win7 rtm on t42p - video card and misc questions

[leland]

Hey all,

Just put win7 rtm on my t42p w/ ati firegl 2 video card.

What drivers can I download to get aero working? I'm sure it's possible with a real video card, just can't figure out the steps to get it to load properly. Would appreciate a good step-by-step if there is one, or better yet just a driver file

Also, having some trouble getting volume control and brightness displays to show any data. They have just been showing blank info, but are working regardless.

Thanks!

[elee123]

my windows i think detected the graphics card after plugging in the lan, but i have the radeon 9600

you can try mobility modder:
http://www.driverheaven.net/modtool.php


I used to use this back in the day for VISTA. Basically, it takes the standard ATI Desktop card driver installer that ATI has on it's website and patches the drivers to work on all Mobility (laptop) graphics cards. Instructions should be on the site linked above as well.

Good luck!

[leland]

Sadly no dice. Have tried 9.3 and 8.something, but give me fails when trying to install.

The only driver I can get to work is standard VGA. Videos are just about unwatchable since the card is going so slow. No way to get it faster.

Would appreciate any help getting this to work. I'm sure any old driver would be fine, just needs to somehow get the right h/w identifier for the Mobility FireGL T2 (or whatever this thing is).

[plexman]

Have a look at this link http://orestech.wordpress.com/2009/05/0 ... ty-radeon/

You need to do extra steps to get the modded drivers to work on windows 7.

[GomJabbar]

Have a look at this link http://orestech.wordpress.com/2009/05/0 ... ty-radeon/

You need to do extra steps to get the modded drivers to work on windows 7.

Just followed that guide for Windows 7 RC1 and Window Vista Ultimate SP2. Worked as advertised.
[ThinkPad T42 with ATI Mobility Radeon 9600]

Note that the older ATI GPU's such as mine will only work with Catalyst 9.3 (or older). That is what I modded, Catalyst 9.3.

[leland]

Thanks, got that working.

Of course, now I decided that I really don't need another extra machine so it's up for sale in the marketplace

[snabjab]

I tried the method described at Orestech and had no luck with the Radeon 9600 drivers on my T42 (2373-M1U). The drivers I have installed are working, but the screen is constantly flickering. The problem goes away if I output to a different LCD. Is there a piece the puzzle I'm missing here?

Any help would be much appreciated...

[snabjab]

Oddly enough, I've noticed that changing the video output settings can temporarily fix the issue. Sometimes when I switch (using windows key + P) from the normal laptop lcd display settings to laptop lcd + external lcd, the laptop lcd stops its usual flickering. It doesn't seem to make a difference whether I duplicate or extend the desktop. Sometimes when I switch back to laptop lcd only, it stays in its pleasant, non-flickering state. And then sometimes not. Any ideas?

[elee123]

snabjab i had the problem originally when i bought my laptop used and installed windows vista (dwm and aero), but it wasn't a problem with xp.


i ended up sending my laptop in because of other issues like getting a new keyboard and touchpad. When I got it back the flickering screen problem went away. I also got a paper in the box saying the technician upgraded my Embedded Controller Program. I have no idea if this was the only thing he installed, but ever since the flickering issue was gone. It was very annoying.

Maybe this is it:
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-50279

[snabjab]

Many thanks for the comments. Is that something I could try installing on Win7? I still have the problem, though it doesn't happen all that often and I can get around it fairly easy by fiddling with the output modes as I mentioned before. It's strange how those drivers won't work for me when they seem to have worked for others...

[snabjab]

I'm curious to know if I should avoid updating my BIOS (never done it since purchasing in '05) if Vista/Win7 are not listed as supported operating systems. Somehow it seems like I should go ahead and do it anyway. Here's the link:

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-50273

[GomJabbar]

I updated my BIOS and Embedded Controller to the latest version some time ago. No flickering here on my T42. If you update, be sure and follow the installation instructions. I prefer using the Diskette version (floppy) over the non-Diskette version (from Windows XP). There is a way to make a bootable CD version of the DOS version (floppy), but I have not tried it.

System Model 2378FVU
BIOS Version/Date IBM 1RETDRWW (3.23 ), 6/18/2007
Embedded Controller Program 1RHT71WW (3.04), 15 Nov 2004
Name ATI MOBILITY RADEON 9600 Series
Adapter RAM 64.00 MB (67,108,864 bytes)

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-55386

EDIT: Here is a writeup on how to create a bootable CD for these updates.
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=66024

[snabjab]

I got my T42 in the fall of '05 and, sure enough, I have the latest embedded controller installed.

It looks like my issue may have somehow gotten resolved. Out of desperation I tried installing some older 9600 drivers. They didn't even provide Aero functionality so I went back to device manager and had Windows install whichever stock drivers it has gotten every time in the past through the driver auto update. No more flickering so far.

[snabjab]

Inexplicably my screen is still running like a charm.

I am curious to ask if people have had success using the "middle" mouse button (ie the blue one between the two red ones - I'm not sure what the official name for it is) for scrolling in Win7. I downloaded what I thought was the driver but it did nothing. I also had no success with the on screen display driver (eg for displaying volume).

Probably not the ideal thread to post about these, but I thought some folks here might know, particularly Gom.

Thanks in advance.

[GomJabbar]

For a minimum, you should have the following from Lenovo...
Lenovo System Interface Driver
ACPI Power Management Driver
UltraNav Driver (Touchpad with TrackPoint systems)
Hotkey Features Driver

[snabjab]

I haven't had any success thus far with any of the above, at least as concerns obviously demonstrable functionality. Do you have these working in Win7?

[GomJabbar]

Yes. With the UltraNav driver I have the TrackPoint working normally with middle button scroll (don't use the TouchPad). Look at Mouse in Control Panel for the UltraNav tab. With the Hotkey Features driver I have the On Screen Display working for brightness level, volume level, mute, and thinklight.

Note, generally when you download the drivers from Lenovo and run the files, this only extracts their contents to your hard drive in C:\Drivers\. You have to find the setup.exe file in the driver subfolder to install the driver. You can click on the *.XML file in the subfolder to get information on which driver and version that subfolder pertains to.

[snabjab]

Thanks for the tips. I tried once more and now the scrolling button is working and that's all I really need. The onscreen display is certainly secondary. At this point I have this thing up and running to the point where I can cross my fingers and hope it works for another 10 months or so when I'll be ready for a new one. Thanks again.