T42 Palm Rest with Finger Scanner on T40?

Message

pcsmart24 · #1 Post by **pcsmart24** » Wed Oct 04, 2006 7:23 am

Hi,

I can get hold of a T42 palm rest which has the fingerprint scanner in it, my question is, will this work with my t40?

If anyone could help that would be great!

Thanks

cmarti · #2 Post by **cmarti** » Wed Oct 04, 2006 10:44 am

pcsmart24 wrote: will this work with my t40?

It will fit but won't work because we do not have the connector for it.

pcsmart24 · #3 Post by **pcsmart24** » Wed Oct 04, 2006 12:03 pm

Ahhh shucks, thought i could get lucky then

Was only £22 on Ebay brand new

agarza · #4 Post by **agarza** » Wed Oct 04, 2006 12:38 pm

My T42p with a T41p motherboard and a Dothan CPU doesn't have the fingerprint sensor.

If I replace the palmrest with one with the fingerprint would I get that functionality?

JHEM · #5 Post by **JHEM** » Wed Oct 04, 2006 1:41 pm

benottomex wrote:If I replace the palmrest with one with the fingerprint would I get that functionality?

No, it's not supported on the T41 motherboard.

James

agarza · #6 Post by **agarza** » Wed Oct 04, 2006 1:53 pm

OHH

A shame

pcsmart24 · #7 Post by **pcsmart24** » Wed Oct 04, 2006 2:02 pm

benottomex wrote:OHH

A shame

My thoughts exactly! lol

cmarti · #8 Post by **cmarti** » Wed Oct 04, 2006 2:02 pm

benottomex wrote:OHH

A shame

FYI.

The only T4x laptops that can use the fingerprint are the ones that came with it from the factory.

rssb · #9 Post by **rssb** » Wed Oct 04, 2006 9:10 pm

The model capabilities are controlled in the eeprom, if one can program it outside the factory then it will work. Hardware wise T40,41,42 are same....

JHEM · #10 Post by **JHEM** » Wed Oct 04, 2006 10:16 pm

rssb wrote:The model capabilities are controlled in the eeprom, if one can program it outside the factory then it will work. Hardware wise T40,41,42 are same....

No, there's no connector on the MB of the T40 or T41 models for the FP reader.

Just attaching a palmrest containing a FP reader to a T40 or T41 won't miraculously make it suddenly FP accessible.

James

MobileGuru · #11 Post by **MobileGuru** » Wed Oct 04, 2006 10:27 pm

Ultimately, this is a bios controlled feature so if you were to take a T43 without FPR and add the FPR palm rest, then update the bios to the latest level, the FPR should be detected and respond as designed. The problem in this case is the older T4 models didn't come with FPR at all, so that option isnt supported by the bios on those models.

FPR versus non-FPR use the same planar and the same bios updates .. its only the palmrest that changes.

MG.

skitty4gzus · #12 Post by **skitty4gzus** » Wed Oct 04, 2006 11:40 pm

Ok please dont yell at me for asking, but it wasnt very clear in the post. I have a t42p with no current fpr, but would like to upgrade palmrest to a fpr. Will it or wont it work. I saw what was said about t40 and t41, but what about 15" t42p?

cmarti · #13 Post by **cmarti** » Thu Oct 05, 2006 12:02 am

skitty4gzus wrote:Ok please dont yell at me for asking, but it wasnt very clear in the post. I have a t42p with no current fpr, but would like to upgrade palmrest to a fpr. Will it or wont it work. I saw what was said about t40 and t41, but what about 15" t42p?

No it won't work. Same reasons mentioned in the previous post.

Sorry.

#14 Post by **GomJabbar** » Thu Oct 05, 2006 12:09 am

MobileGuru wrote:FPR versus non-FPR use the same planar and the same bios updates .. its only the palmrest that changes.

Some of the T42's were available with a fingerprint sensor, some were not. If you look at the System Service Parts list, it shows some planars with the fingerprint sensor and some without. So in some models of ThinkPads at least, the planar installed determines if a fingerprint sensor can be added without replacing the system board (planar). System service parts - ThinkPad T40, T40p, T41, T41p, T42, T42p

KirstyMcK · #15 Post by **KirstyMcK** » Thu Oct 05, 2006 6:24 pm

Argh, Pcsmart I wish I had held off on buying a new palm rest from IBM, cost me £45, could have maybe come to an arrangement with you:(.

rssb · #16 Post by **rssb** » Thu Oct 05, 2006 7:35 pm

There are no miracle here

.

IBM controlled the various FRU's, by setting Flags in the eeprom.

This is the eeprom, which carries the serial numbers etc..

In T40 and T41's you cannot control the battery charging by setting your own thresholds... But in T42 you can do it. This is also controlled via the eeprom !

christopher_wolf · #17 Post by **christopher_wolf** » Thu Oct 05, 2006 8:45 pm

Well, one might have had a chance, albeit very small, if it was EEPROM controlled; but that doesn't have anything to do with the FPR to begin with except fothe the TPM mandated Atmel EEPROM that is part of the Security Subsystem and that doesn't limit the hardware you can have as it is only part of the ESS and doesn't have to do with the EEPROM that the BIOS and EC use; although that too is an Atmel.

The limit in this case is physical; only certain T42 and T43 mobos/planars have the FPR connector on them. Simply getting the FPR palmrest even if oyu have a T4X Series Thinkpad (even a T42 or T43) doesn't guarantee it will work because the connector may not be on that board.

gearguy · #18 Post by **gearguy** » Fri Oct 06, 2006 5:49 am

JHEM wrote:
rssb wrote:The model capabilities are controlled in the eeprom, if one can program it outside the factory then it will work. Hardware wise T40,41,42 are same....
No, there's no connector on the MB of the T40 or T41 models for the FP reader.

Just attaching a palmrest containing a FP reader to a T40 or T41 won't miraculously make it suddenly FP accessible.

James

Excuse me, but I will argue.

If one is an engineer or equivelant, and capable of soldering and programming an eeprom, there's no reason why one should not be able to hack the hardware. It would require a phenomenal amount of hard work though, and extensive knowledge of the motherboard and eeprom.

#19 Post by **GomJabbar** » Fri Oct 06, 2006 6:05 am

gearguy wrote:Excuse me, but I will argue.

If one is an engineer or equivelant, and capable of soldering and programming an eeprom, there's no reason why one should not be able to hack the hardware. It would require a phenomenal amount of hard work though, and extensive knowledge of the motherboard and eeprom.

EDIT: OK, I misread gearguy's post. I thought he was talking about adding an eeprom, rather than replacing the existing one. I figured it out now. I still think this is beyond the typical ThinkPad owners ability, and the eeprom programmer probably costs more than a system board. So what's the point? Just get the system board that supports a fingerprint reader and a fingerprint reader palmrest if one really wants to add a fingerprint reader. Alternatively, get a USB fingerprint reader.

Original comment deleted.

rssb · #20 Post by **rssb** » Fri Oct 06, 2006 7:12 am

I dont know why people keep saying connector over and over ....

The principles of mass manufacturing, suggest that a manufacturer keep the hardware variations to as minimum as possible.

We are talking about T40,41 and 42... T43 is a completely different design, there is no different FRU's in T43 for FPR enabled ones !!...

Lets leave the FPR alone, how about the battery charging control. Do you have an explanation as to how the battery health improvement feature works on T42 and higher and not on T40 and T41 ???.

The same is true with cd drives... NEC 6750,6751,7550,7551 all have the same hardware. Some have light scribe, DVD-RAM read capabilities where as others dont. That has nothing to do with connectors !!

For a person who has never even opened a laptop or used a screw driver, it might look like a herculean task. But if someone has has right tools and the programmer, it can be done in less than 15mins. For a person who owns a manufacturing bed, he might take 1 hr or less to manufacture an enitre motherboard... it all depends on the perspective.

#21 Post by **GomJabbar** » Fri Oct 06, 2006 8:21 am

rssb wrote:I dont know why people keep saying connector over and over ....

The principles of mass manufacturing, suggest that a manufacturer keep the hardware variations to as minimum as possible.

We are talking about T40,41 and 42... T43 is a completely different design, there is no different FRU's in T43 for FPR enabled ones !!...

Caveat: Before I begin, I want to state that I have not had a T4x system open to look at, so I am basing the following on what I get from the Hardware Maintenance Manual.

Looking at the:
ThinkPad Computer
Hardware Maintenance Manual
February 2006
This manual supports:ThinkPadT40/T40p,T41/T41p,T42/T42p (MT 2373/2374/2375/2376/2378/2379)

It appears that the there is only one connector between the palmrest and the system board. This is the connector for the Touchpad. Apparently the fingerprint reader connects to the system board through this connector. The instructions for removing and installing a palm rest with or without the fingerprint reader is the same. No other connectors mentioned.

However, this does not necessarily mean that the connector on the system board for non-fingerprint reader models has the necessary traces for the fingerprint reader to work. Maybe, maybe not. At any rate, even if only programing the eeprom is involved, the effort needed to make a non-fingerprint reader system board work with a fingerprint reader is beyond what is reasonable to expect for the majority of ThinkPad owners who might want to add this functionality.

And yes, it appears this may not be an issue with the newer ThinkPads such as the T43, T60, etc.

zaku · #22 Post by **zaku** » Thu Nov 02, 2006 4:37 pm

so this definitely means that the T42 that originally didn't came with the finger print reader wouldn't work even if u swap for a finger print reader palmrest?
did anyone actually tried out??

T42 Palm Rest with Finger Scanner on T40?

T42 Palm Rest with Finger Scanner on T40?

Re: T42 Palm Rest with Finger Scanner on T40?

Who is online