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How to upgrade a T520 to Bluetooth 4.1?

W500/W510/W520 and W700/W701 Series
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MikalE
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How to upgrade a T520 to Bluetooth 4.1?

#1 Post by MikalE » Wed May 17, 2017 11:52 am

I bought a JBL Flip 3 for use outdoors on the patio so i could listen to my iTunes library.

I find out while fooling around with it that it will not connect to my T520.

It's installed, it shows up in Bluetooth devices, discovery is turned on, but it will not connect.

It works fine with my Galaxy S7. The sound out of this little tube is incredible. You'd think you were listening to speakers four times their size.

Can I somehow upgrade my T520 to the 4.1 protocol?
A31p P-IV 2Ghz, 2MB, 2653-R6U
T500 T9600 2055-BE9
T510 i5 4384-DV7
T510 i7 4349-A64
T520 i7QM 4242-4UU Highly Modified
T16 i7 1260P 21BV000SUS

Thinkpad4by3
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Re: How to upgrade a T520 to Bluetooth 4.1?

#2 Post by Thinkpad4by3 » Wed May 17, 2017 11:59 am

Bios mod and get a new bluetooth adapter??

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MikalE
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Re: How to upgrade a T520 to Bluetooth 4.1?

#3 Post by MikalE » Wed May 17, 2017 12:21 pm

How will that affect the whitelist BIOS I have now to use my upgraded Wi-Fi card?
A31p P-IV 2Ghz, 2MB, 2653-R6U
T500 T9600 2055-BE9
T510 i5 4384-DV7
T510 i7 4349-A64
T520 i7QM 4242-4UU Highly Modified
T16 i7 1260P 21BV000SUS

MikalE
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Location: Marissa, Illinois

Re: How to upgrade a T520 to Bluetooth 4.1?

#4 Post by MikalE » Wed May 17, 2017 4:20 pm

Does the whitelist BIOS I am now using for the Ultimate N6300 card allow me to install any other Thinkpad Wi-Fi/Bluetooth card or only the card I'm using?
A31p P-IV 2Ghz, 2MB, 2653-R6U
T500 T9600 2055-BE9
T510 i5 4384-DV7
T510 i7 4349-A64
T520 i7QM 4242-4UU Highly Modified
T16 i7 1260P 21BV000SUS

MikalE
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Posts: 1451
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Location: Marissa, Illinois

Re: How to upgrade a T520 to Bluetooth 4.1?

#5 Post by MikalE » Thu May 18, 2017 5:29 pm

I didn't think I would be able to stump this audience with all of the experience and knowledge here.

I'll buy the card and try it and report back.
A31p P-IV 2Ghz, 2MB, 2653-R6U
T500 T9600 2055-BE9
T510 i5 4384-DV7
T510 i7 4349-A64
T520 i7QM 4242-4UU Highly Modified
T16 i7 1260P 21BV000SUS

RealBlackStuff
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Re: How to upgrade a T520 to Bluetooth 4.1?

#6 Post by RealBlackStuff » Thu May 18, 2017 5:36 pm

C'mon, any BIOS that had its whitelist removed, will allow for any other wifi/wwan-card...
Been published so many times, that people don't react any longer to questions, I guess.
Bluetooth was never on the whitelist.

MikalE
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Location: Marissa, Illinois

Re: How to upgrade a T520 to Bluetooth 4.1?

#7 Post by MikalE » Thu May 18, 2017 5:51 pm

I did not know that.
A31p P-IV 2Ghz, 2MB, 2653-R6U
T500 T9600 2055-BE9
T510 i5 4384-DV7
T510 i7 4349-A64
T520 i7QM 4242-4UU Highly Modified
T16 i7 1260P 21BV000SUS

Dekks
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Re: How to upgrade a T520 to Bluetooth 4.1?

#8 Post by Dekks » Fri May 19, 2017 4:24 am

Get a new combi BT - wifi card IF you have a WWAN expansion slot to put it into.
Home - Win 10 MSi GF63 Gaming Laptop /Arch GNOME 3/X230 Tablet /X61 [Korean] - Debian 10/T60p - Ubuntu 20.10 Helix 2
Work - Win10/Thinkpad X1 Tablet Gen 2

MikalE
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Re: How to upgrade a T520 to Bluetooth 4.1?

#9 Post by MikalE » Fri May 19, 2017 8:59 am

That's what I'm currently looking at. It's for a Lenovo Edge series I believe, but the physical dimension and electrical connections seem to match. I haven't bought one yet as I'm still investigation compatibility.
A31p P-IV 2Ghz, 2MB, 2653-R6U
T500 T9600 2055-BE9
T510 i5 4384-DV7
T510 i7 4349-A64
T520 i7QM 4242-4UU Highly Modified
T16 i7 1260P 21BV000SUS

MikalE
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Posts: 1451
Joined: Sun Sep 13, 2015 9:51 pm
Location: Marissa, Illinois

Re: How to upgrade a T520 to Bluetooth 4.1?

#10 Post by MikalE » Fri May 19, 2017 9:19 am

I've elected to use a separate daughter card for the BT. The BT4.0 daughter card for the T430/T530 series seems to be compatible, at least in physical appearance, so we shall see. This card is compatible with a dozen other models in the W, E, and X series so I don't think there will be any issues.

I have my Wi-Fi working exactly as I want and I don't want to chance screwing that up after changing the card.

I'll wait until this card arrives before swapping it and the new processor out.
A31p P-IV 2Ghz, 2MB, 2653-R6U
T500 T9600 2055-BE9
T510 i5 4384-DV7
T510 i7 4349-A64
T520 i7QM 4242-4UU Highly Modified
T16 i7 1260P 21BV000SUS

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