Sierra MC8755 bump

[chris.tal]

I'm a happy owner of a Thinkpad X61 7476-CTO. Our company has a couple of X60 thinkpads too. We bought them reforbished. Inside the X60 pads there is a Sierra MC8755 (FRU 42T0801) which is locked to Vodafone UK. I bought an unlocked one recently (FRU 41W1079) and it boots with it, but the card is not there in the OS. Checked BIOS settings and WWAN is enabled. The WWAN lights up at boot then it goes off. The same happens in my X61. The other vodafone version is not on the X61 whitelist, but that doesn't matter because it's locked. I even placed the 41W1079 card (the unlocked one) into a Dell Studio 1555 and it's get recognised. I installed the drivers too. Modem diagnostics say that the modem is in use. I couldn't give it a full try, because I didn't find a working connection manager for it.
Do you guys have any idea why doesn't the 41W1079 work in the X60 and X61 models?

BTW the service manual doesn't mention these two FRU-s. I've read somewhere that "42T0835 replaces 42T0801, 41W1079."

It would be great if I could get the unlocked one to work. Any help appreciated!

[EOMtp]

Welcome to the forum!
You need to tape Pin-20 and install a modified BIOS. Please read the PM (Private Message) that I sent you.

[chris.tal]

Thank you for your help! It saved my day! It works like a charm. I had read about the hack with TpFnF5.exe. Is there any chance I can make it work that way, without the pin 20 taping? What do you think?

These cards tend to draw a lot of power, still communicating with cell towers periodically ( roaming and etc.) while idle.

Welcome to the forum!
You need to tape Pin-20 and install a modified BIOS. Please read the PM (Private Message) that I sent you.

[EOMtp]

... Is there any chance I can make it work that way, without the pin 20 taping?

I don't think so -- not with the BIOS you are using, because it is the tape on Pin-20 that nullifies the BIOS's attempt to turn off the card immediately after booting.

Note: There was a report on this forum (I don't recall who/when/where) that Pin-20 masking is not necessary for an MC8755 on an X6x machine, but that would surprise me if it were the case. I mention it because reading it surprised me, and perhaps you want to test that ... but don't get your hopes too high. And congratulations! -- I am glad you have the card working.