Thinkpads Forum

Here are several listings of AR5006 Atheros chip wireless cards. They all ask ~$50--60, which people would already think a good price because of the super performance of Atheros card.

The good news: it is cheap now if you order them from ewiz.com as link provided. ewiz is a decent online seller, please refer to resellerratings.com and I have good experience with them also. They have things instock and ship fast.

link


Note: This is the Gigabyte card made with Atheros AR5006 chips, which is compatible with Thinkpad a/b/g card, so you can use Thinkpad driver for it in your Thinkpad.
Enjoy!

deo

Moderator edit: Shortened URL link

FYI, these will NOT work in IBM/Lenovo laptops because they do not have the firmware.

deodeo wrote: Note: This is the Gigabyte card made with Atheros AR5006 chips, which is compatible with Thinkpad a/b/g card, so you can use Thinkpad driver for it in your Thinkpad.
Enjoy!

deo

Where you got the idea that it would work in IBM's?

It doesn't say it's compatible with IBM just that someone use the drivers from IBM in a DELL.

Newer Thinkpads will give you errors if they detect non-certified components in them. This is a non-certified component.

cmarti wrote:Where you got the idea that it would work in IBM's?

Actually, I think it will work, based on other threads, such as this one:
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?p=207444

However, the GN-WI01GS uses a Ralink chipset -- GN-WI01HT is the version with an Atheros chipset.

So it will be good if someone from the forum buy it post here the results, i would love to install it in my X60.

tomh009 wrote:

cmarti wrote:Where you got the idea that it would work in IBM's?

Actually, I think it will work, based on other threads, such as this one:
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?p=207444

However, the GN-WI01GS uses a Ralink chipset -- GN-WI01HT is the version with an Atheros chipset.

Yes, go to google or thinkwiki and search for 1802 error, and you will find out the solution. It is a easy fix to make it work with Thinkpad.

Thanks Tom, the HT is Atheros chip.

You are missing the POINT.

LOTS of people here do NOT want to mod their BIOS (and void their warranty) to save $10 on a wireless card.

brentpresley wrote:You are missing the POINT.

LOTS of people here do NOT want to mod their BIOS (and void their warranty) to save $10 on a wireless card.

You are right, I see now. Thanks.

Brent, the no-1802 fix does not actually mod the BIOS; it simply clears a flag in the CMOS that would otherwise trigger the wireless card check.

I very much doubt this would void the warranty -- certainly not any more than switching in a third-party disk or adding more memory.

tomh009 wrote:Brent, the no-1802 fix does not actually mod the BIOS; it simply clears a flag in the CMOS that would otherwise trigger the wireless card check.

I very much doubt this would void the warranty -- certainly not any more than switching in a third-party disk or adding more memory.

Interesting. I had thought that it added the card in question to the listing in the BIOS.

tomh009 wrote:Brent, the no-1802 fix does not actually mod the BIOS; it simply clears a flag in the CMOS that would otherwise trigger the wireless card check.

I very much doubt this would void the warranty -- certainly not any more than switching in a third-party disk or adding more memory.

If you send it in for warranty work, you have to remove the non-IBM part.

Depending on the technician working on the laptop, if they see a non-IBM part they have the option of refusing service (same if you swap out a CPU and it doesn't match the config sold to you).

And no, these are NOT considered the same as HDs and RAM.
They are NOT considered "user serviceable parts" like RAM and hard drives.

You do this at your own risk.

Now, if they see an IBM wireless card in there, the odds of them being alerted to a user previously opening up the system is FAR less (but not zero).

Yes, Tom is correct. It modifies the BIOS similar to the hack that can be done to the 600E Thinkpads to be able to add a PIII processor.

Will it effect the warranty? Possibly....it depends on the situation.

The hack can be reversed by updating the BIOS again with the correct version. So, if you have a problem with your Thinkpad, where you can't go back in and correct the BIOS, and you send it in....they might deny it. If the problem with with the LCD, and you can still connect to an external monitor to be able to change the BIOS back, then you will most likely be ok.

Now, having said that....you're average person is not going to walk through that many hoops.

brentpresley wrote:And no, these are NOT considered the same as HDs and RAM. They are NOT considered "user serviceable parts" like RAM and hard drives.

You do this at your own risk.

I would say that adding memory or a disk is at your own risk, too -- if your cheap-and-flaky memory modules cause your ThinkPad to malfunction, you can bet that Lenovo will consider that your responsibility.

tomh009 wrote:

brentpresley wrote:And no, these are NOT considered the same as HDs and RAM. They are NOT considered "user serviceable parts" like RAM and hard drives.

You do this at your own risk.

I would say that adding memory or a disk is at your own risk, too -- if your cheap-and-flaky memory modules cause your ThinkPad to malfunction, you can bet that Lenovo will consider that your responsibility.

Tom, you are missing my point.

IBM/Lenovo has a LIST of components that are deemed USER SERVICEABLE. Basically they are RAM, Hard Drive, and Optical Drive. Sometimes Keyboard.

Even if put junk in, the rest of your machine is covered.

NOT SO if you take the palmrest off. CPU, Motherboard, Wireless Card are all NOT considered USPs. That is why the screws are covered in teflon, so they KNOW if you have taken it apart.

The only grey area here is that is technician's discretion.

Sure, not user serviceable. But unless they were able to demonstrate that damage you caused in opening up the system caused the problem at hand, they would have difficulty in declining the warranty, no matter what the fine print is in the licence agreements -- basic consumer protection will ensure that.

Doing a third-party repair on your car won't void your warranty, either, even if they go beyond filling up the windshield washer fluid.

As supporting evidence, I will note that Lenovo was willing to ship a keyboard bezel to me for replacement under warranty -- and that requires not only removing the keyboard but the entire top of the X31 case. And there was no disclaimer in the box that I would lose the remaining warranty ...

tomh009 wrote:Sure, not user serviceable. But unless they were able to demonstrate that damage you caused in opening up the system caused the problem at hand, they would have difficulty in declining the warranty, no matter what the fine print is in the licence agreements -- basic consumer protection will ensure that.

Tom,

I will have to disagree with you on this point, as the T60 and T4x conferences are flooded (ok, maybe not flooded) with examples of systems that have been refused service, because there was evidence of spill damage, when the reason that the Thinkpad was sent in had absolutely no relation to a spill, and there is no way that such a spill could have caused the damage.

tfflivemb2 wrote:Yes, Tom is correct. It modifies the BIOS

As noted above the 1802 mod just tweaks a bit in the CMOS memory. BIOS updates do not have any impact.

brentpresley wrote:NOT SO if you take the palmrest off. CPU, Motherboard, Wireless Card are all NOT considered USPs. That is why the screws are covered in teflon, so they KNOW if you have taken it apart.

Since they provide a video on how to replace the card......

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-51462

.... and instructions....

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-55341

.... any claim they are not user field replaceable parts would be hard to sustain!

Cheers,

Bill

tomh009 wrote:As supporting evidence, I will note that Lenovo was willing to ship a keyboard bezel to me for replacement under warranty -- and that requires not only removing the keyboard but the entire top of the X31 case. And there was no disclaimer in the box that I would lose the remaining warranty ...

I had this exact experience with Dell on one of our Latitudes that we were in a hurry on. They overnighted it to me so I could install it on a Saturday, since they couldn't get a tech out till Monday.

brentpresley wrote:NOT SO if you take the palmrest off. CPU, Motherboard, Wireless Card are all NOT considered USPs. That is why the screws are covered in teflon, so they KNOW if you have taken it apart.

No, no and no. Wireless is customer replacable, and in the T4x series you have to take the palmrest off to put that in. User guides are on the IBM site on how to do that.

The teflon is so screws will stick in and not rattle loose. You can buy virgin screws for about 3 dollars from IBM and put those in and no technician will ever know.

Which doesn't matter anyways, because the service will put the same screws back in as well. And they don't care, either. Actually, I once hat put a different processor and left that in. No complaints.

That is in Germany, but I doubt warranty policy is different for it's a world-wide warranty. I even explicitly asked the customer service rep., and he said it would be OK.

The no-1802 will not void the warranty. And even if, it would be dead easy to put back to normal. And no, BIOS updates won't have an effect on the no-1802 CMOS bit.

3rd party wireless won't work with the IBM drivers, I don't think. The EEPROM on the card is different.

Note the difference between the 1802 and 01c9 errors, it's all in the thinkwiki.

Hope this clarified things.

To clarify things:
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-62741


If the LAST column on the right has a 1 or 2, it is considered a CRU (customer replaceable unit).

You were right on the wireless and palmrest. Interestingly enough, the BEZEL for the base is not considered a CRU.

The CPU is also clearly marked as not CRU.