Thinkpads Forum

So I've searched through the threads and am more confused than when I started.

Which is better to use? System Update? or Software Installer?

I tried using both, and when I checked the driver update grid, noticed that both update programs had missed about 50% of the updates. I ended up manually downloading and installing them, which ate up massive amounts of my time.

Is anyone else encountering problems like this?

Software Installer can install manually downloaded files - Software Updater cannot do this. I download my updates, explode them into C:\Drivers\Winxpp\filename. Then Software Installer can happily install them. You are correct, though, in that neither tool finds everything. ... JD Hurst

I had an issue friday trying to update my t60, I was on a good network, wired and kept getting a message that the package server is not available. Switched to Software Installer and downloaded everything and updated the bios with no interupptions.

Re: Download errors from software installer.

I've had intermittent failures like this too. I was patient and it went away by the next morning. Another one I just downloaded directly from the updates web site with no problems. I think their database gets messed up occasionally.

I've noticed alot more problems with this kind of stuff since Lenovo took over. I don' t think they are quite as meticulous as their IBM brethern were (even though some of them are the same people.)

tpribors wrote:I've noticed alot more problems with this kind of stuff since Lenovo took over. I don' t think they are quite as meticulous as their IBM brethern were (even though some of them are the same people.)

I'm not Lenovo bashing here, just a report of my experiences and I think you hit the nail on the head. There seems to be an overall "slip" in quality of services on all fronts. It's particularly noticeable to me as I have been using the ThinkPad brand for so many years. In nearly every area my experiences "after" the Lenovo transition have been very disappointing.

OK, you guys no lenovo bashing goes in off topic, so before anyone else gets going............................

Kyocera wrote:OK, you guys no lenovo bashing goes in off topic, so before anyone else gets going............................

Same thing here; don't start anything like that, this is the T6X Series Thinkpad forum and not "Lenovo did this and that different from IBM which annoys me" Forum.

There is currently a transition going on from software installer and system update 1.* to system update 2.* and some problems were discovered which are being resolved so not everything is available at the moment for that reason but soon everything should be done through System Update 2.*

System Update 2.* is quite a leap forward especially for system administrators, making it easier to manage downloads of packages with update retreiver and to create your own software/driver installations with package builder - these are innovations but with new features come more problems.

And i cannot make comments on this without a bit of a rant - as I have said many times, the people creating and supporting Think products did not change AT ALL when Lenovo took over so any perception of a drop in quality I believe is exactly that - a perception which is far from fact; only now are we starting to see structural changes to what was the IBM PC Division under Lenovo.

End of rant....???? Thanks

I tried using the system update software last week on a good wired t1 connection. It kept on giving me unable to connect to server over and over. Switched to software installer and got everything done. This may be the growing pains aspect of the system update, but i'll stick to SI for now.

I agree - software installer is running best of the 2 at the moment but this is just temporary until the problems with SU2 are resolved I think that support for software installer will stop in september or october so there will be no choice than to switch

snife wrote:I agree - software installer is running best of the 2 at the moment but this is just temporary until the problems with SU2 are resolved I think that support for software installer will stop in september or october so there will be no choice than to switch

That will be too bad. You cannot and never have been able to uninstall IBM drivers and applications with Updater (you can with Installer). Sometimes it is necessary to uninstall things with Installer. We'll just have to wait and see. ... JD Hurst

Package builder sounds like a tool independant of System Update. The other functions you describe already exist in SWI. Why spend money to add functions to a second tool when the first can do all these things?

jdhurst wrote:Software Installer can install manually downloaded files - Software Updater cannot do this. ... JD Hurst

1. Will Software Updater also auto-install the latest Rescue & Recovery too?
I'm very concerned, especially in view of the R&R v3.12 that can't read the disk images made by v3.0x R&R...


Yeah, mods have edit and delete buttons for a reason.

w0qj wrote:

jdhurst wrote:Software Installer can install manually downloaded files - Software Updater cannot do this. ... JD Hurst

1. Will Software Updater also auto-install the latest Rescue & Recovery too?
I'm very concerned, especially in view of the R&R v3.12 that can't read the disk images made by v3.0x R&R...


2. I thought IBM still owned the Thinkpad brand (Lenovo is just making the OEM machines for IBM's Thinkpad brand)?

www.laptoplogic.com/news/detail.php?id=1075

Above article very clearly shows that IBM still own the Thinkpad brand (and by extension, the Thinkvange softwares which I agree seems to be slipping lately--they are losing touch of us users...)

This is the 3rd thread I have come across in the last 5 minutes with this post. You posting it everywhere?

evensteven wrote:

w0qj wrote:I thought IBM still owned the Thinkpad brand (Lenovo is just making the OEM machines for IBM's Thinkpad brand)?

www.laptoplogic.com/news/detail.php?id=1075

Above article very clearly shows that IBM still own the Thinkpad brand (and by extension, the Thinkvange softwares which I agree seems to be slipping lately--they are losing touch of us users...)

This is the 3rd thread I have come across in the last 5 minutes with this post. You posting it everywhere?

Very good point evensteven I replied to this question in one of the other threads w0qj posted the same question to. This behavior is not permitted on forum.thinkpads.com. Do not do it again.

I am guessing the consensus is that SI is better for now.

crashnburn wrote:I am guessing the consensus is that SI is better for now.

Any updates here?

crashnburn wrote:Any updates here?

SI doesn't work well under Vista and as far as I'm aware there is no intention on Lenovo's part of making it Vista compatible, so for Vista users there is only System Update 3.

Cheers,

Bill

On my new T61P system update is pretty useless, catches 4-5 updates, misses the rest. I expect this will improve over time.

Even the website misses software for T61P, you have to manually search for finger print software & access connections