VISTA SP1 IS NOW RELEASED

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Radioguy · #31 Post by **Radioguy** » Fri Mar 21, 2008 11:38 am

alpineguy wrote:Looks like Lenovo is not going to immediately pop out a new validated driver for the x3100.

Don't you mean Intel, or are you trying to say that the current (standard) X3100/965 driver version is validated, while there's no version available from IBM/Lenovo?

alpineguy · #32 Post by **alpineguy** » Fri Mar 21, 2008 11:56 am

My read of the situation is that Intel has a driver for the x3100/965 that works with SP1. You can download this from Intel as a zip file (the exe version kicks back an error saying it isn't validated for Lenovo and stops the download). However, the driver has not been validated for Lenovo machines. Others have reported this newest Intel driver does work well on Lenovo machines with only a minor loss of functionality.

My assumption that the modification of this driver to avoid this functionality loss is the responsibility of Lenovo, not Intel. I assume "validation" is done by Lenovo. I may be wrong about how this process works.

My hope was that Lenovo would have made the upgrade to SP1 easier since the driver issues should have been anticipated a long time ahead of the release.

Radioguy · #33 Post by **Radioguy** » Fri Mar 21, 2008 12:10 pm

Thanks for the clarification.

slagmi · #34 Post by **slagmi** » Fri Mar 21, 2008 2:37 pm

Bill makes a very important point above about being fully pre SP1 patched before Windows Update or Microsoft Update(recommended!!!) shows SP1 as available.

There is a reason for that!

Be aware that there are post Vista release prerequisites that need to be present before installing SP1.

I've heard that MS has modified the SP1 Install to check for the latest of those, in an effort to prevent foolish people from screwing up their systems by manually installing SP1 (particularly the RTM one they er, 'obtained' prior to the official release), but I have not tried yet to confirm that.

Patching Windows is not quite yet rocket science, but it sure is headed that way!

alpineguy · #35 Post by **alpineguy** » Fri Mar 21, 2008 4:49 pm

Slagmi and Bill give the reasons why I haven't done the end-around to get SP1 loaded. Those of us with integrated graphics just cannot get the validated prerequisite drivers that are required for the upgrade. While you can load the latest Intel graphics driver if you try, this driver still hasn't been validated by Lenovo. Thus, we sit and wait for the drivers to be prepared by Lenovo before getting SP1 installed.

I've always found it easier to be patient (however frustrating), than be dumped into a serious problem solving episode from jumping the gun. My T61 at least works and I can get things accomplished without the upgrade.

#36 Post by **ryengineer** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 12:02 pm

My saga:

I created a backup through Rescue and Recovery 1st just to be on a safe side then updated my thinkpad with the standalone version of SP1 since Windows update didn't show it even when there were no packages to install.

Positive aspect:

Performance wise, I feel great difference, applications open faster than before, boot time is quicker as well but login screen takes a while to open now.

No issues thus far, everything is working flawlessly.

Negative aspect:

After installation of SP1, my thinkpad’s fan has become louder and the right palmrest feels considerably warmer. (Indexing service and Aero have been turned off since day one and there is no HDD activity)

Thinkpad in question is T60 (2007-55U) with 3GB RAM and Hitachi 7k200 200GB drive.

Conclusion: Neither impressed nor disappointed.

chem · #37 Post by **chem** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 9:19 pm

Lenovo not having a new 965/X3100 driver ready for SP1 is a crime. I just received a R61 that I'm setting up tonight for business, and not being able to install SP1 via Windows Update is total incompetence on Lenovo's part. May I also mention that the unboxing of the machine was completely unimpressive? Their documentation sucks -- half the time it tells you to look at the online docs -- and they don't even give you the OS on discs. You have to make a copy by yourself. I have 700MB of updates waiting just through ThinkVantage, before getting to Windows Update! And I have to uninstall a half dozen different crapwares like Norton and Office '07 Trials! Much preferred my MacBook Pro experience.

Anyway, the Intel driver is out there, and Lenovo has had plenty of time to work with SP1. Let's get this driver out there, Lenovo??

I will probably not buy Lenovo again.

warder · #38 Post by **warder** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 11:10 am

I'm on my second Lenovo Thinkpad, and I think they are worth it.

Yes, like ALL notebook manufacturers, they load a lot of crapware on the drive. You can uninstall it, or if you're like me, you use the Backup software to do a complete DVD backup and then wipe the drive completely.

Using a Vista DVD with SP1 integrated, installs fine.

Yes, I wish they'd upgrade their drivers, but the ones on the website appear to work fine when installed onto a clean SP1 installation.

There must be issues though, otherwise MS would not block those drivers from the WU SP1.

I'm sure it won't take long for compatible drivers to appear though... and let's face it... it was last minute that MS found out about those issues and decided to delay SP1 to enable them to block some incompatibilities...

chem · #39 Post by **chem** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 7:37 pm

I ended up clean installing an OEM copy of Vista to avoid the Lenovo problems. Details here: http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... 444#403444

RoadHazard · #40 Post by **RoadHazard** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 9:29 pm

warder wrote: There must be issues though, otherwise MS would not block those drivers from the WU SP1.

I'm sure it won't take long for compatible drivers to appear though... and let's face it... it was last minute that MS found out about those issues and decided to delay SP1 to enable them to block some incompatibilities...

Yes, I agree. That's why I've decided to wait until Lenovo releases SP1 compatible drivers before attempting anything. We've been using pre-SP1 Vista all along. Although it's not great, we have lived with it long enough, and probably could have lived with it after this should SP1 hadn't been announced. In other words, waiting a little bit more is not going to kill the machine. On the other hand, rushing to upgrade OS when the machine is not ready has more possibility of killing it.

bylund · #41 Post by **bylund** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 8:52 am

I've notified Lenovo about the drivers and our interest in installing SP1. But, as I wrote earlier, they aren't easy to get to talk to - a new support request takes forever to get through the bureaucracy of asking me about my name, address, phone number, etc. All of this, of course, before they ask what they can help me with.

I e-mailed their non-technical support this time, telling them they are about to lose a lot of customers. I got a response yesterday saying they had forwarded my message to those responsible for the situation.

Yesterday I got an updated version of System Migration Assistant via ThinkVantage System Update, and today I the Windows Vista Update Module KB932063, which is supposed to fix some kind of issue with the connection to wireless networks. So they are definitely working on updating - it is just that they seem to ignore (or not prioritize) the updates necessary for Vista SP1.

I have talked to Microsoft Support about an issue I had with Windows Update, and finally got to speak to someone at Vista support. Their solution to problems is to install SP1, and if that cannot be done - to talk to the manufacturer of the computer to resolve the issues so that SP1 can be installed.

It seems to me we're screwed for as long as Lenovo doesn't verify a new driver (and whatever else there might be stopping SP1). And all solutions to problems seem to lead to Lenovo...

bylund · #42 Post by **bylund** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 9:06 am

Hey, I just found this "hidden" update for ThinkPad. Anybody knows what this is? It mentions bug fixes for the Intel chipset 965, which was mentioned earlier.

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-67953

Update: I had a closer look on what this update does, and it seems it does indeed update the 965 chipset (which is the graphics component we believe has a driver installation that may not be supported by Vista SP1). The question is only how much it updates the chipset and in what way. The Lenovo update page mentions nothing about updating the driver.

Also, it seems to install (or even see) this package one has to have Intel AMT enabled. The AMT, according to Wikipedia, is a technology for remote administration of computers. It uses a special CPU that is installed only for this reason, and the computer can be updated, BIOS can be changed, etc. even if the computer is in sleep mode (!).

It seems to me the AMT technology is the perfect tool for a police state, so I certainly won't enable it unless I really, really have to. Who knows who might end up controlling my computer? Yet I am still interested in that update of the graphics chipset - and whether it updates the driver so that SP1 can be installed.

Does anybody here have AMT enabled? Want to try this update?

slagmi · #43 Post by **slagmi** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 11:35 am

Or just get the latest intel mobile 965 chipset drivers, as I have done. They were the most recent at the time I looked.
You must have the NIC option ROM turned on in the BIOS before AMT remote management will work.

bylund · #44 Post by **bylund** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 11:41 am

slagmi wrote:Or just get the latest intel mobile 965 chipset drivers, as I have done. They were the most recent at the time I looked.
You must have the NIC option ROM turned on in the BIOS before AMT remote management will work.

Well, I tried that when the SP1 was released. I downloaded the latest driver package from intel.com and tried installing, but ThinkVantage wouldn't allow me to install it because it hasn't been verified by Lenovo.

j-dawg · #45 Post by **j-dawg** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 12:41 pm

I downloaded the .zip version of the latest 965/X3100 drivers (marked "for developers") and unzipped them to a folder on my desktop, then manually uninstalled the drivers for the X3100, restarted the computer, and installed the new driver files from the desktop. As others have reported, this removed the green LCD brightness OSD when adjusting the backlight. After installing the fingerprint drivers, SP1 showed up in my Windows Update.

Curiously, after installing SP1, my brightness OSD returned. Even more curiously, Windows Update prompted me to update my graphics drivers--to the old version. Everything seems to work fine with both drivers, so I figured I'd let the computer have its way and downgrade my driver.

barrywohl · #46 Post by **barrywohl** » Wed Mar 26, 2008 7:55 am

blobo wrote:I updated my fingerprint reader drivers to SP1 compatible. If you have the same reader (UPEK), you can get the new drivers form here: http://www.upek.com/support/downloads/d ... indows.asp

I didn't install the whole setup thing, just updated the driver in device manager.

Still SP1 doesn't show up in windows update, but it's probably due to the display drivers.

Just to add my two cents. I've been trying to get SP1 to show up in my Windows Update on my T61p with Ultimate x64. I had already permitted the Microsoft recommended video drivers to install but no luck. Today I updated the fingerprint driver from the UPEK site to 1.9.2.1111 from 1.9.2.99. Before a reboot, the SP1 download did not show up, but immediately after a reboot, I got the SP1 download to show up in Windows Update.

bylund · #47 Post by **bylund** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 8:23 am

I mentioned earlier that I contacted Lenovo Support telling them about the problem and that they were losing customers (the only way to make a company really listen, it seems). Today I got their response:

Lenovo Customer Support wrote: Thanks for contacting Lenovo,

We are very sorry about the driver issue. We do consult with our manufacturers for driver specific issues and we are constantly working on it. Some of our competitors has similar issues because they have the same driver specific issues on their systemboards.

Again, we do apologize for this and we are working on these issues. When drivers comes available they will be posted on our Web Site.

Thanks for using IBM Electronic Service and Support

lbraasch · #48 Post by **lbraasch** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 12:44 pm

I updated to sp1 via windows update. The update appeared after I updated the fingerprint driver.

However, now under sp1, firefox seems to be giving me issues. If i'm downloading a file, and open the download destination directory, explorer crashes. I can pretty much do it every time. once the download finishes, I can view the folder. I think it has to do with the temporary file firefox uses for the download.

Anyone else have this issue?

danny_isr · #49 Post by **danny_isr** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 10:43 am

where do you guys get the " right" version for the fingerprint driver ?
i did update it to the latest , and i still don't get the SP1 ...

lbraasch · #50 Post by **lbraasch** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 10:37 am

danny_isr wrote:where do you guys get the " right" version for the fingerprint driver ?
i did update it to the latest , and i still don't get the SP1 ...

the link in this thread.

jlingo · #51 Post by **jlingo** » Fri Apr 04, 2008 11:27 pm

Finally, I could see Vista SP1 option with windows update by updating UPEK driver from 1.9.2.99 to 1.9.2.1111

You must reboot your computer after driver installation.

bylund · #52 Post by **bylund** » Sat Apr 05, 2008 5:53 pm

I asked when new drivers were to be expected.

Lenovo Customer Support wrote: Dear Bylund,

I do not know when drivers will be released. Please check the website consistently like you are doing and you should see when drivers are available.

Thanks for using IBM Electronic Service and Support

Doesn't say much, does it? But it is perhaps as expected. The only question is, what the h*** are they doing - the driver I need (for the Intel 965 chipset (monitor)) hasn't been updated by Lenovo since November, and there are quite a few updated versions available from Intel...

dbshin · #53 Post by **dbshin** » Mon Apr 07, 2008 6:11 pm

bylund wrote:Doesn't say much, does it? But it is perhaps as expected. The only question is, what the h*** are they doing - the driver I need (for the Intel 965 chipset (monitor)) hasn't been updated by Lenovo since November, and there are quite a few updated versions available from Intel...

I checked the websites of some other laptop vendors (Dell, Acer, HP) and they have x3100 drivers that actually work with SP1. That Lenovo doesn't have validated drivers for proper SP1 upgrade is pretty pathetic. But they did release a new bios update dated March 24 that just showed up on TVSU. That it takes over a week to make it to TVSU is also pretty pathetic.

bylund · #54 Post by **bylund** » Tue Apr 08, 2008 6:34 am

dbshin wrote:I checked the websites of some other laptop vendors (Dell, Acer, HP) and they have x3100 drivers that actually work with SP1. That Lenovo doesn't have validated drivers for proper SP1 upgrade is pretty pathetic. But they did release a new bios update dated March 24 that just showed up on TVSU. That it takes over a week to make it to TVSU is also pretty pathetic.

Yeah, I installed the BIOS and my computer crashed immediately. There was some problem with a "Microsoft ISATA" driver (or something like that). The computer automatically went to "sleep" every time I logged in, so I had to restore a month old backup just to be able to log in. And after I did that, it seems the new bios was installed and everything works fine.

But I still cannot see SP1.

Radioguy · #55 Post by **Radioguy** » Wed Apr 09, 2008 5:28 am

Today, I thought I'd give the IE8 beta a try, and found that it needs SP1 installed first. That's the first roadblock I've seen due to the lack of SP1. (Not a biggie, but not the last, I'm sure)

C'mon Lenovo....

bylund · #56 Post by **bylund** » Fri Apr 18, 2008 2:59 pm

Anybody got news about SP1 or what Lenovo's doing to update the drivers? I find it almost scary that they are so silent about this - there should be quite a few ThinkPad users who cannot install SP1 simply because they won't validate new drivers.

In my case it is the Intel Display driver that needs to be updated. I'm using version 7.14.10.1329, which is definitely between 7.14.10.1322 and 7.14.10.1403 (Microsoft's "trouble" range). It is the latest driver supplied by Lenovo - 7 November! It is now a month past the launch of SP1; what's going on (if anything at all)?

#57 Post by **jdhurst** » Fri Apr 18, 2008 5:09 pm

I have a T61 Vista machine that I am experimenting with. I fully intend to re-image it and start again before making it my production laptop. That said, I used Windows update to update the drivers for Intel Wired NIC, NVidia, UltraNav and Audio. It all seemed to work. The NVidia control panel is different (no problems) - otherwise I didn't see any big changes and I did not experience any problems.

I generally have used IBM drivers to update my machine, but I thought I would give this approach a try.
... JDH

dbshin · #58 Post by **dbshin** » Sun Apr 20, 2008 9:52 pm

Just a rehash to continue the thread:

May users here have machines with Intel integrated video, the X3100 to be more specific. Intel releases regular driver updates for it, and Microsoft releases notes before SP1 upgrade deployment stating that certain drivers do not allow SP1 upgrade. Lenovo's drivers are significantly outdated and do not allow SP1 upgrade.

I believe that a service pack update is important to any new operating system. Any major manufacturer such as Lenovo should realize this. All attempts must be made to accomodate this posthaste. Lenovo has completely dropped the ball here. It's been over a month now since the release of SP1. They have no excuse for not to have this driver situation figured out by now. The working drivers were out for months, and Lenovo was not compelled to update the drivers since November. Microsoft specified drivers that wouldn't allow SP1 upgrade, and Lenovo has left users hanging. Inqueries to Lenovo made by some users were fruitless. Updates for presentation software and such keep rolling out, but a validated driver necessary for SP1 has yet to materialize.

Honestly, a manufacturer of high-end business machines should have gotten its act together and had the machines SP1 ready by the time it was released. Follow Microsoft's example of setting a date and delaying the release. Let the users at least know that something is being done about it. Don't tarnish the IBM name.

bylund · #59 Post by **bylund** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 8:03 am

I contacted Lenovo again, asking what the hell is going on (if anything) with the new drivers for the X3100 Intel integrated video. It seems they don't know anything about new drivers:

Dear Per Bylund,

So far I am not aware of any driver update from the manufacturer as yet. Please continue to monitor our update website for updates to the hardware.

Thanks for using IBM Electronic Service and Support

Is this for real? Are they really saying that they are not aware of any updated drivers from Intel? Or am I reading this the wrong way - are they saying they are not aware of any updated drivers from Lenovo (strange thing to say)?

In either case, it seems there won't be a driver update for quite some time. They simply have no idea what is going on and they don't really care.

PiZzA EnGiNeEr · #60 Post by **PiZzA EnGiNeEr** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 9:53 am

Is there an official driver update for the fingerprint reader yet? Nothing has been posted on the Z series driver pages in terms of updates for it. I'd prefer to update my drivers directly from an official source (lenovo) instead of an OEM.

VISTA SP1 IS NOW RELEASED

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