Windows Vista Drivers (no longer BETA)

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remaker · #1 Post by **remaker** » Wed Sep 20, 2006 11:40 am

For those of you testing Windows Vista on your Thinkpads, see
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... BETA-VISTA

for beta drivers and bioses.

The video driver cleared up issues I had on the T60p running under Beta2.

Admin edit: I think this is a good candidate for a sticky, for now

This can probably be un-stickied now since the drivers are released and no longer beta.

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... 67026.html

The video driver stinks as of 4/5/2007. Poor multi-screen support, crummy dock/undock, crashes Second Life....

#2 Post by **GomJabbar** » Wed Sep 20, 2006 12:48 pm

Wow, Thanks

With the new UltraNav driver.....
Now my TrackPoint will scroll vertically and horizontally in IE 7.

Now my TrackPoint will scroll vertically, but not horizontally in Opera 9.01.

There is now a modem driver available for my T42, although I was able to get the previous XP driver installed by chosing Update Driver in Device Manager.

I could not load the previous driver from setup.exe.

jjesusfreak01 · #3 Post by **jjesusfreak01** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 5:55 pm

Cool thanks for posting this remaker! If anyone gets to testing one of the Vista BIOS', could they report on if they are any different than current ones. I would like to know. Also, I was wondering if XP can be dual booted with the Vista BIOS installed?

Humpa · #4 Post by **Humpa** » Fri Sep 22, 2006 5:37 pm

GomJabbar wrote:Wow, Thanks

With the new UltraNav driver.....
Now my TrackPoint will scroll vertically and horizontally in IE 7.
Now my TrackPoint will scroll vertically, but not horizontally in Opera 9.01.

There is now a modem driver available for my T42, although I was able to get the previous XP driver installed by chosing Update Driver in Device Manager.
I could not load the previous driver from setup.exe.

Cool!
I only just saw this.

What about TrackPoint scrolling in explorer or other programs?

Though I don't think I can wait for a reply - I'm gonna go try for myself.

Humpa · #5 Post by **Humpa** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 1:20 am

jjesusfreak01 wrote:Cool thanks for posting this remaker! If anyone gets to testing one of the Vista BIOS', could they report on if they are any different than current ones. I would like to know. Also, I was wondering if XP can be dual booted with the Vista BIOS installed?

I don't think the Bios' are special Vista only Bios' or anything.
For example, the Bios on the ibm vista beta page for the Z60m is 1.20 - and if you go to the normal Software and Device Drivers page for the Z60m, that's the exact same Bios listed there as well (it still says 1.19 with a date of June 2006, but if you click on it, it actually brings you to the 1.20 version, with a date of Sept 12). Maybe some of the other Bios' are actually beta's, but the one for the Z60m is not.
I installed it, of course - I don't know if it helps. I wasn't using Vista long enough before to really notice much. But so far it is running good. Though the bottom of my Z60m is rather warm in the rear left corner - Vista really works the video card I guess. I don't do anything that is video intensive, though I noticed the same thing when using secondlife (on XP) - but SL caused it to get hot, and not just a little warm like it is now.

And I must say, having a working TrackPoint scroll is great - it works with everything, as far as I can tell. And I love that even Horizontal scroll works now (except, apparently in Opera, which I don't have anyway).
Though TrackPoint scroll still doesn't work in a form select dropdown menu - but it never did.

EDIT: Horizontal scroll doesn't work with Firefox either - maybe I'll use IE7 for a while and see if I like it.

arni · #6 Post by **arni** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 3:43 am

I noticed that with the new Vista BIOS the T60 runs cooler, so the fan speed isn't that anoying like it was before. But maybe it's just my personal feeling.

As with the Touchpad everthings works fine. Even Firefox (but i'm using the current nightly builds, so maybe just try the FF Beta 2). The only apps which are not working with scrolling are Office 2007 BTR and some of the "open files" dialogs. Still trying to find out why.

Now i'm just waiting that Lenovo will bring out more drivers and especially update their Thinkvantage products. But it would be nice if they incorporate most of the functions in Vista Mobility Center.

Humpa · #7 Post by **Humpa** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 9:24 am

arni wrote:I noticed that with the new Vista BIOS the T60 runs cooler, so the fan speed isn't that anoying like it was before. But maybe it's just my personal feeling.

As with the Touchpad everthings works fine. Even Firefox (but i'm using the current nightly builds, so maybe just try the FF Beta 2). The only apps which are not working with scrolling are Office 2007 BTR and some of the "open files" dialogs. Still trying to find out why.

Now i'm just waiting that Lenovo will bring out more drivers and especially update their Thinkvantage products. But it would be nice if they incorporate most of the functions in Vista Mobility Center.

Are you saying the horizontal scrolling using the TrackPoint (not the touchpad) works with Firefox? That doesn't even work with XP.

arni · #8 Post by **arni** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 3:20 pm

Haven't tried this. Only verified vertical scrolling.

christopher_wolf · #9 Post by **christopher_wolf** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 3:32 pm

Humpa wrote:Are you saying the horizontal scrolling using the TrackPoint (not the touchpad) works with Firefox? That doesn't even work with XP.

It does indeed work with Windows XP.

Humpa · #10 Post by **Humpa** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 3:36 pm

christopher_wolf wrote:
Humpa wrote:Are you saying the horizontal scrolling using the TrackPoint (not the touchpad) works with Firefox? That doesn't even work with XP.
It does indeed work with Windows XP.

Hmmm ... my horizontal TrackPoint scrolling has never worked with Firefox on XP.
Horizontal TouchPad scroll worked for me, but not TrackPoint.

Is it just me?

Humpa · #11 Post by **Humpa** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 3:43 pm

I have vista on my Z60m, so I had to break out my X21.
Horizontal scroll doesn't work with Firefox, but it works with IE.
I have the latest trackpoint drivers and the latest stable release of Firefox.

#12 Post by **GomJabbar** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 4:56 pm

As far as Opera in XP goes, horizontal scrolling worked with version 8.x. It has not worked with version 9. I have Opera version 9 in my Vista install, and horizontal scrolling still doesn't work. I have to admit I really didn't expect it to.

Christopher_Wolf found out recently (courtesy of ramian) that it can work in Opera 9 (and I suspect Firefox as well) if the middle button is set to "smooth scrolling". I personally have not tried this. I believe I prefer the default behavior when the scroll style is set to "Standard". See thread below.

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=28902

Humpa · #13 Post by **Humpa** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 5:12 pm

GomJabbar wrote: Christopher_Wolf found out recently (courtesy of ramian) that it can work in Opera 9 (and I suspect Firefox as well) if the middle button is set to "smooth scrolling". I personally have not tried this. I believe I prefer the default behavior when the scroll style is set to "Standard". See thread below.

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=28902

Yes, Smooth scrolling works with the TrackPoint using Firefox whether in XP or Vista.
But if you set it to smooth scrolling in Vista, then TrackPoint scrolling doesn't work at all in explorer or any of the other Vista windows.

I want standard scrolling anyway. I guess I'll just continue on without horizontal scroll. I wish TrackPoints were on all laptops, so someone would make them 100% compatible.

christopher_wolf · #14 Post by **christopher_wolf** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 5:23 pm

GomJabbar wrote: Christopher_Wolf found out recently (courtesy of ramian) that it can work in Opera 9 (and I suspect Firefox as well) if the middle button is set to "smooth scrolling". I personally have not tried this. I believe I prefer the default behavior when the scroll style is set to "Standard". See thread below.

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=28902

Nnnno, that part I knew already; read it again. I thought he had gotten it to work with the default Thinkpad Scroll and *not* the Smooth scroll; which is simply an emulation of a middle mouse button and the default *Windows* four-way scroller. That I have known for awhile. Getting it to work with the Thinkpad Scroll (and the Syn Visual window that has the little scroll -bar and cursor icon) is something else entirely. The Windows Smooth Scroller will work with practically any application you can install on Windows XP as it is a software-only emulatory feature requiring only a middle mouse button and mouse movements.

See;

christopher_wolf wrote: I think, though, this has always worked for both Firefox and Opera. It does, however, treat the Trackpad differently than the scroll event from the MMB of the Trackpoint button set. I will try some of the Opera betas as well.

Buccaneerfan · #15 Post by **Buccaneerfan** » Sat Oct 07, 2006 1:52 pm

Strange...
The Z60t doesn't show there.
RC2 is running smoothly on my Z60t, but i'd really really like to install the Ultranav drivers, the touchpad is driving me nuts...

coolsilicon · #16 Post by **coolsilicon** » Sat Oct 07, 2006 3:29 pm

Buccaneerfan,
even if it doesn't show up, isn't the UltraNav-device the same (Synaptics) as in other models?

Buccaneerfan · #17 Post by **Buccaneerfan** » Sat Oct 07, 2006 4:41 pm

coolsilicon wrote:Buccaneerfan,
even if it doesn't show up, isn't the UltraNav-device the same (Synaptics) as in other models?

Yeah, you're right. Thanks, finally the touchpad is disabled.
Now the only thing left is the biometric coprocessor. What could that be? The fingerprint reader?

Torque · #18 Post by **Torque** » Sun Oct 08, 2006 3:28 pm

Great! thank alot

keylimesoda · #19 Post by **keylimesoda** » Wed Oct 11, 2006 10:53 am

The Catalyst drivers from the Lenovo website are teh suck on a T60p. Many of my graphics apps are unusable, as half the screen is covered in a white-grey blur. I wonder if these are just the standard ATI drivers, or if they're IBM-specific.

arni · #20 Post by **arni** » Wed Oct 11, 2006 1:24 pm

Haven't used the Thinkpad video drivers since they are very old. If you are running 5600 or 5728 then take the ATI RC1 driver from their website.

If otherwise running RC2 (5744) then use the Viste default driver since it is more up to date than the ATI drivers.

Artur

Badger · #21 Post by **Badger** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 11:57 pm

If we're dual booting XP and Vista, should we upgrade to the Vista Bios on the op's link?

#22 Post by **GomJabbar** » Fri Oct 13, 2006 12:11 am

Badger wrote:If we're dual booting XP and Vista, should we upgrade to the Vista Bios on the op's link?

I would say so. I am sure it is XP compatible as well, but you can check the readme file if you want to be certain in your own mind.

coolsilicon · #23 Post by **coolsilicon** » Fri Oct 13, 2006 5:26 am

Badger,
that's what I'm asking myself. Are you going to upgrade?

GomJabbar,
I can't seem to find further infos on what makes this BIOS a "Vista-BIOS" in the related readme. Am i overlooking something? I would agree the BIOS shouldn't hurt XP, though.

#24 Post by **GomJabbar** » Fri Oct 13, 2006 6:46 am

Ok, I admit, I didn't look at the T60 BIOS update (Vista version) readme file until now.
Normally the BIOS update readme file contains the following:

T42 BIOS update readme wrote:The supported operating systems are as follows:
- Windows 98(*2)
- Windows 98 Second Edition(*2)(*3)
- Windows NT 4.0 with Service Pack 6a or later(*2)
- Windows 2000
- Windows XP (Home Edition and Professional)

That said, if it causes problems, you could always revert back to the XP version BIOS.

coolsilicon · #25 Post by **coolsilicon** » Fri Oct 13, 2006 7:03 am

Not really your fault.. Lenovo should have included detailed infos on what they coded into that BIOS to make it Vista "friendly". Now all we can do is install it and see what happens.

I'd love to see improvements reg. power management since I'm under the impression XP handles this better than Vista, but that maybe due to the still not final stage of the OS and/or the status of the drivers.

Badger · #26 Post by **Badger** » Fri Oct 13, 2006 2:27 pm

haven't upgraded the bios yet, but... i'm feeling daring and will probably do it tonight.

Also, somewhat unrelated but does Vista report anyone else's wi-fi signal strength to be much lower than it actually is? Sitting ten feet from my router, XP reports "excellent" strength, full bars, 100% signal in AC. Vista only gives me a "fair" to "good" and two to three bars. Are driver updates needed for the Atheros card?

coolsilicon · #27 Post by **coolsilicon** » Fri Oct 13, 2006 4:13 pm

PLEASE, do it - I'm keen to hear about the results

Regarding WiFi: have you already checked the power management settings in Vista for your Atheros card?

Badger · #28 Post by **Badger** » Fri Oct 13, 2006 4:46 pm

Thanks for the tip, unfortunately I can't find those settings anywhere. I knew where to find it in the Device Manager for wireless cards in XP, but I only have five categories under "Advanced." The only Power Management option I have is "Allow the computer to turn off this device to conserve power" and "Allow this device to wake up the computer."

I don't see anything under the power management options either. There must be another place I'm missing?

p.s. the bios iso is burning now

coolsilicon · #29 Post by **coolsilicon** » Fri Oct 13, 2006 6:23 pm

Badger,
I'm pretty sure to remember that I had one(!) BS with that Beta BIOS under XP when I tried to burn a DVD. I currently don't have Vista installed on my T60, since I've just upgraded my hd. I've made an image of my Vista installation and put it back onto the new hd with some strange results (that possibly are due to my memory malfunctioning reg. which of my several installations I in fact was on..)

Anyway, I don't really think it was because of the BIOS. I will install it again ASAP, I just reinstalled the one I had before in a panic attack. Maybe it would be a good idea to run memtest86 anyway, especially if you have added third party RAM; I've read the T60 is somewhat picky. Since I've added 1 GB of OCZ RAM recently I'm still a bit uncertain though memtest86 reported no error(s) whatsoever.

http://www.memtest86.com/

Badger · #30 Post by **Badger** » Fri Oct 13, 2006 6:33 pm

The Vista bios update went smooth. This new version is 2.00b. I started off in XP and everything seemed fine but I didn't test anything extensively. It's definitely good enough to update and if you need to go back to a previous version it shouldn't be any problem. I also don't see any difference in Vista, and my Windows Experience score didn't change at all either (4.0). I don't know if it would anyway.

I'd say it's pretty safe to use XP and Vista with the new bios.

Edit: Also, something I noticed about Vista (and this was pre-vista bios install) is that today, when I was in the library running on battery, my T60 was emitting a very high pitched noise, random in length and frequency, and I know it was never there before in XP. Even now (post-vista bios install), as soon as I unplug the AC adapter, the noise is back. It's very annoying, XP doesn't do this.

Edit 2: coolsilicon, what exactly are you talking about in your last post?

Windows Vista Drivers (no longer BETA)

Windows Vista Drivers (no longer BETA)

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