Thinkpads Forum

I have a pretty nice 600X, use it occasionally on cable internet with a PCMCIA network card. These are a pain, what with Delicate Dongles, and in the best case, a huge blob sticking out of the case

I see that it has a "mini PCI" dial up modem, and that some other laptops can use a mini PCI network combo modem card.

Has anyone figured out how to use a PCI LAN card in a 600X? I realize you'd have to rewire the modem connector, or construct a dongle somehow for th LAN connection, but will the machine recognize an unsupported card?

Personally I would recommend the 3Com card with the X jack antenna. It extends and retracts as needed. However if you are determined to put a card in the Mini PCI slot, check out the following threads.

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=11849

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=4118&start=0

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=6161

The 600X has whitelist of approved cards. Any card should work... but of course, no one will support it.

I have used a WiFi card in my 600X just fine, but I missed the modem (for faxing) and put it back.

The 600X has whitelist of approved cards. Any card should work... but of course, no one will support it.

Can you elaborate a little more on what you mean by that?


Actually, thanks to Gomjabber's post, and helpful links, I may just can the idea

To make myself clear I am NOT the least bit interested in WIRELESS hookups---what I'm interested in, is replacing the (useless to me) modem only INTERNAL card with a LAN card.


The idea here was to get rid of the PCMCIA card sticking out the side.

Oops. I meant the 600X has no whitelist.

Newer machines, like the T43, have an internal list of cards that are OK. If you put any other MiniPCI card in the machine, it won't boot.

The 600X does not check any such list, so if you want to install your own network jack, you can be sure the card will work... as long as you don't break anything else.