Thinkpads Forum

I have an X61 Tablet Multi touch screen with the Wacom digitizer that has just stopped taking my touch... Actually it is my husband's tablet, but he used that digital pen more than a real one and when it stopped working, he went into a panic and brought it to me... I fix stuff, lots of it!!

After a lot of work, a new hinge, a new video cable, and yes they are the correct FRU, I'm still at square one. I'm pretty much down to the Wacom Digitizing unit is broken or the motherboard just doesn't like it anymore! The LCD screen is perfect, no spots or bad pixels, and it seems a shame to replace the entire thing when I just need the digitizing unit (which btw is SU5R-12S05AS-03X).

Is there anywhere to buy just the digitizing unit? Or am I looking a total screen replacement in which case, I think I will just get Hubby a new one and use this one without the multi touch.

I am new here, but this Forum is so incredibly totally AWESOME!! I am so in love with this place!!

Are you saying it works with the pen but not with the finger?

No, it doesn't work with either. It works just like a regular old fashioned non touchable laptop.

I'm sorry, but I don't know enough about the internal differences between a pen-enabled screen and a screen that supports both pen and touch. Based on the wacom number you gave me, I assume you need have a cable for a G5 digitizer (It starts SU5 and most x61 have G5) , but I assume the touch-enabled digitizer is different from the pen-only one. The pen-enabled screen has 3 layers: writing surface, the actual LCD panel and the digitizer. I honestly don't know if the touch-enabled screen has another layer or a different digitizer. I never had a touch-enabled screen with a busted screen to take apart. I have a G5 digitizer here from a pen-only screen, but the wacom number is 1 digit different from what you list. IBM/Lenovo only lists FRUs, which include all the layers. They do not replace the individual layers. I try to replace whatever is broken. Maybe someone else can help. I had a machine here with a touch-enabled screen here a week or two ago, but the screen was fine. I almost took it apart just to see how it worked, but that seemed stupid, even for me.

Thank you Richk! I found a video on this forum that showed a gentleman replacing his lcd screen on a x61 tablet, but he had to move the digitizer from his old screen to the new one. It looked painstaking but simple enough for me to try. I wouldn't want to take apart a working screen just for the part tho, I was just wondering if the digitizing unit was available. I found a couple on ebay but for an HP and a Compaq. The Wacom numbers didn't even come close, so I just passed them by.

If I can't find it, I'm not worried. I'll figure something out.

I just figured out you are the same nice person who responded to my post on the Lenovo Forum!! Thank you!!

It isn't hard to replace the digitizer once the panel is out. It's just a couple of screws and sometimes cutting some tape. They just are not sold that way. It is possible the digitizer I have would work, but I really have not enough info to say that. It is likely that you have an additional capacitive layer in your screen to support finger-touch. It is possible that layer has failed and your digitizer is OK. That does not seem likely to me since the pen functions don't work either, but I am speculating without actual knowledge. sorry.

Thats ok, Rich. Thank you for the feedback. I'm going to recheck the drivers and all after Thanksgiving...now I have to go put my chef hat on and cook a Thanksgiving dinner, pies etc...

I will let you know if anything changes!!

MrsOldHat wrote:Thats ok, Rich. Thank you for the feedback. I'm going to recheck the drivers and all after Thanksgiving...now I have to go put my chef hat on and cook a Thanksgiving dinner, pies etc...

I will let you know if anything changes!!

First try the drivers - http://www.wacom.com/tabletpc/driver.cfm

IvanAndreevich wrote:First try the drivers - http://www.wacom.com/tabletpc/driver.cfm

Thank you for that link... I've been trying to get to that particular site, but the links I have are broken...

Something to look forward too after Thanksgiving!!

Drivers did not work.. says there is no tablet installed on my system. So I'm thinking that it is a hardware failure somewhere along the line. Next thing I'm going to check is fuses on the board. Otherwise, I'm just going to forget the tablet feature, tho is it nice.


but after Christmas....

I am assuming you are running XP tablet edition, as opposed to vista or windows 7. Uninstall your monitor from device manager. Uninstall all your screen drivers. Restart your machine and let it find new hardware. Then, install this one:
http://download.lenovo.com/ibmdl/pub/pc ... ge06ww.exe

I will try this Rich! I am running Vista Business, but after Christmas I will have time to delve into more exploratory methodology.

Thank you for sticking with me on this. I solved my hubby's problem by getting him another X61 tablet and switching out the hard drives so he could keep working. He uses this machine for his work. In fact he gets panic stricken if it doesn't work! So I get the old one and that is why I get to explore its possibilities... Also, it helped to eliminate any software issue questions I had, because both hard drives, both running Vista business, worked in the newer machine without a hitch. The multi-touch worked great on the newer machine with either one of the hard drives installed. I just got to do these tests this last weekend. I also made very sure that I have all the latest and greatest drivers installed from Lenovo and updated Windows Vista. At one point, I also installed Windows 7 on this machine on a different hard drive to see if that had any affect and it did not. I also tried the drivers from Bamboo Fun and that is when I got the error message that there is no tablet installed on this system(I had uninstalled the previous Wacom drivers). I have not had the opportunity to take the screen apart to see if the cable had become unplugged, tho with the sticky pad that glued it down, I can't see how. But I have my fingers crossed that maybe that is it. I thought I would also check the fuses, a good exercise for me. Plus I need to replace the cpu fan, or put a little oil on it, it is making a bit of noise.

I found a G4 digitizer on ebay the other day, almost was tempted to get it, but remembered you saying that the cabling was not the same and I sure did not want to have to replace that again!