Restoration of a ThinkPad T40 and some questions

[Droider]

Hi everyone,

Found a reasonable offer for a ThinkPad T40 type 2373 and bought it. It was in perfect working condition and acceptable shape.The only cosmetic issues are the palmrest right upperside and middle thin plastic is broken. I am hunting for a mint condition palmrest atm.

Upgraded cpu from 1.5ghz banias to 1.7ghz dothan
Upgraded from 256mb to 2gb ram
Replaced 30gb 4200rpm hdd to 80gb 5400rpm
Replaced 11mbps wifi card to 2200BG with no1802 hack.

I had all of these parts in my cemetary, so i didn't spend 1 cent on top which was nice. The laptop works great and kinda silent, it is cool as well. The battery is naturally dead, holding for 5 minutes I need help with my little issues and questions for the ThinkPad enthusiasts.

* Wifi on indicator doesnt work.
* If i turn down brightness to level3, the screen goes very dim unless the lid is closed and opened again. The charging adapter is a counterfeit with original voltage and amp. Same issue repeats without the charger connected as well.
* I downloaded the T40 restore iso disks. Would you install it yourself or keep your nicely configured and customized SP3 installation ?
* Should i bother with Windows 7 ? I will not put an ssd in it.
* Is the performance gain worth it from 1.7 to 2ghz dothan ? I can get pentium m 755 for 11$ shipped.

Have a nice day !

[dr_st]

* Should i bother with Windows 7 ? I will not put an ssd in it.

IMO, no.

* Is the performance gain worth it from 1.7 to 2ghz dothan ? I can get pentium m 755 for 11$ shipped.

As strange as it is to talk about any kind of 'performance' from a machine that's over a decade and a half old, there definitely is a clock-for-clock difference between a Banias and a Dothan, and considering you will also be boosting the clock speed, I'd say that for $11 it's a certain win.

[Droider]

I upgraded the cpu to 1.7 dothan already. I was asking if the difference compared to 2.0ghz dothan would be worth the upgrade. Thanks.

[ajkula66]

I upgraded the cpu to 1.7 dothan already. I was asking if the difference compared to 2.0ghz dothan would be worth the upgrade. Thanks.

Not in my opinion.

PM 735 is the coolest-running Dothan in my experience, and I'd stick with it.

[shawross]

Depends on what you are using it for. A T40 doesn't strike me as an internet option.

Why don't you just use it as is and see how you go?

[Droider]

This is just being done as an hobby No real use at all for it. Btw i bought the PM755 for 8.8 usd shipped from aliexpress. They offer 2 usd discount for your first purchase. Yay, it is going to break the 2ghz barrier I use it to listen to my metal/rock archive and dvd movies and some old games. I just need to get a mint condition palmrest and it is done for good.

[Droider]

I downloaded all 4 of the t40 recovery iso files and i want recover it using from a usb drive. Rufus doesnt recognize the iso files. Help please.

[Screamer]

I am not exactly sure on what you did, but were these 4 .iso files combined into one .iso? If that is so, I doubt that would work.

May I suggest a fresh installation with a Windows XP Professional disc, if that is possible?

[Droider]

https://archive.org/details/IBMThinkpadT4041RecoveryCDs

There are 4 seperate iso files here. 1st one being bootable cd image. I wonder if i can burn these files into bootable usb drive instead of cd and restore the thinkpad t40 to its original factory state.

[beko1987]

I went with a fresh and custom XP install for my T40 over the restore discs. Hacked about for use in 2019 (and it does a fair job, the CPU in mine lets the side down, cannot remember off my head what I fitted though...) and installed a few of the IBM applications.

It browses forums perfectly fine, gives facebook a good crack but offline it's very fast! Have you given consideration to an IDE to Msata adapter and a cheap 32/64gb msata drive? That makes a MASSIVE difference!

The only reason I don't use mine more is the 1024x768 screen! Nothing wrong with it, but I always reach for my T43 with it's 1400x1050 panel and MX Linux, even though it's got a far louder fan fitted which gets annoying after a while. Been thinking of selling the T40 recently but I'll never get back what I've spent on it.

What I do do mostly with it is remote desktop into my i7 PC which I keep headless in the loft due to lack of space in the house. All the fun and loveliness of using a T40 but with modern performance, and whnever anyone who knows about computers see's it running Windows 10 (fullscreen) it generates a few minutes of conversation!

Good luck though, their a good choice to tinker with, parts are so cheap on ebay!

[Droider]

Hi beko,

Got myself a T43 in pretty bad shape but working %100 in flawless condition. I can use its motherboard and display and even keyboard and palmrest if needed. Right now i am installing windows xp to that old dog to see how good it performs compared to my T40 ( upgraded specs in my sig ) I will decide if i should bother with frankenpadding t40 with t43 mobo. Sadly the T43 i got is intel gpu with xga panel.

[kfzhu1229]

Hi beko,

Got myself a T43 in pretty bad shape but working %100 in flawless condition. I can use its motherboard and display and even keyboard and palmrest if needed. Right now i am installing windows xp to that old dog to see how good it performs compared to my T40 ( upgraded specs in my sig ) I will decide if i should bother with frankenpadding t40 with t43 mobo. Sadly the T43 i got is intel gpu with xga panel.

Honestly I think there is no point frankenpadding if your T43 has integrated graphics. That thing performs worse than the Radeon 7500 or 9000 found in your T40, nor does it support digital output, nor higher resolution panels (SXGA+)

[Droider]

Hi beko,

Got myself a T43 in pretty bad shape but working %100 in flawless condition. I can use its motherboard and display and even keyboard and palmrest if needed. Right now i am installing windows xp to that old dog to see how good it performs compared to my T40 ( upgraded specs in my sig ) I will decide if i should bother with frankenpadding t40 with t43 mobo. Sadly the T43 i got is intel gpu with xga panel.

Honestly I think there is no point frankenpadding if your T43 has integrated graphics. That thing performs worse than the Radeon 7500 or 9000 found in your T40, nor does it support digital output, nor higher resolution panels (SXGA+)

Honestly, i agree you The performance of T43 is very much identical to my T40.

[beko1987]

There is a performance boost in my experience. But to the point where MX Linux can plod along ok with the CPU sitting at 100% less of the time... It's mainly the generational improvements, it can take more, but still gets maxed out. By all means do it for fun, I know that feeling but I can happily browse forums on my XP T40 and MX T43, but the T43 plays better just because XP can't access alot on the internet anymore, and the base OS is alot lighter so there's more overhead for other things. Youtube playback has to be dialed right back quality wise and even then conky shows the CPU being worked hard, and the fan kicks in, and it's a loud fan on the t43!

There's no practical reason to put t43 innards into a t40 shell though bar the screen... I picked up my T43 with it's IPS FlexView screen for 99p plus postage... If I have both sat closed infront of me, I would struggle to tell the difference bar opening them if it wasnt for the bluetooth icon on the T40 tbh. I have a spare bluetooth module I was going to fit to the T43 but remembered the 0 times I've used bluetooth on a computer before... and stick it in the man drawer!

Do keep us updated if you have a crack though! Just because it's a little bit pointless doesn't mean you should not do it!

[Droider]

Thanks for your suggestions bro. I consider my T40 project finished and will not mess with it anymore cause i bought a dell latitude D610 with 1400x1050 screen for CHEAP. i will sell my upgraded and mint T40 and dirty T43 to open up some space.

bTw D610 has a very nicely colored screen.

[Droider]

Gone the T40 to a loving new owner.