Thinkpads Forum

Hello everyone,

I just upgraded my home network to an Asus RT-AC68U router (works wonderfully so far compared with the balky Linksys it replaced) and would love to replace the Intel 6300 card in my T420 with the 7260HMW. I found a site on the net called bios-mods where there is a no whitelist bios for the T420. Has anyone tried this successfully? I am not eager to brick my laptop.

Thanks,

Bruce

To get a reliable BIOS mod go here instead: http://forums.mydigitallife.info/printt ... 0&page=405
Scroll down to user Serg008's posting for T420, then pick option: Slic 2.1 + WList check removed
I've done dozens of their BIOS mods.

Thank you VERY much - that is exactly what I needed to know.

Bruce

OK. I downloaded the BIOS, flashed the unmodified one first, then the modified version and installed the card. It works perfectly and I can get reported connection speed as high as 866.7 Mbps on the 5 MHz channel. Internet seems very snappy. The only thing out of the ordinary is that the machine beeps 5 times, then 5 times again when cold booting. Is this expected?

Thanks again for your help!

Bruce

I haven't come across those beeps after a BIOS upgrade.
5x beep (plus a blank screen) indicates a bad motherboard, but if yours is working...
Go into BIOS and note the settings changes you have made yourself.
Then press F9 to load BIOS defaults, press F10 to save/exit and restart.
Go back into BIOS to check/modify your 'own' settings.
Restart again, still beeping?

Yes, still beeping. I also tried reflashing the modified bios, loading bios defaults with F9 and then saving. Still beeping, although still working well otherwise.

Bruce

Have you installed the proper drivers for it, as well as the Intel chip drivers for your T420?

Can you try removing the 7260HMW and either leaving the slot empty or put in a different unsupported card to test if the beeps still occur?

Just checking the 7260HMW specs and see that it also contains bluetooth.
Does your T420 also have a 'native' bluetooth?
Possibly two blueteeth(?) bite one another!

Drivers are installed and card is working splendidly. I will removing the card and seeing whether the beeps remain. I'd bet yet, but we will see.

I have seen here and there on the web that using a 3rd party BIOS sometimes causes the 5 beeps pause 5 beeps and that this is the result of the TPM and embedded controller recognizing that the BIOS has changed.

http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/X-Series-Th ... d-p/746963

One solution is to disable the TPM but I would rather not do that. If it is the BIOS, I will try and get an updated version. The link to the T420 Bios (whitelist only) on the site Realblackstuff noted above shows that the file has been removed.

Thanks for all your help.

Bruce

I never use any of Lenovo's security stuff.
I always disable all password settings, disable Fingerprint Readers, even disconnect them if for myself.
AFAIK the T420 has an UEFI BIOS which is a bit different from the 'regular' Phoenix BIOS most older machines have.
That may be a reason...
I don't have anything newer than a T410 (with Phoenix BIOS), so I can't try.

Here is what I tried.

1. removed card - still beeps
2. reflashed original 1.39 bios, no beeps
3. replaced card - 1802 error, removed card
4. flashed 1.45 BIOS - no beeps
5. flashed 1.45 modified BIOS, 5 beeps, pause 5 beeps. computer booted fine and worked well
6. shut down, reinstalled card, 5 beeps, pause 5 beeps, computer booted fine, card works well.
7. cold boot, same story with beeps
8. cold boot, set security chip to inactive, reboot. No beeps. shutdown and cold boot. No beeps. Of course, fingerprint reader and password manager do not work

I must conclude at this point that the modified BIOS is the cause of the beeps as in the link I noted above. I would rather tolerate beeps and have fingerprint reader and password manager active. Perhaps I will try Lenovo branded AC card to see if the unmodified BIOS allows it.

Thanks to everyone for their help.

Bruce

Set the security chip to inactive in BIOS and the beeps will go away...

Thanks. I know that, but like the fingerprint reader functionality and the password manager. The beeps are tolerable.

Bruce

bblumberg wrote: Perhaps I will try Lenovo branded AC card to see if the unmodified BIOS allows it.

Don't waste time and money - it will NOT fly since it never was a factory option on your machine.

Good luck.

bblumberg wrote:Thanks. I know that, but like the fingerprint reader functionality and the password manager. The beeps are tolerable.

Bruce

I use both and have the security chip set to inactive. (IIRC password manager doesn't use the Security Chip. CSS did, but password manager doesn't).

Hmm. When I turned the security chip off, the Password manager/fingerprint reader no longer worked for me. Perhaps I did something wrong?

Bruce

ajkula66 wrote:

bblumberg wrote: Perhaps I will try Lenovo branded AC card to see if the unmodified BIOS allows it.

Don't waste time and money - it will NOT fly since it never was a factory option on your machine.

Good luck.

__________________
Thanks, George!

Bruce

RealBlackStuff wrote:To get a reliable BIOS mod go here instead: http://forums.mydigitallife.info/printt ... 0&page=405
Scroll down to user Serg008's posting for T420, then pick option: Slic 2.1 + WList check removed
I've done dozens of their BIOS mods.

This site doesn't appear to be allowing new registration and you can view content without loging in. Any helpful suggestions to get past this?

One of the Mod's over there flipped out a few days ago and deleted a bunch of useful stuff in the BIOS Mod forum along with everything else. There used to be over 500 pages in the BIOS Mod forum and it's half of that now.

I got my whitelist BIOS and batch file the day before the whole thing blew up to install a 6300N in my T520.