Thinkpads Forum

re Apple stuff... let's stay on-topic here, guys!

davidhbrown wrote:re Apple stuff... let's stay on-topic here, guys!

but, please note, that I mentioned B3 stepping subliminally in each and every Apple post.

I also have the Rev04 (B2 stepping) reported when I run the CMD request on my w520.

I can get over the non-quad display support & the no future RAID (currently) if not ordered when built, but this is not forgivable. I want to use a mSata for the boot drive but not if the SATA controller is going to die sooner than later

kimocal wrote:I also have the Rev04 (B2 stepping) reported when I run the CMD request on my w520.

I can get over the non-quad display support & the no future RAID (currently) if not ordered when built, but this is not forgivable. I want to use a mSata for the boot drive but not if the SATA controller is going to die sooner than later

This is one reason my W520 went back. Another was the raid issue. A third was the lack of a modem that I thought was listed in the tabook. The main reason was how I was treated when I called regarding the stepping. My warm and fuzzy W520 feeling got quenched pretty much. So I went and got a different warm and fuzzy feeling that has no giant holes in it.

There is no B3 stepping issue. Lenovo has explained that they use CRID. Intel has contacted various publications that suggested looking at the PCI ids and told them that this is not reliable due to CRID. Its exactly the same with other manufacturers that enable CRID. End of story.

About RAID and modem, you get what you order. If either is important to you then you should ask your customer service rep before ordering. You just got the cheapest option and then hoped that those were included, and then act surprised that they werent. RAID on a laptop and analog modem (remember the time when phones were attached to a cord coming out of the wall?) are niche products. Lenovo is doing 99% of their customers a favor by not having them pay for stuff they don't need.

Volker wrote: Lenovo is doing 99% of their customers a favor by not having them pay for stuff they don't need.

The issue is that enabling RAID should be a trivial matter since it is built into the chipset whether you order RAID or not and AFAIK even without RAID the modular bay can control a 2nd drive. People just don't want to pay Lenovo's outrageous price for a 2nd hard drive (which appears to be about $120 plus the cost of the optical drive for a 2nd 320 GB). (In fairness, I think Dell is even worse when it comes to disk and memory upgrade costs.) Modem I can certainly understand since it's an extra hardware piece that needs to be installed.

jdrou wrote:The issue is that enabling RAID should be a trivial matter since it is built into the chipset whether you order RAID or not and AFAIK even without RAID the modular bay can control a 2nd drive.

Not true. Intel sells two different chipsets. Its the same chip but with different firmware. The chipset with RAID firmware costs Lenovo more than the chipset without RAID firmware enabled. If anybody, you should blame Intel for charging extra to unlock functionality that the hardware supports.

Then Lenovo should charge you an extra $20 or whatever for the RAID-enabled motherboard instead of forcing you to buy a 2nd drive from them as well as stating in the RAID option screen that it can't be added later if you don't select it.

Back on topic, Mark_Lenovo has posted information on how to use Intel's Management Engine Firmware tool to reveal the true PCH revision without having to disassemble your computer.

Mine indicates Rev 5 (B3). Lenovo continues to maintain "all production ThinkPads shipped with B3 level chips."

Still, it was good that it was brought up as a concern. I guess this extended compatibility BIOS trick was never an issue until Intel made its little transistor oopsie.