T43 observations and opinions

[Hans Gruber]

The speedstep technology on the T43 is abysmal. I changed the power settings to maximum performance to counter the speedstep and throttling. What I found to work was simply having the T43 plugged in which dramatically increases performance while browsing the web. It works quite well with AC power.

[Hans Gruber]

I am using firefox on the T43p. I really performs quite well with the power plugged in. I forgot when on battery it even throttles the wifi performance. On my old thinkpad I simply set it to maximum performance. This unit has the 128mb Fire GL V3200. It's basically like a 9700pro during the ATI days when they dominated the graphics market.

[ajkula66]

I forgot when on battery it even throttles the wifi performance.

You can un-check the power saving option under the wireless card properties.

This unit has the 128mb Fire GL V3200. It's basically like a 9700pro during the ATI days when they dominated the graphics market.

The equivalent of V3200 is X600. You may be able to force the drivers from the latter to the former, but it's not worth it in A.D. 2015, at least IMO.

[Hans Gruber]

I saw that literature about the V3200 being based on the X600 but the performance is more inline with the 9700pro.

Thanks for the tip, I turned off power saving mode on my wifi. It's been not quite a decade since I last used XP. I am still getting used to it.

My Read write speeds on my Seagate Momentus are 39mb both read and right.

In a few weeks I will have wireless N.

[Hans Gruber]

I was cleaning my old T43 palm rest preparing to transfer it to the T43p. I was cleaning the mouse bad keys for the trackpad and they do not depress and come back the same as they normally should. Is there any secret to reapplying them after unlatching and re-seating the buttons?

[Hans Gruber]

I got another M10, this one works very well. The fan is quiet. Compared to the T500 the T43 is very easy to service. I put in the wireless N card but need help loading drivers. How do I find the drivers for the wireless N PCI card. The Ethernet port still works. It has been so many years since I used Win XP, I don't miss trying to update and find drivers for XP.

I put in my old T43 palmrest which is crack free.

This T43p will be a very solid thinkpad once I get the drivers for the Wireless N PCI card.

[Neil]

How do I find the drivers for the wireless N PCI card.

If the card came with a CD, you should be able to find drivers on it. If not, check the card manufacturer's web-site, there should be drivers available there.

[Hans Gruber]

Realtek RT3062F 300M mini PCI wireless 802.11 N
It's a Ralink branded chip but it's a realtek chip.
I am having troubles finding the drivers for it. XP detected the mini PCI card.
If I put in the Win XP disk, would it load generic drivers?

[Neil]

Oh!, I think I misread your statement. It's not that you don't have drivers...you just can't find XP specific drivers. Right? Have you tried pointing the Windows XP installer to the .inf files for Vista, 7 or whatever you have? You might be able to install the driver on XP anyway, even thought it wasn't written for it.

[hhhd1]

find the hardware id, usually hex decimal in this format, found in device manager.
VEN_xxxx&DEV_xxxx

then google
xxxx:xxxx

you should find many drivers, be careful what sites to get the drivers from

[Hans Gruber]

I received some assistance from another forum and found these drivers. It works but my wireless N network is not detected. It only is detecting wireless G right now.

http://www.sparklan.com/p2-products-det ... WMIR-278GN

[Hans Gruber]

find the hardware id, usually hex decimal in this format, found in device manager.
VEN_xxxx&DEV_xxxx

then google
xxxx:xxxx

you should find many drivers, be careful what sites to get the drivers from

Thanks for the tip. I am working on it right now. The four digit code is 1814:3062

https://wiki.debian.org/rt2800pci

[hhhd1]

You can also google "VEN_1814&DEV_3062"

[Hans Gruber]

Now it's showing my wireless N SSID. I think these drivers are good.

[Kasm279]

Maximum Performance, by default, still throttles the GPU on battery. Just tweak that setting in Power Manager and you should be good to go, I think the CPU is set up the same way but it's been a while since I've had a speedsteppable ThinkPad with a fresh install.

[Hans Gruber]

I am going back to the Atheros wifi card. The wireless N card I got is junk. Lesson learned, I am sticking with the atheros wireless G for the T43p. The T43 doesn't have very good wifi with regards to signal compared to newer wifi cards. I have a good M10 and fan now so I am pretty happy with the T43p.

I have so many left over parts from my old T43 that I bought one more T43p as a backup. I should have it in the next several days.

I added a second work bench so I have quite the tooling operation in my garage.

[ajkula66]

I am going back to the Atheros wifi card. The wireless N card I got is junk. Lesson learned, I am sticking with the atheros wireless G for the T43p. The T43 doesn't have very good wifi with regards to signal compared to newer wifi cards.

Well, thanks for being an unpaid beta tester for that Ralink/Realtek card...

As for "lesson learned"...you might have very well been better off - considering the money and time spent - just getting a TP-Link for $20 and installing/running it with no issues, but to each their own.

[Hans Gruber]

This one and this one for SATA 1.8" adapter and 2.5" adapter.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-8-Inch-16pin- ... 4ae3e053fe

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vertical-2-5-44 ... 1a011005e1

It's not that $20 is too much for a TPlink it's that the speed of the T43p does not justify the cost. If I can get one of these SATA adapters to work, different story.

[RealBlackStuff]

Why do I keep thinking of Don Quichotte?

[Hans Gruber]

This T43p is back to good with the Atheros wireless G card. 15mbps down and 12mbps up with good range.

A side note question with regards to the other thread about the ultrabay on the T43. I have a ultrabay SATA caddy for a 2.5" SATA drive. Is the ultrabay port SATA I or is it the PATA to SATA conversion like the primary HDD slot?

[ajkula66]

Is the ultrabay port SATA I or is it the PATA to SATA conversion like the primary HDD slot?

UltraBay is ATA on these machines, as it is on *60/61 series as well.