Adding a Bluetooth Daughter card

[Ken Fox]

Here's a quick question I don't know the answer to:

Is it possible to easily add internal Bluetooth capability to an X61 or X61s that was not shipped with BT? The BT daughter cards are available at relatively cheap prices online, however I don't know if a machine that shipped without BT has the internal slot for the card, or if the stock X61/X61s has the necessary antenna already installed. The HMM is not particularly enlightening in this regard.

Thanks for any information you can shed on this.

ken

[David Ross]

We bought one of the $3 dongles from Dealextreme, I think this one. Almost invisible, and works fine.

David

[Ken Fox]

We bought one of the $3 dongles from Dealextreme, I think this one. Almost invisible, and works fine.

David

Hi David,

I have a similar item, however it does tie up a USB port and it does protrude a little out of the notebook. I"m interested in finding out about putting the standard card in, internally.

ken

[David Ross]

Fair enough.

I kind of like being able to turn off the bluetooth easily, either with panel button (like on the X3x machines) or by just yanking the dongle out. No need to waste power on this functionality when I'm not using it. However, if you use BT a lot I could see wanting it built-in.

David

[Ken Fox]

Fair enough.

I kind of like being able to turn off the bluetooth easily, either with panel button (like on the X3x machines) or by just yanking the dongle out. No need to waste power on this functionality when I'm not using it. However, if you use BT a lot I could see wanting it built-in.

David

Hi David,

I have a couple of bluetooth mini mice, and the nice thing about them is that there is no need to put a dongle into a USB port in order to use them. Most of the time I use laptops plugged in, so whatever minor current draw there is from the BT is inconsequential.

ken

[erik]

ken,

your X61 (or X61s?) might have the bluetooth socket already.   the only way to know is to remove your keyboard and look at the FRU number on the LCD cable.   if it's one of the cables with BT listed here then you have the necessary socket.   if not then you'll need to remove the LCD and replace the LCD cable just to get the socket.

the BT daughter card is located underneath the lenovo X61/X61s logo in the lower left-hand corner of the LCD bezel.

[Ken Fox]

ken,

your X61 (or X61s?) might have the bluetooth socket already.   the only way to know is to remove your keyboard and look at the FRU number on the LCD cable.   if it's one of the cables with BT listed here then you have the necessary socket.   if not then you'll need to remove the LCD and replace the LCD cable just to get the socket.

the BT daughter card is located underneath the lenovo X61/X61s logo in the lower left-hand corner of the LCD bezel.

Hi Erik,

Thanks for the information. I"m going to end up with several X61s models, all 7668-CTO. If I'm reading the parts listing correctly, all the referenced 7668-CT0 Models have either cable #s FRU 93P4535 or FRU 93P4536, all of which are BT capable. If this socket is present can I assume that the antenna is present also (if one is even needed)? The one X61s which I have already received (an outlet model with the UL screen!) has no BT installed and no BT panel light. I'm assuming that the BT panel light is not needed for the BT to function were I to install the daughter card afterwards. This model, like the others, is a 76568-CTO.

Now that I reread your post, Erik, it sounds like disassembling the LCD bezel would be needed to do this retro-fit, and I'm not sure I really want to tackle that (even though I've been into the guts of a number of Thinkpads, I've never attempted to open up the LCD bezel). I had the impression that the daughter card was located under the keyboard, at the top left. Or, are we saying the same thing?

Thanks,

ken

ADDENDUM: I just reviewed the HMM and this installation will take more effort and have more risk than I want to bother with. Thanks for the information you were so kind to give me . . . .

[erik]

the LCD bezel does need to be removed to install the BT card but you can get away with simply peeling it back a bit.   remove the three 6.5mm lower screw caps, remove the screws, peel up on the lower left corner, drop in the BT module, snap everything back down, and reinstall the three screws and covers.

it's REALLY easy.   i could literally install them in each system in 2~3 minutes.   the plastic only needs to be lifted enough to insert the BT module and plug it into the socket.

if you see cable FRUs 93P4535 (standard display X61 and X61s) or 93P4536 (lightweight display X61s) then the BT socket will be present.

to answer your other question, the antenna is in the module.   the cable only provides a path from the system planar (motherboard) to the bluetooth module.

hope that helps.   good luck!

-erik

[Ken Fox]

the LCD bezel does need to be removed to install the BT card but you can get away with simply peeling it back a bit.   remove the three 6.5mm lower screw caps, remove the screws, peel up on the lower left corner, drop in the BT module, snap everything back down, and reinstall the three screws and covers.

it's REALLY easy.   i could literally install them in each system in 2~3 minutes.   the plastic only needs to be lifted enough to insert the BT module and plug it into the socket.

if you see cable FRUs 93P4535 (standard display X61 and X61s) or 93P4536 (lightweight display X61s) then the BT socket will be present.

to answer your other question, the antenna is in the module.   the cable only provides a path from the system planar (motherboard) to the bluetooth module.

hope that helps.   good luck!

-erik

Hi Erik,

Now that you explain it as you do, it sounds pretty easy. I was just concerned about possibly damaging the bezel or the screen itself.

Since all the machines I have or will have that lack BT are type 7668, using the link you provided earlier, it seems almost certain that they already have the slot for the daughter cards on the cables that would have been used.

The only question is whether it is worth doing at all. My only use for BT is for a BT mouse, which has only one advantage which is that the mouse can be used without a dongle, in a machine having internal bluetooth. The BT mice are otherwise a bit of a PITA because they can only be paired with one machine at a time, so switching among machines means having to go through "discovery" of the mouse each time it is paired with a different machine. Presumably the mouse itself has internal memory of which machine it was paired with most recently. Otherwise, I think that BT is something that people talk about more than they actually use it.

If I stumble upon a good deal I might pick a few of the daughter cards up, otherwise I'll just use a regular notebook mouse.

Thanks again for taking the time to explain this.

ken

[amit]

Hello, I hope it's okay I'm raising this after so much time...

I'm also considering adding a bluetooth daughter card to my x61s thinkpad. I removed the keyboard and found that the FRU of the screen cable is 93P4536 so according to this thread all I have to do is to drop in the card.

However, I noticed that my laptop doesn't have the bluetooth status indicator which is supposed to be located at the bottom of the screen, to the right of the wireless lan indicator. I can live without this status light, but I just want to make sure that this doesn't mean that there is a problem or that something is missing.

So, will the bluetooth work, just without the status light? Or is there a problem, and I cannot install it or need to install additional things?

Thanks in advance,

Amit

[Nihan]

However, I noticed that my laptop doesn't have the bluetooth status indicator which is supposed to be located at the bottom of the screen, to the right of the wireless lan indicator.

That's no problem, you just don't have the BT indicator light then. Check Ebay for plates with Bluetooth indicator, they can usually be found (I believe X60 plate will fit too).

[amit]

Thanks! I looked it up a bit - is the plate just a "sticker"? Is there a led underneath it, in any case?

Peace,

Amit

[Nihan]

Yes, it's a thick sticker. There are holes in the lcd bezel underneath it, and the light comes from the inverter.

[amit]

Nihan, thanks. Now I might just punch a hole in my existing icon plate, so the light comes out :)

[yak]

Or you may remove the plate and scrap a bit of the paint from the back side so that the light comes through.

That's what I did in my T60 after adding the Bluetooth daughter card. Later I got hold of a proper T60 clear plate with Bluetooth indicator so that's what I have now.

BTW, the LED is already there.

[globetrotter]

How do you remove the LCD bezel screws without marring them?

[yak]

If you use a proper screw driver and something like razor blade to remove the caps, you should be ok.

[pufftissue]

Hi, are all thinkpad bluetooth daughter cards the same? I have an x200s that I want to add bluetooth to. What should I search for in ebay? I see some $29 cards, but I was hoping for something closer to $10. Do I also need to buy an antenna or just pop in the bluetooth card?

[yak]

Hi, are all thinkpad bluetooth daughter cards the same? I have an x200s that I want to add bluetooth to. What should I search for in ebay? I see some $29 cards, but I was hoping for something closer to $10. Do I also need to buy an antenna or just pop in the bluetooth card?

The FRU for the X200s Bluetooth card is 42T0969, search for that. I had a look on eBay and the prices aren't as low as you would like.

All Bluetooth cards used in ThinkPads since T/R/X60-series are most probably interchangeable. They share the same physical size and connector but have different FRUs. Older ThinkPads like T40-series used combined modem/bluetooth cards.

[richk]

I may have missed it, but I didn't see it mentioned that the models without bluetooth don't have the connector on the LCD cable

[pufftissue]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 602_263622

Would something like this work in an x200s? They should all have the bluetooth antennas, even if there was not bluetooth ordered with the original config?

[yak]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 602_263622

Would something like this work in an x200s? They should all have the bluetooth antennas, even if there was not bluetooth ordered with the original config?

Yes, it should work.

These Bluetooth modules all have built-in antennas, that's why they are mounted inside the lid.

[richk]

They all have the antenna, but as I mentioned a couple of posts back, they do not have the connector on the LCD ribbon cable.

[gongo2k1]

I just installed the BDC-2.1 module in my X61 last night. It wasn't too bad, it only took a few minutes to pull the bezel away and snap in the module. Now that leaves an extra USB port free and I can always pair with my phone for internet on-the-go without having to worry about getting a WWAN card and using Zender's BIOS hack, etc.

I agree that more people have bluetooth just for the sake of it, not that they actually use it. Honestly, if I didn't have the need to pair with my phone for internet connection sharing, I wouldn't have bothered with it at all.

[paul*robertson]

We bought one of the $3 dongles from Dealextreme, I think this one. Almost invisible, and works fine.

David

Hi,

I'm after BT on my X61. Are all BT dongles the same, any specs you require. Secondly do you need to download any IBM software to get it to work?

thanks
paul.