**Important** Sign the T43 HD Firmware Petition

[Harryc]

The petition has been submitted, and now we wait for a reply.

[BeeJayEmm]

Thanks again, Harry, for taking this on. The petition looks fine. I'm keeping several digits crossed.

Brian

[zzcclin]

name & email sent.

[Harryc]

name & email sent.

Thanks for the effort, but the petition has been submitted and we're no longer taking names to add to it.

[citizenNB]

Hi Harry,

are there any reactions already?


citizenNB

[Harryc]

Our petition has been routed to the T43 product engineering manager at Lenovo. We are expecting some kind of response before the end of the week.

[citizenNB]

Hi Harry,

Christmas is just around the corner - so it's unlikely to hear from Lenovo still this year, isn't it?


citizenNB

[Harryc]

I would not count on it since lots of folks take vacation this time of year, but you never know.

[rssb]

Hopefully they reply and there is a positive response on this.

[mbressman]

Harryc,

First off, thanks for taking the initiative on this. Hopefully we'll see something come out of it.

Second, I just recently contacted Lenovo (I have some high-level contacts there) and was basically told that there wasn't going to be any movement on this. I spoke with both members of an executive-level support team, as well as some executlve-level troubleshooting/engineering team. They seemed more interested in telling me how to get around this problem by changing the BIOS settings so the error message would appear but the system would still boot after a short pause, but did not seem interested in fixing the issue or have any information on any forthcoming fixes. Of course, its possible they either just weren't aware of any forthcoming fixes that might be in progress, or weren't aware of the petition you submitted which might gain some traction.

If you'd like, I'd be happy to pass on all the high-level contact information I have for Lenovo and maybe that can help you (and by extension help us all) get some traction on this issue. Feel free to PM me if you'd like the information.

Thanks again!

[citizenNB]

Hi,

any news?


citizenNB

[Harryc]

This is still being actively looked at by Lenovo. In fact some engineers asked a question through our contact as recently as last week. No official reply yet.

[killer]

That's encouraging.

[citizenNB]

Hi Harry,

next try.
Anything new?


citizienNB

[Harryc]

We did get a reply from Lenovo, but I had a few questions to clarify some key points on their reply. As soon as I get another set of answers from Lenovo I will post a summary of their position on T43 HD Firmware.

[Xenomorph]

I *just* got a T43, so it's pretty scary to read about harddrive lock-in.

I got the system from a client. They purchased several ThinkPads for their salesmen.
The sales people always end up dropping their systems.

One of the LCDs on a T43 broke, and now I have it. I just ordered a new LCD a few hours ago to repair it.

My client has purchased several new hard drives over the past few years, including some new SSD drives.

If they find out they can NOT buy a regular drive replacement for some of their ThinkPads, then there is a good chance they will no longer be buying ThinkPads.

[yak]

If they find out they can NOT buy a regular drive replacement for some of their ThinkPads, then there is a good chance they will no longer be buying ThinkPads.

Then tell them that all they need to stay away from is T43, not the whole ThinkPad line.

[meeotch]

Harry - any update on this from Lenovo?

My ebay t43p just arrived yesterday... Argh - I should have checked the forums first! Tried to swap in the Samsung drive from my old t42p, and got the 2100 Error, followed by a blue screen.

I'm thinking of just buying a Seagate ST9160821A 160Gb, and living with the 2100 Error. From what I understand from the million-year t43 HD thread http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... ST9160821A, you basically lose the HD shock-protection, and that's it. That doesn't sound like the end of the world, necessarily.

[Harryc]

I did hear from Lemovo, I just need some time to post it here. Soon, I promise.

[meeotch]

Well, I just put my order in for the Seagate ST9160821A about an hour ago. Give a yell if I should cancel it. In the meantime, I'll just assume the announcement doesn't contain any unexpected magic ("We fixed it! Free firmware upgrades for all Hitachi drives!"), and plan on living with the 2100.

And thanks for running this issue down with Lenovo, btw.

[Nameless]

I did hear from Lemovo, I just need some time to post it here. Soon, I promise.

Hmmm, that doesn't sound good. If it were Harry would be saying "Good news everyone! ......."

Hopefully I'm wrong.........

Anyway I did what I could to help and signed the petition. On a somewhat unrelated note, I've been able to flash one retail 7K100 drive successfully, and I was able to successfully pick up another 7K100 off ebay. Hopefully that one will flash successfully too, and I'll at least have a couple 2010-free backups for our two T43's.

What a royal pain in the @$$ this whole 2010 thing is...

[Beaver]

Maybe the 2010 error means that it will be removed in firmware released in year 2010. You have to wait one more year

[Wind_Rocker]

I too just bought a T43 on eBay, sans hard drive. I ordered the same 160 gb Seagate that worked so well in my T41 and learned the hard way. I was loading XP and living with the error message but the thing wasn't behaving so I stuck in the 40 gb drive from the T41 upgrade and it now works great except for one issue, the dreaded Intel Pro 2200gb wireless card. Wireless internet is SLOOOOOOOOW! If I plug in the cable, it screams. So I grabbed a wireless card out of a T41 parts machine and when I tried to boot up, it ain't happening, got an error message telling my to take the "unauthorized network device" out, or words to that effect.

Can someone direct to a list of hard drives and wireless cards that will work in a T43?

Thanks
David

[Harryc]

OK, we did hear back from Lenovo on this. I was correct in my earlier assumption that without the special firmware that is down-loadable from Lenovo for approved hard drives, there is a potential for data loss under certain conditions. So in effect by using an unapproved drive in a T43 without this special firmware the user is risking data loss. I was provided a very detailed explanation for why this is so, and also for why the other items in our list cannot be done. That detail was convincing, and most of it is proprietary, so I cannot discuss it here. One thing I can share is that the firmware itself was provided by the hard drive manufacturers themselves, and not Lenovo. So, Lenovo can't very well provide firmware for newer model drives (or older for that matter) that they don't make firmware for. At the time the T43 was being rolled out and sold en-mass, the hard drive manufacturers were obviously motivated to provide firmware to sell drives, but now that the T43 is out of production ... the rest is simple economics.

Thanks to everyone who participated in this petition, it was worth the effort. Even if the results are not positive at least we now have an answer that makes sense.

[citizenNB]

Hi David,

Can someone direct to a list of hard drives and wireless cards that will work in a T43?

That's simple.

For the HDD-Problem:
http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Problem_w ... hard_disks
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-62282

For the wireless cards:
http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Problem_w ... twork_card
And read the thread from Zender about the BIOS Mod in the T6x subforum here.

Hi Harry,

however, I expected such an answer. Nevertheless it was worth a try. Thank you, Harry for your commitment.


citizenNB

[killer]

@HarryC, Thank you for the update. It all makes sense whether we like the answer of not.

[GLR]

without the special firmware that is down-loadable from Lenovo for approved hard drives, there is a potential for data loss under certain conditions.

First, thank you for the update !
Then, would it be possible to give a little more details about those conditions which can trigger a data loss ? That's the big interesting point in my opinion...

[Harryc]

No, it is not possible. Are you familiar with the term 'proprietary information' ?

[Wind_Rocker]

citizenNB,

Thanks for the info. Now is where the real problems are beginning and I'm starting to feel like a sucker for buying a T43 without doing some research. The hard drives on the lists are very hard to find and cost more than the old laptop is worth. It may end up getting sold with the 40 gb drive.

The wireless card list is equally dismal, wish the 2200bg would work. I have the latest 12* series drivers but I've read that the card will function somewhat with the old 8* or 9* series drivers, only problem, where to d/l the old stuff?

One more issue, I've replaced motherboards in T41s so I'm familiar with the inards of the T4*s. I know the T41s have 2 antenna wires from the LED, gray and black I believe. This T43 has a 3rd white shorter wire that terminates with a snap-on connecter like the gray and black wires. This wire makes a left turn (where gray and black make a right turn) and heads back torward the screen, but was not connected to anything. I removed the plastic upper cover looking for a place to connect the wire. It was just lying on top of the plug where the yellow power supply socket wires connect to the motherboard. I'm thinking this must be the bluetooth antenna? There is bluetooth setting in the BIOS, but shouldn't it be connected to something? Where could the bluetooth card/module/whatever be hiding? I went so far as to remove the modem and LED plug, no male snap-on connector to be found?

Thanks
David

T61 (for work)
T43 2668 (causing problem)
T42 (in the mail)
T42 motherboard and base (in the top drawer)
T41 w/Seagate 160gb HD (my wife's, working great)
T41 my old work machine (no hard drive at the moment, but works fine)
T41 motherboard (works great except will not charge the battery)

[Harryc]

The third wire is a bluetooth antenna for a BMDC card. If it's just sitting there you only have a modem, not a Bluetooth Modem Daughter Card. See the BMDC removal/installation instructions at this link. Also, please start a new thread for your T43 issues.