Aryeh, ? I'm very happy to hear that you like your modded T43p. Enjoy it! ? It's absolutely amazing how this particular mod (followed by a SSD install in my case) breathes new life into a seemingly old unit. ? The two of mine are described in the following threads on TPF: ? http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=103941?and ? ? http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=103936 ? ? My own SATA-modded T43p - which I'm typing on right now - will, however, be making another visit to TheBoardRoom (http://www.theboardroom.info/) this upcoming weekend but not because there's anything wrong with it...quite the contrary... ? After witnessing TheBoardRoom's delivery of the world's first (at least to my knowledge) T601 FrankenPad (T61 motherboard in a 15" T60 frame) with a LED-lit Hydis FlexView LCD - pictures of which will be posted on TPF over the next few days - my T43p will be receiving the same, most likely final, upgrade...a FlexView LCD that doesn't dim with age is too much of a temptation for this FlexView farmer... ? To anyone on this list who still owns a T43/p or R52...go for the SATA-mod. You won't regret it. It's the best thing that could ever possibly happen to your ThinkPad... ? If anyone has any questions, by all means drop me a line either here, on TPF or Lenovo's forum... ? Cheers, ? George
-----Original Message----- From: Aryeh Goretsky (home) <[email protected]> To: thinkpad <[email protected]> Sent: Fri, Oct 12, 2012 6:50 am Subject: [Thinkpad] [T43p] final upgrade to my ThinkPad T43p Hello, I just wanted to report that I have taken what are probably the final modifications to my ThinkPad T43p (MT: 2668-H7U; Specs: P M 770, 15 UXGA(1600x1200) 128MB ATI FireGL V3200, IBM 802.11a/b/g). Previously, the T43p had been upgraded to 2GB of RAM and I replaced the 60GB HDD with a 100GB model (both Hitachi models to avoid the 2010 error on boot up). I had also replaced the extended battery with one from DealExtreme. The system has been out of warranty for a while now, and had been relegated to a tertiary backup, so I was less concerned about out of warranty modifications being made to the system. Upgrade #1: T43p SATA Mod This had been discussed on the ThinkPads.Com forum, and replaces the PATA connector with a SATA and connects it appropriately to bypass the internal SATA to PATA bridge. A service is now available to perform the modification, which I took advantage of, as I would probably not be able to perform this modification myself. Cost was about $125, which I found to be very reasonable, given the complexity of the work, and all was done in a prompt and professional manner A BIOS update is also performed to disable both the 2010 error and the whitelisting of MiniPCI cards present in the IBM/Lenovo BIOS. Upgrade #2: 80GB Intel X25-M SSD I installed the SSD in the drive tray and rails previously used by the Hitachi HDD and placed it in the T43p without issue. This was a leftover from another system I had upgraded. Upgrade #3: Broadcom BCM43222 802.11n MiniPCI Adapter There are not many 802.11n MiniPCI (not MiniPCIe) cards available; and many that are only support the lower 2.4Ghz spectrum and not the upper 5GHZ spectrum as well. After scrolling through several pages of auctions for them on eBay, I purchased one for about $12, a $5 premium over the others, but it shipped from in-state for me versus from China, and arrived in about two days, versus the two to four weeks quoted for delivery from China. Installation was done by me per the T43p Hardware Maintenance Manual and was uneventful. Upgrade #4: Windows 7 Ultimate x86 Edition Since the T43p uses a 32-bit CPU, I chose to install a 32-bit version of Windows 7 onto the SSD. I used the equivalent of a retail license via Microsoft TechNet and then made use of both Microsoft Windows Update and Lenovo's ThinkVantage Software Update services to update the operating system and install missing device drivers. The only pieces of hardware for which no device drivers were automatically installed were the TPM chip and the 802.11n card, so drivers for these were located and manually installed. All other hardware, including Windows Aero-capable video drivers, were installed automatically. Observations: The T43p runs Windows 7 quite spryly, booting up in about 22 seconds. Not bad for a system from around 2005. I did notice that the fan kicks in earlier than it did under Windows XP. I suspect this is because Windows Aero puts more of a load on the graphics subsystem. The green Wi-Fi indicator LED at the bottom of the screen bezel no longer lights up. My assumption is that this is a side-effect of the BIOS firmware upgrade. This does not impact my use of the system as the wireless network icon in system tray notification area still works. Connections of up to 300 Mbps are reported by the icon. I am very happy with the boost in performance of this seven year old system and expect I will be able to make use of it for many years to come with Windows 7. URLs: BCM43222: search eBay for "BCM43222" Intel SSD: http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support/highlights/ssdc/x25m-80gb SATA Mod: http://theboardroom.info/sata_mod.htm T43p HMM: http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/detail.page?LegacyDocID=MIGR-58791 Regards, Aryeh Goretsky _______________________________________________ Thinkpad mailing list [email protected] http://stderr.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/thinkpad _______________________________________________ Thinkpad mailing list [email protected] http://stderr.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/thinkpad
