Upgrading X220/X230 to FHD 1080p

[RealBlackStuff]

I haven't got my kit yet, but if you don't use WWAN, you could remove the blue antenna wire to create some space.
The vertical lines are probably from putting too much pressure on the top/rear of the LCD.
You could try to carefully 'rub' the area above the lines.

[seasonshu]

I haven't got my kit yet, but if you don't use WWAN, you could remove the blue antenna wire to create some space.
The vertical lines are probably from putting too much pressure on the top/rear of the LCD.
You could try to carefully 'rub' the area above the lines.

With some struggle, I re-did the cabling in the area, now all cables are in one layer so the LCD fits on top. Rubbing did not help, unfortunately but I reckon, I more like have pressed the controller area too much. I guess it was a costly mistake I did.. lesson learned.

[dogeitrade]

all these installation issues... i am spooked

[nitrocaster]

2) However, I must have done something stupid during installation as I have two yellow vertical lines on the LCD.
...
I must have pushed it too hard somewhere. I plugged in my other LCD and that is working fine, so it's not the eDP cable.

I tried following solution 4 on http://finally-found-the-solution.blogs ... Lines.html but no use..

Trying to backtrack what I may have done wrong are:
- on the left side one of the wifi cable cable were in the way, however I only removed the two LCD screws on the left and may have bent the LCD a tiny bit..
- what is probably more likely: see my other picture on the routing of the cables. I led the eDP cable under the other two wifi/camera cables and probably pushed the LCD too hard to 'fit in'. Will I need to dismantle it again to route those cables the other way around?
...
Having said that, on the left hand side, there is virtually no space for the cables beside the LCD controller, only under..

Your routing is far from perfect and has to be adjusted. Check out this album: http://nitrocaster.deviantart.com/galle ... 30-FHD-mod

So, any recommendation on how to fix it, or am I to order another LCD ...

EDIT: I re-did the cabling, one beside the other, not on top of.. Now only if I could save this LCD..please?

You somehow damaged column drivers, and unfortunately that is not repairable. I think I have to add some extra warnings to the manual.

3) Though I ordered a 4338 docking station (with two DP ports), by mistake I received a 4337 (with one DP). I accepted it, however it seems that one DP is on DP#2 as the screen goes blank when I dock it. Does it probably mean that I won't be able to use this dock? I really just need to other ports so hopefully I will be able to isolate the DP port in the docking station later on.

You can, but some extra work with tape is required. I'll upload the pictures soon.

4) Battery estimate: with the old screen it was 6.5 hours. With the new screen it's only 3 hours. The battery is 6 cell used (came with the laptop), cycle count is 47 so I'd say it's in pretty good condition. I know it's more pixels to drive but maybe if we could disable the LVDS port then that would improve things.. I know nitrocaster is planning to work on a bios patch (please?).

This estimate might be wrong. The worst difference in power consumption I managed to measure on X230 was under 20%. X220 with dead LVDS did not show any significant difference at all.

[LDSer]

Hello Nitrocaster,
i got into your pre-order list. Did you inform us per mail, when the new kits are available ?
And a second question. Can i use a external monitor when the x220 is in the lenovo dock without any limitations?
Greetings
LDSer

[nitrocaster]

Hello Nitrocaster,
i got into your pre-order list. Did you inform us per mail, when the new kits are available ?
And a second question. Can i use a external monitor when the x220 is in the lenovo dock without any limitations?
Greetings
LDSer

I did not send any notifications to those who submitted pre-order form. The second batch is in production and in the best-case scenario it will be ready in about a month.
You can use UltraBase docks without any issues, but other docks may require isolating DP#2 pins inside the docking connector.

[seasonshu]

I think I blew my board.. Yes, the guide says it should be isolated so the board doesn't come in contact with the keyboard.. It should be my fault, but as the repair shop installed it, I didn't pay attention that OTHER bare MB parts are not covered...
The screen went black. I hard restarted, it seemed to work at boot but FHD won't show up, nor the external monitor. I taped the bare parts, FHD appeared again for some time but then it's gone again. I waited some time, it's working again. It seems to go under load. (Started stress test). After the stress test, the FHD res seems to be gone for good. The question is, did I blew the MB or "just" the board.
------------------------
The motherboard end of the eDP cable seems kind of weak. I was able to remove it once or maybe twice (when I reordered the cables in the hinge), however as I was trying to tape off bare electronics, I couldn't. The tape came off what supposed to help the lifting.. So, I just taped everything over. Conlusion: make sure you are happy with everyting before you plug onto the board. The LCD side is fine, no issues there.
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Please include the routing pictures in the guide.. I redid my right side now based on the pictures. I know I saw them before but forgot about them..
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Nitrocaster, one more suggestion for the documentation, re: dithering.
To install:
- Copy the extracted ditherig directory to a permanent place (e.g. C:\Program Files). Run ditherig.exe from the appropriate 32/64 bit folder.
- An icon on your tray will appear
- Right click and select 'Register to the Windows startup'
- By default, it's off, so you'll also need to select 'Spatial (default').
- Select 'Save current settings'

------------------------

You somehow damaged column drivers, and unfortunately that is not repairable. I think I have to add some extra warnings to the manual.

Snap, I was hoping that it's fixable but have now accepted it. win0win will be pleased.

This estimate might be wrong. The worst difference in power consumption I managed to measure on X230 was under 20%. X220 with dead LVDS did not show any significant difference at all.

Ok, will make some test drives. I am planning to install some 'energy leak' software (Powertop / TLP ?) on Windows, will have to read about more.

------------------------

all these installation issues... i am spooked

You are reading and learning from it, so it's your gain!

[LDSer]

Hello Nitrocaster,
i got into your pre-order list. Did you inform us per mail, when the new kits are available ?
And a second question. Can i use a external monitor when the x220 is in the lenovo dock without any limitations?
Greetings
LDSer

I did not send any notifications to those who submitted pre-order form. The second batch is in production and in the best-case scenario it will be ready in about a month.
You can use UltraBase docks without any issues, but other docks may require isolating DP#2 pins inside the docking connector.

I have a "Lenovo ThinkPad Mini Dock Plus Series 3 Type 4338", where i must isolate DP#2 pins inside the docking connector?

[seasonshu]

I have a "Lenovo ThinkPad Mini Dock Plus Series 3 Type 4338", where i must isolate DP#2 pins inside the docking connector?

"Q: Can I use docking station with this mod?
A: You can use UltraBase Series 3 without any problem. However, when using Mini Dock Series 3, the internal display will go blank (and second DVI/DisplayPort on dock will be non functional). To overcome this issue, you can tape a row of DP#2 pins inside the docking connector. A guide for this will be posted soon."

[LDSer]

I have a "Lenovo ThinkPad Mini Dock Plus Series 3 Type 4338", where i must isolate DP#2 pins inside the docking connector?

"Q: Can I use docking station with this mod?
A: You can use UltraBase Series 3 without any problem. However, when using Mini Dock Series 3, the internal display will go blank (and second DVI/DisplayPort on dock will be non functional). To overcome this issue, you can tape a row of DP#2 pins inside the docking connector. A guide for this will be posted soon."

Ok.thx.

[nitrocaster]

I didn't pay attention that OTHER bare MB parts are not covered...

Did they remove the protective film completely? You only supposed to remove a little bit around the docking connector pins to install the adapter board.

The motherboard end of the eDP cable seems kind of weak.

It kinda is. The clear plastic tape is not really useful. Unplug it by carefully pulling up the end of connector using your nail or some flat plastic item like guitar pick. Once it starts to lift, pull the opposite end and it will come off.

Please include the routing pictures in the guide.. I redid my right side now based on the pictures.
...
Nitrocaster, one more suggestion for the documentation, re: dithering.

Totally agree, will do.

[nitrocaster]

seasonshu, could you post some pictures of the motherboard with installed adapter?
Does the board power on and does the stock display still work?

[seasonshu]

Okay, the good news is that (blindly) I was able to change to "Project only" and the picture has appeared - of course I don't have the ability to control brightness.
So, I reckon this means that (part of?) the fhd board is fried. Taking another look, the keyboard can't really come in contact with the MB as the bezel is in the way.

See the picture, I hope it helps..


Checking the manual, covering up the bottom part of the board is mentioned in Section 4/Point 10. But it's WAAAY after the board job was completed at point 6. I just kept scrolling back and forth the pictures trying to see what's left (assuming the board was completed).
What I missed is the kapton tape that is seen on Pic 10. There's a distinctive yellow colour. (does it mean that the aux power didn't need taping? better safe than sorry?)
I think a comment after Picture 10 would really be helpful.

So... replacing the custom board might solve this? I am picking up the other 2 laptops tomorrow, I should bargain in a free replacing, at least..
Or... alternatively I can use it as is for now, provided that in the next few months the bios patch (if it gets completed?) would make brightness work again..?

I feel like a guinea-pig, I hope others learn from my mistakes...

EDIT: I re-attached the original screen. It boots up fine. "Computer only/Duplicate/Extend" shows screen only on the HD screen. Selecting "Projector Only" goes blank for a while and then says on the HD screen: "No projector was detected." after 10 seconds or so.
So... the system board is not affected, hopefully?

[nitrocaster]

Okay, the good news is that (blindly) I was able to change to "Project only" and the picture has appeared - of course I don't have the ability to control brightness.
So, I reckon this means that (part of?) the fhd board is fried. Taking another look, the keyboard can't really come in contact with the MB as the bezel is in the way.

That tells me that adapter board still works. What happens when you use dual display mode?

Checking the manual, covering up the bottom part of the board is mentioned in Section 4/Point 10. But it's WAAAY after the board job was completed at point 6. I just kept scrolling back and forth the pictures trying to see what's left (assuming the board was completed).
What I missed is the kapton tape that is seen on Pic 10. There's a distinctive yellow colour. (does it mean that the aux power didn't need taping? better safe than sorry?)
I think a comment after Picture 10 would really be helpful.

I added step 10 just to make it safer to work with in future. In fact, the keyboard doesn't seem to touch any conductive parts of the adapter board.

So... replacing the custom board might solve this? I am picking up the other 2 laptops tomorrow, I should bargain in a free replacing, at least..
Or... alternatively I can use it as is for now, provided that in the next few months the bios patch (if it gets completed?) would make brightness work again..?
I feel like a guinea-pig, I hope others learn from my mistakes...

Brightness control should work in dual display mode, so let's start from there (see the beginning of this post).

Selecting "Projector Only" goes blank for a while and then says on the HD screen: "No projector was detected." after 10 seconds or so.

Do not plug both displays. White flat flex cable provides ground connection for FHD panel. If it's not connected, FHD panel won't work.

[seasonshu]

Okay, Good News Everyone! After testing the HD display, I reassembled the FHD board... aaand it seems to be working, in 15 minutes now. I started the stress test as well which seem to have caused the outage -- has been running fine for more than 10 minutes.

Could the problem simply be an incorrectly attached LVDS cable? The screen came and went -- no pattern detected in how.

That tells me that adapter board still works. What happens when you use dual display mode?

The display came and went, then it went black and no reboot / waiting cool down helped (which I just suspected to be the problem). I found "Project only" working by dumb luck and gave me hope that not all is lost.

I added step 10 just to make it safer to work with in future. In fact, the keyboard doesn't seem to touch any conductive parts of the adapter board.

That's very good to hear, so it may be just user error after all. I already buried the machine..

The confusing part was that I left the machine idle for some hours, then started up some programs.. maybe "simply" at that point the LVDS connection came loose and either had connection or not?

[nitrocaster]

I added step 10 just to make it safer to work with in future. In fact, the keyboard doesn't seem to touch any conductive parts of the adapter board.

That's very good to hear, so it may be just user error after all. I already buried the machine..
The confusing part was that I left the machine idle for some hours, then started up some programs.. maybe "simply" at that point the LVDS connection came loose and either had connection or not?

Not sure. But just to keep yourself away from bad luck, cover the adapter board with tape.
BTW, I don't see where does the aux power wire go. The manual instructs to route it to the left under the LVDS connector, but yours goes straight up.

[seasonshu]

BTW, I don't see where does the aux power wire go. The manual instructs to route it to the left under the LVDS connector, but yours goes straight up.

I goes where it should but taking a different route, led under the the black foil.

I am happy to report that the 2nd and 3rd installations are done and successful. Now that I knew what I was doing.

FIXED: One of the screens started flickering after booting to windows. The solution was to reattach the LVDS cable (again!!). I suggest adding a clause to the guide saying, if anything is wrong, blame the LVDS cable (First: random blank screen, then on the other one, flickering).

Nitrocaster, this work is a masterpiece, I love how booting goes without changing anything in bios (boot display DP#2, for example). Also, Windows starts up correctly, with 'duplicated' screen and FHD resolution. I don't know how you did that but it's all excellent. I think the only thing is to disable the LVDS output somehow in Windows and it'd be completely perfect (shoot me if it's nitpicking).

[nitrocaster]

I'm glad it worked for you!

I think the only thing is to disable the LVDS output somehow in Windows and it'd be completely perfect (shoot me if it's nitpicking).

Absolutely reasonable and useful feature, I'll continue to work on it.

[seasonshu]

In case anyone's wondering, the electronics shop did the installation (board soldering only) for £20+VAT (£24) per board for me. I shipped and collected the dismantled machines with the kits in their original packages. I prepared all that I could.
I live in the North-West UK so I reckon it might be more expensive in other cities. But this should give you a ballpark idea. Beats buying a half decent soldering station for £150 or more..

Also, the cheap-butt dremel I bought for £15 on Ebay is actually pretty good (10k rpm), I just need to make sure to leave it on the charger for a bit when it's struggling. With this trick, the lid conversions took half the time compared to the first one. Oh, and it's a dusty job so cover most surface in a plastic bag and try to seal it. (nitrocaster: more ideas for the guide, hint, hint).

[nullic]

Any updates on if the X220T/X230T FHD kit will be made?

[nitrocaster]

Any updates on if the X220T/X230T FHD kit will be made?

In order to begin designing the adapter, one needs at least a motherboard. I hope to get X220T soon.

[carcuevas]

Hi,

I already received the KIT, and I already installed it Well I was nearly installing it with 100% success, but because my not so good soldering skills and my super big iron tip, I have to say that I couldn't install the "Sense wire" oops not only that I destroyed somehow the small pad from the laptop MOBO so I won't have the possibility to solder it there hehe....

Anyway I guess the only problem I have is that I cannot see the booting sequence stuff, so I cannot see the bios or the grub (I have Debian and windows 8 installed ) but both operating systems are working, and I won't need to be doing stuff with the bios for some time I guess hahahaha I am wondering what would happen if I add an external monitor, maybe I will be able to see the booting thing, anyway since I don't have mini-displayport to hdmi adapter I cannot test it

Thanks very much Nitro for your work, even as I have it works amazingly... I have to think in some kind of contingency solution for the Sense wire

[dr_st]

Anyway I guess the only problem I have is that I cannot see the booting sequence stuff, so I cannot see the bios or the grub (I have Debian and windows 8 installed ) but both operating systems are working, and I won't need to be doing stuff with the bios for some time I guess

There should be a setting in the BIOS to determine the default boot device display. You should be able to change it the DP-2 port that is used by the kit. The question is how to enter and navigate the BIOS blindly.

[seasonshu]

The question is how to enter and navigate the BIOS blindly.

Press Fn+F7, it is working from the moment the POST screen (should) appear on your screen. I dealt with a broken LCD this way (which only had a little life left in one of the corners) and the display got transferred right away to the plugged in DP port.

[carcuevas]

The question is how to enter and navigate the BIOS blindly.

Press Fn+F7, it is working from the moment the POST screen (should) appear on your screen. I dealt with a broken LCD this way (which only had a little life left in one of the corners) and the display got transferred right away to the plugged in DP port.

Thanks
Nice today I will give a try after coming from work to see if it would work Actually apart from that everything seems to be working perfectly no flickering... I didn't try to measure how long takes the battery to discharge and so; but it looks good to me ) I was thinking that maybe there is a way still to use some sense wire from another place to the card (maybe from the docking connector itself), but I am not sure of that...

But if the consequence of not having the sense cable it is just this, I can live with it

[nitrocaster]

I have to think in some kind of contingency solution for the Sense wire

You could use conductive ink to glue the sense wire. Just be careful next time

There should be a setting in the BIOS to determine the default boot device display. You should be able to change it the DP-2 port that is used by the kit.

That doesn't change anything in this particular case. Need to fix the sense wire.

[carcuevas]

I have to think in some kind of contingency solution for the Sense wire

You could use conductive ink to glue the sense wire. Just be careful next time

There should be a setting in the BIOS to determine the default boot device display. You should be able to change it the DP-2 port that is used by the kit.

That doesn't change anything in this particular case. Need to fix the sense wire.

Heeheh maybe I was too "daring" heheheh, well the problem that fixing the sense wire, won't be possible from the specified pad, as I told it's kapput so I would have to live with it or find some workaround... hehehe

[nitrocaster]

won't be possible from the specified pad

Absolutely possible with conductive glue.

[carcuevas]

won't be possible from the specified pad

Absolutely possible with conductive glue.

I know I know, but I destroyed the capacitor + pad, the pad dissapeared from the mother board after the capacitor flew from the place, that's why I have to find some alternative place where to solder the sense wire So it's a miracle I did not destroyed the whole MOBO, or maybe there is something not working which I did not detect yet hehehe

[nitrocaster]

I know I know, but I destroyed the capacitor + pad, the pad dissapeared from the mother board after the capacitor flew from the place, that's why I have to find some alternative place where to solder the sense wire So it's a miracle I did not destroyed the whole MOBO, or maybe there is something not working which I did not detect yet hehehe

Oh. There's no alternative place. Have to fix what you got.