MY T20 ISSUES (NIC, CPU, MEMORY)

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ED! · #1 Post by **ED!** » Fri Jun 04, 2004 10:42 pm

Cant figure this one out for the life of me (unless I got gipped). I just bought a T20 for pretty cheap. Tested in front of me everything seems to be working kosher (except the CPU speed is hopping all over the place in the "System" tab in Control Panel. . .dunno whats up with that), except the NIC. I pop open the DEVICE MANAGER, and all I see are modem and under that Lucent Win Modem. I see the ethernet slot on the back of the thinkpad, but nothing happens when I jam my cable into it. Theres only one "Unknown Driver" and that was taken care of with some Power Manger thing for System Devices. Right now I am clueless as to whats going on since everything else seems to working jim dandy except for my NIC being recognized (if its even there).

G-Man · #2 Post by **G-Man** » Fri Jun 04, 2004 11:07 pm

Need more info: OS, the type number of the T20. Until that here are the drivers for T20. Here you can also find the ethernet drivers, but I don't know what type of Mini PCI combo card you have, 3COM or Intel (that's why the type number).

Regards,
G-Man

ED! · #3 Post by **ED!** » Fri Jun 04, 2004 11:21 pm

Its a T20 2647-41U, running under Windows XP. Now I have no idea what a combo card is. I need this combo card to make that ETHERNET PORT work? I cant use IBM utility to figure out whats on this system since I cant get connected to the interweb. I mean its not even saying theres a NIC on there, just a Lucent Win Modem - whereever that is.

G-Man · #4 Post by **G-Man** » Fri Jun 04, 2004 11:40 pm

Just checked your ThinkPad and unfortunately this model didn't come with a network adapter, only modem. The easiest way is to get an Ethernet Cardbus adapter from Ebay, either one of these or one of these. The difference is that for the first one you don't need a dongle you just plug in the ethernet cable, for the second one you need the dongle (it supposed to come with it).

Regards,
G-Man

ED! · #5 Post by **ED!** » Fri Jun 04, 2004 11:41 pm

Arggggg. . .so why did they include the Ethernet slot on the silly thing???

G-Man · #6 Post by **G-Man** » Fri Jun 04, 2004 11:58 pm

Just to drive you crazy.

Seriously, the combo card can be switched to a modem/ethernet combo card. Maybe you have it. If you want to spend a little time you can check it. Check out this video (QuickTime required) http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-45923 and write down the part number from the Mini PCI card, and post it here. I can check if it's a combo or just a modem card. With a little luck we might find a Combo Mini PCI card (modem/Ethernet) for a pretty good price.

Regards,
G-Man

#7 Post by **erik** » Sat Jun 05, 2004 12:01 am

ED! wrote:Arggggg. . .so why did they include the Ethernet slot on the silly thing???

it's included because all you need to do is upgrade the mini-pci card to an ethernet+modem combo card and you'll have ethernet.

if you open up the mpci card cover on the bottom of your T20 (toward the back) you should see an extra connector floating in there. the connector has 14 pins and is about 3/4" wide.

this is the card you need:
http://www-3.ibm.com/pc/support/site.ws ... IGR-4JW65C

they go for roughly $15-$25 on ebay.

good luck!

-erik

ED! · #8 Post by **ED!** » Sat Jun 05, 2004 12:14 am

Right all I see is. . .11S08K3251Z1Z1UV013014
And EC NO:H00321
FRU P/N: 08K3252

Made in Taiwan.

ED! · #9 Post by **ED!** » Sat Jun 05, 2004 12:19 am

Also, I called and spoke with a dude from IBM, and he said the T20 could only handle the 700mhz cpu, yet I see folks on here talking about upgrading to higher CPU's.

He also said I could only handle PC100 and PC133 memory.

Any truth to either one of these?

G-Man · #10 Post by **G-Man** » Sat Jun 05, 2004 12:22 am

Here are the FRU numbers for the Intel Combo Mini PCI card: 06P3809, 19K5888, 08K3125. And for the 3COM Combo Mini PCI card: 06P3829, 00N8117. You do a smart search on Ebay (search title and description) and put any of these FRU numbers in the search field, and you will get at least 3-4 items for each for the price Erik already mentioned.

Regards,
G-Man

#11 Post by **erik** » Sat Jun 05, 2004 12:23 am

ED! wrote:FRU P/N: 08K3252

yup, that's just a modem card. get yourself a 08K3125 (intel) or 00N8117 (3com) mpci combo card and you'll have ethernet.

again, ebay is the best place to go for this. the 3com card is up for another 6 hours for $14.95 plus shipping: ebay link

-erik

G-Man · #12 Post by **G-Man** » Sat Jun 05, 2004 12:24 am

As for the CPU upgrade. No, it doesn't work. Read this thread.

Regards,
G-Man

ED! · #13 Post by **ED!** » Sat Jun 05, 2004 12:27 am

Ok one more question and then I'm done -

I plan on going Wireless on this notebook as far as internet is concerned. . .would i STILL need the Mini-PC Combo card, or would a purchase of a wireless Ethernet PCMCIA make that redundant?

I guess I'm trying to figure out what the Mini-PC ACTUALLY does.

#14 Post by **erik** » Sat Jun 05, 2004 12:33 am

the only way to get wireless on your T20 is to get a wireless pc card (pcmcia). james (JHEM) on this forum promotes the 3com xjack 802.11b and 802.11a/b/g cards. the antenna pops in and out of the pc card and shuts power off when in the "in" position to conserve battery life.

they come in two flavors; an 802.11b-only version (3CRWE62092B / ~$60) and one that does a/b/g (3CRPAG175 / ~$100). try pricewatch, shopper.cnet.com, or ebay for the best prices.

g-man and i will get you through this. lol

-erik

#15 Post by **erik** » Sat Jun 05, 2004 12:35 am

ED! wrote:Ok one more question and then I'm done -

don't worry about asking questions -- that's why this forum exists.

-erik

mdbrown · #16 Post by **mdbrown** » Sat Jun 05, 2004 12:54 am

G-Man wrote:As for the CPU upgrade. No, it doesn't work. Read this thread.

Regards,
G-Man

Not completely accurate. You can upgrade the CPU on a T20 but only to 900Mhz. I have seen 1Ghz parts but they are prohibitively expensive. Figure 900Mhz as tops for the T20.

ED! · #17 Post by **ED!** » Sat Jun 05, 2004 12:58 am

Ok so I get the pcmia card. . .what kind of router do I need? Would that have to be wireless too? I'd rather it not be cause I've found those to be pretty expensive as well. I mean I think I got this laptop pretty cheap - 300 - and I'd like to keep those costs in that range.

G-Man · #18 Post by **G-Man** » Sat Jun 05, 2004 1:36 am

Well if you want to use the wireless card in your home, you definetely need an access point or a wireless router (if you want to connect multiple PC's to the Internet simultaneously). Look around at Linksys, D-Link, Netgear, Microsoft etc. Prices start at $40.

Edit: Of course it depends on what WiFi PC Card you get. G access points are usually backwards compatible with 802.11b WiFi standard, but B access points are not working with WiFi G PC Card. Here, here, and here are some help to understand WiFi.

Regards,
G-Man

ED! · #19 Post by **ED!** » Sun Jun 06, 2004 3:22 am

I went with the D-Link combo, althoug FRYS electronics didnt have the items they said they did when I called them which would have saved me 50 bucks over what I actually ended up paying. Of course they were as usual nonreceptive to trying to get me to spending less than what they want to gouge you for - and a "helpful" associate tried to get me to spend 60 dollars more than I ended up spending which would have been 100 bucks more than I set up to spend. Sometimes I really dislike computer salesmen.

Anywho, I got everything set up, and with the help of some fine folks on AOL managed to get my computers talking to each other as well. Theres still some thing I need to get figured out like my WEP protection so that some plucky computer savvy fellow isnt gonna jack me for bandwidth. Right now the hex encryption is still on the default and quite frankly I have no idea how to negotiate that particular screen but I'm workin on it. So far I am very pleased with the laptop, and think I got a pretty good deal overall. It needs a major memory upgrade as installing some programs took forever, but this is to be expected cranking out at 700 mhz and 128mb of ram I guess. Im probably gonna turn around and sell this sucker and get another one in awhile after testing out these IBMS, but I can say definately whatever model I get next it will be an IBM. Thanks everyone for their help.

lilserenity · #20 Post by **lilserenity** » Sun Jun 06, 2004 7:05 am

Just to clarify, the T20, T21 and T22 are i440BX chipset based, the maximum memory is 512MB; and has to be PC100.

My T21 when I had it when mad when I put a 256MB PC133 module in it, it now resides in my T23, which is also on borrowed time now and is soon to be sold when I collect my brand new T40 in the states.

If you upgrade the CPU, it has to be 100MHz bus, not the later 133MHz Tualatin based celerons and pentium iii chips.

I seem to recall some T20's came in 750MHz speeds, but I could be wrong as that was the bottom end for the T21s.

Anyway 700MHz is respectable speed wise. As for the speed jumping around thats probably due to SpeedStep, a battery power saving measure. Basically by default on battery my T23 will work at 733MHz, but when on AC power, it works at 1133MHz (or 1.13GHz).

And well done on your purchase, the T2x series IMO still rocks.

I'm gonna miss this T23...

Vicky

cdc101 · #21 Post by **cdc101** » Wed Jul 28, 2004 1:16 am

lilserenity wrote:Just to clarify, the T20, T21 and T22 are i440BX chipset based, the maximum memory is 512MB; and has to be PC100.

I was hoping that wasn't the case. I just picked up a cheap stick of 144 pin SODIMM but it's PC-133 off of eBay. Does this mean I wasted my money?

The T20 was free from the wifes work, but I wish I would have found this place before I started buying schtuff! hehe

Oh yeah, hello everyone...Thinkpad newb here.

JHEM · #22 Post by **JHEM** » Wed Jul 28, 2004 10:40 am

Chris,

First, welcome newb! Second, congrats on the freebie T20, an excellent unit at an even better price.

Now the bad news. I sincerely doubt that the cheap stick of PC133 RAM you got will work in the T20. The Intel 440BX chipset based Thinkpads are notorious for not playing nicely with PC133 RAM and hold out for lo-density PC100 sticks only.

Regards,

James

cdc101 · #23 Post by **cdc101** » Wed Jul 28, 2004 12:12 pm

JHEM wrote:Chris,

First, welcome newb! Second, congrats on the freebie T20, an excellent unit at an even better price.

Now the bad news. I sincerely doubt that the cheap stick of PC133 RAM you got will work in the T20. The Intel 440BX chipset based Thinkpads are notorious for not playing nicely with PC133 RAM and hold out for lo-density PC100 sticks only.

Regards,

James

Hey James...thanks a lot for the reply and the welcome!

Now for the bad news...hehe

The memory chip should be in the mail today since the guy I ordered it from was local to the Houston area, which I am near.

I'll put it in and post up how it works. If it does as we suspect, I'll be letting it go pretty cheap to anyone on the board here that could use a 256 mb chip of PC 133.

HOPEFULLY we're both wrong and it'll work...buit my hopes aren't up too high.

JHEM · #24 Post by **JHEM** » Wed Jul 28, 2004 3:22 pm

Chris,

First thing to do when you get the new stick of RAM is count the number of memory chips on each side of it. If there aren't 8 chips per side don't even bother installing it, it's a hi-density stick and won't work.

One exception to the above rule is that if there are two LARGE memory chips per side, give it a try.

Let us know what the outcome is. If this indeed is PC133 memory and it works, it will be the first one I've seen after years of trying 40 or 50 different ones in varying 600 and T serieds machines.

Regards,

James

cdc101 · #25 Post by **cdc101** » Wed Jul 28, 2004 3:57 pm

You called that one perfect, James...no worky on the T20.

So...I'm going to see if the guy I bought it from on eBay will refund me.

If he doesn't (which I don't expect him to), then I'll be parting with it. So...if you know of anyone who needs a stick of 256 MB PC-133 144 pin for $30.00 shipped, lemme know.

Chris

MY T20 ISSUES (NIC, CPU, MEMORY)

MY T20 ISSUES (NIC, CPU, MEMORY)

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