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wifi led not blinking?

X230-X280, X390 Series
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thinkys
Posts: 7
Joined: Wed Aug 14, 2013 2:46 pm
Location: Vicenza, Italy

wifi led not blinking?

#1 Post by thinkys » Wed Aug 14, 2013 2:52 pm

hi in the new thinkpad X230 the wifi led not blinking when I surf the web, is normal?
thanks

Puttagee
Sophomore Member
Posts: 153
Joined: Thu Jul 14, 2005 7:15 pm
Location: Toronto, Canada

Re: wifi led not blinking?

#2 Post by Puttagee » Sun Sep 22, 2013 9:05 pm

Hi thinkys, I wondered about this on my X220 as well, mine doesn't flash when in use like previous ThinkPads I've owned. I stumbled onto something while browsing this forum, thanks to Edward Mendelson for posting the link. I was able to set the LED to blink when in use.
On my config, X220 with an Intel WiFi Link 1000 BGN running on Win 8 Pro the required key should be under
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SYSTEM > CurrentControlSet > Control > Class > {4D36E972-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318} > 0011

The LedMode key was not present so I created a DWORD with the name LedMode and a value of 1, rebooted and it now blinks.
X200s 7470-5HU: 1.86GHz, 3GB RAM, 230GB HD, WiFi, BT, Bio., Win 7 Pro
X300 6476-CTO: 1.2GHz, 4GB RAM, 64GB SSD, WiFi, BT, CD-RW/DVD, Bio., Vista Ultimate
T61 7662-CTO: 2.4GHz, 2GB RAM, 100GB HD, WiFi, BT, CD-RW/DVD, NVIDIA 140M, Bio., Vista Bus.
T41 2378-DLU: 1.6GHz *retired*

thinkys
Posts: 7
Joined: Wed Aug 14, 2013 2:46 pm
Location: Vicenza, Italy

Re: wifi led not blinking?

#3 Post by thinkys » Mon Sep 23, 2013 2:23 am

yes work but I find this solution for linux, can you help me, please?

Cigarguy
ThinkPadder
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Location: Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Re: wifi led not blinking?

#4 Post by Cigarguy » Mon Sep 23, 2013 5:57 am

^^^ I would be more helpful if you give us more info such as which OS you are using and if Linux which distro.

I know that only my one and only Linux box, a T42, the wifi light work on some distro and not on others. The light works perfectly fine with Windows XP and Win 7 so it's a software issue and not a Thinkpad specific issue. Since that is the case you might find your answer on the Linux forum dedicated to the distro you are using.

You answer your original question, no this is not normal.

Rossano
Posts: 15
Joined: Sat Dec 11, 2010 8:59 am
Location: Prague, Czech republic

Re: wifi led not blinking?

#5 Post by Rossano » Sat Oct 25, 2014 5:05 pm

Hi, same at me - I have W530 and the wireless LED indicator is constantly on. :( Guide above with registry didn't help at all. I'm using Win7 x64 (without Access Connections) and I've tried everything (incl. driver reinstall)... with no result.
I really need to make the LED indicator blink, because this way I can simply register unusual wireless data transferring - it's very useful for people just like me. Could anybody help?
Primary: ThinkPad W530 [2447-43G] | Secondary (travel): ThinkPad X300 [6478-14G] | Relics: ThinkPad T60p [2007-EM7] (the latest best screen 4:3) | ThinkPad X61 [7673-AQ5] | IBM T41 [2373-2GG]

brchan
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Location: West Lafayette, Indiana

Re: wifi led not blinking?

#6 Post by brchan » Sat Oct 25, 2014 7:29 pm

It seems that this blinking feature which shows Tx/Rx was removed after the T400/T500 series, or atleast the xx30 series and after. My W530 also does not blink regardless if using linux or windows. The wifi light simply indicates that the wireless is enabled, or disabled.
Current Thinkpads: W530 (functional classic keyboard mod), X301, T61, T60, T43, A31p, T23, 600X, 770
Other: mk5 Toughbook cf-19, mk1 Toughbook cf-53

Qing Dao
Sophomore Member
Posts: 201
Joined: Tue May 27, 2014 1:01 am
Location: Shanghai, China

Re: wifi led not blinking?

#7 Post by Qing Dao » Sat Oct 25, 2014 9:50 pm

I installed a whitelist removed BIOS on my T500 and the light stopped blinking as well, even with the original Intel 5100 wireless card installed.
Four 15" T61 Frankenpads collecting dust and one X62 that sees no use, but X201 and X230 in service.

thinkys
Posts: 7
Joined: Wed Aug 14, 2013 2:46 pm
Location: Vicenza, Italy

Re: wifi led not blinking?

#8 Post by thinkys » Sun Oct 26, 2014 4:30 am

hi, sorry but what is precisely "whitelist removed BIOS"??
thanks

Dekks
Senior Member
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Joined: Thu Jun 26, 2014 9:38 am
Location: Birmingham, UK

Re: wifi led not blinking?

#9 Post by Dekks » Sun Oct 26, 2014 4:47 am

Lenovo restricts certain things like wifi cards to only approved models you can add on after purchase, those approved are "whitelisted" in the BIOS. If your new card isnt in whitelist the lappy wont boot.

There are unofficial BIOS versions such as Middleton BIOS that remove the whitelisting.

RE your original question re linux and flashing indicators, it varies from distro and which driver your using in my experience. I've never worked out how to change the behaviours as it's not something that bothers me.
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

no_man
Sophomore Member
Posts: 128
Joined: Sat May 08, 2004 11:41 am
Location: Cleveland, Ohio USA

Re: wifi led not blinking?

#10 Post by no_man » Sat Nov 01, 2014 6:35 am

I added LedMode to my Registry and my WiFi light now "blinks"!
My X230 is happy. Thanks all!

Rossano
Posts: 15
Joined: Sat Dec 11, 2010 8:59 am
Location: Prague, Czech republic

Re: wifi led not blinking?

#11 Post by Rossano » Wed Mar 04, 2015 6:29 am

Is there still some solution, which activates blinking WiFi LED?

I tried editing the registry, but without result. Is there any other solution* to activate blink LED at models Tx30 / Wx30 yet? Or is it completely eliminated on these models? I really miss that feature. :(

*For example: Solution for tweaking fan is called TPFanControl. Works perfectly. :-) Another solution for remapping HotKeys is called ThinkPadHotkey. What about LED's...?

EDIT: Solved! It's necessary to turn off Bluetooth module via Fn+F5 first - then the WiFi LED blinks. :-)
Primary: ThinkPad W530 [2447-43G] | Secondary (travel): ThinkPad X300 [6478-14G] | Relics: ThinkPad T60p [2007-EM7] (the latest best screen 4:3) | ThinkPad X61 [7673-AQ5] | IBM T41 [2373-2GG]

sebastek
Posts: 12
Joined: Sun Apr 24, 2011 9:13 pm
Location: Pereira, Colombia

Re: wifi led not blinking?

#12 Post by sebastek » Sun Aug 28, 2022 2:38 am

viewtopic.php?f=18&t=111537

This is the solution if you want to enable/disable or turn on blink LED on network activity, (only works on Intel cards apparently).

it works on a windows 10 T400 with a intel Wifi link 5100AGN. in my case, the LED was always on if the Wifi was connected, by i wanted to blink on network activity, so i created the DWORD value "LedMode" with the value 1, now it blinks only on network traffic just like i wanted.

my registry path is: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4d36e972-e325-11ce-bfc1-08002be10318}\0002

the trick is to make sure you are on the right Wifi card folder just like they explain in the link, in my case, was the folder 0002.

Grettings from Colombia!
My thinkpads: 760XL MMX 166, T42 (looking for a main board), 770X: PII 400, 1280x1024. T400: P8700, 6GB, T60: T7200, 3GB, 1400x1050, X1300 with dual winXP/win10 running fine.

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