Integrated Bluetooth card in R50-e..yes or no

[ms5133]

Is there anyone who has succesfully installed a BMDC card in an R50e?

The HMM does not show a card for my machine, 1834-W2L, but there is anecdotal info floating around out there and on E Bay that
integrated bluetooth can be installed.

Before I purchase a card (91P7315 or 7319) would appreciate feedback from anyone who has done, or tried to do,this upgrade.
.

I am aware that I will have to install the antenna in the LCD housing if this works.

Thanks

[underclocker]

UPDATE: I tried it and it DOES NOT work.

I have not done it, but it seems that it should work. You just replace the CDC modem with one of the parts you mentioned below, a combo CDC modem/Bluetooth and installed the IBM software.

This worked on my T40.

(I suppose there is a small chance that IBM placed a lockout on this type of CDC for the R50e BIOS, not sure how likely that is.)

Also, you could just use the Aux antenna lead from the WiFi as the BT antenna, many people do this.

Let us know how this works out.

[ms5133]

The bios issue is the one I am concerned about and is why I am asking if anyone has actually done this.

A quick look at the HMM specs for all R5x E series seems to preclude bluetooth cards from the specific machine types covered by the E
series.

[underclocker]

UPDATE: I tried it and it DOES NOT work.
I understand. Let's see if someone else responds. If not, I happen to have a T40 with BT and an R50e. I can try the swap for you but won't have time until this weekend.

If no one answers, I'll experiment and report back.

[krazykritter]

There isn't a bios issue for the BMDC, when you connect it the system windows see it and installs it. I prefer using XP SP2 but you can down the Widcomm drivers from IBM as well.

According to ThinkWiki the BMDC is an option on some models so it should not be a problem.

For the Widcomm software search for bthwxp1o.exe.

You can instantly enable and disable BT using Fn+F5 (same as with WiFi) regardless of which BT software you choose to install on your system.

[ms5133]

Have you actually installed a card in an R50e and got it to work?

Again the reason I ask is that there is conflicting info..

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... +bluetooth

[krazykritter]

No not in a R50. I replaced the MDC with the BMDC on my R40 which are very similar. The upgrading the Wifi card is where the bios conflict arises that people are referencing.

[ms5133]

While I am far from an expert on BIOS items, and any experts out there pls correct me if I am wrong, it seems that each machine's BIOS has a list of approved devices it will recognize.

The only other discussion I could find in these forums regarding this issue was a member who tried to install a bluetooth modem
in their R50e and was only able to see the module(91P7315) as a modem,not as a bluetooth device.


Hence my concern about a bios issue with specifcally R50e machine type 1834-w2L not recognizing a bluetooth device.


If anyone has done this mod..pls let me know

Thanks

[underclocker]

UPDATE: I tried it and it DOES NOT work.

I have a T40 with the correct CDC modem/Bluetooth module (BMDC200b a.k.a. Bluetooth III). I also have an R50e. I tried the swap.

I am sorry to report that it's a NO GO.

The R50e has no issue with booting, no errors at all. The modem is recognized, but not the BT. As mentioned in that one post linked above, there is no way to turn on the BT radio. The Fn-F5 keystroke only shows an option for the WiFi. I tried installing and reinstalling the BT software, the Power Management software, the WiFi card software and the On Screen
Display software. I checked in the ThinkPad Conguration utility and in the Windows Device Manager. I clicked on the BT neighborhood and rebooted plenty. NO GO.

Sorry to report this, but unless IBM modifies something in the BIOS or EC of the R50e, it doesn't look good. There is just no way to turn on the radio.