SXGA+ on a X60s (non tablet)

[smugiri]

all

After 4 weeks of trolling the German and Korean sites with Google translate, buying almost $50 of materials (kapton tape, EMI tape, copper tape, fine solder, fabric tape etc) and an $200 X61s off eBay, printing almost 50 pages of documentation so that I would have everything on hand and working off a very precise activity checklist, I just finished the conversion two nights ago. It took me 5 1/2 hours from start to finish including time to remove the donor screen from a (perfectly OK) X60t.

I butchered my X60t to get the screen. I got a very good deal on eBay for an X61s and was prepared to kill the tablet at that point: I use Linux and while the BIOS was not an issue, I was fortunate enough to get the fixed BIOS from a source that I cannot disclose. The actually dis-assembly was the easiest part since I have lots of experience with LCD replacements on X-series machines.

I bought the cable from i.thinkpad as well. When it came in, I removed and re-soldered all the wires myself. I also replaced the masking tape used to bind the soldered end with Kapton tape when I was done with soldering. Crimping seemed to have been done right and I did not have to do anything about that. I also took the 2 +3.3v lines and wrapped them separately in EMI shielding tape and deliberately run those by themselves to the LCD from the point where the harness connects to the standard connector. I was able to get a perfect picture on the first boot.

I did some things differently from the standard methodology and they worked for me: YMMV.

- when I was taking my donor LCD from the X60t, I was praying non-stop that it was the 100 and not the 101. Also praying that I had a G4 (plastic digitzer fixed with foam tape) rather than the G5 (bonded glass). Was lucky on both counts. Amen!
- I actually (deliberately) broke the ears that bind the antennae to the metal arms running up the screen. This means I could not mount the antennae in a standard way and had to kapton tape them to the LCD cover. I lost some wireless signal because of this - while the machine does not necessarily connect slower when I am close to an access point, there is certainly a longer delay in downloading when I am some distance away from the access point I am using. I think this might be because there is no contact between the LCD metal frame and the antennae. I will go back and make this contact using copper tape at some point but it is not really an issue for me now.
- my grinder 'failed' and I ended up using pliers to remove the 4 corner metal ears. 200 rocks each, back and forth, no more than 5cm at a time to avoid cracking glass - total of 50 minutes. Not for the faint of heart - this went slow, took almost an 1 hour of the 5 hours of work to do all 4 ears. Did not have to separate the glass from the frame to remove all the ears as an extra bonus. - was really worried about having to do that any introduce dust into the mix which would effectively make the panel useless
- for the bottom ears, you can take off one side (which is a earthing connector I think) by lifting the corner of the white tape and removing a screw
- I did not have to grind any of the plastic cover - not sure why I did not have to - I think it was because I took the "legs" off the antennae. Everything fitted really snug and fitted without grinding
- For the LCD bottom right underneath the bezel, I put a couple of little plastic shims about 6mm x 1mm x 1mm over each of the hinges for the LCD to sit on to prevent it sliding down on the hinge - one of each side. I used 2 width-wise strips of double sided tape to hold the LCD to the back of the LID. Had to use a little more pressure than I was comfortable with to do this. I want to go back in and use slightly wider double sided tape.
- antennae wires were a bit of a doozy to figure out - you cannot run them under the metal rail - there is not enough room to screw the rail back onto the LCD when you are done. I ended up running them right on the inside of the rail but the fit is really tight
- I had to refold the standard LCD cable to make the ThinkLight get back into place with the new configuration (thanks for the secret Erik!)
- watch which you you put the backlight plug back in: you could potentially re-plug in reverse and then its bye bye LCD

All that aside, now have an X61s LCD for sale and a digitizer for the X60t tablet as well as a ton of parts - RAM, HDD, mainboard - essentially the whole machine aside from the LCD. Will post them shortly.

I need to thank Erik for all his help (and all the modders on the German and Korean blogs) , I could not have done this mod without all the patient advice and pointers that he gave me that turned the job from an "urrhggg, I give up" project into one where I went in forewarned and forearmed. Its great to be able to stand on the shoulders of giants.

[sirarchy]

Bad one was from: http://www.aliexpress.com/snapshot/101563707.html (includes cable adapter)
Good one was from: http://www.aliexpress.com/snapshot/101726969.html (does not include cable adapter)

I am pretty sure that they both came from the same pool of refurbished screens. It's just a matter of luck.

Avoid from buying LCD from this seller (I mean "good one" URL). He sended for me broken HV121P01-100 twice for $420.

[kai]

I need some help..

After asking around for a modified harness cable and being directed to a seller on eBay - i.Thinkpad, I duly ordered one over the weekend. Service was prompt and reading the description - it states that cables are tested before sending out. I received it and finally got round to doing my swap today.

I laid everything out and to try a test run to make sure it would power up and display correctly. On initial power up, it worked! A picture displayed quite cleanly. All was well. I had another laptop set up next to me with various guides (and this thread) to go through the next steps(s). Whilst I was glancing through (both laptop were on the same desk), I smelt something funny - it was smoke! It seemed to be coming from behind the panel somewhere - I couldn't quite see. Without thinking, I just pulled to power cable. The screen was black at this point I seem to remember.

Anyway, I was a little afraid to retry in case I caused further damage. However, I did grab my original panel and tried that instead without the modified harness cable. The machine powers up but there's no display. I can't see any obvious signs of damage - I'm praying that it's just the video cable (and maybe the LCD) that's gone and nothing more serious.

I inspected the modified cable - when I got it, the soldered end was taped up with some masking tape. When I took this off I saw that pins 2 and 3 seemed to be bridged or badly soldered? It's only a single wire. I've looked at the pinout diagrams and it seems that both pins 2 and 3 are +3.3v. Would this be what might've caused the problem?

I've since contacted the seller - and to his credit has replied but insists that pins 2 and 3 are meant to be bridged soldered? Apparently to give a more stable power source to the LCD? Can this be right? He states that to date no one else has ever reported any problems with his cables.

It's taken me ages to source a panel and the prospect of killing it when I had everything in place is gutting.

[RealBlackStuff]

Our Moderator erik is the person to ask about this.

[smugiri]

I need some help..

After asking around for a modified harness cable and being directed to a seller on eBay - i.Thinkpad, I duly ordered one over the weekend. Service was prompt and reading the description - it states that cables are tested before sending out. I received it and finally got round to doing my swap today.

I laid everything out and to try a test run to make sure it would power up and display correctly. On initial power up, it worked! A picture displayed quite cleanly. All was well. I had another laptop set up next to me with various guides (and this thread) to go through the next steps(s). Whilst I was glancing through (both laptop were on the same desk), I smelt something funny - it was smoke! It seemed to be coming from behind the panel somewhere - I couldn't quite see. Without thinking, I just pulled to power cable. The screen was black at this point I seem to remember.

Anyway, I was a little afraid to retry in case I caused further damage. However, I did grab my original panel and tried that instead without the modified harness cable. The machine powers up but there's no display. I can't see any obvious signs of damage - I'm praying that it's just the video cable (and maybe the LCD) that's gone and nothing more serious.

I inspected the modified cable - when I got it, the soldered end was taped up with some masking tape. When I took this off I saw that pins 2 and 3 seemed to be bridged or badly soldered? It's only a single wire. I've looked at the pinout diagrams and it seems that both pins 2 and 3 are +3.3v. Would this be what might've caused the problem?

I've since contacted the seller - and to his credit has replied but insists that pins 2 and 3 are meant to be bridged soldered? Apparently to give a more stable power source to the LCD? Can this be right? He states that to date no one else has ever reported any problems with his cables.

It's taken me ages to source a panel and the prospect of killing it when I had everything in place is gutting.

I also bought my cable from from i.thinkpad and found that those pins were bridged.

This should not be a problem. I think that the problem may have been somewhere else.

Drop me an email and I will see if I can help. forum dot thinkpads dot com at ntwiga dot net

[xphinx]

Hello everyone.
For few days I've decided to buy an used X60s and yesterday I found this thread.
After reading it (most of posts) I'm undecided if I want to buy an X60 or X60s, because I don't know what model is most suitable for this mod.
If someone changed the display on both models (X60 & X60s) and could tell on which one is more easy to change the display.
As I readed it seems that on X60 is more easy because is thicker.
Could someone confirm me that ?

Thanks a lot.

[Eudoxus]

As far as the lid goes there is no difference between X60 and X60s unless it is UltraLight display on some X60s and X61s models.

[smugiri]

Hello everyone.
For few days I've decided to buy an used X60s and yesterday I found this thread.
After reading it (most of posts) I'm undecided if I want to buy an X60 or X60s, because I don't know what model is most suitable for this mod.
If someone changed the display on both models (X60 & X60s) and could tell on which one is more easy to change the display.
As I readed it seems that on X60 is more easy because is thicker.
Could someone confirm me that ?

Thanks a lot.

Another set of factors to consider. The X61s is Core2Duo while X60 is CoreDuo: this means that the X61s can take a 64bit OS while the X60 cannot. memory limit on the X60 is 3GB (4GB installed with 3GB only available and usable) while the X61 will take 8GB of RAM.

[Raceboy]

X60-s are also available with Core 2 Duo CPUs (1.66 GHz, 1.83 GHz and 2.0 GHz ones).

[smugiri]

X60-s are also available with Core 2 Duo CPUs (1.66 GHz, 1.83 GHz and 2.0 GHz ones).

You are right, does this mean the Core2Duo X60 have the newer GM965/PM965 chipsets rather than the GM945/PM945?

More important, are there X60 units that can take 8GB?

[RealBlackStuff]

No X60 can take more than 4GB RAM, of which only 3GB is usable.

[Raceboy]

[You are right, does this mean the Core2Duo X60 have the newer GM965/PM965 chipsets rather than the GM945/PM945?

No, they have the same GM945 chipset (Napa platform).

[lecterek]

On my X61s (XGA) I have successfully flashed Middelton's BIOS v.2.22 which removed whitelist and enabled SATA II. Everything works perfect since almost one year. Now I would like to do SXGA+ mod (I have already SXGA+ LCD from X60t as well as special cable). Concernig this I have two questions:

1. Since I am a linux user I don't really need the BIOS patched for SXGA+ (I already checked it) however I would like to have clear view during boot stage and at bios setup. Is it possible to flash SXGA+ BIOS over XGA BIOS but both at the same version? Both for x61s and v.2.22. Or do I need to perform downgrade first? If downgrade is needed how should I proceed?
2. After flashing SXGA+ BIOS would it be possible to use XGA LCD without problems during boot stage and at bios setup? Or the situation would be the same as for XGA BIOS and SXGA+ LCD?

I would be grateful for information based on your experience.

[Raceboy]

XGA LCD works perfectly with SXGA+ BIOS.

[boilerplate]

Apologies for reviving a somewhat stale thread

My stock x61 screen has been going out over the past year - hot spots, burn-in, etc. Having read through this thread, I'm considering a replacement with a 1400x1050 screen, but haven't been able to find an active link to the modified bios. Could anyone possibly re-upload in the name of keeping this wonderful laptop kicking?

[dmdsoftware]

Apologies for reviving a somewhat stale thread

My stock x61 screen has been going out over the past year - hot spots, burn-in, etc. Having read through this thread, I'm considering a replacement with a 1400x1050 screen, but haven't been able to find an active link to the modified bios. Could anyone possibly re-upload in the name of keeping this wonderful laptop kicking?

links still work for me:

http://www.mediafire.com/?d13q173jhtb3f ... -1.03).rar

source:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/lenovo/ ... ost6501443

[Yakumo]

Hi, I have an x61t with the bubble problem, and I believe the glass has cracked because of the weakness this left.

Can anyone advise on which screens would be compatible, and if I buy a plain screen, will it be possible to just swap that out, and keep the digitiser from the old setup to get everything working again?

The only alternative seems to be to remove the glass and try remove all the glue