What video driver do I use?

[robla64]

I work in a high school and have received several donated Thinkpad R60 and R61's in various states.
The machines were wiped and the OS removed, they all Windows COA stickers on the back so I am in the process of reinstalling.
How can I tell what video drivers (and audio) I need?, the support site lists a few for each model.

Thanks in advance.

[RealBlackStuff]

Welcome to the forum.
If you can tell us the TYPE from the labels on the bottom of the laptop, we can tell you which drivers you need.
Looks like: TYPE 8933-35U S/N xx-xxxxx
R60s and R61s normally all have Intel graphics. Look for Video (not Display)
R60 drivers: http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/researc ... MIGR-64283
R61 drivers: http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/researc ... D=HT037648
A lot of those drivers are the same for R60 and R61.
Pick the ones for the OS that you install.

[JohnD.]

Hi robla64,

Welcome to the forum!

Congratulations on getting the R60 and R61 machines! Free ThinkPads are always good and it’s nice that they found a new home in your high school.

Ok, so I just came back from the Lenovo support page listed below:

http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/

You are going to need what’s called your machine type. It’s a series of numbers in this format YYYY-XXX, which is located on a sticker on the bottom of the R60/61 next to the serial number. The number tells the support site what machine you have. On the support page, towards the center, near the top, you can put in the machine type and the support site will bring up what components your machine has. Below that there is a column heading called “Drivers & Software”. You can click Driver Matrices and drill down to pick you model, then pick and choose what drivers you need. Which to me is a slight pain. If you click on ThinkVantage Software under Drivers and software, you are brought to a listing of programs that will do some different things on your machines. After you click on ThinkVantage, you should see a listing for something called “System Update”. So if you download that (you can choose either WinXP/Vista or Win7) and install it, it will run all the system update drivers that you machine needs. While your at it, you can also download the Power Manager to run your battery system. You can download Access Communication to run your wireless but some people like to have Windows control the wireless aspect. I use Access Communication but that’s me.

Let me know how you make out and this forum has a wealth of information with friendly people, so if you run into issues, ask away.

Good Luck!
John

Edit: RBS sorry I was typing up a response while you posted. I did not see your post until after I posted.

[robla64]

Thanks for your response. I have been to the Lenovo support site, but there were aso many different drivers, I didn't know which to choose.

The Thinkvantage software is installed and running the updates as I type this.


The model I am working on now is a
9462-A19

This one has vertical lines on the screen, and the company that donated them also gave me some screens as parts. Should I try to swap it out? I think I'll test it with an external monitor first.

[RealBlackStuff]

That's a faulty LCD, swap it out.
The external display should be OK.
Ex factory:
ThinkPad R60 (9462-A19)
Based 9462-72U: T2400(1.83GHz), 512MB RAM, 80GB 5400rpm HD, 15in 1400x1050 LCD, 128MB ATI Radeon X1400, CDRW/DVDRW, Intel 802.11abg wireless, Modem, 1Gb Ether, UltraNav, Sec Chip, FPR, IEEE 1394, 6c Li-Ion batt, WinXP Pro

That machine has ATI graphics, so get a driver from near the (Video section) bottom.

[JohnD.]

Hi robla64,

I know looking at the driver matrix page is a little bit overwhelming. Sounds like you downloaded and installed System Update, which in turn is updating your machine(s).

Concerning your screen with vertical lines, I had dropped a ThinkPad once (701c) and got vertical lines when I turned It on. I sent it off to IBM repair and they fixed it, I am not sure what they did, it was a long time ago. My gut says to replace the screen, but there are many on here that are more knowledgeable then I. I have a t60p that the bottom half of the screen is dark so I got a new screen (have not installed it yet). BTW you should be able to connect an external screen, just remember to toggle through Fn + F7 on the keyboard to get a signal to go to the external screen. There are three modes that Fn + F7 work: 1. LCD on/Monitor Off 2. LCD on/Monitor On 3. LCD Off/Monitor On.

You may want to download the hardware manual and print it out (get it bound if you like). The link is below (it’s the same for the R60 & R61). It will help you take out the screws around the LCD Bezel to get to the LCD.

http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/detail. ... MIGR-64200

Again, let us know how you make out.
John

[robla64]

Thanks, I have updated the video drivers and also was able to install the Thinkvantage software.
I will swap out the LCD when I have some more time on my hands.

Thanks for your help, I'm sure I will be posting again as i have a few more of these R60 and R61's to get to.

[JohnD.]

Thanks great that the software worked!

Good luck on installing that panel. There are a few you tube videos of people removing/installing panels in ThinkPads.

Again, let us know how you make out.

Talk to you soon,
John