Need some help with my T43p

[mark876543]

I had good luck fixing (1st time to work on a laptop) my old T61p (replacing mobo) and it was fun learning so I thought I'd try to get the old T43p running. It would not boot or show anything but a black screen. I had trouble finding a reasonable deal on a mobo and ended up ordering one from China, from the place I'd had good luck on the T61p with. But it's not an exact match. It's actually for an R52. It does run ok in my T43p-now-R52. But I want to change out the hard drive and need to get the right bios fix. The links I have found in the forums lead to virus-nests. And another link to http://thinkpad-forum.de/threads/124788 ... S-Sammlung, the file I think I needed would download, but when I burned it all that was there was the readme file. Other similar files burn just fine for me using same tools so something must be wrong with that file. So here are the particulars and any links to correct bios or advice for a noob would be appreciated.

Original system: T43p (2668-G2U) Pentium M 770 2.1Ghz 14.1 SXGA+ 128MB ATI FireGL V3200. An abbreviation for this video chip seems to be "ATI M24 GL-128". Original mobo FRU was 39T0044.

The piece of stuff I got from china had an FRU sticker of: 39T5676. They wanted me to confirm by photo that it was the same. Boy was I ignorant! It is physically identical as well as you can see but the video is a different cheaper model of ATI. (Radeon Mobility X300 of unknown memory size, but they only came in 32 and 64mb according to my research.) Hopefully it is 64 at least, how can I tell this?

It's been fun to learn about the families of these things and how a few basic mobos with handful of graphics chip options can make a large number of various models. There are a lot of shady sellers who lead you to think the FRU is going to match but then it doesn't. And of course the only decent prices are often at the risky-seeming places with sometimes bad reviews.

I have tried to research what model number of R52 would correspond to the system I have now, especially in the area of graphics. It seems impossible to find the exact match. That original T43p was the top of the line in every option, and the R52 was a cheaper but related line that didn't have the corresponding 128mb FireGL option. Maybe it doesn't matter for picking the right bios, just getting ATI vs Intel correct might be enough. My new hybrid is roughly closest to an R52 model 1870, I think.

Anybody got a link for the bios fix I need that doesn't go to a page covered with DOWNLOAD-THIS-VIRUS buttons?

Anyone had experience or comments regarding putting a Transcend 128GB SSD (PATA) in the T43 (or R52)? I should have thrown the old thing in the trash before I spent the first dollar, but as all of you know it's quite fun digging into these challenges.

How/where should I have gone about looking for an exact match to my original FRU? When you google an FRU, you get a lot of results where they act like it's good for a whole range of FRUs. That's you clue that you are in for an ugly disappointment.

[mark876543]

Also, the bios version stated at the bios config screen is 1.29 (1YET65WW)
Embedded Controller Version 1.06
It has a system unit serial (real or what I am not sure, and the system board s/n is blank.
So I was going to fix up the system board sn to match the sticker on the board, and the system unit to be a closer match to what I have, but the Hardware Maintenance Diskette does not yield the same menu as it did for the T61p. There is 1. Set system ID (expects to have some info on the floppy for this to use) 2. Test Audio 3. Format HDD 4. Assign UUID 5. Erase Predesktop 6. Set ECA Information. There was a much larger menu last time I used this (v1.75). Maybe it doesn't work right on the different system model?

Does anyone know if I need a different version of the software to fix up the eeprom info?

At the suggestion of RealBlackStuff, I tried flashing the bios first with the Lenovo bios 1.29 (for R52 1870) (76uj28ud.exe) But it says it won't run on this system. Figures. Any designers that write code to stop you from upgrading a HD surely would not allow you to use a disk that they didn't approve either. This wrong-mobo thing is just one endless headache.

I just want to be able to put Win7.32 on the SDD is where I'm trying to go with all this. Anybody can give me a plan? Thanks in advance.

[ajkula66]

I just want to be able to put Win7.32 on the SDD is where I'm trying to go with all this. Anybody can give me a plan? Thanks in advance.

Modded BIOS>SATA mod>SSD>W7>enjoy.

[mark876543]

SATA mod? The one with the soldering of hair-sized chip-leads? I got a PATA SSD to avoid that. Might not be as fast but that's ok. Problem with flashing the bios is, I can't find a good file for R52 1870. Where can I get one?

[GACrabill]

Problem with flashing the bios is, I can't find a good file for R52 1870. Where can I get one?

I'm confused ... I thought that all Thinkpads whose Type started with '1' (ie. '1870') were Intel graphics. You stated earlier that the replacement motherboard contains an ATI X300. If that's true, then the "1.29 (1YET65WW)" BIOS seems to be the correct BIOS for your new motherboard.

If you really need a "SLIC2.1, no-1802, no-2010" modified version of the "1.29 (1YET65WW)" BIOS :
This BIOS mod is applicable only to the following models:
ThinkPad T43/p (Machine types 2668, 2669, 2678, 2679, 2686, 2687)
Release Date: 6 Sep 2006
BIOS Version: 1.29 (1YET65WW)
.... then a .iso version of this is available. I am assuming that the "1.29 (1YET65WW)" BIOS applies to both T43 and R52 models with ATI graphics.

[ajkula66]

SATA mod? The one with the soldering of hair-sized chip-leads? I got a PATA SSD to avoid that.

You wasted your money. PATA SSDs are junk, and that T43 will run like a three-legged-dog.

Problem with flashing the bios is, I can't find a good file for R52 1870. Where can I get one?

Well, you can run the drive "as-is" for now and just set the system to continue with booting after the warning has been displayed until someone around here sends you a link...

GACrabill is correct about BIOS version, BTW.

[mark876543]

Ok I am going to read the SATA mod again and maybe try it. I have a lot of soldering experience just not that tiny. But I have a needle-tip for my soldering station and a mag-lite, so maybe I should be able to do it. Do you actually cut the chip loose or just add wires to certain pins to go to the SATA connector? Have you guys had success doing this? I'll have to re-check about the system models, sound like I made a mistake or got hold of some bad info.

[RealBlackStuff]

You need to tell us the P/N or FRU of the R52 motherboard (from an 1859-series R52) that you put in your T43p.
R52 1859 series has Intel mobos!
These are much more difficult to SATA-mod than ATI.

[mark876543]

The mobo I got from china had an FRU sticker of: 39T5676 From that I came up with R52. That's all I have besides guesswork. On the graphics chip is clearly ATI X300, I suppose the FRU marking could be wrong. Except for the GPU it appears identical to my original.

I am thinking about looking for a real 43p mobo the same as what I had, with the good graphics chip, and chalking the china thing up to experience. Anybody needs a working R52 mobo I'll make a good deal.

[mark876543]

Still looking for the right board. My original system was T43p 2668-G2U. The book says the mobo should be 39T0477 instead of the 39T0044 like the original mobo sticker says. But the shop I am dealing with has found a 39T0466. This is an ATI M24 GL-128, lead free, "for 2668-CTO, CPx, FRx, Pxx, Qxx" etc. So the video portion looks like a match. My question is that I am wondering what the differences might be between the ideal match and this 39T0466. I am gun-shy after getting one poor match already. I am not sure how to decode what the model letter suffixes mean. Since the mobo is a different pn, there must be differences in the board itself? Could be lack of fingerprint reader or security chip maybe. How to tell? Surely added on stuff like the CPU (speed), memory, wifi, would not affect the mobo part number.

[ajkula66]

Still looking for the right board. My original system was T43p 2668-G2U. The book says the mobo should be 39T0477 instead of the 39T0044 like the original mobo sticker says. But the shop I am dealing with has found a 39T0466. This is an ATI M24 GL-128, lead free, "for 2668-CTO, CPx, FRx, Pxx, Qxx" etc. So the video portion looks like a match. My question is that I am wondering what the differences might be between the ideal match and this 39T0466. I am gun-shy after getting one poor match already. I am not sure how to decode what the model letter suffixes mean. Since the mobo is a different pn, there must be differences in the board itself? Could be lack of fingerprint reader or security chip maybe. How to tell? Surely added on stuff like the CPU (speed), memory, wifi, would not affect the mobo part number.

All T43p boards are essentially the same. Different FRU numbers refer to various plants they were produced in, and a couple of revisions that were implemented along the way, but nothing really major.

Any T43/p board will support a fingerprint reader, BTW.

[mark876543]

Thanks. With regard to the video, ATI Mobility FIRE GL V3200 (128 MB), the screens are 4:3 proportions, and in the manual all the resolutions given for external monitors are same proportions. Maybe they didn't foresee widescreen monitors taking over the world, back in 2005. Will the video work normally with a widescreen monitor of typical 1920 x 1200 native resolution? Or how does that work? In the manual, there are external monitor resolutions higher mentioned, they are just always in a 4:3 ratio. And of course my external monitor will be 8:5 or maybe 16:9

[ajkula66]

Maybe they didn't foresee widescreen monitors taking over the world, back in 2005. Will the video work normally with a widescreen monitor of typical 1920 x 1200 native resolution? Or how does that work? In the manual, there are external monitor resolutions higher mentioned, they are just always in a 4:3 ratio. And of course my external monitor will be 8:5 or maybe 16:9

I'll let someone else answer this question, since I don't use an external monitor...

[mark876543]

Yes the modern wide screen monitor works fine with the ATI drivers, even though the T43/R52 laptop screen is 4:3. There is almost no such thing as a 4:3 monitor for sale anymore unless you find a surplus one or a $2000 medical / industrial one. There are resolution choices up to the max of most monitors, for example a common typical widescreen 24" has a max of WUXGA (1920 x 1200) and even the ATI Radeon X300 on the R52 board has that resolution available. Switching back and forth might require adjusting the resolution each time I am not sure yet, I hope not. Hopefully it's smart enough to remember a setting for external and the one for the screen.

[mark876543]

The only issue I'm having with the whole Win7.32 install is I didn't find a driver for ibm security chip (NSC100 in device mgr ID). I don't really understand what that is needed for, since things seem to be running fine without. Is it something helpful or should I disable it, or does someone have a solution? There are old threads about it, but all old links to ibm/lenovo drivers don't work anymore and their site is pretty useless for finding anything like this. Will the fingerprint reader not work without this? (Never worked well anyway as I recall). If it were enabled, and let's say the machine won't boot anymore and I needed to get files off the disk, it's going to prevent me from doing that probably? If so, I think better off without since nothing sensitive on there anyway.

[ajkula66]

The only issue I'm having with the whole Win7.32 install is I didn't find a driver for ibm security chip (NSC100 in device mgr ID).

You can install it manually but it's somewhat of a PITA. Tweaking the XP driver works...sometimes.

I never use FPR so I wouldn't know whether it works with security chip disabled...

Good luck.

[mark876543]

Windows update found all the drivers for Win7.32, except for that one device. So it's a 2 part question: 1. Where to get the Win7.32 driver, and 2. Do you use security chip or know a reason it's useful to have. I've almost never seen an XP driver work in win7. Thanks

[ajkula66]

2. Do you use security chip or know a reason it's useful to have.

I disable it on all of my machines. It all depends on how one approaches the security of their system.

I've almost never seen an XP driver work in win7. Thanks

Audio driver works, for instance, when installed in compatibility mode. Some others - the list escapes me now since I'm overtired - as well.