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SIM card orientation, Thinkpad X220

X200/X201/X220 (including equivalent tablet models) and X300/X301 Series
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Lomax
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Posts: 134
Joined: Tue Nov 01, 2005 1:16 pm
Location: London, UK

SIM card orientation, Thinkpad X220

#1 Post by Lomax » Wed Aug 15, 2018 2:32 pm

So I recently got an X220, after the trusty X201s I had been using for years died a death (don't ask). And on the whole it's a really nice upgrade:
  • Generally faster
  • Better 3D performance (in Blender at least)
  • Better video playback (my X201s tended to get hot)
  • 16Gb RAM support (unofficial)
  • USB3 port (just the one, but better than none!)
  • Digital video out (the X201s only had VGA)
  • Gorgeous IPS LCD panel with LED backlight
  • Speaker & microphone mute buttons w. LED indicators
  • Better Bluetooth card
The only significant "downgrade" was going from 16:10 to 16:9, which I'm still struggling to get used to (as I did when going from 4:3 to 16:10) At times I feel like I'm squinting through a letterbox at what I'm working on - but then I guess these days most laptops are sold to people who use them to consume media rather than produce it, so who am I to complain. Long gone are the days of IBM's "portable productivity tool" philosophy. *sigh*

I have run into an issue that puzzles me though: the machine is equipped with a Sierra Wireless MC8355 (Gobi 3000) WWAN card, and this is detected correctly by my OS ('buntu 16.04), but the SIM card isn't. I've tried the two obvious orientations (SIM card contacts facing back of keyboard, notch in / notch out). I can talk to the modem, enable/disable the connection etc, but I never get the IMSI and the SIM card is never detected. Any ideas?
240 - 600E - 600X - 770X - X31 - X32 - T43p (SATA) - T60p - X200t - X60s - X61s - X200s - X201s (PVA) - X220 - X230 (X220 kbd)

Fusion
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Posts: 135
Joined: Thu Dec 21, 2006 9:34 pm
Location: Czech Republic

Re: SIM card orientation, Thinkpad X220

#2 Post by Fusion » Wed Aug 15, 2018 4:52 pm

https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/ThinkPad-X ... a-p/477021
Image

Have you tried putting the SIM card in a different device and removing the PIN?
ThinkPad X220, i7-2640m, 16GB RAM, 120GB Kingston SSD, Intel HD3000, 12.5" WQHD, MacOS Sierra 10.13.2
ThinkPad W500 4063-VA4 CD2 Penryn 2,80GHz, 4GB RAM, 320GB HDD, 15.4" WUXGA, FireGL V5700, Win7u
ThinkPad R60 9461-DXG P-CD2 1,83GHz, 2GB 667MHz, 100GB HDD, ATI X1400@512MB, XP2 Pro

Lomax
Sophomore Member
Posts: 134
Joined: Tue Nov 01, 2005 1:16 pm
Location: London, UK

Re: SIM card orientation, Thinkpad X220

#3 Post by Lomax » Wed Aug 15, 2018 5:24 pm

Fusion wrote:
Wed Aug 15, 2018 4:52 pm
Have you tried putting the SIM card in a different device and removing the PIN?
The card normally sits in my Sierra Wireless 3G/4G router, and has no PIN set. It is a "normal" EE (UK) 4G data SIM.
240 - 600E - 600X - 770X - X31 - X32 - T43p (SATA) - T60p - X200t - X60s - X61s - X200s - X201s (PVA) - X220 - X230 (X220 kbd)

Lomax
Sophomore Member
Posts: 134
Joined: Tue Nov 01, 2005 1:16 pm
Location: London, UK

Re: SIM card orientation, Thinkpad X220

#4 Post by Lomax » Thu Aug 16, 2018 3:27 am

SIM card is inserted as per the image. I have also tried adding a layer of tape on the back to make it a little thicker, and to ensure that the mini/micro cut-outs stay in place. Still nothing. Here are the modem details from ModemManager:

# mmcli -m 0

/org/freedesktop/ModemManager1/Modem/0 (device id '946e2167a0c5f15e604b4ae6512274841bd1fd48')
  -------------------------
  Hardware |   manufacturer: 'Sierra Wireless Inc'
           |          model: 'Sierra Wireless MC8355 - Gobi 3000(TM) Module'
           |       revision: 'D3600-STSUVH-1576  1  [Nov 23 2010 16:00:00]'
           |      supported: 'cdma-evdo'
           |        current: 'cdma-evdo'
           |   equipment id: '355567034180853'
  -------------------------
  System   |         device: '/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.0/usb2/2-1/2-1.4'
           |        drivers: 'qcserial, qmi_wwan'
           |         plugin: 'Sierra'
           |   primary port: 'cdc-wdm0'
           |          ports: 'ttyUSB0 (qcdm), ttyUSB1 (at), cdc-wdm0 (qmi), wwan0 (net)'
  -------------------------
  Numbers  |           own : '0000004562'
  -------------------------
  Status   |           lock: 'none'
           | unlock retries: 'sim-pin (3), sim-pin2 (3), sim-puk (10), sim-puk2 (10)'
           |          state: 'enabled'
           |    power state: 'on'
           |    access tech: 'unknown'
           | signal quality: '0' (cached)
  -------------------------
  Modes    |      supported: 'allowed: 2g; preferred: none
           |                  allowed: 3g; preferred: none
           |                  allowed: 2g, 3g; preferred: none
           |                  allowed: 2g, 3g; preferred: 2g
           |                  allowed: 2g, 3g; preferred: 3g'
           |        current: 'allowed: 2g, 3g; preferred: none'
  -------------------------
  Bands    |      supported: 'cdma-bc0-cellular-800, cdma-bc1-pcs-1900'
           |        current: 'cdma-bc0-cellular-800, cdma-bc1-pcs-1900'
  -------------------------
  IP       |      supported: 'ipv4'
  -------------------------
  CDMA     |           meid: 'A1000005B7C421'
           |            esn: '8074655B'
           |            sid: 'unknown'
           |            nid: 'unknown'
           |   registration: CDMA1x 'unknown'
           |                 EV-DO  'unknown'
           |     activation: 'not-activated'
  -------------------------
  SIM      |           path: 'none'

  -------------------------
  Bearers  |          paths: 'none'
240 - 600E - 600X - 770X - X31 - X32 - T43p (SATA) - T60p - X200t - X60s - X61s - X200s - X201s (PVA) - X220 - X230 (X220 kbd)

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