Thinkpads Forum

Missing display device in Thinkpad T61

I recently acquired a refurbished 14-inch widescreen T61 in fine condition, but after three attempts at a clean install of Win XP pro, the Fn key doesn't adjust brightness or go into
standby/screen blanking. And the power options of screen blanking, standby, and hibernate are not available. Neither of the display drivers that I tried found a device, and the Device Manager does not have a Display Device listed. It does have two "unknown" Video devices, also not recognized by the driver update. In the Desktop/Properties/settings/advanced, the Adapter tab has no information available, and its Properties show it is running on VgaSave with no driver
information. The Monitor tab shows "Default Monitor" with Properties grayed out and default screen refresh rate. Does anyone know of a fix for this? Advice would be greatly appreciated.

LouD

you need to install the chipset drivers first, then the display driver.

for the keys labeled in blue to work, you need to install the hotkey driver.

Thanks for your reply. I did install the chipset first, and the hotkey driver too.

And what about the display driver?

Download display device driver here...
http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/downloads/default.page?

or here...
http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/researc ... MIGR-67853

I installed the drivers in this sequence, rebooting after each:

Intel Chipset (from the Intel site--later version than Lenovo's
Intel Storage Matrix
Power Management
Video

Neither of the two drivers downloaded from the Lenovo site worked. The NVIDIA SETUP program "could not locate any drivers that are compatible with your current hardware," and the "Monitor" driver just didn't do anything. Without a display device specified in Device Manager or in Desktop Settings Adapter or Monitor, I could only try the two that appeared might fit. Am I doing something wrong, or failing to do something right?

hmm ... go and load the default settings in the BIOS then.

are you using XP SP3 CD to clean install ? I've had issues when installing XP SP2 so I had to manually install couple of the Windows updates (KBxxxxxx)

I dont think it's a gpu failure as you can still see your monitor working.

P.S. the monitor driver does nothing but some color calibration after the video driver has been installed.

P.S2. try installing the System Interface Driver before the video drivers,

P.S3. check if you have the Intel AMT enabled in BIOS, thus giving you problems ... even though it shouldn't.

--------------

my XP SP2 step-by-step installation goes like this:

XP SP2 install, and apply while in safe mode update 883517us.exe (not needed with SP3 CD)
1. Intel chipset support
2. Intel Matrix Storage manager (turn the AHCI HDD mode on in BIOS)
3. UAA HD Audio (not needed with SP3 CD)
4. ACPI power management
5. Trusted Platform module
- for the rest, the order you install doesn't matter

What is the seven character type number for your machine?

Miro_gt: I set the BIOS to defaults, which included a disabled AMT, with no improvement

The install CD I received with the unit includes SP3

I presume all the Thinkpad Power Management drivers are API, though nowhere in the instructions did I see it. For that matter, it doesn't say APM either.

The System Interface Driver apparently is part of the Hotkey package which was part of the second clean install, with the same result. Incidentally, is there any way around the Hotkey package requirement of Access Connections v5.5 or higher and Power Manager 1.7 or higher, which in turn requires .NET Framework v3.0,? I prefer as uncluttered a System partition as possible--the simpler the better.

This time I stopped installing drivers when XP still couldn't see a Display device, but perhaps there are two glitches--the missing display device and the non-functioning function key. I suppose it's best to suck it up and finish the job just to be sure.

luludro wrote:The NVIDIA SETUP program "could not locate any drivers that are compatible with your current hardware,"

You probably have the Intel X3100 on-board graphics if the Nvidia drivers don't work.

are you sure you've installed the correct chipset drivers ?

this issue seems strange. I did clean install on 6 thinkpads all T61 and never had issues, though it took some time to figure out the sp2 installation at first.

to install the power manager you'll need net framework 3.0 as this is how the last power manager came. Access connection is not required and I dont use it. Yes, in the latest drivers they combined the system interface driver in the hotkey driver, and something else as far as I remember.

- can you upload screenshot of your device manager ?

P.S. and I'm assuming you didnt make the mistake to try to put the nVidia drivers on a laptop that uses Intel gpu ... right? .. lol.

- to figure out the unknown device, click on properties and then look for hardware ID, then google it.

luludro replied to my question above in a PM. Here is the machine he/she is working with:

ThinkPad T61 (7661-LP3)
Based on 7661-11U: T8300(2.4GHz), 1GB RAM, 80GB 5400rpm HD, 14.1in 1280x800 LCD, Intel X3100, CDRW/DVD, Intel 802.11agn wireless(n-disabled), Modem, 1Gb Ethernet, UltraNav, Secure chip, 4c Li-Ion, WinXP Pro

Neil:
I don't know how to determine whether it has an Intel GMA X3100.

Miro_GT:
The instructions on the chipset driver readme's specify T61 and XP--I tried installing the Lenovo set after installing the Intel set, and Lenovo reported a later version had already been installed.
I don't know how to upload.
Yes, I did try to install the NVidia 140m driver, but do not know about an Intel gpu. This was on the advice of tech support from Joy Systems, supposedly the refurbisher.
On your advice of Googling the hardware of unknown devices, the video turns out to be an Intel GM965, for which Lenovo has a driver set for Windows 7 only. It appears that the video device is for Windows 7 so that the Xp driver will not work on a Windows 7 device, and the Windows 7 driver will not work in XP (I tried it). Which makes it an impossible situation. Is that a valid conclusion?

Assuming your T61 has the same motherboard it left the factory with, here is the display driver you need for XP:

http://download.lenovo.com/ibmdl/pub/pc ... d152ww.exe

Another, and possibly better, option for you would be to download and install .netfx 3.5 from Microsoft, and System Update 3.15 from Lenovo, then just let System Update automagically find, download and install the drivers you need.

lol, so you got the Intel GPU then.

there's driver for that on the lenovo site for XP, that's where I downloaded it from for my other T61 that uses Intel GPU anyways. I havent checked the Neil's link above but I suppose it's the correct one. If you still have problems, report back and I'll get you link, but I doubt is would be needed.

I'm totally against letting system update find drivers as it's known to have had screwed things up in the past. Thus I dont use it.

Neil:
That did it. The driver from the Lenovo link that you sent installed smoothly and seemingly made the display device fully functional. It also fixed the power manager and the function keys--all but the Fn-F3 screen blanker, which occasionally doesn't respond. How did you find it? The Lenovo driver sites that I found for my model, type, and OS do not show it.
Many thanks!

miro_gt:
And thanks to you for your very helpful advice, especially for showing me how to identify the video driver. Do you, too, know the secret of finding drivers on the Lenovo site? Is it wisdom that you are allowed to share?

Incidentally, if there is a way to correct horizontal distortion on widescreen LCD, I would appreciate a tip.

luludro wrote:How did you find it?

I went to http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/default.page and entered your machines type number in quick search, then clicked on the "download drivers & software" in the left column and chose the Intel display driver.

luludro wrote:Incidentally, if there is a way to correct horizontal distortion on widescreen LCD, I would appreciate a tip.

The graphics driver should automatically detect the resolution of your display, but I suppose if the LCD .inf file is missing it might not. Simply set the resolution in display properties to 1280X800 and that should get rid of any distortion.

[/quote]I went to http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/default.page and entered your machines type number in quick search, then clicked on the "download drivers & software" in the left column and chose the Intel display driver.

You must have access to some secret places on the Lenovo download site, because I tried for about 3 hours to find that driver in a list. Started with the site you show (which takes me to the same site I have been using), and tried all the permutations I could think of--even tried stepping through the address of the driver, and the 7661-11U type. No matter how I searched, I couldn't find anything other than the two Intel 965 display drivers--both for Windows 7--that show on the list I have been using. Would you please tell me the trick.

It's much easier than that!
Here is the link to the driver matrix for all Thinkpads: http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/detail. ... PAD-MATRIX
Click on your model (T61 in your case) and bingo! All the drivers you ever want!

This is really weird. I went to the driver matrix, clicked on T61, did not find the driver in the "Display" category. Am I looking in the wrong place? A search of the site for the .exe file comes up with it.

You're right, this T61 Intel driver for XP is missing from the overview: http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/downloa ... MIGR-67838

Then how were you able to get it?

Google with: intel video drivers t61 xp
first hit in about 0.35 of a second!

Am I dumb. In the past I have found it much easier to find Thinkpad information with Google rather than the Lenovo website. But I failed to use acquired wisdom! Thanks again for your help.

...did not find the driver in the "Display" category

It's listed under "video" when I view the page

I hadn't considered myself dumb before, but this is downright embarrassing. Thanks

I hadn't considered myself dumb before, but this is downright embarrassing. Thanks

I have read some of my older posts, and wonder to myself -- What in the world was I thinking at the time. In hindsight, those posts sure sounded stupid.

Still, I continue to document every step of each task that I do -- as a note to myself. When the time comes to repeat the same task, I just search for one of my previous posts and follow the steps once again to complete the task.

Before I joined this board,
1) I had no clue on how to purchase, let alone, install a new HDD.
2) I had no clue that USB to PATA/SATA HDD adapters existed.
3) I was terrified to perform a simple Windows XP install.

Now, with the help from everyone on this board, I am ready to tackle more difficult tasks like upgrading memory and installing a SSD. However, time and money are holding me back, rather than caution and apprehension.