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Upgrading X220/X230 to FHD 1080p

X200/X201/X220 (including equivalent tablet models) and X300/X301 Series
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evening_hunger
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Re: Upgrading X220/X230 to FHD 1080p

#781 Post by evening_hunger » Fri Feb 02, 2018 6:49 am

Thanks a lot. This is a valuable information. I ran a minimal system with no DE (only a minimal WM), so I don't have any power managers, and I always manually use/script xrandr to get my screens in order. As soon as I'll find out what's the alias for the new screen, I should be able to bind xrandr comands to it. So that kernel patch is probably not needed too much. Besides, and that's a gamechanger, in Debian Testing kernel images are generally swapped every month, and I don't fancy the idea of having to re-apply the patch each time.
T14amdR7-4750U/32GB/500gb.ssd/debian_testing (main driver)
X320/i7-2620M/8GB/256gb.ssd/FHD13.3''IPS/debian_testing (ex-main driver)
T30Pentium-M 4 1.8Ghz 512MB RAM - under restoration
X230/i5/8GB/500gb.hdd+256gb.m2ssd/IPS/debian_stable+win7
755CE, 486DX, approx 28MB RAM (Win95 JP)

erva
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Re: Upgrading X220/X230 to FHD 1080p

#782 Post by erva » Sun Feb 04, 2018 11:20 am

Hello.
Might be a newbie question, but I searched on the web and in this forum but not found the info on Dell XPS 13.3" FHD display auto-dimming issue. Is it a thing on Thinkpad in a case of x320/x330?
I am considering buying the modded laptop from 51nb, but that content-aware auto brightnes dimming "feature" is a major turn-off.
X62, X1T1, X1C3, X1C2, T440s, T430s, X230, T410, T410s (2x), X201s, X201sf, X61s, T43p, T43, X40, X31, 760ED, 380D, 380CSE

Duard
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Re: Upgrading X220/X230 to FHD 1080p

#783 Post by Duard » Sun Feb 04, 2018 3:27 pm

Hi everyone

This is my first post in this forum. I can't speak English so I try to write. Sorry for this... I hope improve my English.

Next week I'm going to buy a x230. This mod is amazing so I want it!!!! Thank you for your work! NITROCASTER, I send you a mail.
Thank you

evening_hunger
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Re: Upgrading X220/X230 to FHD 1080p

#784 Post by evening_hunger » Mon Feb 05, 2018 1:08 pm

erva wrote:
Sun Feb 04, 2018 11:20 am
Hello.
Might be a newbie question, but I searched on the web and in this forum but not found the info on Dell XPS 13.3" FHD display auto-dimming issue. Is it a thing on Thinkpad in a case of x320/x330?
I am considering buying the modded laptop from 51nb, but that content-aware auto brightnes dimming "feature" is a major turn-off.
I think it's a Dell's invention operated at the BIOS level. Should be the case with other hardware, but to tell you the truth who knows what the 51nb guys are flashing into the BIOS :)
T14amdR7-4750U/32GB/500gb.ssd/debian_testing (main driver)
X320/i7-2620M/8GB/256gb.ssd/FHD13.3''IPS/debian_testing (ex-main driver)
T30Pentium-M 4 1.8Ghz 512MB RAM - under restoration
X230/i5/8GB/500gb.hdd+256gb.m2ssd/IPS/debian_stable+win7
755CE, 486DX, approx 28MB RAM (Win95 JP)

boutch55555
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Re: Upgrading X220/X230 to FHD 1080p

#785 Post by boutch55555 » Mon Feb 05, 2018 1:20 pm

evening_hunger wrote:
Mon Feb 05, 2018 1:08 pm
I think it's a Dell's invention operated at the BIOS level. Should be the case with other hardware, but to tell you the truth who knows what the 51nb guys are flashing into the BIOS :)
Not related to Dell, it's in the panel firmware. Mods using stock W11 / W21 panels are affected. No workaround that I know of yet.

evening_hunger
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Re: Upgrading X220/X230 to FHD 1080p

#786 Post by evening_hunger » Tue Feb 06, 2018 6:51 am

OK sorry and thanks for this info. I was deceived as new Dell laptops reportedly have a bios switch for this.
T14amdR7-4750U/32GB/500gb.ssd/debian_testing (main driver)
X320/i7-2620M/8GB/256gb.ssd/FHD13.3''IPS/debian_testing (ex-main driver)
T30Pentium-M 4 1.8Ghz 512MB RAM - under restoration
X230/i5/8GB/500gb.hdd+256gb.m2ssd/IPS/debian_stable+win7
755CE, 486DX, approx 28MB RAM (Win95 JP)

Duard
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Re: Upgrading X220/X230 to FHD 1080p

#787 Post by Duard » Wed Feb 07, 2018 7:29 am

Hello

I just got in touch with win0win to acquire the LG LP125WF2-SPB4. I hope that some boars is still available in batch 3. Otherwise it will be patience to have the next batch. This mod is fantastic. Thank you

I'm using google translator. Sorry

justason
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Re: Upgrading X220/X230 to FHD 1080p

#788 Post by justason » Wed Feb 07, 2018 5:00 pm

Hi,

I have received the board from the 3rd batch and the display also has arrived last week.
The board is rev.5.
I'm missing the installation guides for rev.5 boards.

Or, How the installation differs from the board rev.4 to the rev.5 ?

rev.4 boards have a different pad to solder the aux. power wire comparing to the boards with prev. revisions.
and what about rev.5?

sheinz
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Re: Upgrading X220/X230 to FHD 1080p

#789 Post by sheinz » Thu Feb 08, 2018 3:17 am

justason wrote:
Wed Feb 07, 2018 5:00 pm
Hi,

I have received the board from the 3rd batch and the display also has arrived last week.
The board is rev.5.
I'm missing the installation guides for rev.5 boards.

Or, How the installation differs from the board rev.4 to the rev.5 ?

rev.4 boards have a different pad to solder the aux. power wire comparing to the boards with prev. revisions.
and what about rev.5?
Hi,
I installed rev.5 a couple of weeks ago. I used the old installation guide without a problem.
The aux is connected the same as with rev.4
Happy installation!

Duard
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Re: Upgrading X220/X230 to FHD 1080p

#790 Post by Duard » Thu Feb 08, 2018 4:10 am

sheinz wrote:
Thu Feb 08, 2018 3:17 am

Hi,
I installed rev.5 a couple of weeks ago. I used the old installation guide without a problem.
The aux is connected the same as with rev.4
Happy installation!
Thanks for the info, it's good to know

nitrocaster
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Re: Upgrading X220/X230 to FHD 1080p

#791 Post by nitrocaster » Mon Feb 12, 2018 2:08 am

sheinz wrote:
Thu Feb 08, 2018 3:17 am
The aux is connected the same as with rev.4
That is the point many people miss, because the guide doesn't show it.

@ ALL
I'll be on a business trip until Feb 27 and then continue dispatching the 3rd batch. In the mean time I'll post a quick guide in pictures for rev.4 (which is equivalent to rev.5 in terms of installation) so that you can finally install your kits without waiting for the pdf guide.
Want to buy X220/X230 FHD mod kit? Read this before sending me a PM!
T60 | X230 i7-3520M FHD Win10

jmill
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Re: Upgrading X220/X230 to FHD 1080p

#792 Post by jmill » Tue Feb 13, 2018 9:39 am

I wanted to chime in and report that I installed the modification ~2 weeks ago, and have been using it every day since with no issues. I used a bit of an unorthodox technique related to soldering the dock pins but it worked like a charm. I used the blade of very fine SMD tweezers to spread solder bearing flux inside the holes on the daughter board. I supplemented with flux+rosin core on the surface, but it was not needed, and I had to clean up a bit of excess with a copper braid to make the joint flush. I used a Hakko T18-BR02, conical/30 degree bent .2mm diameter tip and the heat transference was very good. For those using leaded solder, 600 degrees was perfect. I had a magnifier ready, but did not need it. Overall the fit and finish of the mod is excellent.

As an aside, I am currently working to get a display configuration for OSX using the modded screen working on my x230, it seems a bit more complicated than the x220 configuration. It's pretty slow going, but I have made some progress. If anyone would like to collaborate, we can move to an appropriate thread, or connect elsewhere.
ThinkPad X230, i7-3520m, 16GB RAM, 1Tb Crucial MX300, 1Tb Samsung 850 msata, Intel HD4000, 12.5" FHD

post_break
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Re: Upgrading X220/X230 to FHD 1080p

#793 Post by post_break » Tue Feb 13, 2018 3:46 pm

Anyone running this with windows 10 with no issues? Still patiently waiting for my board...

jmill
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Re: Upgrading X220/X230 to FHD 1080p

#794 Post by jmill » Tue Feb 13, 2018 7:14 pm

post_break wrote:
Tue Feb 13, 2018 3:46 pm
Anyone running this with windows 10 with no issues? Still patiently waiting for my board...
I am currently running Windows 10 build 1607 with no issues (mirrored mode, although I've heard Fall Creator's Update changed this). I had to set the default display output in the BIOS to DisplayPort 2 before I received a signal on boot; the backlight worked immediately.
ThinkPad X230, i7-3520m, 16GB RAM, 1Tb Crucial MX300, 1Tb Samsung 850 msata, Intel HD4000, 12.5" FHD

pitchdown
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Re: Upgrading X220/X230 to FHD 1080p

#795 Post by pitchdown » Wed Feb 14, 2018 2:16 pm

Hello,
i am having an X220 and interested in a FULL HD upgrade.
Are there any thinkpads available WITH the upgrade in it?
Or somebody (in holland) who can do these upgrades?

Or...is it doable by myself?? which procedure ?

TeroS
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Re: Upgrading X220/X230 to FHD 1080p

#796 Post by TeroS » Thu Feb 15, 2018 12:57 pm

Any1 have a rev5 kit for sale?

outZider
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Re: Upgrading X220/X230 to FHD 1080p

#797 Post by outZider » Thu Feb 15, 2018 2:21 pm

Well, I screwed something up. Hoping anyone would be able to tell me where I went wrong, so I can either repair it or not make the same mistake on my second X230.

I installed the mod according to the pdf guide in front, but ran the power wire as shown in the rev 4 picture. The sense wire is attached to the third capacitor from the right. The holes that are designed to be through-hole soldered appear to be so.

Powered up and the display lit up, but it flashes multicolored horizontal lines on the display. It's more stable in the BIOS, but once it goes to 1080p in Windows or anything else, the display is continually flashing and showing spritzes of those horizontal lines, with the occasional glimpse of glorious 1080p. Sometimes, in Windows, I can hear the chime of a device constantly attaching.

Since I have two kits and two displays, I attempted swapping out the LVDS ribbon, the eDP cable, and the display itself, with the same issues.

I'm wondering if I accidentally screwed up a trace, wrecked a capacitor, or if I have a bad joint on the through-hold solder. That said, no difference if I press on the board, or reheat and push on those joints. Also curious if this could happen if there's a bad joint between two dock wires. I don't know anymore. heh.

jmill
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Re: Upgrading X220/X230 to FHD 1080p

#798 Post by jmill » Fri Feb 16, 2018 10:44 am

outZider wrote:
Thu Feb 15, 2018 2:21 pm
Well, I screwed something up. Hoping anyone would be able to tell me where I went wrong, so I can either repair it or not make the same mistake on my second X230.

I installed the mod according to the pdf guide in front, but ran the power wire as shown in the rev 4 picture. The sense wire is attached to the third capacitor from the right. The holes that are designed to be through-hole soldered appear to be so.

Powered up and the display lit up, but it flashes multicolored horizontal lines on the display. It's more stable in the BIOS, but once it goes to 1080p in Windows or anything else, the display is continually flashing and showing spritzes of those horizontal lines, with the occasional glimpse of glorious 1080p. Sometimes, in Windows, I can hear the chime of a device constantly attaching.

Since I have two kits and two displays, I attempted swapping out the LVDS ribbon, the eDP cable, and the display itself, with the same issues.

I'm wondering if I accidentally screwed up a trace, wrecked a capacitor, or if I have a bad joint on the through-hold solder. That said, no difference if I press on the board, or reheat and push on those joints. Also curious if this could happen if there's a bad joint between two dock wires. I don't know anymore. heh.
The solder joints connecting the daughter board to the half-height dock pins are tough to get right if you use rosin-core solder and the physical connection isn't perfectly flush. You might have gotten it's a cold joint. The symptoms sound like an LVDS short given the intermittent connection. After testing for connectivity with a multimeter, I would get a heat gun and reflow if it's not something obvious. LVDS is sensitive because it operates at high speeds so any obstruction in signal will be pronounced.
ThinkPad X230, i7-3520m, 16GB RAM, 1Tb Crucial MX300, 1Tb Samsung 850 msata, Intel HD4000, 12.5" FHD

x3kcl
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Re: Upgrading X220/X230 to FHD 1080p

#799 Post by x3kcl » Sun Feb 18, 2018 10:52 am

I just got the mod running with an NV125FHM-N62

https://meettechno.eu/images/b/b0/Viber_image.jpg

I did get it from here

I must say the soldering was a bit tricky, specially to get the dock connections right.

evening_hunger
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Re: Upgrading X220/X230 to FHD 1080p

#800 Post by evening_hunger » Mon Feb 19, 2018 12:34 pm

I wonder, NV125FHM-N62 is supposedly a lil' bit bigger at least if I try lcd-source.com http://www.lcd-source.com/Product_Overv ... 125FHM-N62 than the LG's spb4: http://www.lcd-source.com/Product_Overv ... 25WF2-SPB4
Do you think it's an error on behalf of lcd-source, or have you been able to fit it inside the lid even if the dimensions are indeed correct (which hardly seems possible, it's a centimeter difference!). Besides, what is sRGB coverage of BOE versus LG here?
T14amdR7-4750U/32GB/500gb.ssd/debian_testing (main driver)
X320/i7-2620M/8GB/256gb.ssd/FHD13.3''IPS/debian_testing (ex-main driver)
T30Pentium-M 4 1.8Ghz 512MB RAM - under restoration
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755CE, 486DX, approx 28MB RAM (Win95 JP)

x3kcl
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Re: Upgrading X220/X230 to FHD 1080p

#801 Post by x3kcl » Mon Feb 19, 2018 3:20 pm

It fits almost perfectly, I did compare it when I received it with the LP125WF2-SPB3:

https://meettechno.eu/wiki/NV125FHM-N62

I needed to make slide modifications to the bezel since it comes a bit close to the hinges but it fits rather well.

Yea on http://www.panelook.com/modelcompare.ph ... 9324,24654 it is also described as bigger dunno how they measured it.

The colors from the specs where more like SPB4.

RealBlackStuff
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Re: Upgrading X220/X230 to FHD 1080p

#802 Post by RealBlackStuff » Mon Feb 19, 2018 3:32 pm

I found the NV125FHM-N62 datasheet: http://www.hbx168.com/upload/file/26.pdf
It says there:
Outline dimensions:
With PCB & Bracket: 300.4± 0.5 *180.9± 0.5 * 2.85 Max mm
W/O PCB & Bracket : 290.5± 0.5 * 170.7± 0.5 * 2.85 Max mm <<=== this is what we need and is correct!

Fusion
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Re: Upgrading X220/X230 to FHD 1080p

#803 Post by Fusion » Tue Feb 20, 2018 9:28 am

Hackintosh users out there - How’d you get it working?
My screen works grest, but turns off at login. Seems like MacOS isn’t expecting an “external monitor”.
ThinkPad X220, i7-2640m, 16GB RAM, 120GB Kingston SSD, Intel HD3000, 12.5" WQHD, MacOS Sierra 10.13.2
ThinkPad W500 4063-VA4 CD2 Penryn 2,80GHz, 4GB RAM, 320GB HDD, 15.4" WUXGA, FireGL V5700, Win7u
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jmill
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Re: Upgrading X220/X230 to FHD 1080p

#804 Post by jmill » Tue Feb 20, 2018 10:09 am

Fusion wrote:
Tue Feb 20, 2018 9:28 am
Hackintosh users out there - How’d you get it working?
My screen works grest, but turns off at login. Seems like MacOS isn’t expecting an “external monitor”.
My understanding is that for hd3000 (x220), enable duallink=1 and injecting the EDID of the dummy screen will enable mirrored mode similar to windows. I have not gotten full functionality on my x230 yet, but the method described for the x220 did not work for me (reliably), backlight is operational, but no display output. I am in the process of working out a fix with the Capri framebuffers, but there is another more pressing issue related to sleep/wake functionality, which will probably require a DSDT edit for the _PTS and _WAK methods. What is confusing is that behavior is not consistent, I managed to capture three IORegistryExplorer profiles with very different information.
ThinkPad X230, i7-3520m, 16GB RAM, 1Tb Crucial MX300, 1Tb Samsung 850 msata, Intel HD4000, 12.5" FHD

Fusion
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Re: Upgrading X220/X230 to FHD 1080p

#805 Post by Fusion » Tue Feb 20, 2018 1:03 pm

jmill wrote:
Tue Feb 20, 2018 10:09 am
enable duallink=1 and injecting the EDID of the dummy screen
Can this be done in Clover boot, before getting into MacOS?
ThinkPad X220, i7-2640m, 16GB RAM, 120GB Kingston SSD, Intel HD3000, 12.5" WQHD, MacOS Sierra 10.13.2
ThinkPad W500 4063-VA4 CD2 Penryn 2,80GHz, 4GB RAM, 320GB HDD, 15.4" WUXGA, FireGL V5700, Win7u
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justason
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Re: Upgrading X220/X230 to FHD 1080p

#806 Post by justason » Wed Feb 21, 2018 6:21 pm

Hello,

I have just installed the patch board to my x230:
Not finished yet - some dremel work is waiting...

Image Image Image

Image Image Image

Image

jmill
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Re: Upgrading X220/X230 to FHD 1080p

#807 Post by jmill » Wed Feb 21, 2018 10:00 pm

Fusion wrote:
Tue Feb 20, 2018 1:03 pm
Can this be done in Clover boot, before getting into MacOS?
Yes, I've started a thread in the OS X section of this forum viewtopic.php?f=32&t=125666 so I don't clutter up this thread working through this problem.
ThinkPad X230, i7-3520m, 16GB RAM, 1Tb Crucial MX300, 1Tb Samsung 850 msata, Intel HD4000, 12.5" FHD

walfredo
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Re: Upgrading X220/X230 to FHD 1080p

#808 Post by walfredo » Thu Feb 22, 2018 12:56 pm

Has anyone seen the new installation instructions? I'm sure I'm just missing it. I see where he said something about posting pictures temporarily until the pdf is ready but I don't see those either.

jmill
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Re: Upgrading X220/X230 to FHD 1080p

#809 Post by jmill » Thu Feb 22, 2018 3:47 pm

walfredo wrote:
Thu Feb 22, 2018 12:56 pm
Has anyone seen the new installation instructions? I'm sure I'm just missing it. I see where he said something about posting pictures temporarily until the pdf is ready but I don't see those either.
There was some confusion surrounding this, but as someone with a rev. 5 board installed, just follow the existing instructions, and read the last few pages of this thread for the pro-tips and little tricks people have come up with, and supplement with the rev. 4 instruction regarding the auxiliary power pad. I think the new instructions are just going to provide new images and compile some of the techniques people have come up with. Existing instructions are definitely adequate.
ThinkPad X230, i7-3520m, 16GB RAM, 1Tb Crucial MX300, 1Tb Samsung 850 msata, Intel HD4000, 12.5" FHD

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Re: Upgrading X220/X230 to FHD 1080p

#810 Post by Fusion » Fri Feb 23, 2018 3:51 am

Yep. The aux wire used to be soldered to one of the 4 neighboring pads in the bottom middle. Rev 4 and 5 has a pad on the very left bottom, which you solder the white aux wire to.
ThinkPad X220, i7-2640m, 16GB RAM, 120GB Kingston SSD, Intel HD3000, 12.5" WQHD, MacOS Sierra 10.13.2
ThinkPad W500 4063-VA4 CD2 Penryn 2,80GHz, 4GB RAM, 320GB HDD, 15.4" WUXGA, FireGL V5700, Win7u
ThinkPad R60 9461-DXG P-CD2 1,83GHz, 2GB 667MHz, 100GB HDD, ATI X1400@512MB, XP2 Pro

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