New user, help brainstorm modifications for Franken X61s

[Yossarian22]

Hello, this is my first post. Pleased to meet you!

Long story short, my first Thinkpad was a T410 with a 1440x900 resolution screen that cracked. Instead of buying a replacement panel on eBay for the same price I saw I could get a used X61s.

The form factor, the aspect ratio of the X61s is... it's simply the ultraportable of my dreams.

I already have some rudimentary ideas for upgrades as I plan to make this my main driver (I travel and write lots of code).

This particular X61s has a L7700 C2D ULV @ 1.8GHz

Judging by the BIOS, someone has already installed an older version of Middleton's BIOS (2.21 with 1.03 Embedded Controller Version)

My ideas:
I would love to put a SSD in there, I'm just a little disappointed only SATA II is supported. (anywhere from $81 to $120 for a good SATA III SSD)
I looked into getting 2x 4GB (8GB) 667Mhz PC2 5400 200pin SODIMMs and they're quite expensive, although it does already have 4096MB / 4GB of RAM ($150)
Upgrade the wireless radio, for some reason an Atheros 802.11a/b/g radio is installed. Not sure which mPCIe radio to replace it with yet.
Eventually a SXGA+ IPS LCD panel (1400x1050) replacement.

I have Debian installed already and have taken it for a test drive. I really love this thing. I wish there were a way to get a SATA III connection to the device.


Any recommendations, tips, thoughts? I'd greatly appreciate it.

[EOMtp]

Welcome to the forum!
Like you, I also love the X60[s]/X61[s] form factor ... but the screen resolution and battery life on those machines are limitations hard-to-impossible to overcome.

Considering that one can get an X200s for $50-$100 these days -- with screen resolution of 1440x900, and battery life of 5+ hours on a 6-cell battery and 10+ hours on a 9-cell battery -- well, there is little point in "playing" with X61s hardware modifications, unless it is the project itself which interests you.

That said, there exist BIOS mods for SATA III on the X61s ... but the screen update you are considering for the X61s is, although possible, definitely not advisable. I would like to tell you YMMV, but it won't ...

Good luck!

[dr_st]

Welcome to the forum!
Like you, I also love the X60[s]/X61[s] form factor ... but the screen resolution and battery life on those machines are limitations hard-to-impossible to overcome.

Considering that one can get an X200s for $50-$100 these days -- with screen resolution of 1440x900, and battery life of 5+ hours on a 6-cell battery and 10+ hours on a 9-cell battery -- well, there is little point in "playing" with X61s hardware modifications, unless it is the project itself which interests you.

I agree that for cost/benefit points, modding an X61 is unlikely to be economical. Battery life is also far from stellar on these models (although the LV X61s is doing better). But you can get a 1400x1050 IPS screen in them, whereas for the X20x the best you can have is 1440x900, non-IPS (or 1280x800 IPS from the Tablet). So I think as far as screen resolution goes, the X6x series might actually win.

That said, there exist BIOS mods for SATA III on the X61s ... but the screen update you are considering for the X61s is, although possible, definitely not advisable. I would like to tell you YMMV, but it won't ...

I believe the chipset itself does not support SATA3. As for the screen mod, I do seem to recall it being quite difficult. Would you say it's not advisable because of that, or are there other reasons?

[RealBlackStuff]

The X61/X61s -even with Middleton's BIOS- will only support SATA-I and SATA-II.
But you can put in SATA-III drives, as they are all backwards compatible.
In real life you wouldn't notice the difference between SATA II and III anyway!

You can put in any wifi card you like, but best results are gotten with Intel 6200N (2-wires) or 6300N (3-wires).
Get the half-size one with a half-size bracket, they also run much cooler than full-size cards.

4GB RAM is more than enough for almost everybody's everyday use.
You can put in either PC2-5300 or PC2-6400 SODIMMs, whichever one is cheaper to find.
Make sure you get brand-name modules!

My travel machine used to be an X61s with XGA for a few years, until I got my X200s with WXGA+ (LED 1440x900).
It's much thinner and lighter and has a much better battery life as well.

If I were you, I'd spend the money on an X200s instead of upgrading the X61s.

[EOMtp]

... the screen mod, I do seem to recall it being quite difficult. Would you say it's not advisable because of that, or are there other reasons?

Sufficiently difficult that the only reason to do it is to prove it can be done ... which has been proven already! Need to make a custom LCD cable, EDID chip incompatibility issues that need addressing, the new LCD panel will not fit in the X61s lid enclosure ... and in the end, all one has is a machine which will run for only 1.5 hours without a monstrously ugly battery that jets out of the back ... talk about ruining the "form factor"!

[dr_st]

Sufficiently difficult that the only reason to do it is to prove it can be done ... which has been proven already! Need to make a custom LCD cable, EDID chip incompatibility issues that need addressing, the new LCD panel will not fit in the X61s lid enclosure ... and in the end, all one has is a machine which will run for only 1.5 hours without a monstrously ugly battery that jets out of the back ... talk about ruining the "form factor"!

Good point. What about X61 (non-s) lid - will that fit better? Of course the battery life will be lower.

[Atreides]

Hate to be a buzzkill but I have to second what everyone else is saying about going for the X200s. I loved my X60s, but the X200s really is a fitting upgrade and you don't lose much in the transition. More than anything having the full size keyboard is a joy, especially when you go back and compare to the smaller 4:3.

Just make sure to get the WXGA+ version.

[Yossarian22]

Thanks for the advice but I already have had the X61s in my possession for quite some time, I like the keyboard, the 4:3 aspect ratio, the keyboard doesn't bother me, I rather like it. The reason is I'm a Linux user, computer scientist, and arguably an "engineer". I've been messing with computers for a long time now, just not many laptops.

The one thing I didn't like about my T410 (the one with the now broken screen) is that the aspect ratio made for a larger laptop.
I understand the X200 is running Penryn and as such it takes DDR3 which is cheaper than the rarer DDR2 SODIMMS for laptops. I will consider the X200/X200s for family members who are looking to upgrade from their dying and undersped netbooks and older 15" laptops. I'm going to stick with my X61s.

C2D ULV Santa Rosa isn't a problem for me. Any large code compiles can be offloaded to a workstation.
The 90% keyboard on the outer keys doesn't bother me.
I love the 4:3 aspect ratio, particularly for terminal sessions of vim.

Regarding hard disk:
I've read a bit about SATA II and SATA III, obviously besides from the technical specifications and I'm not worried about read speeds saturating the SATA bus, but rather a fast write speed and with the new SATA III drives (that are obviously backwards compatible) the write speeds on certain models are excellent. At this time, I don't see SATA II being a big problem for me on the X61s, in either case the price of SSDs have come down enough that if I do end up buying one and it doesn't perform great, can always put it in another machine... like an X200s.

Regarding RAM:
DDR2 PC2 5400 200pin SODIMMs are expensive and I see this as the last route of upgrade if I even choose to do such. I enjoy having 8GB in my T410 (the one with the currently broken screen) so I would never have to mount /swap and I was able to install virtual machines on it. 4GB for the X61s should be fine.

Regarding wireless radio:
The current wireless radio in my X61s is identified under lspci as Atheros 802.11a/g/b and uses the module ath5k; There are issues with connectivity speed, I've checked out mPCIe wireless radios and they're not that expensive. One thing I've noticed between the T410 and X61s is that they hard lock and it has something to do with the wireless; I think this is a problem with Linux/Debian and I was wondering if anyone else here running Linux had problem with hard lockups regarding wireless? Obviously, I'm going to hit up irc.freednode and the appropriate forums, but since this is a community of Thinkpad enthusiasts, I figured I'd ask up front.

How do I know it is related to wireless? I use hardware radio kill switch and uptime on T410 been on for days, turn radio back on, connect... eventually, lock up.
The only consideration is finding a solution to this problem and getting a mPCIe radio that Linux supports well.

Regarding replacement LCD panel to SXGA+:
You guys would know more about this than I do, I assume there are problems with EDID and fitting certain panels inside the enclosure.

Regarding the battery:
I've replaced batteries before and shouldn't be a problem, not at the top of the list since battery that I have has about half of its life left, about 3.5 hours; I expect with a fresh battery/repaired cells running both cpu_govenors at powersave to squeeze out about 6 hours.

Misc.:
This particular X61s doesn't have WLAN/GSM modem so there is no fan in the right hand side hand rest. Does anyone know what dimensions the fan is and if there is a header on the motherboard to power it, where to get the part, etc?

@EOMtp: What makes you say screen mod reduce battery life? Because of the extra pixels to push or? I thought a panel with LED lighting would save power, but I'm not dismissing you guys and your suggestion for X200 series, it's just that I really like the X61s I have and I want to make it my main computing device/turbocharge the sucker. Essentially what I'm trying to say is: I don't know everything, you guys are the Thinkpad professionals, so... I do appreciate all input.

So, again, I'd appreciate input, ideas, pictures of your Thinkpads (X series, whatever), recommendations, anything. I hope to become a regular around here and learn a bit more.

Thanks!

EDIT: Okay, now you have me curious about the X200 and X200s, does anyone have side by side comparisons and such of these machines, weight differences, does X200s support 8GB DDR3? Does it have a webcam? Does it have Expresscard port?

[Saucey]

The X200 uses DDR3 ram, I think you could fit it with 8GB under $90 no problem, as with the X61 you're looking above $130, even then the ram may be cheap build quality.

Can't say I've used a WXGA+ X200 but the X300 is similar and is only 1.2 inches bigger and that + makes a big difference in resolution.

When it comes to the SXGA+ panel, I decide to both modify the LCD lid and break the tabs on the IPS screen. I was using an XGA model to test it. Modding the LCD takes a very steady hand if you wish to cit it yourself. I tried and ruined a cable, screen, and have few holes in the X61s lid now...

SXGA+ is nice on the X61T, but I do slightly miss the smaller form factor of the x61s. I can't go back to its non IPS XGA res screen.

An SSD and 4GB ram does work well in Photoshop and 720p video in mpc-hc

[RealBlackStuff]

If you want to 'storm', why don't you read up a 'storm' in the specs and HMMs concerned?
Specs X61/s: http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/detail. ... MIGR-67778
Specs X200/s: http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/detail. ... MIGR-73156
Specs X201/s: http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/detail. ... MIGR-75044
Download HMMs here: http://download.lenovo.com/express/hmm_ ... ebook.html

[EOMtp]

@EOMtp: What makes you say screen mod reduce battery life?

Screen mod may or may not reduce battery life, depending on the mod ... but I did not comment on battery life with respect to screen, so I don't know what made you think I said that.

Returning to the main point, if you can live with 1024x768 screen resolution, then perhaps the X61s is fine for you. These days, that screen resolution is almost unusable for many people, and changing the screen of the X61s to SXGA+ is impossible -- setting aside the LCD cable and EDID issues, the X61s lid cannot be altered to accept the SxGA+ panel, so you will need the lid from an X60/X61 ... on which you will need to do ugly surgery.

Loyalty is a virtue, but inapplicable to hardware ... the X61s deserves to be retired with dignity, not post unsuccessful disfiguring surgery!

[Yossarian22]

Thanks for all the replies and sorry it took me awhile to respond. I snagged a X200s as well.

As it turned out, my mother's netbook which used to be mine circa 2008 (I found it to be too small) is dying.
Looking on eBay, saw a great deal on a X200s with dock (2 left out of 5), I also 'won the lottery' as the battery is hardly deteriorated and the cells are able to keep a full charge; it isn't that blemished and there are some corporate stickers that were removed that need some 90% isopropyl alcohol and a little elbow grease to remove the residue and these minor blemishes. Excellent!

So now I have both X61s and X200s. After getting some hands-on time with the X200s, I found it to be a bit too heavy and I really do appreciate the 4:3 and 90% keys on the X61s (non issue since vim with monospace fonts is going to be the main thing).

So my mom is running a slightly better laptop than I am. I'm a good son, aren't I?


Onto my main problem and question:

There is a problem however, the seller doesn't appear to know the Supervisor Password (SVP), probably due to it being a corporate firesale/upgrade meaning a lot of BIOS settings on the X200s are unchangeable. I have researched it lightly and I know you guys think that is suspicion on grounds that it is stolen and I know of your silly rule...


However, I just want to know if the 24RF08 security chip on the X200s is covered in epoxy resin. I have yet to pop open the keyboard tray and take a peek -- I have the skills to either wire up my own microcontroller to brute force the SVP or to dump the contents by connecting serial connection to the Atmel 24RF08 to SCL, SDA, and GND. (I'm pretty familiar with Atmel microcontrollers).

No retirement for this X61s, real folks use vim, irssi, gnu screen, etc... 1024x768 isn't going to bother me, I just wish I had the funds that were spent on the X200s instead to modify the X61s a bit more. I am going to transplant my wounded T410's SSD to the X61s and find a low wattage mPCIe 802.11n or ac card so I can get better speeds on the home network and don't burn the palm as much.

As always I appreciate your help and input and I would be interested if anyone had any further suggestions, etc...

Going to have to do my best to hang around here more and learn from the crazy modifications those who came before me have done (I have 2x Thinkpad 240 that work that I want to modify the internals with SoC / SBC type stuff, quad core ARM at low voltage, Retina displays, crazy stuff... I already have this much experience behind me, time to get up there with the laptops and esoteric stuff. I hope in the future I can share as crazy and radical projects as people here have shared.)

As always, thanks and again, all input is welcome and I am wondering about that epoxy... guess I can take the keyboard off tomorrow and look at MB after catching some sleep.

[RealBlackStuff]

We do not allow public discussions about password removal/techniques on the forum (not so silly, if you really think about it...).
Suffice it to say that there is no 24RF08 chip on an X200s, although chips like that are made of resin, not covered in it...

As to the weights:
X61s with:
- 4-cell battery: From 1.41 kg (3.11 lb)
- 8-cell battery: From 1.63 kg (3.59 lb)
X200s with:
- 4-cell battery: From 1.10kg (2.43 lb)
- 6-cell battery: From 1.23kg (2.71 lb)
- 9-cell battery: From 1.38kg (3.05 lb)

Best wifi card for the X61s is a half-size Intel N 6200 (2-wires) or 6300 (3 wires) with a half-size bracket.
Runs much cooler than other cards as well.

[vavet]

I have an x61s with sxga+ mod, ssd 8gb ram and would never exchange it for a x200s or similar.
All the drawbacks mentioned above can be fixed.

Screen mod is expensive as the sxga+ screens are expensive themselves. The mod cable can be found as well. But it worth it, as the feeling from a big resolution is great.
The performance is great with a sata II ssd.
extended battery can give you 5 hours if new.
As for the aesthetics, to me it looks much better even with the extended battery (the extended battery on x200s is much uglier).
What I like the most, is the thin bazel around the screen. You have the feeling that the size of the machine is optimized perfectly, while the ugly wide bazel on x200 leaves the impression that it could easily be a 13 inch screen.

I am a software engineer as well. Used to work on a t400, now switched to w510 as a main workstation, but I keep my projects sinced with my x61s and use it when traveling or being lazy to carry the w510 home. So my advise is: do not give up, a x61s with sxga+ is a unique machine that worth having at home.

[Saucey]

You could install am OS on the X61s, or from the T410 and toss that drive onto the X200s and it might bypass the password...
Its not letting you change boot options?
If they were able to take a photo of the bios they probably know about supervisor passwords...

Your TP240 idea sounds like fun!

[RealBlackStuff]

Passwords like the SVP are NOT stored on a HD/SSD...

[Yossarian22]

I have an x61s with sxga+ mod, ssd 8gb ram and would never exchange it for a x200s or similar.
All the drawbacks mentioned above can be fixed.

Screen mod is expensive as the sxga+ screens are expensive themselves. The mod cable can be found as well. But it worth it, as the feeling from a big resolution is great.
The performance is great with a sata II ssd.
extended battery can give you 5 hours if new.
As for the aesthetics, to me it looks much better even with the extended battery (the extended battery on x200s is much uglier).
What I like the most, is the thin bazel around the screen. You have the feeling that the size of the machine is optimized perfectly, while the ugly wide bazel on x200 leaves the impression that it could easily be a 13 inch screen.

I am a software engineer as well. Used to work on a t400, now switched to w510 as a main workstation, but I keep my projects sinced with my x61s and use it when traveling or being lazy to carry the w510 home. So my advise is: do not give up, a x61s with sxga+ is a unique machine that worth having at home.

Yeah, I totally agree with you. I might be a matter of subjective taste but I love this little guy and I do plan on doing the SXGA+ mod at some point in the future, just not immediately (still need to configure Debian on the little guy and get accustomed to it).

If you wouldn't mind could you link to what resources you used for your SXGA+ modification? I have some links and resources and my mod is far off into the future, but you know, if you had the bookmarks on hand or whatever, it might be useful for the future.

You could install am OS on the X61s, or from the T410 and toss that drive onto the X200s and it might bypass the password...
Its not letting you change boot options?
If they were able to take a photo of the bios they probably know about supervisor passwords...

Your TP240 idea sounds like fun!

I got the X200s installed and working with Windows 7, but without the SVP I cannot do some things, like, whatever company had these machines last, they disabled Bluetooth and I can't enable it. Not a big deal and I've yet to see if the security chip is covered in epoxy but considering the machine is for my mother, everything is gravy. Almost ready to hand it over to mom for official active deployment!

Yeah, in regards to extreme mod projects regarding Thinkpad 240 chassis, I am into embedded computers/SoC/ARM and things of that nature (despite being a software guy, I know my way around a soldering iron and circuitry). I think a Thinkpad 240 chassis running some AMD APU single computer board could be very cool. I'll be sure to start project threads if I get into that. If you know of anyone doing such modifications, let me know.

If you're interested in researching into doing some modifications, I recommend reading the following:
http://liliputing.com/ - news and information web site covering mobile technology, not limited to SoC/embedded stuff.
http://linuxgizmos.com/ - site featuring embedded/SoC/SBC related news and info.
http://www.phoronix.com/ - cutting edge linux/FOSS news source (a bit biased but meh).
http://hackaday.com/ - hacking project news aggregator featuring various types of hardware & software hacks.

Like I said, I'd like to become somewhat of a lurker, if not, a regular around these parts (even though I dislike the changes Lenovo has made since IBM has lost control and from what I've heard and experienced the T/Z/X60 & 61 series were the epitome of portable computers).

Passwords like the SVP are NOT stored on a HD/SSD...

Yep they're not. The security chip stuff among the other special touches is what makes the Thinkpad line special, in accordance with the rules, I won't talk about cracking the SVP and nobody else ought to do such either, don't want the thread closed or to get an infraction. If there is any consolation, I am sure these weren't stolen but auctioned off from a company because there were a lot of extra stickers, probably from the IT guys keeping track and such, I've yet to get some 90% iso. alcohol and rub off the still sticky bits where the seller removed the extra IT/company stickers.


As a side note, I primarily have used the linux oriented Thinkwiki.org as a resource... off hand, does anyone know which series has what reinforced chassis?
I'm pretty sure my T410 with the broken 1440x900 screen does not have a reinforced LCD chassis.

For example, does the X61/X61s have reinforced LCD panel? My understanding is also there are two types of reinforcement chassis (one has titanium?) and also that the newer Lenovo lines are no longer carrying reinforced chassis/bodies/or LCD panel, but I could be mistaken.

Thanks again and I appreciate the input and any more anyone has to provide!

[axur-delmeria]

does the X61/X61s have reinforced LCD panel?

Probably not. My cousin broke his LCD panel while his X61 was cushioned with clothes in a bag. :O

I have to agree that the TP 240 hacking idea is awesome.

It's a retro-mod that turns it to a "sleeper"-- something that looks stock/ordinary but its internal components have been upgraded.

It's like stuffing an i7 into an IBM PC/AT casing.

I hope your project gets under way.

[FryPpy]

If you wouldn't mind could you link to what resources you used for your SXGA+ modification? I have some links and resources and my mod is far off into the future, but you know, if you had the bookmarks on hand or whatever, it might be useful for the future.

2 days ago i have finished such mod but for big brother X61@T8300. And i have XGA IPS LCD from my X61t (badly scratched and replaced with better one). With this mod scratched touchpad / front glass can be tear out and LCD become clear like a new.

The main source of information for this mod is http://ithinkpad.wordpress.com/2011/10/14/x6xipsguide/. The only thing not mentioned in that article - transforming LCD frame.

If you shure that you have Middleton's BIOS installed - you can use any WWAN, WLAN miniPCIe. You can use WLAN from your T410. If you haven't bracket for installing halfsize miniPCIe - you can use 2sided adhesive tape for testing purposes.

2nd FAN - you can find it with FRU numbers (42x3806 42x4678) and check that mainboard have second connector in line (speaker, 2nd FAN, tablet stylus sensor)

[vavet]

If you wouldn't mind could you link to what resources you used for your SXGA+ modification? I have some links and resources and my mod is far off into the future, but you know, if you had the bookmarks on hand or whatever, it might be useful for the future.

I have done this modification several times and here are my hints:

1. as mentioned, the main available guide is this one:
http://ithinkpad.wordpress.com/2011/10/14/x6xipsguide/

2. The lcd can be bought on ebay or aliexpress. You can even buy a screen without touch layer. It will save you some money and lower the risk of damaging it while removing the touch. Just make sure the seller guarantees that the ccfl lamp is in good shape (sometimes they are dimmed because of age). BTW, I have managed to replace the ccfl lamp with a led kit. It's not easy, but doable.

3. The cable mod is usually done in two ways. First, is by an adapter. Second is by a modified cable (from a non ultralight model). If doing with an adapter, make sure to cover it with aluminium foil from both sides. Simple wires used in such cases are badly affected by interference otherwise. The modified cable is a better solution, it is just plug'n'play. If you need a modified cable pm me, I might have one.

4. When modifying the lcd (already without touch) you must just cut the "ears" and nothing else. The frame modification is very dangerous. The metal corner that makes the lcd thicker is there for a reason, it protects the sensitive contact film. Once you remove it, the film may be damaged from a pressure or shake.

5. x61 has originally two types of screen/cover/bazel assembly. The newer ones are called UltraLight. Assembling sxga+ within such cover/bazel is much more difficult (although possible). If yours is UltraLight then spend another $30 to buy non UnltraLight cover/bazel/hinges from ebay. This will save you a lot of time and efforts. The only way to tell an ultralight from non-ultralight that I know is to disassemble the screen. The ultralight's hinges are short while non-ultralights are going up until the top of the screen. If your screen is ultralight and you still want to use it, then pm me I will give you further hints on that. I have done ultralight mod as well.

BTW, I am finishing my current mod which will be an x61s with a LED sxga+ and a touchpad.
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=113605

Will put it up for sale in few days.

Hope this helps

[FryPpy]

Other hints...

2. The lcd can be bought on ebay or aliexpress. You can even buy a screen without touch layer. It will save you some money and lower the risk of damaging it while removing the touch. Just make sure the seller guarantees that the ccfl lamp is in good shape (sometimes they are dimmed because of age). BTW, I have managed to replace the ccfl lamp with a led kit. It's not easy, but doable.

Other way - is to buy complete tablet screen and use tablet cable for making adapter. Tablet cable made from wires, not flex PCB. So it is easy to solder small PCB to the other ends of wires and solder connector taken for example from old (non IPS) X61's LCD. As for me transporting LCD within screen assembly makes it harder to brake, but increase postage costs

vavet can you say what LCD kit you used in your rmod? I have one from iccfl.com and installed it in old (non IPS) LCD for testing. And i found flickering when brightnes is lower than 10/15. But other aspects of this kit is good - brightnes can be changed and there is no "garland" effect on the bottom of the screen.

3. The cable mod is usually done in two ways. First, is by an adapter. Second is by a modified cable (from a non ultralight model).

I don't ever hear of "modified cable". Can you post a picture of it? I went "adapter's" way. I don't use foil and it works fine on less than 10cm wires... But it can be easily shielded

4. When modifying the lcd (already without touch) you must just cut the "ears" and nothing else. The frame modification is very dangerous. The metal corner that makes the lcd thicker is there for a reason, it protects the sensitive contact film. Once you remove it, the film may be damaged from a pressure or shake.

I went harder way - with modifying frame. If you do so - it is he best time to change CCFL / convert to LED. After modifying metal frame and some plastic elements i have taped flex PCB and controller board of LCD with thick adhesive tape. For more protection i have taped controller board to LCD body with 2sided adhesive tape (because when ears is cut controller board no more connected to LCD body)

BTW, I am finishing my current mod which will be an x61s with a LED sxga+ and a touchpad.
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=113605

This is good thing - i like it!
When i first used X41 (not mine) i felt uncomfortable without touchpad. But now working with T6x i use both trackpoint and touchpad freely.

[vavet]

vavet can you say what LCD kit you used in your rmod? I have one from iccfl.com and installed it in old (non IPS) LCD for testing. And i found flickering when brightnes is lower than 10/15. But other aspects of this kit is good - brightnes can be changed and there is no "garland" effect on the bottom of the screen.

I used the same iccfl kit, but there is no flickering for any brightness level.

I don't ever hear of "modified cable". Can you post a picture of it? I went "adapter's" way. I don't use foil and it works fine on less than 10cm wires... But it can be easily shielded

here is the photo

http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p301 ... G_0659.jpg

I went harder way - with modifying frame. If you do so - it is he best time to change CCFL / convert to LED. After modifying metal frame and some plastic elements i have taped flex PCB and controller board of LCD with thick adhesive tape. For more protection i have taped controller board to LCD body with 2sided adhesive tape (because when ears is cut controller board no more connected to LCD body)

that's great, my attempt have failed. I tried to be careful as well, did the same precaution measures but got couple of horizontal lines at the end.

[FryPpy]

I used the same iccfl kit, but there is no flickering for any brightness level.

Ok. May be my kit have issues or i connected something wrong (LED strip to invetor/driver) - i'll check it later.

here is the photo

Cool. this is the way. But i have bad habit with soldering flex PCB - they all dead .

that's great, my attempt have failed. I tried to be careful as well, did the same precaution measures but got couple of horizontal lines at the end.

Strange thing. I have one 15" UXGA with horizontal lines - but it was fixed. As described on this forum i have placed some paper or adhesive tape ontop of defective flex pcb that drives thes lines (in UXGA there is top flex pcbs for driving columns and left ones for rows) to get constant pressure on them from monitor case. And more then year have past and no more bad lines.

Some more tricks (which i forgot to mention in first post).
When i have teard of original protector adhesive tape from LCD board and flex pcbs i have taped a line of kepton tape over connections (where flex pcbs connects LCD controller board). I don't belive that problems with dead lines in scratces on flex pcb, i think it is because flex pcbs disconnects from controller boad. So the must be gleud (taped) to controller board by any means.

I have started to modify frame not only because issue with screen besel, but because WLAN antennas. Other way is to cut fixing pins on WLAN antennas...

Fixing LCD on hinges. At begining i want to use metall gascets from old X61 nonIPS LCD, but to place them there are many mods to be done with plastic LCD body. So i have placed LCD. Aligned with WLAN antennas and taped with black pices of adhesive tape. Use soldering iron and make holes in plastic LCD body throught holes in hinges and use big black screws from old X61 nonIPS LCD frame. Then used some more adhesive tape (may be better to use aluminium (conductive) adhesive foil on right side - because HMM wants it for shielding WWAN antenna if any).
And now this construction is like a monolith

here is the photo

Cool. this is the way. But i have bad habit with soldering flex PCB - they all dead .

that's great, my attempt have failed. I tried to be careful as well, did the same precaution measures but got couple of horizontal lines at the end.

Strange thing. I have one 15" UXGA with horizontal lines - but it was repaired. As described on this forum i have placed some paper or adhesive tape ontop of defective flex pcb that drives these lines (in UXGA there is top flex pcbs for driving columns and left ones for rows) to get constant pressure on them from screen case. And more then year have past and no more bad lines.

Some more tricks (which i forgot to mention in first post).
When i have teared off original protector adhesive tape from LCD board and flex pcbs i have taped a line of kepton tape over connections (where flex pcbs connects LCD controller board). I don't belive that problems with dead lines in scratches on flex pcb. I think it is because flex pcbs disconnects from controller board. So they must be glued (taped) to controller board by any means AFAP after removing original tape.

I have started to modify frame not only because issue with screen besel, but because WLAN antennas. Other way is to cut fixing pins on WLAN antennas...

Fixing LCD on hinges. At begining i wanted to use metal nuts from old X61 nonIPS LCD, but to place them there are many mods to be done with plastic LCD body. So i have placed LCD. Aligned with WLAN antennas and taped with black pieces of adhesive tape. Used soldering iron and make holes in plastic LCD body throught holes in hinges and use big black screws from old X61 nonIPS LCD frame. Then used some more adhesive tape (may be better to use aluminium (conductive) adhesive foil on right side - because HMM wants it for shielding WWAN antenna if any).
And now this construction is like a monolith

Sorry for my bad english I fell that somthing is wrong there. But I hope that this information will be useful to other users

[vavet]

Ok. May be my kit have issues or i connected something wrong (LED strip to invetor/driver) - i'll check it later.

I think the problem is not related to bad connection, otherwise you'd have the same problem on all levels I suppose. It is more likely that the accuracy of voltage is bad. The voltage level of the inverter might be generally lower than needed. I don't know the right voltages for each level, but the people from the forum might help to find. If it is not tuned properly it might be outputting a little bit less on all levels, which is fine for higher levels, but when you reach the lowest the voltage is already below the minimum required. That is why you have flicks only on the lowest. I am not sure on this, just an assumption. Try to measure the voltage.
Here is a thread where led conversion is described:
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=91687

Cool. this is the way. But i have bad habit with soldering flex PCB - they all dead .

That's ok. My personal x61s is also working fine with a wired adapter.
There is a joke.
When a software engineers son asks his father why the sun rises in the east and sets on the west he replies:
- are you sure it works like that?
- yes
- then don't touch, let it work ...

Strange thing. I have one 15" UXGA with horizontal lines - but it was fixed. As described on this forum i have placed some paper or adhesive tape ontop of defective flex pcb that drives thes lines (in UXGA there is top flex pcbs for driving columns and left ones for rows) to get constant pressure on them from monitor case. And more then year have past and no more bad lines.

Well, my train is gone. I have teared the lcd apart and made a lamp out of it

Some more tricks (which i forgot to mention in first post).
When i have teard of original protector adhesive tape from LCD board and flex pcbs i have taped a line of kepton tape over connections (where flex pcbs connects LCD controller board). I don't belive that problems with dead lines in scratces on flex pcb, i think it is because flex pcbs disconnects from controller boad. So the must be gleud (taped) to controller board by any means.

I have started to modify frame not only because issue with screen besel, but because WLAN antennas. Other way is to cut fixing pins on WLAN antennas...

Fixing LCD on hinges. At begining i want to use metall gascets from old X61 nonIPS LCD, but to place them there are many mods to be done with plastic LCD body. So i have placed LCD. Aligned with WLAN antennas and taped with black pices of adhesive tape. Use soldering iron and make holes in plastic LCD body throught holes in hinges and use big black screws from old X61 nonIPS LCD frame. Then used some more adhesive tape (may be better to use aluminium (conductive) adhesive foil on right side - because HMM wants it for shielding WWAN antenna if any).
And now this construction is like a monolith

I was thinking about reinforcing the lcd but once it is locked within the screen back and bazel it seems quite solid and reliable. So i just used tape, and it works fine for over a year.

Sorry for my bad english

нет проблем, Я тоже по английски не особо шпарю