Changing up parts for the X60s, need advice.

[guythingit12396]

My X60s failed. I tried booting up the machine today and got a fan error and PXE-E05 (LAN configuration corrupted). Either the drive has corrupted or the motherboard has failed. I browsed through eBay and saw two motherboard listings.

1st:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/392026651934

2nd:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/122033164928

I'm considering the second one due to postage being significantly cheaper (the 1st one postage cost is about 140 AUD). However, the parts number for them is different despite both being for the X60s (I'm pretty sure both of them are L2400 too, which is my current). Would there be any issues? I'm mainly concerned about compatibility.

Last but not least, the battery on this thing also does not hold a charge, so I can not flash a new BIOS. Does anyone have recommendations on a third-party battery for the X60s?

Regards,
guythingit12396

[axur-delmeria]

You could use this as an opportunity to upgrade to an X61s.

[guythingit12396]

You could use this as an opportunity to upgrade to an X61s.

I would if I can find one, but unfortunately I had no luck finding one. That is why I found two of the motherboards listed instead, but I don't know if there's any compatibility issues with it. I'm kind of in a hurry as I want to get this working again as soon as possible, which one would you recommend?

[axur-delmeria]

As long as they're not X60 Tablet boards, it will be fine.

[guythingit12396]

Thank you for your answer
I'm less worried about compatibility now.

[guythingit12396]

As long as they're not X60 Tablet boards, it will be fine.

Apologies for bothering you again, but just to confirm, the board with the FRU 60Y3960 will work fine, right? My X60s' board FRU is 42T0019.

[axur-delmeria]

TBH I've never encountered the FRU 60Y3960 in any of Lenovo's documentation. OTOH I'm sure that as long as it's an X60s board, it will be fine.

The system boards of the entire X60 and X61 families are physically interchangeable, but with caveats:

Installing a regular (X60, X61) board into a slim chassis will result in overheating (the CPU heatsink is too small).

Installing a slim (X60s, X61s) board into a regular chassis will work without issue-- I currently have an X60s board in an X60 chassis and I can't get the CPU temp to reach 60c.

Installing a Tablet board into a non-Tablet chassis (and vice versa) will cause the unit to immediately shut down after pushing the power button. I did manage to convert an X61T board into an X61s by force-flashing the X61s BIOS onto it (but most of the indicator LEDs don't work).

[guythingit12396]

TBH I've never encountered the FRU 60Y3960 in any of Lenovo's documentation. OTOH I'm sure that as long as it's an X60s board, it will be fine.

The system boards of the entire X60 and X61 families are physically interchangeable, but with caveats:

Installing a regular (X60, X61) board into a slim chassis will result in overheating (the CPU heatsink is too small).

Installing a slim (X60s, X61s) board into a regular chassis will work without issue-- I currently have an X60s board in an X60 chassis and I can't get the CPU temp to reach 60c.

Installing a Tablet board into a non-Tablet chassis (and vice versa) will cause the unit to immediately shut down after pushing the power button. I did manage to convert an X61T board into an X61s by force-flashing the X61s BIOS onto it (but most of the indicator LEDs don't work).

Ah, I see. Thanks for the information!
I might get an X61s board when there's one. For the mean time, I will stick with X60s.
I looked up 60Y3960 on Lenovo's website and it turns out the 60Y3960 is an equivalent/substitute for the 42T0215. So I think that means it's a legitimate board?

[TPFanatic]

Pxe-e05 is common fault on T60, creating a bootable dos utility to reset the firmware resolved that. I can try to hunt down my post on this forum on that problem, it’s an easy solution.

edit to add:

Here's my post on PXE-e05:

https://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.p ... 61#p872261

And if you ever encounter this error: "PXE-E05: The LAN adapter's configuation is corrupted or has not been initialized. The Boot Agent cannot continue."

Download Intel's PREBOOT and follow my instructions:
https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en ... ivers.html

I downloaded Version 22.10 of PREBOOT and copied the BootUtil directory into a Bootable DOS Flash Drive created with Rufus.

Then navigated in DOS to C:\BOOTUTIL\DOS and ran BOOTUTIL -DEFCFG -ALL.

Additional anecdote regarding X61 normal board in -s case, I put an X61 T8100 board into my X60s case, the only mod I had to do was repin the -s fan connector into a fan connector that matched the X61 board. There is no overheating as T8100 and other Penryn boards run very cool.

[guythingit12396]

Thank you for the PXE-E05 fix! I will save it for the future if the problem arises again.

I'm still asking for opinions before making a purchase on a motherboard. I browsed a little deeper and found an X61s motherboard on AliExpress
This is the listing in question: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001998600344.html
The FRU on the motherboard above is 42W7766, which I think is one of the motherboards without a second fan (would like confirmation).
Additionally, I haven't had any experiences buying on AliExpress so I'm not sure how reliable it is. I'm also skeptical about the seller and the legitimacy of the motherboard. I'd like to hear from those who have bought on AliExpress.

Alternatively, I'm thinking of posting a motherboard request in the marketplace...

[TPFanatic]

I actually have a spare x60s board but i feel like aliexpress is the better deal for you than international posting from me.

I bought a T8100 Penryn X61 board on AliExpress and it works great. AliExpress, in my opinion is as good if not better than eBay for buying from Chinese sellers.

I checked your link and Nokotion are in fact the store I bought my X61 board from.

[guythingit12396]

I actually have a spare x60s board but i feel like aliexpress is the better deal for you than international posting from me.

I bought a T8100 Penryn X61 board on AliExpress and it works great. AliExpress, in my opinion is as good if not better than eBay for buying from Chinese sellers.

I checked your link and Nokotion are in fact the store I bought my X61 board from.

I see, so you can vouch for them then?
Also the motherboard doesn't have a heatsink so I need to buy one separately right?

[TPFanatic]

with any purchase ymmv. i had good experience with them.

probably have to buy a new heatsink if you want that.

[guythingit12396]

with any purchase ymmv. i had good experience with them.

probably have to buy a new heatsink if you want that.

Apologies for the rookie question, if it wasn't obvious I'm not the most tech-savvy person here
Will the L7500 in the X61s board runs better than the L2400? I know the L7500 supports 64-bit but it has a lower base frequency than the L2400. Also, how are the temperature on the L7500?

[axur-delmeria]

The Core 2 Duo L7500 is faster than Core Duo L2400 (despite the lower clock speed) due to:

* better performance per megahertz

* better SSE2 implementation

* 800MHz front-side bus (vs 667MHz) and faster RAM (DDR2-667 vs 533)

Not sure about the CPU temps, but the only time I saw an X61s reach 80c was when the fan stopped running.

[guythingit12396]

The Core 2 Duo L7500 is faster than Core Duo L2400 (despite the lower clock speed) due to:

* better performance per megahertz

* better SSE2 implementation

* 800MHz front-side bus (vs 667MHz) and faster RAM (DDR2-667 vs 533)

Not sure about the CPU temps, but the only time I saw an X61s reach 80c was when the fan stopped running.

Thank you! I think I will settle with the X61s board now.

Does Linux runs well on the X60s? Do I have to download the drivers on XP first?

[RealBlackStuff]

Also: X61/X61s can take up to 2x4=8GB RAM (X60/X60s limited to 2+1=3GB RAM).

[axur-delmeria]

Does Linux runs well on the X60s? Do I have to download the drivers on XP first?

Everything will run pretty much out of the box.

[guythingit12396]

Thank you for everyone's insights, I've found them very helpful!
Just some questions, will the X6 Ultrabase work when I swap out the motherboard? Additionally, how is battery compatibility? Will an X60s battery work, or do I have to get an X61s battery?

[TPFanatic]

Batteries and ultrabase are the same between them.

[guythingit12396]

Hey everyone, I'm back with another question about the X61s motherboard swap.
Since my X60s will basically be an X61s now, I will have to get X61s drivers and the Middleton's BIOS.
Do I download those on Win XP or Win 7?

[RealBlackStuff]

If using Windows, it must be the 32-bit version of Vista or W7.
But M's BIOS also contains an .ISO file to make either (using Imgburn) a self-booting CD or (using Rufus) a bootable USB-stick.

[guythingit12396]

Thanks RBS!

By the way, the X60s originally came with a Japanese keyboard and it has keys with special functions. I'm planning on getting the keyboard replaced as well, but still keeping that Japanese keyboard. Are there any drivers or things I need to do to make sure it works on the X61s motherboard?

[axur-delmeria]

By the way, the X60s originally came with a Japanese keyboard and it has keys with special functions. I'm planning on getting the keyboard replaced as well, but still keeping that Japanese keyboard. Are there any drivers or things I need to do to make sure it works on the X61s motherboard?

A Japanese keyboard will retain its basic functionality-- I've personally moved around a JP keyboard between various X60/61 variants and it worked just fine. Though the labels on some keys will be different to what they'll output due to the differences between the default US keymap and the Japanese one. For example, the JP keyboard's 2 key has " on top, but will output @ as in a US keyboard. The JP-specific keys around the Spacebar won't output anything.

You'll have to change the keyboard layout settings to get the keys to type what they're labelled as. On Windows, you may need to install some language packs in order to do that.

[guythingit12396]

By the way, the X60s originally came with a Japanese keyboard and it has keys with special functions. I'm planning on getting the keyboard replaced as well, but still keeping that Japanese keyboard. Are there any drivers or things I need to do to make sure it works on the X61s motherboard?

A Japanese keyboard will retain its basic functionality-- I've personally moved around a JP keyboard between various X60/61 variants and it worked just fine. Though the labels on some keys will be different to what they'll output due to the differences between the default US keymap and the Japanese one. For example, the JP keyboard's 2 key has " on top, but will output @ as in a US keyboard. The JP-specific keys around the Spacebar won't output anything.

You'll have to change the keyboard layout settings to get the keys to type what they're labelled as. On Windows, you may need to install some language packs in order to do that.

Thanks! I'm a newb in terms of software and stuff so I'm wondering if Linux has those language packs.

[TPFanatic]

You might be able to do something with those keys with ThinkPadHotkey.exe my mirror: https://drive.google.com/file/d/10w88Qj ... p=drivesdk

[axur-delmeria]

Thanks! I'm a newb in terms of software and stuff so I'm wondering if Linux has those language packs.

I used Debian with Xfce on the Thinkpad that had the JP keyboard at the time. Its keyboard configuration applet allows you to choose the Japanese layout. You might need to install additional fonts like fonts-noto-cjk to display the Japanese characters.

On the other hand, you don't even need the JP layout to input kanji characters, thanks to input method editors (IME) like Anthy.

[guythingit12396]

Good to know Debian XFCE works, I'm planning on installing just that!
I still have some questions if you guys don't mind, apologies for the somewhat long thread.
Does anyone know where can I get battery and screen replacements?
Drivers are also automatically installed right? I'm planning on installing Windows 7 32-bit to get Middleton's BIOS before changing to Debian.

[TPFanatic]

I dont know about batteries.

For screens, i like buying screens from aliexpress or lpscreen.com. There’s actually a guy on aliexpress who sells 1400x1050 LED backlit retrofit kits for x60 and X61, kevin trade shop i think.

Consider acquiring spare X60 or X61 machines with working screens. Swapping a whole lid is easier than screen surgery.

[axur-delmeria]

Consider acquiring spare X60 or X61 machines with working screens. Swapping a whole lid is easier than screen surgery.

I agree. Given the age of these laptops, its plastics are becoming brittle-- thin parts like the palmrest and especially the screen bezel break really easily (first-hand experience).