T4x keyboards

[ziloo]

Hello Folks,

1- Are all T4x keyboards identical and they can be replaced by each other?

2- Has anybody attempted to separate the metal plate attached to the keys section
under the keyboard, and is it possible?

ziloo

[dr_st]

14" and 15" T4x keyboard are different. Within the same keyboard type, though, there are 3 subtypes (different manufacturers) and they are interchangeable.

[ziloo]

So to make sure that I understand this correctly...

All 14" (screen size) T4x have interchangeable keyboards,
and the same goes for 15" T4x ....

ziloo

[RealBlackStuff]

Yup.
The same goes for the matching 14" T4x/R5x and 15" T4x/R5x (NOT the R4x).

[ziloo]

....
> The same goes for the matching 14" T4x/R5x and 15" T4x/R5x (NOT the R4x).

Is there anything else that is interchangeable between T4x and R5x series...

ziloo

[TPFanatic]

I understand motherboards are physically interchangeable between T4x and R5x.
I rebuilt an R50p with a T42p board at one point.
Southbridge and GFX failures are unfortunately rampant in these models.

[RealBlackStuff]

Get the T40-T42 and R50-R51 manuals from the HMM link at the top.
They have all the parts in there.

T43/R52 are NOT part of this group, other than for their keyboards and LCDs.
They are already a next generation albeit still in 'old cloths'.

[ziloo]

I have got two T43.....one is 14" and the other is 15".
What is interchangeable between them?

ziloo

[axur-delmeria]

I have got two T43.....one is 14" and the other is 15".
What is interchangeable between them?

ziloo

motherboard
RAM
Hard drive
CD/DVD drive
WiFi card
Modem/Bluetooth card

[dr_st]

motherboard
RAM
Hard drive
CD/DVD drive
WiFi card
Modem/Bluetooth card

CPU

[ziloo]

...
Looking at the list, I see that "graphics card" is not interchangeable
between the 14" and 15" T43 systems....is that right?

ziloo

[RealBlackStuff]

They are different Intel or ATI BGA-chips, not interchangeable in any which way.

[axur-delmeria]

...
Looking at the list, I see that "graphics card" is not interchangeable
between the 14" and 15" T43 systems....is that right?

ziloo

The graphics chip is soldered to the motherboard. That means if you want to change from Intel to ATI Radeon (or vice versa) you have to replace the entire system board and heatsink.

[ziloo]

...

Then by interchanging the mobo, I am also interchanging
the graphics chip; which means the 14" T43 graphics chip can
also run the 15" screen on the other T43.

ziloo

[RealBlackStuff]

Not necessarily.
T43 Intel GPU only does XGA and SXGA+.
T43 ATI GPU can also do UXGA.

[micrex22]

Not necessarily.
T43 Intel GPU only does XGA and SXGA+.
T43 ATI GPU can also do UXGA.

Fascinating, I thought the T43 intel boards all topped out at XGA. So you're telling me a T43 intel board could be modded with SATA along with the newly discovered way for HDD activity, *and* drive a 1400x1050 display?

[ziloo]

....... the newly discovered way for HDD activity........

Would you elaborate please?

ziloo

[kfzhu1229]

Not necessarily.
T43 Intel GPU only does XGA and SXGA+.
T43 ATI GPU can also do UXGA.

Fascinating, I thought the T43 intel boards all topped out at XGA. So you're telling me a T43 intel board could be modded with SATA along with the newly discovered way for HDD activity, *and* drive a 1400x1050 display?

The Intel GMA graphics always had the ability to drive 1400x1050 display via LVDS (NOT VGA analogue), but IBM for whatever reason only enabled support for such display on 15" panels.
With my discovery of the jumpers in the cable that set the resolution and screen size, it's basically like those boards are fine with the 15" SXGA+ jumper settings (I've personally upgraded such a GMA T43 and sold it before) but not fine with 14.1" SXGA+ settings!
There are also no signal differences between 14.1" and 15" SXGA+ (I fitted a 14.1" T4x SXGA+ panel on an A31 before using 15" SXGA+ cable, works fine), nor is there a LVDS signal difference between IPS and non-IPS. The only differences are cable length, connector locations and difference between the inverters, all of which are independent of the jumper settings.
So, what this means is that you can theoretically change the jumpers of a 14.1" cable (either XGA or SXGA+) and fool the GMA based T43 to think it has a 15" SXGA+ panel, and then you can fit a 14.1" SXGA+ panel perfectly fine. The motherboard will never know you have a 14.1" panel as all T4x machines disregard any EDID anyway
In my opinion however that's not worth the hassle as you can get an ATI based T43 board (+ correct heatsink) and mod your current 14.1" XGA cable to native 14.1" SXGA+ cable (which is much, much easier to mod)

[micrex22]

In my opinion however that's not worth the hassle as you can get an ATI based T43 board (+ correct heatsink) and mod your current 14.1" XGA cable to native 14.1" SXGA+ cable (which is much, much easier to mod)

One of my 15" T43s had its ATI mobo just spontaneously die so if I wanted to revive it, getting an intel board probably seems like the best option (and then yeah leaving it with the ATI heatsink).

[kfzhu1229]

One of my 15" T43s had its ATI mobo just spontaneously die so if I wanted to revive it, getting an intel board probably seems like the best option (and then yeah leaving it with the ATI heatsink).

Actually that's probably not the brightest idea either because as far as I remember, the Intel GMA based heatsink has cooling for the Northbridge, since as that becomes the graphics it heats up more. So you are risking to cook your Northbridge with the iGPU in it without the right heatsink.
And more often than not, southbridge on these board fail before the GPU does anyway (though I have seen both).

[micrex22]

Actually that's probably not the brightest idea either because as far as I remember, the Intel GMA based heatsink has cooling for the Northbridge, since as that becomes the graphics it heats up more. So you are risking to cook your Northbridge with the iGPU in it without the right heatsink.
And more often than not, southbridge on these board fail before the GPU does anyway (though I have seen both).

What a miserable series of motheroards, haha -- I am infinitely more partial to T6x (I've only had one T6x mobo fail and it wasn't an nvidia one, it was an ATi one!) but the T4x has such nice keyboards and displays. Oh well. I'll think of something to do with my braindead T43p Later. I guess the Intel route is worse in many ways if the heatsinks are not universal.

[dr_st]

What a miserable series of motheroards, haha -- I am infinitely more partial to T6x (I've only had one T6x mobo fail and it wasn't an nvidia one, it was an ATi one!) but the T4x has such nice keyboards and displays. Oh well. I'll think of something to do with my braindead T43p Later. I guess the Intel route is worse in many ways if the heatsinks are not universal.

Yes, the ATI chips on the T60 were apparently also failing every once in a while. They weren't cool-running either (especially the FireGL variant). My X1400-equipped one still works (*knock-on-wood*).

Displays on T4x and 4:3 T6x were pretty much identical. The T6x keyboard (finally) had the Windows key, and was great overall, but the T4x keyboard was even better in terms of firmness and support.

My T42 vs T60 15" IPS comparison:
viewtopic.php?t=48697#p593888

T4x vs T6x keyboard sturdiness:
viewtopic.php?f=29&t=77897