An update in case someone wants to try something similar: I ended up using a 2032 battery as a secondary source, should last for years as it only needs to power the tracker when the laptop is off. I installed a diode to avoid any back feeding to the usb port https://i.ibb.co/ssW2Vp5/track-01.png Ins...

That BT/USB port is only good for 3.3v. So I have trouble finding good use from it for anything other than the original BT module. Good on you. :) 3,3v is not as bad as it sound, let's see. You could use it to power an arduino nano An NFC reader Mount a small switch and use it to power leds Install...

I don't know if anyone will find this useful but here it is: I've been playing around lately installing trackers into various things, so here's a one on my x330 I used a spare usb adapter I had https://i.ibb.co/M9YJcry/tracker-1-2.jpg And a findmy compatible tracker that I had laying around . https:...

Thanks for chipping in! The video bios is a concern but one way or another I'll get my hands on it if it can be done physically :) I've looked everywhere but I don't see a description of what kind of pinout they are using, I mean logic says it should be something standard, hopefully someone knows mo...

In the past I modded a T430s and made a X330, both with bga cpu replacements, screens, classic keyboards, etc Both were a lot of work but extremely fun to build, plus I'm clearly I'm a glutton for punishment :) so I'm looking into the possibility of getting a W530 with the purpose of trying to do so...

Where did you get it? Have you actually tested to store 2TB on it? I ask because, normally, the whole model number shown in the sticker also appears in the title of the application and here it doesn't. That's a red flag. Picked it up in a shop in Shenzhen,China, It is actually 2TB, tested a couple ...

Thought I'd post this for anyone who might be interested, just picked a 2tb hynix msata ssd, the model is sk-600, till now the only way I knew to get a 2tb msata was to shuck it from a samsung t3 portable ssd, so far still testing it but it's using 2x1tb nands so speed is so-so, I'm attaching a coup...

Awesome, I've done the FHD myself, plenty happy, would have loved to have a QHD mod and still have the kit but never found a good matte panel (can't stand glossy) with no issues, no light bleed etc it's crazy though how this machines are still daily drivers for a lot of people even after all these y...

Finally did it though it took a long while, I couldn't justify paying $400 for a CPU, eventually I won an ebay auction for a kontron board with a 3612qe for about $17 and the results are bellow: https://ibb.co/NS0JHbt Pros: quad core t430s, stable, runs cool, extra cores are clearly felt when you ru...

After taking it apart again I noticed that the area around the keyboard connector was getting incredibly hot, turns out that taping those pins in the classic keyboard on the X230 is not optional as with the T430s (or I just got lucky, but I've done 3 T430s so far) Ah, that explains it; my modded T4...

After taking it apart again I noticed that the area around the keyboard connector was getting incredibly hot, turns out that taping those pins in the classic keyboard on the X230 is not optional as with the T430s (or I just got lucky, but I've done 3 T430s so far) Moral of the story, if you are goin...

Get the X230 frubom list and check old against new motherboard. Your i3 probably had a low voltage CPU, which needs a weaker fan than the i7. That's your problem I guess. Thanks for replying, I didn't re-use the heatsink from the i3 motherboard, it came with a heatsink that the seller says it's ori...

So this is weird, I swapped the motherboard in a x230i from an i3 to an i7 (model 2325), it works fine but the keyboard as well as the underside are getting uncomfortably hot, with an ambient temperature of 25c, idle is between 45-50c, and about 80c with 100% load, it doesn't make sense to be that h...

Thank you very much. How about the Intel 7260 AC? Did you flash the Bios on your t430s or how did you removed the whitelist? Haven't yet attempted to remove the whitelist, but it's in my to do list eventually, the ebay listing for the card was unfortunately misleading. you might want to take a look...

Did you really need the 420s palmrest? My resaerch results was that the T420s does not fit on the T430s base. I thought I am able to put the old Thinkpad keyboard in the T430s with T430s plamrest. Please clearify Dro. Thank you very much! I didn't even try to fit a classic keyboard with the T430s p...

Chinese taobao.com - you can find for ~200 USD. Thanks for trying to help, unfortunately I tried that already, it's listed but when you message the sellers they say they are out of stock and suggest other options, I've searched high and low before giving up, but if you do actually find it at that p...

Did you finally managed to put the 3612 qe ? Unfortunately no, can't find it anywhere for less than $400 and at this point I'm not sure it's a sensible investment, if I ever get my hands on one for ~$150 I'll do it and post pictures/benchmarks, though I'm not sure there would be anything new as it ...

Nice build! Regarding other "mods", you could look at eGPU via EC or MiniPCIE - I did Mini PCIe which was fun, but I had to sacrifice my wifi card slot (and the wifi card wouldn't work in the WWAN port). Someone mentioned a problem with removing the bezel - you need to remove two 'stickers' (horizo...

That's amazing! I for one I'm grateful that you are taking this upon yourself, I also want to echo Orbitronics and Tasurinchi that an early recommendation on the screens would be greatly appreciated so we can star the process of sourcing one!

You might find this relevant:
https://www.bios-mods.com/forum/Thread- ... kpad-T430s

Thanks to RealBlackStuff for pointing me to the link originally.

Just an FYI, I called out of curiosity a lenovo service center I used to work with, for now at least you can only get spare parts for the t25 only if you can give them a serial number from a t25 machine,but at least they confirmed it's theoretically possible to order the palmrest and keyboard, it lo...

Glad you mentioned the msata had no idea the thinkpad will accept one. I'm still curious what could be causing the issue so I'll update you guys and maybe someone will read the thread that happens to know the exact technical reason why the C300 is only showing one smart attribute. I hooked up the c...

RealBlackStuff wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 16, 2017 1:11 pm

Check this for the different KB brands: http://www.ebay.com/itm/330759610988

Thanks for the link! that pretty much answers my question.

Thanks for the reply, my gut feeling is telling me the same, but I would love to be wrong on this one, unfortunately NOS NMB keyboards are not that easy to come by and I'm only interested in ISO layout which doesn't make it any easier.

I have a t420s nmb keyboard installed on my t430s and I was wondering if the keycaps from chicony and alps are interchangeable with the nmb? I tend to hoard keyboards/keycaps (as all keycaps wear out eventually) and obviously chicony and alps are much easier to find than nmb, the goal if possible is...

The first thing you should do it's to take out the drive and check it another system, if you get the same issue then I wouldn't trust it with anything important, as ajkula66 said it's a pretty old drive so replacing it might still be a good idea eventually, if you do replace it consider an msata dri...

So I've searched high and low to find a t420s palmrest locally and in the end I did, I also got an i7 motherboard (mainly for the sake of the thunderbolt port), installed the t420s keyboard and flashed the ec, in addition I ordered an intel 7260 AC card http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lenovo-Thinkpad-intel-...

Will do! I'm definitely interested in that BGA rework station. How much does it cost to get access to it to do a swap? I'd like the quad core if I could get my hands on it. I'm also curious what the shipping might be to armenia... If you're willing and up to it, I would love to be able to send it o...

I did get the i7 motherboard! I probably paid too much for it, but because the t430s itself was free, I was willing to donate some cash. I got it on ebay and made an offer, haggled for a bit. 128.00 + free shipping. Thanks for the manual. I definitely think something was/is wrong with my bezel. Wat...

Where did you get your ultrabay batteries from? Are you confident they're going to have a decent charge to them? I'm in the same boat. Figuring out what I want to do with the ultrabay and expresscard slot. I only bought a 64GB for the MSATA to boot the OS onto and a few other items. However, I plan...