Upgrading X220/X230 to FHD 1080p

[jxf]

Well, I guess you are not getting image because of ripped pads.
VCC3MA and VCC3_CODEC have direct connection to VCC3B, which is powered from VCC3M. If your audio codec shorts this rail to ground (which is very likely) that would explain why it gets hot and why the machine shuts itself down. What is the resistance between VCC3M and GND?
Where did you get this motherboard?

The motherboard came with the computer and was working before my attempt to mod.

Between VCC3M and GND I am not getting a stable measurement, it jumps around a bit starting at ~1K and rises to ~3K, is some capacitor involved here?

I should be able to solder wires between dock pins and screen connector to fix broken pads?

[nitrocaster]

Sorry, I misguided you a little bit. VCC3B and VCC3M are separated by a load switch, so when it's off VCC3M does not appear to be shorted to ground. But VCC3B should be shorted if you measured shorts on VCC3MA and VCC3_CODEC.
Leftmost pin (DOCKB_HPD) that should not have continuity to ground. If you didn't somehow bridged it with ground then it's shorted inside the PCH. I'm not sure if it is critical to function though.

Regarding the pads you ripped off - you can't just solder wires from dock pins to screen connector because that will introduce lots of distortion which will appear as lines and random artifacts on the screen. Instead, you should solder tiny jumpers from dock pins to correcponding traces. Somebody did that recently, look in this thread.

[jxf]

Sorry, I misguided you a little bit. VCC3B and VCC3M are separated by a load switch, so when it's off VCC3M does not appear to be shorted to ground. But VCC3B should be shorted if you measured shorts on VCC3MA and VCC3_CODEC.
Leftmost pin (DOCKB_HPD) that should not have continuity to ground. If you didn't somehow bridged it with ground then it's shorted inside the PCH. I'm not sure if it is critical to function though.

Regarding the pads you ripped off - you can't just solder wires from dock pins to screen connector because that will introduce lots of distortion which will appear as lines and random artifacts on the screen. Instead, you should solder tiny jumpers from dock pins to correcponding traces. Somebody did that recently, look in this thread.

I managed to remove the mod board to see if problems persisted, and motherboard still seems bad.
It is beyond my abilities to debug so I will consider it dead.

I went digging for traces in the mod board and it looks salvagaeble with the jumpers you mentioned.
I ordered a new motherboard but I have not decided if i will attempt the mod again, maybe I sign up for a new board from you.

Either way thanks for all the help!

[dopella]

Yo have you figured out the brightness control? If not, I'd rather get a regular IPS replacement

[nitrocaster]

In Windows adjustable brightness only works when you use dual display configuration.

[StallmanIsMyWaifu]

I thought I put in an order on the google form a while ago but I haven't received a conformation or a request for a deposit.


Does this mean I am on the wait list or should i submit another form?

[post_break]

Just got my email to put down the deposit. I can't wait! I have a screen waiting to be put in.

[nitrocaster]

I've just sent reservation payment instructions for all submitted pre-orders. I will be accepting new pre-orders during this week and will send the order to the factory next week.

Please make payments on time. Thanks!

[phage]

I just installed the board in my i5 X220 and everything works wonderfully on a hardware level.

My issue is that when booting into Debian, I cannot see the login screen, nor X at all even if I blind log in. The issue is not with the board, because Windows 8 works fine. I've tried Debain 8 and 9 (Jessie and Stretch stable), as well as changing the boot display to Thinkpad Dock Display 2 in the BIOS; all combinations yield the same result.

The weird thing is, sometimes I'll be able to see the login screen and log in. When this happens I'm met with the second display (no taskbar and all windows start in the main screen) so I can't edit display settings either. I can open a terminal just fine, though. If anyone with Linux experience has any ideas, I'd welcome them.

As an aside, wonderful job nitrocaster.


I'm using XFCE4 with lightdm handling the login screen.
[EDIT]: I suppose if anyone has a suggestion for a distro that does work, I'm not opposed to trying a new one.

[nitrocaster]

I don't use Linux on a daily basis, especially on a laptop, so I can't really help here. However, did you consider patching the kernel?

[jcitme]

How much soldering does V5 involve? Is the sense wire still an issue?

[albertine]

Reservation payment sent for two kits ! Really too eager to receive it !!

[nitrocaster]

Sense wire is still a thing, yes. You can get away without it if you really don't want to take a risk.

[martinho]

Reservation payment sent for one kit!

[albertine]

I just installed the board in my i5 X220 and everything works wonderfully on a hardware level.

Does that means you can see the BIOS ? And also can you see/interact with GRUB ?

My issue is that when booting into Debian, I cannot see the login screen, nor X at all even if I blind log in.

LightDM run on his own X instance on VT1 prior to switch (after login) on a new X instance at VT7, which implies that for sure you'll have to play with Xorg config in /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/... Well, I guess
Or perhaps, you may also play with the "video" kernel parameter !

Hopefully we'll find the solution as I'll be soon in the same situation as you...

[phage]

However, did you consider patching the kernel?

@nitrocaster, where can I find the kernel patch? I didn't see it in the first post.

Does that means you can see the BIOS ? And also can you see/interact with GRUB ?

That's correct, I'm experimenting with Gnome's login manager currently.

[EDIT]: I found a finicky way to get to the Gnome desktop using a vga monitor and fn+F7, now to try to edit the display settings.

[albertine]

That's correct, I'm experimenting with Gnome's login manager currently.

[EDIT]: I found a finicky way to get to the Gnome desktop using a vga monitor and fn+F7, now to try to edit the display settings.

Fine, this confirms that "video" kernel parameter is irrelevant in your situation but on the other hand it is indeed a Xorg configuration problem, you should have a look to the "ZapodHeads" option : $ man Intel

EDIT : what is the result of $ xrandr -q ?

[nitrocaster]

However, did you consider patching the kernel?

@nitrocaster, where can I find the kernel patch? I didn't see it in the first post.

Does that means you can see the BIOS ? And also can you see/interact with GRUB ?

That's correct, I'm experimenting with Gnome's login manager currently.

[EDIT]: I found a finicky way to get to the Gnome desktop using a vga monitor and fn+F7, now to try to edit the display settings.

Here you go: https://gist.github.com/nitrocaster/2bb ... d162a48c73

[phage]

Fine, this confirms that "video" kernel parameter is irrelevant in your situation but on the other hand it is indeed a Xorg configuration problem, you should have a look to the "ZapodHeads" option : $ man Intel

EDIT : what is the result of $ xrandr -q ?

Once I actually got into the gnome desktop with *both* screens working, this is the result:

Code: Select all

$ xrandr -q
Screen 0: minimum 320 x 200, current 3840 x 1080, maximum 8192 x 8192
LVDS-1 connected 1920x1080+1920+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 480mm x 270mm
   1920x1080     60.03*+  59.93  
   1680x1050     59.88  
   1600x1024     60.17  
   1400x1050     59.98  
   1280x1024     60.02  
   1440x900      59.89  
   1280x960      60.00  
   1360x768      59.80    59.96  
   1152x864      60.00  
   1024x768      60.04    60.00  
   960x720       60.00  
   928x696       60.05  
   896x672       60.01  
   960x600       60.00  
   960x540       59.99  
   800x600       60.00    60.32    56.25  
   840x525       60.01    59.88  
   800x512       60.17  
   700x525       59.98  
   640x512       60.02  
   720x450       59.89  
   640x480       60.00    59.94  
   680x384       59.80    59.96  
   576x432       60.06  
   512x384       60.00  
   400x300       60.32    56.34  
   320x240       60.05  
VGA-1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
HDMI-1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
DP-1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
HDMI-2 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
HDMI-3 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
DP-2 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
DP-3 connected primary 1920x1080+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 294mm x 165mm
   1920x1080     59.93*+  48.01  

I'm going to try patching the kernel and see if that works. Time to learn how

@nitrocaster, your patch lists linux-4.1.3. It seems like a stupid question, but can this patch be used on successive kernel releases, like the linux-4.9 currently offered by Debian?

[albertine]

Once I actually got into the gnome desktop with *both* screens working, this is the result:

Code: Select all

$ xrandr -q
[...]
DP-3 connected primary 1920x1080+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 294mm x 165mm
   1920x1080     59.93*+  48.01  

Well, what if you put the following in /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/20-fhdmod.conf ?

Code: Select all

Section "Device"
	Identifier  "IntelCard"
	#BusID       "PCI:0:2:0"
	Driver	"intel"
	Option	"DRI" "3"

	Option	"ZaphodHeads" "DP-3"
	Option	"Virtualheads"	"0"

	#Option "kmsdev" "/dev/dri/card0"                    
EndSection

Note that BusId could be uncommented and PCI BusID value replaced with what gives you $ lspci BUT without leading zero, eg: "00:02.0 VGA compatible controller... " => PCI:0:2:0

I'm pretty sure (read I hope so!) that there is an other way than patching kernel, which implies to not using precompiled kernels provided by your distro and having to recompile Linux on every update... This takes a verrry long time... That said, of course it's the best way to get maximum performance out of your laptop.

EDIT : Woops sorry a typo, correct path is /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/20-fhdmod.conf

[boutch55555]

your patch lists linux-4.1.3. It seems like a stupid question, but can this patch be used on successive kernel releases, like the linux-4.9 currently offered by Debian?

Should work if applied manually. Just checked with 4.9.11 source. There are 3 blocks in the patch :

1st replacement is now at line 111 of intel_dp.c
2nd is (I think, changed quite a bit) at line 4886 of intel_dp.c
3rd block now starts around line 669 of intel_lvds.c

I didn't test it yet, but you shouldn't be able to apply it as a automatic patch as there is not enough context for the 2nd block.

I'm pretty sure (read I hope so!) that there is an other way than patching kernel, which implies to not using precompiled kernels provided by your distro and having to recompile Linux on every update... This takes a verrry long time...

Just do the compile on another machine and generate the .deb package to transfer for install on the laptop.

[phage]

Well, what if you put the following in /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/20-fhdmod.conf ?

Alright, we're getting somewhere. X starts as a black screen, but putting the laptop to sleep and waking it up again shows the "LVDS" screen as the primary (invisible) on the left side of an extended monitor setup. So what you see is the "DP3" screen as the secondary. You can get to a mirrored desktop if you edit the display settings and put the laptop to sleep and then wake it up again.

To use it as intended, it looks like all that has to be done is get it to mirror displays. (That, and be able to see the login screen)

Code: Select all

$ xrandr -q
Screen 0: minimum 8 x 8, current 1920 x 1080, maximum 32767 x 32767
LVDS1 connected primary 1920x1080+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 280mm x 160mm
...
DP3 connected 1920x1080+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 290mm x 170mm

I'll try adding a startup xrandr script.
[Edit]: still getting a black screen on X starting, but the first sleep-wake cycle yields a mirrored display setup now, I used:

Code: Select all

#!/bin/bash
xrandr --output LVDS1 --mode 1920x1080 --output DP3 --mode 1920x1080 --same-as LVDS1

[Second Edit]: found a less hacky option: change ~/.config/monitors.xml
change line 3 to read <clone>yes</clone>
Same black screen, though

[phage]

Alright, I got it. For whatever reason, even in editing gdm3's monitor.conf and disabling wayland, gdm3 still gives a black screen. I switched to lightdm (the display manager I prefer anyway, thankfully) and xfce4 starts without issues. Gnome still starts with a black screen, and you have to suspend to RAM and resume to get to the desktop. By the way, brightness control works as well.

Here's the list of changes:

/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/20-fhdmod.conf to read:

Code: Select all

Section "Device"
	Identifier  "IntelCard"
	BusID       "PCI:0:2:0"
	Driver	"intel"
	Option	"DRI" "3"

	Option	"ZaphodHeads" "DP-3"
	Option	"Virtualheads"	"0"

	#Option "kmsdev" "/dev/dri/card0"                    
EndSection

~/.config/monitors.xml to read:

Code: Select all

<monitors version="1">
  <configuration>
    <clone>yes</clone>
    <output name="DP3">
      <vendor>SHP</vendor>
      <product>0x141f</product>
      <serial>0x00000000</serial>
      <width>1920</width>
      <height>1080</height>
      <rate>59.933879852294922</rate>
      <x>0</x>
      <y>0</y>
      <rotation>normal</rotation>
      <reflect_x>no</reflect_x>
      <reflect_y>no</reflect_y>
      <primary>no</primary>
      <presentation>no</presentation>
      <underscanning>no</underscanning>
    </output>
    <output name="LVDS1">
      <vendor>ZLX</vendor>
      <product>Dummy display</product>
      <serial>D2U040082    </serial>
      <width>1920</width>
      <height>1080</height>
      <rate>60.034385681152344</rate>
      <x>0</x>
      <y>0</y>
      <rotation>normal</rotation>
      <reflect_x>no</reflect_x>
      <reflect_y>no</reflect_y>
      <primary>yes</primary>
      <presentation>no</presentation>
      <underscanning>no</underscanning>
    </output>
  </configuration>
</monitors>

To allow lightdm to be seen at login, I copied this to its monitor.conf:

Code: Select all

cp ~/.config/monitors.xml /var/lib/lightdm/.config/monitors.xml

Thanks to everyone who helped, now I won't have to recompile the kernel every time a security update gets released.

[albertine]

Alright, I got it.

Great, but did/would you try it without /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/20-fhdmod.conf ? Because as you are using monitors.xml I think is in fact now useless...

To allow lightdm to be seen at login, I copied this to its monitor.conf:

Code: Select all

cp ~/.config/monitors.xml /var/lib/lightdm/.config/monitors.xml

Then I guess you could use a symbolic link for that ? This way you'll have only one file to maintain...

Code: Select all

# ln -s /home/YOURUSERNAME/.config/monitors.xml /var/lib/lightdm/.config/monitors.xml

[phage]

Great, but did/would you try it without /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/20-fhdmod.conf ? Because as you are using monitors.xml I think is in fact now useless...

I went and tried, removing this file from that directory makes it so that when you log in, you get the extended display setup, and the screen that shows is the secondary. It definitely is being used.

Then I guess you could use a symbolic link for that ?

I suppose you could, but for whatever reason, I can no longer see lightdm this morning. Looks like I have more work to do, until then, I may have to change something in this file to be specific to lightdm.

[paperfactory]

Hello to all fhd mod users with macos,
does anyone have a functioning brightness control?

There seem to be different possibilities,
AppleBacklight.kext, AppleBacklightInjector.kext …

See also:
https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/nati ... xt.121031/

[x3o2]

Installed the kit to my X230 i7. Starting it puts the POST screen to the display. As the built in battery seems to be out of power the POST stops with the real time clock error.

When I hit F1 the screen goes black and I see vertical lines only. The computer is working in the background as the HDD led shows. See pictures.

http://imgur.com/a/xkRUC

http://imgur.com/a/9uORt

http://imgur.com/a/ZA8WR

What's wrong there?

[RealBlackStuff]

Begin with installing a working CMOS battery.
With main battery and power disconnected, reseat the LCD cables.
Connect an external monitor (just in case) and only power, then try to boot.
Press F1 to set date/time.
When done reboot, remove external monitor and see if it now works.

[x3o2]

I checked both CMOS batteries from my X230's and they both work with my X230 i5 non-FHD.

Both batteries do not work on my modded X230 causing the real time clock error.

I reseated the cables, no change. Same as in #567.

An external monitor is no option as I do not own the necessary cable.

[RealBlackStuff]

Did the i7-mobo work with CMOS before you modded it?
Did you remove the wrong i7 SMD-thingie?
Left a solder blob somewhere?

And what is #567?