Successful WWAN install on my x200s. –Thanks to Zender

[mickeydata]

Just wanted to share my experience and steps on getting a Sierra Wireless MC8775 WWAN card installed on my x200s. As most x200s owners know , I wasn’t even sure this was even possible on the x200s, after removing the palm rest I noticed there was an addition unused wire next to the 2nd unused MINI PCI slot. I am still not sure if that was meant for a WWAN card but in any case it seems to work just fine.

NOTE: If you have a lenovo Ericsson F3507g WWAN Card you should not need Zenders modified bios for bypassing the "whitelist", you should just be able to install it and download drivers and be good to go.

Steps: Please do so at your own risk:

Card used: Lenovo branded Sierra Wireless MC8775 HSDPA, but you should be able to use any WWAN minipci card with Zenders modified bios.

1. Download the wwan drivers for you card from Lenovo.com – in my case http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/si...IGR-67955.html

2. Download 3G Watcher - http://www.sierrawireless.com/support/

3. PM Zender for a modified bios for the x200 and please be patient he will get back to you when he can– don’t worry the x200s uses the same bios as the x200. I used the untested 3.02 bios due to the official 3.01 issues reported and worked great.

4. I would recommend removing supervisor passwords and double check bios update options before flashing.

5. Follow the directions from Lenovo and Create an ISO CD but with Zender’s modified bios instead - Restart and load the bios from a CD (external CD drive).

6. If you get a ERROR 0191 as I did, don’t panic, go into the bios and hit F9 to restore defaults and save and exit.

7. Remove the keyboard and palm rest and remove the 2 unused screws on the available mini pci slot and Install the WWAN card. Attach the antenna cable to your card. Take your time, no need to rush.

8. Assemble – power up and start the OS.

9. New hardware should be detected – install your drivers from # 1 above.

10. Install 3G Watcher from # 2 above. And input your carrier settings. In my case I have AT&T : APN: wap.cingular - USER: WAP@CINGULARGPRS.COM - PASSWORD: CINGULAR1 (PAY ATTENTION TO LOWER/UPPER CASE

11. Make sure your WAN antenna is powered on thru Access Connections or other.

12. Enjoy –I hope this helps someone who needed this like I did.

[EOMtp]

Thanks for the nice writeup. Please check your Private Messages (PM).

[alee]

Is this an X200s with the LED backlit 1440x900 screen?

[mickeydata]

Is this an X200s with the LED backlit 1440x900 screen?

Yes it is, North American model.

[alee]

Yes it is, North American model.

Ooh exciting!

Couldn't figure out how to get the palm rest off, but did pull off the keyboard. Is this the antenna cable in question? It doesn't seem like it's long enough to reach to the palm rest area.

img]http://www.leesoft.com/temp/x200s.jpg[/img]

[mickeydata]

Ooh exciting!

Couldn't figure out how to get the palm rest off, but did pull off the keyboard. Is this the antenna cable in question? It doesn't seem like it's long enough to reach to the palm rest area.

img]http://www.leesoft.com/temp/x200s.jpg[/img][/quote]



Thats the wrong one and not the mini pci slot. Its under the palm rest on the right side.

[alee]

Thats the wrong one and not the mini pci slot. Its under the palm rest on the right side.

So it doesn't look like my X200s has the 2 extra antenna leads. I have the 3 antenna leads going into the 5300 card, and the single UWB antenna.

I popped in the card anyway and Vista 64 sees the GPS and SIM card just fine. Guess I'll just need to source some antennas...

[mickeydata]

Ya I have the 5150 card installed, so i had an extra lead.

[mickeydata]

Also want to report the reception is just fine, seems to match my reception and performance of my HTC Tilt HSPDA while traveling.

[meijern]

I've just succesfully installed a f3507g WWAN module in my x200s with 1440x900 screen.
HSDPA works fine, but I can't get the GPS to work. It just doesn't want to pickup any GPS signals. The Thinkvantage GPS software also runs fine, but no GPS reception.

Has anybody gotten the GPS module to work?

[herm]

I got the Lenovo GPS software to work (on a x200s with the LED screen and the Lenovo-packaged WWAN card for ATT, and home-installed replacement antennas). But it only works when using Lenovo Access Connection software to connect to WWAN. I found ATT's Communication Manager more reliable to connect WWAN, when dealing with Edge (vs 3G) networks, and when the local 3G signal comes and goes (probably as cell phones move in and overload the nearest cell zone and then move away) but with ATT Connection Manager running, the GPS module won't work.

Anyway the GPS reception seems sort of weak. My cell phone (Motorola VA76r) will pick up the GPS indoor (e.g., inside my office, inside my home, sitting on the car seat when driving) and does this very quickly. The x200s seems to take forever and only outdoors. Even if I get it synced up outdoors and walk inside, the satellite signals drop way way down and then it looses them (on the Lenovo GPS software's display). Perhaps cramming the antennas in the cramped space of the LED screen or the brass screw sockets abutting the WWAN antennas impede the GPS signal, or perhaps the Ericsson module is not near as sensitive as my particular cell phone. Anyway, what is the point of GPS in a laptop, which is probably only useful when inside of an office, home, or car, if it won't pick up the satellite signals strong enough, compared to ordinary cell phones in the same indoor and in-car situations.

[JasonPAtkins]

So are you saying you just used the third wifi antenna and it worked fine? I have a 5100 which is using two of the three (white, black, gray), but no red/blue - are you saying you can just use the unused of those three?

[herm]

So are you saying you just used the third wifi antenna and it worked fine? I have a 5100 which is using two of the three (white, black, gray), but no red/blue - are you saying you can just use the unused of those three?

When first putting in the Lenovo-packaged ATT WWAN card (to 1400x900 LED backlit x200s) I did hook up that 3rd spare wifi antenna lead to the WWAN card's main antenna connector. Although for the wrong frequency, it received ok in decent signal areas, and could even send out when close (1/2 - 1 block) to a 3G cell. Over a block away, or a few walls in-between, and the transmitting doesn't get heard. Then its time to buy the WWAN antenna kit, grab small tools and get to work, as posted by others.

[efrant]

Can anyone tell me how to get WWAN to show up when using the FN+5 hotkey? I understand it is a simple edit of the TpFnF5.exe file, but I would need a bit of guidance. Thanks.