Replace 4965AGN Wireless Card to reduce heat? X61

[zoowalk]

Hi,

I read in the forum that replacing the WLAN Wifi Link 4965 AGN with eg. an Intel 6200N would reduce heat. X61's palmrest is simply too hot.

The post recommending the 6200N dates back a while, and i was wondering whether anyone has recently made any experiences with this issue? Is there any other WiFi card which you could recommend (to reduce the heat)?

many thanks.

[mrj47]

I just bought the 6200N, workings great so far!

[RealBlackStuff]

You could always take the wifi card out, and use an external PCMCIA wifi card or USB dongle.
The Intel 6200N has a newer version called 6205N. (2-wire)
The 6300N has not been changed. (3-wire)

[zoowalk]

many thanks!! I'll have a look at Intel's new one. Unless there are major improvements, I think I'll opt for the 6200N.

I simply love the screen dimension and the keyboard. Try to stick with the X61 as long as possible...

[wolfman]

I just bought the 6200N, workings great so far!

A friend of mine has my old X61 and may be interested in this to reduce heat. Do you need to run a specialized BIOS or anything for this to work? Also, did you just get a regular old 6200N from eBay or did you need to get a 6200N that had Lenovo FRU? Thanks!

[Peak2Peak]

Yes, If you install the 6200N into a X61, you will need a modified BIOS to get around the BIOS whitelist - I have a generic 6200N currently installed in a spare T60, works OK (with modded BIOS - OS: Win7)

[wolfman]

Excellent, thanks. I found in the other thread referenced RBS's link to the Middleton BIOS, I'll take a look at that as well as the 1/2 height -> full height adapter bracket required.

[cros]

Just got a 6200N based on this recommendation.

The WiFi LED on the bezel didn't flash in response to data transfer, which I missed. Luckily, it's a parameter of the Intel driver on Windows, just as it is on Linux: http://blog.boris-wach.de/permalink/119

Nice upgrade from the hot 4965AG!

[dmdsoftware]

Yep, the wireless card upgrade is definitely worth it, reduced heat, more stable, and best-of-all, better support in Linux. I've been using the Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6200 for many months now in my X61.

With the old card, the hot-palm rest issue went away when I started using Power Saving mode in Windows 7, and I lived without a hot-palm rest for over a year. But when I moved to Linux, it was back since the equivlant mode wasn't available (as a matter of fact, power management has been completely disabled on the default X60/1 wifi card in all modern Linux kernels due to stability issues with the cards).

Network: Card-1 Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6200 driver iwlwifi

[cxd9615gb]

I replaced my 3965ABG with a Broadcom (Apple branded) BCM94321MC.

Works way better!

[slyngej]

Do you need a special bios update or driver for the apple BCM94321MC card? I run Linux and i don't know i will handle it

[NikLP]

I finally got round to getting an adapter and half-size card (N6200), which is now sitting in my dual boot X61.

Neither operating system can see the card, and I'm running 2.22 - 1.03 BIOS (which I'm pretty certain is the Middleton version).

Any clues? I'm struggling! :/

[Cigarguy]

Hard to tell if you have a Middleton BIOS or the stock Lenovo BIOS. But, if you installed a generic card and there is no error/warning when you boot up, then you got a modified BIOS.

When I installed a 6300N in my X61, Win 7 did not recognize nor install the drivers. Which is not unusual. It did show up in device manager. On another machine I downloaded the Intel driver from Intel's website and installed it on the X61. Works great, is cooler and I swear I'm getting better battery life. Another alternative is to plug to the internet via the ethernet cable and download the drivers that way.

BTW - It would help if you specified the OS that you are running.

[NikLP]

I'm using Win7 Pro and Linux Mint 14, both of which would normally pick up new devices. There is a cabled internet connection available in this case. I see nothing anywhere in Device Manager that points to the hardware being present. I get no error or warning on bootup regarding the BIOS or hardware compatibility (whitelist).

I'll try a manual install of the drivers but it does seem weird to me...

Edit: I got the driver-only install from Intel direct, which when run simply puts up a peculiar custom progress window, but gives me no information or messages of any kind. :/

Re-Edit: Never mind, I'm a blithering idiot... There's more than one place to enable WLAN in the BIOS. I had disabled the IO setting for it under Security in the Setup util... *sigh* Works in Win7 now, I'm assuming I'll have similar luck in Mint too. Cheers, tho.

[E350]

Bumping this post up. For you guys (hopefully) to add more info.

I ordered an Intel WLAN card to upgrade my X61.

The card which I received (a while ago) is:

Intel 622ANXHMW

I just installed it in place of the existing Intel 4965AGN MM1 and received the following error on startup:

"ERROR
1802: Unauthorized network card is plugged in - Power off and remove the miniPCI network card."

My questions are:

1. Is this the card I should have ordered? Or is there a better one out there?

2. This card only has two antennas. My previous Intel 4965AGN MM1 had three antennas. Is two better than three? If so, just tape the end of the middle (white) antenna and leave it in the machine?

3. My X61 also has wireless with the external antenna meaning that to the right of the WLAN card it has an additional Sierra Wireless MC5725 card with two antennas.

4. I installed the new card in place of the Intel 4965AGN MM1 and left the Sierra Wireless card in place (although I do not use it).

5. If this is the best card out there, how do I get it going? (It is important that I learn to do this, because eventually I will do it to my two X61T's and to my other X61.

Any help, RBS et al. can provide will be greatly appreciated.

Running W7 64-bit, with standard BIOS, 8 Gb RAM, 750 GB Seagate Hybrid Drive.

[ajkula66]

1. Is this the card I should have ordered? Or is there a better one out there?

Debatable, but the card you got is fine. My preferred choice would've been an Atheros-chipped card.

2. This card only has two antennas. My previous Intel 4965AGN MM1 had three antennas. Is two better than three? If so, just tape the end of the middle (white) antenna and leave it in the machine?

Three is better, you should've gone with something that matches the number of your antennae

5. If this is the best card out there, how do I get it going? (It is important that I learn to do this, because eventually I will do it to my two X61T's and to my other X61.

Two words: Middleton's BIOS.

[RealBlackStuff]

Put the old card back in, get the drivers for the new card, then download/install Middleton's BIOS.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/lenovo/ ... ost6501443
Switch off, replace the wifi card again and boot. Done!
For a 3-antenna card you'd need e.g. an Intel 63xx or other card, but two antennae (and white taped) will do fine for your 6250.
I would have bought this instead: http://www.ebay.com/itm/200806224584
If you don't use WWAN, remove the card and remove it in Device manager.
Keeps the machine cooler and uses (even if only a little) less power.

[banhammer420k]

I used to swear by the Intel 6*** series, but after using an Atheros AR9280, am absolutely converted. AR9380 for 3 antenna support.

[Temetka]

I was not aware of the 3 wire issue, having just picked up my own X61T.

I plan on upgrading the wifi card to something with less heat output, so I'm glad this thread was here. Now I have a better idea of what kind of cards to look for when I go to do this to my machine.

[ajkula66]

I was not aware of the 3 wire issue, having just picked up my own X61T.

I plan on upgrading the wifi card to something with less heat output, so I'm glad this thread was here. Now I have a better idea of what kind of cards to look for when I go to do this to my machine.

FYI:

That X61T has only two wires, I'm fairly certain.

Given that you're a Linux guy, go for an Atheros-chipped card and I *guarantee* that you'll love it.

[E350]

RBS: Thank you. I made an offer on your suggested card for $14.89 and will post if the offer is accepted. Do I still need the Middleton Bios for this Atheros card?

Temetka: I will pop open one of my X61T's tomorrow and will post how many antenna I find.

Bannhammer420k: Thanks for the vote of confidence in Ajkula66's and RBS' suggested Atheros card.

Ajkula66: Dittos of all of the above for you too, sir and thank you again for your posts.

[ajkula66]

RBS: Do I still need the Middleton Bios for this Atheros card?

Since it's past my dear friend RBS's bedtime, I'll answer for him: yes, you do.

Temetka: I will pop open one of my X61T's tomorrow and will post how many antenna I find.

Some have 2 and some have 3. I'm fairly certain that the one he has sports only 2.

Ajkula66: Thank you again for your posts.

You're very welcome - happy if I helped you.

[E350]

Hmm... RBS the ebay link you provided says Mac OS 10 is required and also says the following:

"Please Note: This card is compatible with most of the notebooks with mini PCI-E interface except IBM,HP machines."

Are you sure this is the correct Atheros card I should buy? No impudence is meant by this question. Just checking for understanding.

I did an ebay search for Atheros AR9280 and those only had two antennas. On the other hand the Atheros AR9380 which you suggested has 3 antennas. So can I use it despite the above Mac OS 10 and non-IBM warnings? I only ask because although I upgrade my BIOS from time to time when Lenovo issues a new release. It scares me. However, I am game to try the Middleton's BIOS if this is the Atheros I should be trying.

Ajkula66: Remember, when you help me, you are helping many others who are much smarter than me. I am only allowed on this forum for comic relief and to ask the most basic of the available stupid questions. Thanks again.

[ajkula66]

The card that RBS linked to is the correct one. I have it in my X60T.

[E350]

Here's the spec sheet from Atheros:

http://www.qca.qualcomm.com/media/produ ... _file1.pdf

Despite what the ebay ad says, it appears to be W7 compliant as was indicated by RBS and Ajkula66.

Any suggestion where I can download a clean (i.e., non-privacy intruding) copy of the drivers?

A search on the Atheros (i.e., qualcomm) website reveals nothing:

ar9380 driver download site:www.qca.qualcomm.com

[RealBlackStuff]

http://www.atheros.cz/atheros-wireless- ... 5&system=5

[E350]

Thanks RBS! I looked at that site but was concerned by the statement: "The Unofficial Atheros Czech Driver's Site" and by the fact that all I can say in Czech is "Hello, how are you?"
"Ahoj, jak se máš?"
and its response "Good!"
"Dobře!"

[E350]

Middleton's BIOS have separate categories (although the version numbers seem the same) for X61 alone and for X61 with SXGA+.

I searched our X6x subforum for "X61 SXGA+" and it returned no results because "the word SXGA+ is not contained in any posts."

Interesting, if I delete the "+" from the search it does reveal results.

Regardless, how do I determine whether my X61 has SXGA+ or not?

[ajkula66]

It doesn't.

Only the modded ones do.

[E350]

Perfect!

Thanks.

Edit: Flashed from a bootable cd (per readme.txt) because I am running the 64-bit version of W7 and everything seems fine (i.e., the same). Have also downloaded the crazy czech guy drivers but have not received the Atheros AR5BXB112 AR9380 Dual-Band PCI-E 450M yet.

Question: Would I use the same Middleton BIOS version for my X61T or does the tablet version (unmodified, pen only, not touch) have the SXGA+ screen which would require the X61 SXGA+ Middleton BIOS version?