 you treat the EEPROM as 24RF08

Locating the Z61 connection points

Switch the Z61 OFF.

You should have already downloaded the hardware Maintenance Manual for your ThinkPad model, if you have not done so use the link below to download it now,

Download the Hardware Maintenance Manual (HMM) for your TP model

The links above are to the Lenovo site, if it doesn't work, don't panic, it isn't broken, their site is shut down daily for maintenance and at those times they display spurious messages like the page you requested cannot be found, wait a good while and try again.

Once you have your HMM search the manual for "Removing and replacing a FRU" , follow the instructions in the manual to remove all the other FRUs to gain access to and remove the System Board.

The IC you need to connect to is an ATMEL 8356908 which is on the top side of the System Board under the PC Card slots.

I do not have photos of the Z61 System Board.

If you are working on a Z61 and can take 2 decent photos that I can use, I will give you a discount on the purchase of your KeyMaker. 

Not as silly as it sounds, you can download the HMM, remove the System Board, take the 2 photos, email me me your photos [keep file size below 5MB] and then purchase your KeyMaker from me at a discount.

2 photos are required, an overall view of the location of the ATMEL 8356908 and a close-up of the ATMEL 8356908

The image below is from a DIFFERENT System Board, it illustrates the connection points to the ATMEL 8356908.

THIS IS A DIFFERENT SYSTEM BOARD ILLUSTRATING THE connection points to the ATMEL 8356908, the Z61 uses the same IC but the actual board layout is DIFFERENT.

It is much easier to connect to the two pull-up resistor rather than the closely spaced pins on the ATMEL 8356908

I receive many emails asking about the GND connection, in reality it is very simple, you use some kind of a clip so that you don't have to hold it in place, you DON'T HAVE 3 HANDS and there are 3 connections, GND SDA and SCL, so have a clip for GND, then you can use the 2 hands YOU DO HAVE to hold your SDA and SCL probes in place.

Almost any large piece of metal or the screws for the external connectors of any ThinkPad are a good GND connecting point.

Anyway a picture is worth a thousand words

Click here for pictures of GND Connections

Basically you make the System board functional outside of it's case which includes mounting heat sink and fan on CPU.

Once you have taken care of the GND connection.

You push the sharp probes onto SCL SDA , this is the reason you need 2 persons, not enough hands to hold the probes and run the software.

This is not easy, you will need to have the Keyboard [and optionally the LCD] plugged into the system board in such a way that none touch any contacts on the system board, use paper as an insulator to keep things from electrically shorting out, later you will need to plug in the AC adaptor and switch ON the TP, then you will need to hold 2 probes in place to the SCL and SDA points on the system board.

See my page on Options for Clips and Probes including making your own probes.

This page ONLY describes how to connect the KeyMaker Interface to the EEPROM.

The instructions on how to Recover or clear a Supervisor password are in The "User's Guides" click here

Assembling your TP - AFTER - you have finished.

Follow the Hardware Maintenance Manual [FRU System Board], very carefully, double check screw type and size for each individual module.  Assemble the TP in the reverse order used to dismantle it.

  If you have any questions, email Joe at

[ Home ] [ Up ] [ Your TP Model ] [ TP HM Manuals ] [ Making probes ] [ Soldering to EEPROM ] [ GND Connection ] [ 390 390E 390X ] [ 600 ] [ 600e ] [ 600x ] [ A20 A21 A22 m/p ] [ A30 A30p A31 A31p ] [ G40 G41 ] [ L412 ] [ L512 ] [ L520 ] [ R30 ] [ R31 ] [ R32 ] [ R40 ] [ R400 ] [ R50 and R51 ] [ R51e ] [ R52 ] [ R60 ] [ R61 R61i ] [ R500 ] [ SL410 ] [ SL510 ] [ T20 T21 T22 T23 ] [ T30 ] [ T40/p T41/p T42/p ] [ T400 ] [ T400s ] [ T410 ] [ T420 ] [ T43 T43p ] [ T500 ] [ T510 ] [ T60 T60p ] [ T61 T61p ] [ W500 ] [ X100e ] [ X130e ] [ X200 ] [ X200T ] [ X201 Tablet ] [ X220 ] [ X30 ] [ X31 ] [ X300 ] [ X301 ] [ X40 and X41 ] [ X60 X60s ] [ X60Tablet ] [ X61 X61s X61t ] [ Z60 ] [ Z60m ] [ Z61 ] [ Z61m ] [ Z61T ] [ Other Models ]