Thinkpads Forum

Hello guys,

I just tried to upgrade the T7300 CPU on my T61 with a T8300 from a R61 i got in office, but once i powered up the T61 with the T8300, i genthe Lenovo Logo and then i get the error " thermal sensing error "| and then it powers off itself.

Any ideas?
I got the latest BIOS for the T61, the 2.10

From what i’ve heard, temperatures in T8xxx and T9xxx processors are being measured by digital temperature sensors, DTS. At least some notebooks which have a Merom CPU - the T7300 is a Merom CPU - read the temperature from an older, analogue type of temperature sensor. Penryn will not work reliably in such notebooks. If your notebook tries to use the older type of temperature sensor, this might be the cause for the error message which you see.

thank you TTY for your response to my quest for the upgrade.

So it seems T61's have two different type of boards, one with the analog thermal sensor and one that supports the new sensor for the T8xxx series CPU's.

What a shame..

What about a BIOS update that will follow? Maybe that could fix it?
Cause i find it rather bizzare the fact that T61's are offered with T7xxx and T8xxx CPU's.

hi,

is there anyway to work out if the T61 has an analogue or digital sensor?

Im looking at upgrading from a T7300 to a T9300 but it seems that the upgrade wont work.

My other option is a T7700 merom.

Anyone?

Haven't seen a solution to this Penryn T9300 upgrade problem.

Ive done some research since my post.

the ability to run a penryn based T8xxx or T9xxx CPU on your T61/p will depend on your motherboard and doesn't have anything to do with the BIOS.

to start go to the IBM warranty page here http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... OOK-WARNTY and enter your type and serial number.

You'll then get a page detailing each component in your system with a FRU number.

Scroll down and look for 'SYSTEM PLANAR'. Mine states 42W7652 as the FRU.

From my reviews of what people have got to work on their systems and the maintenance manual I've concluded the following.

Merom based T7xxx CPU's will work on the following motherboards

- 42W7651,
- 42W7652,
- 42W7653, and
- 42W7875.

Penyrn based T8xxx and T9xxx CPU's will work on the following motherboards

- 42W7876, and
- 42W7877.

I hope this helps.

Rambler76 wrote: Merom based T7xxx CPU's will work on the following motherboards

- 42W7651,
- 42W7652,
- 42W7653, and
- 42W7875.

Did you mean the above ONLY work for T7xxx CPUs and the other 2 works for BOTH T7xxx AND T8xxx/T9xxx CPUs?

My board is 42W7884 which is not in either of this. Where did you get the above info from?

yes

the info is from the T61/p hardware manual. the FRU you quoted is for a R61 so thats why it isnt covered.

I just upgrade my T61 from a T7500 to T8300. Got the exact same error message. But right after the message appears, I just press ESC then the system would keep on booting. A little inconvenient, but not a critial issue.

Did you see any measurable performance/battery/temperature improvement from T7500 to T8300?

Thanks

Tseng wrote:I just upgrade my T61 from a T7500 to T8300. Got the exact same error message. But right after the message appears, I just press ESC then the system would keep on booting. A little inconvenient, but not a critial issue.

Tseng,

Would you mind telling me the FRU of your motherboard using the above mentioned method?

Tony Chan wrote:Did you see any measurable performance/battery/temperature improvement from T7500 to T8300?

Thanks

I'd like to know this as well.

Thanks for the info Rambler.

My very new T61p has a T7500 and the planar FRU is 42W7877.

(So yes, the newest boards work with both CPU types).

In CPU-Z the motherboard revision is: C0.


Good to know I can move to Penryn at some point..

Regards..

@Amigaman

when did you purchase your t61p?

@sokos

did you try what Tseng did that got him out of the error message?

@Tseng

motherboard FRU number? purchase date of your t61?



thanks for the replies all

somedude07 wrote:@Amigaman

when did you purchase your t61p?

March 2008.

Regards,

Ross..

Hi guys,

By doing the warranty trick (if you use IE you can detect it automatically)

The only parts that have the word PLANAR are:


42W3784 41W1489 PLANAR ASSEMBLY FRU YES

42W9352 0000000 MALIBU-1 EXT PLANAR-EHABW (NB8M-GS/HYNIX NO


41U5356 42W7655 MICROASSEMBLIES; FRU CPU ASM INTEL CORE YES


Any ideas? Not any of the codes mentioned above..

Sokos,

that doesnt seem right.

the FRU of your motherboard should also be on a sticker in the battery compartment near the battery contact pins.

what im mainly wondering is the possibility to simply exit out of the error message like Tseng? i dont think a not-so-significant change in cpu architecture would warrant an entirely new revision of a motherboard...

Hi Everyone,

I have a bit of information that might interest you.

My machine:

T61p Non-Widescreen with T7300
Bios: 2.17

I had a T8300 lying around that I wanted to try out on my T61p, but after reading this thread I did fear the worst as I had a 42W7650 mobo. But I decided to give it a go anyway, and after changing the CPU, I too received the "thermal sensing error" message. But as Tseng said, I can press ESC to pass through it and then the Windows splash screen came up...

So maybe it's only in the Non-WS version that can do that ESC bypass? ... but anyway, I'm guessing maybe a BIOS hack can bypass this check (for you guys who can't press ESC). I went back to the T7300 in the end, cause I didn't want the annoy BEEP and message (maybe if I can get my hands on a T9500, then I'll consider), but if we can get the guy who hacked the T60 bios (to bypass the mini-PCI check) then maybe we'll all have some Penyrn goodness?

Another thing I noticed, with the T8300 in, I could not get into the BIOS, it would forget that I pressed the ThinkVantage button altogether...

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask...

I gave thinkpad user Zender a message, he was the one that modded a BIOS so that it would not check the type of mini-PCI WIFI card that is installed, so maybe he can help out...!

Rambler76 wrote:Sokos,

that doesnt seem right.

the FRU of your motherboard should also be on a sticker in the battery compartment near the battery contact pins.

Took off the battery, no sticker on the back side

sokos wrote:

Rambler76 wrote:Sokos,

that doesnt seem right.

the FRU of your motherboard should also be on a sticker in the battery compartment near the battery contact pins.

Took off the battery, no sticker on the back side

I just did the same upgrade (t7200 to T9300) and do get the error message. I hit ESC and then the laptop boots up as normal. I ran some CPU tests and everything seems to be running smoother. I do notice that programs boot up quicker and boot time has decreased. Has anyone been running the Penrynn chip for an extended period of time with the motherboads not specifically designed for the chip. I'm just wondering if any damage could occur overtime?

Thanks

todd

Has any headway been made with this regarding a hacked bios?

I would be interested to know about a "hacked" bios as well. I upgraded my T61p from a t7300 to a p9500 last fall and it has been running fine ever since. I just hate pressing ESC every time I boot.

bump

Hi,

I would also be very interested in that!
Does anyone knows if this is a safe procedure? (the ESC trick)

I think a lot of people would be very pleased with an hack to resolve this, so if anyone feels capable of doing that they would really appreciate...

How many people have this issue? How much are you willing to spend to correct it? Maybe we could create a request in a site like "rent a coder"... if everyone interested gives 10$ maybe we could offer a lot of money...
Just an idea!

Regards

Sorry for bumping this old thread but I'm trying to figure out which CPU upgrade is possible for my T61 system.


So far I've identified my planar as a 42W7648. Looking at the list, it seems the order is sequential and that my board would not support à T8300 without the error message.


This is my current CPU setup :









Is there anything above T7900 that I could upgrade to ? I'd like to upgrade to a CPU with less power consumption and higher clock rates / better L2 cache...


Thank your for enlightening me

I'm also searching for a solution for the thermal sensing error. There are lots of users with this problem here - is there no possibility to write a BIOS mod?

Greetz,

XStoneX

It isn't a software issue. Your motherboard has the wrong circuitry for that CPU. I would expect that thermal shutdown wouldn't occur if you really overheated