It's Alive: Frankenpad Z500

[TPFanatic]

Edit:

Happy to report that the Z60F (as I shall now call it) is very alive and everything short of a modem works. Ports work, wifi switch works, card reader works, screen and Thinklight work, palmrest and touchpad work, boots to Windows. The issue of the lid closure function not working is, at this time of writing, not yet fixed but will be solved as simply as hiding a magnet under the keyboard bezel.

The case holes have been covered and with everything put together the laptop is as sturdy as any Thinkpad should be.


Still, don't build this.

TPFanatic out



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Conclusion: Don't build this.

I did my research, the subject of a 15.4" Z series frankenpad was discussed on the German forums before, but such a thing did not come to fruition. I looked at pictures of various 15.4" boards and they seemed similar enough. I decided to give it a try.

I acquired a Z60m, a T500 halftop, gathered my spare T500 parts, and my dad's tools. After extensive magnesium frame modifications the T500 board fits nice enough in the Z60m. Mind, these are extensive modifications that take out entire sections of the frame and case, so durability may suffer. The most obvious issues involve making room for a full size HDD, slots for frontal Audio and alternative Card reader, room for the onboard USB, room for the frontal Firewire, and room for the VGA which is set backwards on T500.

The second big issue is the heatsink. To maintain the Z60m lid and hinge system the original Z60m heatsink must be used, as modifying the back left of the frame to accomodate the T500 heatsink would compromise the left hinge socket. This may be less of an issue on Intel integrated graphics models, but the Z60m heatsink does not make contact with the ATI 3650 chip. On the Z60m the ATI is elevated and comes with a thermal pad. Also, if the slightest gap exists due to improper frame fitting then the heatsink does not make contact with the Intel... Southbridge? as was the case with my mod.

Lastly, the T500's screen cable requires much fenangling or cable modding to adequately fit in the Z60m lid, put the Thinklight in the correct place, and not unplug itself when moving the lid. The T500 inverter must also be used, because the Z60m's inverter is built with the cable socket upside down.

Due to these issues I have rebuilt the donor T500 and the Z60m. I'll upgrade my dad's T500 with the ATI graphics and the Z60m will have its uses. I believe a T61 board to be more compatible with the Z60m frame and screen cable.

To be taken away from the experience is the following advice:
- Parts are not plug and play.
- Compared to T60 frankenpads this is 10x more difficult.
- Don't build this.
- Until 51nb decides to make a "Z62" we're out of luck in bringing this novelty series up to speed.

We at least had fun building it.

edit: http://i.imgur.com/JcnFaJa.jpg here's a picture of the T500 mainboard in Z60m frame with HDD

[Saucey]

Very good info, I had butchered a Z60T to try to fit a T400 motherboard but its not possible unless using a dremel.
My issue is the frame of the Z6x aren't as study to T or R equivalents, so even if it is able to work, you run the risk of the chassis flex.
The hard drive caddy is the main stopping point, and the heat sink fan is another thing too, no other ones are compatible.

[TPFanatic]

Yep, a dremel was used for our mod as well - a death wheel was also used extensively, that was quite useful.

I was able to fit a Hard drive inside the frame, after trimming the frame and case barriers for the S Video board and sawing off a screw cylinder. Screen ribbon cable modding, maybe T62-style would be a requisite to plug the screen into a T500 board, but it's not something I can do.

One section of the frame actually went over the planar's LCD plug, so that needed to be sawed off. The Z60m ultrabay frame also goes up against, and prevents plugging in a smaller wireless card in the T500's right side bay. This is actually required, because the Z60m's right side antenna wire, which snakes down the right side of the lid down the hinge, is too short to reach, say, the Intel 5300 that came with the donor T500. A little Wireless G that came with a CTO T500 (bought in a bulk lot) plugged in the T500's right side slot solves this problem, altho the Ultrabay frame edge pushes against it to hold it down.

The CMOS battery connector, and other connectors on the Z planar are also pretty fragile - If you do it wrong you're likely to pull the connectors right off the board rather than unplugging them!

A neat feature on the Z planar was the painted white arrows on the underside, pointing to what screws are needed to remove the board from the frame, and what aren't.

So, this mod, while possible, is just not ideal.

I feel a little bad for, like you said, butchering this machine since it was quite pretty. Still looks decent! I guess I'll be taping the port covers back on and calling it a day. Bottom cases and magnesium frames are available on the feebay. My next project will be something much less surgical: finding a functional Flexview in the box of dead T42p's and plugging it in my A31p... sometime.

[TPFanatic]

http://i.imgur.com/cpyUvEH.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/oPcSe4Q.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/2UZhNpl.jpg

The Z500 lives. It is currently equipped with a T9400, switchable graphics, 2 GB DDR3, and WSXGA+ with a titanium lid.

Extensive modifications to the frame and case were required to fit the T500 motherboard and a hard drive inside the Z60m frame, as well as to create room for the palmrest connector to plug into the board. Modification to the lid assembly plastic was required for the lid cable, Bluetooth, inverter, and Thinklight to fit.

The following has been confirmed during the creation of this monster.
. Z60m speakers work with T500 motherboard.
. Z60m palmrest touchpad and FPR work with T500 motherboard.
. With the keyboard bezel and palmrest screwed to the case the machine seems adequately stiff despite the structural modifications.

Sacrifices were made.
. Wireless switch is currently dysfunctional, may be modded to work.
. Lid closure magnet is dysfunctional. Fn+F3 to turn off the display works.
. T500 modem may be modded to work, but this Z500 does not have it.
. The anterior PCMCIA door hinge was damaged.
. The Z60m's right side antenna wire is just too short to reach a center MSata wireless card. We plugged in a T42 antenna taped over the frame above the card reader.
. A number of board and case screws line up, more don't, and others need to be sacrificed. The keyboard, board-Ultrabay, battery bay, and other board screws don't line up. At least one case and one palmrest screw cylinder need to be sacrificed for the mod. The middle lid assembly screw needs to sacrificed to fit the bluetooth and T500 lcd cable.
. A hole must be made in the top of the lid assembly for the T500 thinklight to be functional.
. A fin of the Z60m heatsink must be removed.
. To make contact with the T500's ATI chip one must add additional conductive between the heatsink and chip. This Z500's current setup is inefficient at cooling the ATI so running in integrated mode is recommended.




Edit 3/28/16:
Writing from Z500.

Reinstalled the Fingerprint program and the Z60m's biometric coprocessor sensor is now detected and works.

svchost.exe is at 50% cpu usage and with the fan spinning at Fan 7 the CPU is steady at 64-65 degrees, so that works. Running in Integrated graphics mode from the BIOS.

Laptop is heavy and it would be stupid to try lifting from a corner, so I'm not going to try that. Most of the laptop's structural rigidity is enforced by the plastic case and bezels. The upper bezel clips into the magnesium as it should and the laptop doesn't seem to creak anymore than my T500 when opening and closing the lid.

It has the superior pre-T61 hinge design and that's a plus. Absolutely no lid sway, like an IBM, unlike my T500.

The LED indicators line up for the most part.

I have ideas to restore lid closure functionality.

I stand by the original conclusion that building a Z series frankenpad is best not to be done - all things considered this one worked out well!

[axur-delmeria]

Conclusion: Don't build this.

With all the modifications, lost functionality, and the question mark with regards to structural strength, I agree with your conclusion.

[TPFanatic]

In the Z60m motherboard there are two identical connectors between the RAM slots and the HDD connector, can be seen in this picture: http://g01.s.alicdn.com/kf/HTB1ICt0FVXX ... XFXXXc.jpg

Top connector is for the extension cable to plug in Z60m's S-video and Card Reader board. Bottom connector is for palmrest.

Z61 has different sized connectors.

But since my Z60m used the palmrest-connector sized connector, I can technically plug it into the palmrest connector of, say, a T500 and unlike every other Z60m component it doesn't function, well yeah, it's plugged into the wrong place. No green light and Windows calls it an Unknown USB device with an SD card inserted. The Trackpoint stops working as well with the board plugged in.

What would it take to reprogram the T500 board to accept this technology so I can have two card readers and S-video, with enough room to stuff a SATA->Msata SSD in between, in my Manglepad?

I peeked under the T500's black tape and Lenovo didn't hide a second USB connector in there.