Thinkpads Forum

Hi all, I'm new to this forum how's everyone doing?

First and foremost I have a customized T60, I love it. However, in my ignorance I thought that internal wireless capability is standard in laptops nowadays and I guess I overlooked the option to have it installed.

So I realize this after I recieve my T60 and set out to buy an internal one to install myself. So I do a little research and order an "Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG internal wireless."

After I got it, I found out that there were no screws included (wtf) either way I unscrewed the keyboard and popped that sucker in and just let the keyboard hold it down. (You install the card vertically then fold it down until it's horizontal, but since there were no screws I just let the keyboard set back on top of it to hold it down... it seems like there's nothing wrong with that but who knows)

Popped the CD in with the drivers, installed, and it could not detect the wireless card, or more specifically "No wireless adapters detected."

I've rebooted, reinstalled drivers from IBM's site, etc. Help would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

Have you checked possible BIOS settings? Maybe you should try setting the BIOS to its default settings and see what happens. This is an IBM/Lenovo branded Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG internal wireless card isn't it? I mean it has an IBM/Lenovo FRU number on it doesn't it?

You need to scew it down, and did you attach the antenna?

Kyocera wrote:You need to scew it down, and did you attach the antenna?

there was no antenna, and how certain are you that I need to screw it down?

GomJabbar wrote:Have you checked possible BIOS settings? Maybe you should try setting the BIOS to its default settings and see what happens. This is an IBM/Lenovo branded Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG internal wireless card isn't it? I mean it has an IBM/Lenovo FRU number on it doesn't it?

yes it is IBM brand

Well, as far as screwing it down, as an electronics tech it would not work for me, sometimes cards are made so when the screws are installed they also ground the board. When I installed my intel card it came with an antenna connection tool, the screws were already in the machine because I was replaceing an already existing card.

If there is no antenna you got a problem there.

Kyocera wrote:Well, as far as screwing it down, as an electronics tech it would not work for me, sometimes cards are made so when the screws are installed they also ground the board. When I installed my intel card it came with an antenna connection tool, the screws were already in the machine because I was replaceing an already existing card.

If there is no antenna you got a problem there.

hm, yeah can you provide any links where they say the card came with said antenna? I don't know why an internal card would come with one.

The antenna is in the display lid. I doubt if it will work very well, if at all without the antenna. The antenna for the 14.1" display is different than the one for the 15" display. The antenna is Item 5 in the following parts lists. The card should be recognized without the antenna, but as Kyocera pointed out, the card may have to be screwed down for it to work.

14.1 inch LCD service parts - ThinkPad T60/p

15 inch LCD service parts - ThinkPad T60/p

EDIT: It is possible the antenna is there already. Look carefully for an antenna cable.

I looked for one of those short videos to show how to replace the card but I can't find one on the lenovo site, maybe someone else can post a link.

There should be two very thin tiny wires in the area of where you are plugging the card in. I thought all t60's came with antenna's but obviously that was incorrect.

What is your model number?

GomJabbar wrote:The antenna is in the display lid. I doubt if it will work very well, if at all without the antenna. The antenna for the 14.1" display is different than the one for the 15" display. The antenna is Item 5 in the following parts lists. The card should be recognized without the antenna, but as Kyocera pointed out, the card may have to be screwed down for it to work.

14.1 inch LCD service parts - ThinkPad T60/p

15 inch LCD service parts - ThinkPad T60/p

EDIT: It is possible the antenna is there already. Look carefully for an antenna cable.

yeah, it didn't give me the option to choose 14.1 or 15 inch ( i have the 15) so hopefully it's in there already. I will look for it later on today as I'm actually using it now.

Any other suggestions though, if we disregard that factor. Because the laptop doesn't even detect the card, it should at least detect it (and say device isn't working properly) if only the card is plugged in, no?

Kyocera wrote:I looked for one of those short videos to show how to replace the card but I can't find one on the lenovo site, maybe someone else can post a link.

There should be two very thin tiny wires in the area of where you are plugging the card in. I thought all t60's came with antenna's but obviously that was incorrect.

What is your model number?

ah, that would be most helpful.

how do i find my model number?


By the way both mods here are extremely helpful thanks a lot for that

Kyocera wrote:I looked for one of those short videos to show how to replace the card but I can't find one on the lenovo site, maybe someone else can post a link.

All T60 movies:
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-63959

Wireless adapter installation:
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-63897

wanker5000 wrote:Because the laptop doesn't even detect the card, it should at least detect it (and say device isn't working properly) if only the card is plugged in, no?

I just went through this and windows should pop up a Found new Hardware "Ethernet controller" message when you boot up, even without the antenna attached. I would try and screw it down and make sure it is seated properly.
dave

Mini PCI installation movie - ThinkPad T60/p

It should be on the bottom of your T60. The number would be something like 2007-4WU (as an example).

bwd wrote:

Kyocera wrote:I looked for one of those short videos to show how to replace the card but I can't find one on the lenovo site, maybe someone else can post a link.

All T60 movies:
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-63959

Wireless adapter installation:
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-63897

wanker5000 wrote:Because the laptop doesn't even detect the card, it should at least detect it (and say device isn't working properly) if only the card is plugged in, no?

I just went through this and windows should pop up a Found new Hardware "Ethernet controller" message when you boot up, even without the antenna attached. I would try and screw it down and make sure it is seated properly.
dave

wow thanks that video was helpful, i don't remember seeing the red and blue cable though .... uh oh.

and I have no screws.

Why would IBM sell this item without screws and antenna?

Can the cable and screws be bought from IBM?

Oh, and yeah... it doesn't pop up a found new hardware thing when i boot up either.

Did you find the model number?
Where did you buy the wireless card from?

carbon_unit wrote:Did you find the model number?
Where did you buy the wireless card from?

2316EKU is the product ID, does that sound right?

I bought it from amazon.

If your machine didn't come with wireless then there might not be an antenna in the LCD lid... Without it wireless will not work.

wanker5000 wrote:2316EKU is the product ID, does that sound right?

I bought it from amazon.

2316EKU doesn't come up as anything. How about 2613EKU? That comes up.
Go to http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... yle=lenovo and do a warranty lookup. In the warranty lookup page there is a "View parts lookup results for this system" link. Click it and it will list all the parts in your T60.

IBM/Lenovo sent me a new card, don't think it had the screws in the package since it was a replacement (memory could be foggy), but it did have the connector removal tool which is a little flat peice of metal to help in removing the antenna connectors.

I'm on the site now but i can't seem to find screws or antennas, and yeah typo, but 2613EKU is the right model

If you cannot find the antenna cables then it is not going to work anyway.
As for the screws, you should be able to find references and specs in the maintenance manual. Those are not very critical--it looks like any short metric screw should work. I've got lots of those in my junk boxes from removing floppy drives or cd-rom drives. It also looks like (1) it won't work without the screws to make a secure ground and (2) if you powered the machine without the screws you might have fried something in the card. Also, powering the card without the antenna connected might damage the power driver in the radio transmitter.
It is surprising that the antenna was not installed, but a penny saved is a penny earned and they might indeed not have installed it. The antenna is in two parts that fit in the lid--the maintenance manual shows you where. It is possible that the antenna is installed but the cables have been tucked out of sight where only a trained technician would know how to look. As an extreme measure, if you remove the screen bezel (maintenance manual again for how to do that), you should either see the antenna or not. It should just look like a couple of pieces of wire going nowhere on either side of the screen.
For screws, you can order a screw kit that looks like it contains the screws you need. FRU: 41W4504 Screw kit

I didn't see the part number you ordered mentioned...

You can't just get a generic Intel card here, it must come from Lenovo...the system checks....

...and the only way you can order it is as a part...an FRU number...was that done?

The T60's should be prewired with the antenna leads.