Adding new wireless mini-pci to X22.

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aceo07 · #1 Post by **aceo07** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 6:31 pm

My Atheros 802.11A/B/G mini-pci card arrived today. I'm still waiting for the antennas to arrive.

Since everybody have been so informative and helpful, I thought I'd write out the steps that I went through during my installation process for others who might be interested in doing the same on their thinkpad.

Here's what I've done so far..
1. Open laptop, after unplugging and removing battery.
2. Remove modem mini-pci card. Unplug modem cable from card.
3. Installed wireless mini-pci card. No antennas to install yet.
4. Close laptop and get ready to boot.
5. Boot and get error '01C9'. Esc to continue
6. Boot into Windows and install drivers for wireless card.
7. Test wireless connection. Works!

* Access Connections reports 35% signal strength 2 feet from wireless router. So I'd definitely suggest getting an antenna unless you can boost the radio strength. I maxed out the wireless router transmit power from 28mW to 251mW. My signal strength is now at 62%. As I don't need range for now, I don't see any value for me to have the wireless router use that much power for transmitting to all my neighbors. 35% is good enough until I get my antennas. The strength fluctuates from 35-51% after a while, so it's not too bad.

In order to remove the 01C9 error, I visited this link and downloaded the iso for a boot cd. http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Problem_w ... et_devices
1. Download iso file
2. Burn iso image to cd
3. Boot from cd on the laptop
4. Select no to 1802 error and continue to 01C9 error.
5. Select proper wireless card. In my case, it was Atheros.
6. Wait for patch to run.
7. Issue 'reboot' command to linux, remove cd.
8. Error no longer shows.

It's pretty simple and straightforward for all the steps that I've performed. I will try to remember to take pictures when my antennas arrive. That process will be pretty simple too. It's not lcd screen antennas. The antennas I order fit under the keyboard.

pcnoob · #2 Post by **pcnoob** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 11:32 pm

How do you maxed out the wireless router transmit power from 28mW to 251mW?

aceo07 · #3 Post by **aceo07** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 12:55 pm

pcnoob wrote:How do you maxed out the wireless router transmit power from 28mW to 251mW?

I have a linksys wrt54g wireless router. I change the firmware (dd-wrt) on it so that it had more advanced options.

I got my antennas today. I'll hopefully remember to take pictures before I close the laptop again.

aceo07 · #4 Post by **aceo07** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 8:00 pm

I got the antennas installed. With the keyboard off, not covering the antennas, I can get higher than ~90% to 100% reception most of the time. With the keyboard on, the reception goes down to ~80% and fluctuates upward and sometimes down.

With my pcmcia card, the reception is constantly at 100%.

*Both at 2 feet away from wireless router.

At about 30feet away and through a wall or 2, I can get 30% reception with the Atheros and short antennas.

I'm still playing with the positioning of the antennas to get it better. After I screw in the keyboard, it seems to drop some more..

aceo07 · #5 Post by **aceo07** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 8:44 pm

If I had to do it again, I would try an antenna with a longer wire. There's quite a lot of space under the X22 keyboard.

aceo07 · #6 Post by **aceo07** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 9:18 pm

The main antenna is under the keyboard connector. The aux antenna is to the top of the keyboard connector. The antennas do have enough space in that position. It works better than placing the antennas around the wireless card.

pcnoob · #7 Post by **pcnoob** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 9:38 pm

I think your best choice is to install it in the lcd case. I have very low reception when I have it under the keyboard. Ever since I got the ones that go in the lcd, I have good to very good receptions. Sometimes low, but never gets to very low.

aceo07 · #8 Post by **aceo07** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 2:05 pm

I've noticed that the trackpoint cursor jumps once in a while now. It doesn't jump far, maybe 1/4 of an inch in one direction. It doesn't happen too often, but enough to notice. It only jumps once or twice when it does happen.

Is there a way to fix this? I know that my trackpoint sometimes slowly creeps in one direction, maybe it's old and used too much. But it's very slow and I can control it.

jones · #9 Post by **jones** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 2:19 pm

are there any known mini-pci cards supporting mobile communication (umts, gprs => mobile networks) and wireless lan?

due to the coming up of umts networks (here in germany) i am interessted in extending my x41 with such a mini-pci card for more comfortable use

aceo07 · #10 Post by **aceo07** » Thu Mar 16, 2006 10:58 pm

I discovered something.. don't run the wireless antenna near the keyboard data cable.. It makes the trackpoint drift slowly in a direction when there's big data transfers.. It stops drifting when there's no big file transfer.

I move the aux antenna to the left of the wireless card and the main antenna to the top of the keyboard data connection. There was no position that got good reception and didn't interfer with the trackpoint. It still drifts, a little slower, but still does during fast transfers.

aceo07 · #11 Post by **aceo07** » Fri Mar 17, 2006 1:27 am

The reception seems better when the antenna is exposed and not covered by the keyboard.

One day, soon, I'm going to see how well it works with just the main antenna attached. Then I can take the risk and try to extend the aux antenna with another wire. I want to try to stretch it over to the heatsink exhaust area. That's the only place that has an opening that might help the reception.

I don't need extra reception now, but better to fix it so it's better instead of not having decent reception when I need it.

ex24 · #12 Post by **ex24** » Sun Jul 30, 2006 7:40 pm

are there any known mini-pci cards supporting mobile communication (umts, gprs => mobile networks) and wireless lan?

due to the coming up of umts networks (here in germany) i am interessted in extending my x41 with such a mini-pci card for more comfortable use

http://europe.nokia.com/A4143477?productId=96

califas · #13 Post by **califas** » Sat Apr 21, 2007 3:22 pm

Do some X22 have the antenna built in and if so how do I check if my X22 has one?

cmarti · #14 Post by **cmarti** » Sat Apr 21, 2007 10:31 pm

califas wrote:Do some X22 have the antenna built in and if so how do I check if my X22 has one?

If the machine came with the antennas installet you will notice on the sides of the screen two pastics black covers, if the cover if flush on the sides means there is no antennas.

Adding new wireless mini-pci to X22.

Adding new wireless mini-pci to X22.

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