Thinkpads Forum

Can it be done? Would it be a straight swap or any mods or tweaks have to be done?
Also, is there an equivalent Middleton bios for the T60?

Unfortunately no CPU swap can be done between a T61 to T60 (and T60 to T61)
There was a BIOS for the T60 which covered WLAN/WWAN whitelists check "removed" + SLIC 2.1 ---> mydigitallife: post #364 - but the links are now defunct

You can't swap CPUs, but if it's a 14" 4:3 T61, you can swap whole boards (some minor modifications to chassis will be required).

The whitelist removing BIOS for T60 is called Zender's BIOS. Links can still be found on these forums if you search.

My T61 board died, likely the nvidia fail. It's a 15.4" and the t60 is a 15".
I'll look for the bios.
Thanks.

mbr12 wrote:My T61 board died, likely the nvidia fail. It's a 15.4" and the t60 is a 15".

A couple of things here:

a) Do bear in mind that all that Zender's BIOS does on these machines is remove the wireless card whitelist and install SLIC 2.1...you're still be running at SATA I on that T60.

b) If the rest of your T61 is in good shape, getting an Intel board for a 15.4" model might not be a bad investment.

Good luck.

It's also possible to install a 15.4" T60 board in your T61, I have some Lenovo refurbished boards with X1400 discrete graphics for only $39. You'll need a few more T60 parts, but it's a pretty easy mod.

The 'latest' (2.27) Slic/noWhitelist BIOS can be found here:
http://www.datafilehost.com/d/7bc68cf8
First UNtick the "Use our junk..." message, then click on the left grey DOWNLOAD button.
Do NOT use the black/white DOWNLOAD NOW!

I'm going to cannibalize the t61 and swap some parts into the t60. Will the fan be a straight swap?
The 4965agn wi-fi card has 3 antenna connectors. Is there any advantage to putting it into the t60 and connecting only the 2 antenna leads?
Any other swaps worthwhile?
What exactly is preventing the t7700 cpu from the t61 from working in the t60? The specs for both show it was available in both. Will the t60 mobo just not support it? Just curious.

The T7700 has an 800MHz FSB, whereas the T7600 (The fastest 945 Core 2 Duo, I believe) has a 667MHz FSB.

The T60 and T61 also use slightly different CPU sockets. T60 is socket M, and the T61 is socket P. I believe the actual sockets are the same (maybe a couple of pins are different), just they differ electrically.

What CPU does your T60 have currently? The T7200 sells for next to nothing nowadays.

According to Speccy, it has a t2400. So the t7200 is the best direct fit for the t60?

mbr12 wrote:According to Speccy, it has a t2400. So the t7200 is the best direct fit for the t60?

T7200, T7400, T7600 all have 4MB L2 cache. It depends on how much you want to spend on this upgrade.

T5500 and T5600 are also Core 2 Duo, but with 2MB L2 cache only.

A T7200 will be a nice upgrade. They cost less than $10 (from China, so be prepared to wait for it).

You'll gain:

- 200MHz extra clock speed.
- 2 extra megabytes of L2 cache.
- Intel 64 support

Not to mention that you'll be moving from what is basically a dual core Pentium M to the Core 2 architecture.

The T7400 and T7600 are more expensive, and all you'll be getting in addition to what the T7200 gives you is extra clock speed.

MrMaguire wrote:A T7200 will be a nice upgrade. They cost less than $10 (from China, so be prepared to wait for it).

Hell will freeze over before I buy a CPU from China, but that's me.

Not to mention that you'll be moving from what is basically a dual core Pentium M to the Core 2 architecture.

This is incorrect. The original Dual Core CPUs have a lot more to do with P3M architecture than with Pentium M. This is one of the reasons that - unlike Pentium M - their undervolting capabilities outright suck, and I'm being very nice here.

The T7400 and T7600 are more expensive, and all you'll be getting in addition to what the T7200 gives you is extra clock speed.

I've got all three of these CPUs running in this house. The differences are pretty negligible in today's day and age, at least in my experience.

ajkula66 wrote:Hell will freeze over before I buy a CPU from China, but that's me.

Why?

MrMaguire wrote: Why?

Instead of me going into what's done over there with CPUs on regular basis, I'd suggest reading experiences of forum members who got their T7600 CPUs from China a few years ago...

I mean, the difference is what? Two bucks nowadays when compared from getting it from someone in the U.S....or Europe, if one is located over there...

For something like a hard drive cover, palmrest, lid...yes. China works well. For anything that is actually expected to perform work in a system and not just sit pretty, never.

This is all good info.
If I upgrade the cpu to a t7200, will I be able to use the Middleton bios ( I have an Intel ssd in the t60 now)? Or does that require a whole mobo replacement?
What about the fan assemby and wi-fi card? I just removed the t61 fan and cleaned and lubed it. I know it was quieter then the t60's fan.

Actually my views are the exact opposite. I tend to by hard drive covers and stuff like that from non-Chinese sellers. I had to buy a replacement caddy from China for my T60, and the rubber shock obsorber thingies it came with were horrible. Made of poor quality rubber, and they didn't even fit. Obviously a cheap reproduction and not a pull from a spares system.

But so far I've bought 3 Intel CPUs from China. They've all been cheap, and have all worked perfectly fine. I did look on eBay UK (in my case). All of the UK based listings for T7200s are 3x as expensive as the chinese equivalents. No thanks...

mbr12 wrote:This is all good info.
If I upgrade the cpu to a t7200, will I be able to use the Middleton bios ( I have an Intel ssd in the t60 now)? Or does that require a whole mobo replacement?

There's no Middleton BIOS for *60 series, only for the *61 platform. You're stuck at SATA I speeds.

There is Zender's BIOS that removes the whitelist from the T60/p machines, though.

What about the fan assemby and wi-fi card? I just removed the t61 fan and cleaned and lubed it. I know it was quieter then the t60's fan.

What are the sizes of your T60 and T61 respectively?

The t61 is 15.4 widescreen, the t60 is 15" 4:3.
t60 pic:
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j61/m ... kkorum.jpg
t61:
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j61/m ... jut2tn.jpg

MOD warning: pictures WAY too big! only 50KB allowed! Converted to links.
Please read the Forum Rules, especially Section 5!

You can definitely swap the wireless card - once you've applied the modded BIOS - but am not certain about the fan. My presumption is that it can be done with some tweaking, but TuuS would know for sure.

Hopefully he'll chime in at some point...

I ordered the t7200 from NJ for $15. I'm sure the fan will fit with one bracket or the other.
So the agn wi-fi will still be an improvement even with only 2 antenna leads?
Hopefully it will be done this weekend and I will report back.

mbr12 wrote: So the agn wi-fi will still be an improvement even with only 2 antenna leads?

Yes, presuming you have a router capable of "N" bandwidth.

Tomorrow, the t7200 should be here. I'm going to install it and the heatsink/fan and Intel n wi-fi card from the t61. I tried the Zender bios in RBS' link, but can't for the life of me figure out how to install it.
I unzipped the files with 7-zip, used imgburn to create an img file. Burned it to a cd, but it won't load. Tried making a bootable disc, but either I'm doing it wrong that isn't correct.
The bios that's on the t60 is the 2.27 from Lenovo's site. That isn't the modified bios, is it?
I've flashed bioses before, but this one has me stumped.
Any advice?

You need to create an ISO file.

Without the modded BIOS the wireless card from the T61 will throw an "1802 error" and prevent the machine from booting.

Na-ah!
Just copy the files from that .rar file onto a USB stick or burn a regular data-CD.
Then you need to run phlash16.exe from within Windows (as an Admin if under Vista/W7).

RealBlackStuff wrote:Na-ah!
Just copy the files from that .rar file onto a USB stick or burn a regular data-CD.
Then you need to run phlash16.exe from within Windows (as an Admin if under Vista/W7).

Still no go. I get a "failed to open file" message, whether it's run as admin or not.
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j61/m ... geuhmv.jpg

Copy all those files from USB into its own directory on the HD and try again.
Which OS are you using (32 or 64 bit)?

PS: did you extract or just copy the files from the .rar?
Does your BIOS allow Update by End-user and is Network/Flash over LAN ENabled?

OS is W7 32 bit
Files were extracted
Bios has network/flash & update by end user enabled.
Tried compatibility modes for Vista and xp
Still get the file fail to open message

Your error pic shows BIOS.WPH not found, which is the default phlash16.exe is looking for.
But you have T60227.ROM instead.
Rename T60227.ROM into BIOS.WPH, then run the program.
That should solve it.

I renamed the file, but now it's a new error.
It says "cannot flash if memory managers (e.g em386) present.

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j61/m ... 0yfbki.jpg

MOD Edit: picture WAY too big, turned into Link.
Please read Section 5 of the Forum Rules!