Second-hand thinkpad x301 owner's thread.

I cannot play High Definition 1080p video on youtube, the video is freezing and struggling to play,they play frame to frame.. same problem for 720p !!!!
I download the driver from Lenovo site (windows7 x64) but i cannot install on windows 8, even if i try in compatibility mode,
on Intel site i cannot find video driver for windows 8 x64 - 4500MHD
that whay i am stuck with the generic video driver from Microsoft - dunno iff that is the problem or something else ..

 

Quadrahelix, same problem here,FN+F5 combination in windows 8.1. pro x64 open the metro windows that toggles the airplane mode !!!!
hmm.. 3 days with windows 8.1 pro and i am frustrated that i spend my money for this license !!!!!!

 

Yeah it's pretty annoying. Which is a shame because it's a good OS otherwise (love the speed and new task manager) once you install Classic Shell or Start8. It's really my last remaining annoyance.

Edit: Also activating Bluetooth is a REAL hassle. Hover charms corner, settings, PC settings (UGH metro), PC and devices, Bluetooth, toggle the switch. Has anybody figured out a better way? Of course this would be solved if you had the FN F5 overlay *sigh*.

 

and FN+F5

 

I was right about Intel and support for 4500MHD windows 8.1 driver !!!!

To anyone that experience my problems with video driver in windows 8.1 x64bit i found a solution here :

forum.thinkpads.com • View topic - X200 4500MHD driver for Windows 8 / 8.1

 

Windows 8 already has the newest GMA4500MHD driver, that is why you can't install any other version without overwriting it.

As for FN+F5, it works on my machine but I don't know why. Perhaps it's because I'm still using the old 2012 drivers when Windows 8 just only came out.

 

That's really dissappointing, I would love to have that for my X230. Activating Bluetooth is such a pain. And the hardware switch glitch is annyoing as well.

 

Do you know which exact driver is responsible for that overlay? Maybe I could try installing an older version of that driver.

 

It's probably the old power manager in combination with the old on screen display driver that makes it work. The old on screen driver is still available (I believe it was 3.81 or something), however, the power manager 1.4 is no longer available.

 

Alright, I got it working with the 3.81 driver available here Hotkey Features Integration for Windows 8 (32-bit, 64-bit), 7 (32-bit, 64-bit), Vista (32-bit, 64-bit), XP and 2000 - ThinkPad

Thanks for the tip. To get the Bluetooth to work properly you have to first turn it on through the charms menu, and then toggle it off and on from the FN F5 overlay. Otherwise it won't turn on properly.

The only problem remaining is that the hardware switch also toggle the battery mode, I'll have to see if I can solve that.

 

Thanks in advance for a little help regarding this color profile and bios. Pm sent

 

PM'd 600x for the BIOS and Color Profile. I have another question.

My 128GB SSD seems to have died. I ran a clonezilla backup, secure erased the SSD via the BIOS option, then restored. It booted back into windows 7 like normal. I used it for a bit. Next reboot, HDD0 failed to initialize. I tried to re-seat the drive with no luck. I also tried hooking the drive up to another computer and it is D-E-A-D. Is there a possible utility to revive it?

Also, does anyone know if this is a good combo for replacing the 1.8" SSD?

Amazon.com: Aleratec mSATA SSD to 1.8" SATA Drive Converter with Frame: Computers & Accessories
Amazon.com: Crucial M500 240GB mSATA Internal Solid State Drive CT240M500SSD3: Computers & Accessories

 

I recommend the Intel X18-M G2: Intel x18 M 160 GB Internal 1 8" SSDSA1MH160G2GN SSD Solid State Drive 0675901018463 | eBay

It's one of the best and fastest 1.8" drives available.

 

Today i went into a local IT shop, wich is Lenovo reseller to ask the price for 2 new battery for my X301, this is the price :


42T4642 - battery 3 cel 215 EUR
42T4643 - battery 6 cel - 178 EUR


just WOW .... to expensive !!!

this price make me think to an alternative , so no one use until now compatible battery like this from Battpit ?

 

Uhh yeah OEM genuine batteries are expensive. I can't help but think European prices are jacked up higher, the US price is like ~160-180 for new batteries. I don't think the US Lenovo site even carries X301 batteries anymore, I only see the 3 cell bay battery which is $$$.

 

I replaced my 6 cell with an aftermarket battery that works fine. http://forum.notebookreview.com/len...-thinkpad-x301-owners-thread.html#post8852535

 

Bronsky thx for reply ,
i will definitely look to buy an aftermarket battery ... indeed the OEM genuine batteries are to expensive for me !!!

 

Well it's no X301 but I manage to snag a X300 for a reasonable price. Specs:

1.2 GHz Intel SL7100
2GB DDR2 Ram
64GB SSD
Windows XP 32bit
6 Cell battery

Impressions:
The first time I opened it up, the thing the surprised me was the hinges. It just felt so buttery smooth and there is zero play in the hinges, unlike my T61. The X300 felt so.. premium, with the rubberised finish and the solid glossy panel of the power button/status indicators. Oh and the ThinkVantage key lights up! Coming from an X220t, I realised how much I'm missing: mechanical latches, Thinklight, power/battery indicators on the outside and inside. In terms of weight, it is also slightly lighter than my X220t with 3 cell battery.

The screen is sharper than my X220t, but the quality and viewing angle is comparable to the one on my 14.1 T61.

Condition of the machine:
TrackPoint cap and buttons looks like it just came out of the factory. Keyboard and touchpad buttons show some slight wear. The 6 cell battery was first used in 2010, but it only has 11 cycles on it, capacity @ 37wh. Looks like this X300 was sitting unused for a very long time. Some minor wear and tear but nothing too serious.

What I did:
Upgraded to Windows 7 64 bit
Applied Middleton's BIOS (SATA 3GB/s!)

This is my first laptop with an SSD, so it feels snappy enough to me despite the 2GB ram and the ULV processor. Heck it even boots faster than my X220t with HDD.

Immediate upgrades:
- +2GB ram. Initially, I thought of maxing it out with 8GB of DDR2, but with prices going @ 170USD for 4GB x 2 at amazon. I think I'll just save the money, or wait for the unlikely possibility that prices will drop.

- 3 Cell main battery.

- Travel cover for Ultrabay.


Future upgrades:
-Samsung 840 mSATA with mSATA to 1.8" adapter

(Thickness comparison: X300 without battery | X220t with 3 Cell battery)


And finally a question, did all X300 came with Bluetooth as standard? Tried installing the Bluetooth drivers, but it states: "No Bluetooth Device detected". There is no unknown hardware in device manage either.

 

I'm using that combo right now in my x301 (although I don't have the Crucial mSATA, I have the mydigitalssd 240 GB in there), and it works great so far. Granted, I haven't used it for an extensive period of time - only got the converter pretty recently - but so far so good.

 

Solved it, the Bluetooth was disabled in FN-F5. 600X, does your colour profile work with the X300? (I heard the X300 and X301 have slightly different screens). I will take back my comments above, the whites seems worse than my T61 screen.

 

@LiveStrong: Thanks for the reply on your setup. Ours are similar for sure.

So far so good with the above combo (Crucial M500 and Aleratec adapter). I'm getting an intermittent windows 7 black screen hang after logging in, but that is the only issue I see since my restore to the new drive. I don't think it has to do with the drive, but not sure yet.

So far performance looks good to...

 

I have the bios files from 600x, but I don't know how to flash them. I'm running Win7 64 bit.

The .bat file included tells me it's only good for 32 bit OS's. Some help would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

Yeah I'm happy with the performance, especially for the total of $165 I spent. Now if someone could help me install the bios on my win7 64bit setup, I'd sure appreciate it.

 

The X300 and X301 have the same screen. It was specially made by Toshiba just for the X300.

 

I got the bios installed by using rufus to make a bootable USB.

Now I'm fiddling with ThrottleStop. I figured out how to disable speedstep (EIST), but I don't know what is meant by "Unlock the Extra Multiplier". Can someone help me with that?

Here is a throttlestop screenshot:

 

Hello and thanks in advance to everyone for all your help. These two tools seem to conflict in reporting clock frequency and I have a few other questions. Please see below.

Screenshot while running TS Bench...



Questions:
1) how do I keep the 1.6GHZ maximum clock frequency persistent across reboots. In other words, are the ThrottleStop changes only effective while TS is running?
2) How does speedstep/EIST setting in TS coincide with the Lenovo Power controls, under system settings, Maximum CPU Speed: These can be set to highest, high, low, lowest, and adaptive. Mines is currently set to adaptive. What's the recommended setting?
3) Is the desktop gadget (top right o f my screen) I have lying to me about the clock speed or is it really 1.4GHZ?
4) Any other suggestions on a different desktop gadget for monitoring performance?
5) Any other general recommendations?

Thanks a lot.

 

Hey guys. I was able to flash the BIOS, setup ThrottleStop, and I also did some power consumption testing with a Kill-A-Watt device so I wanted to share my experience. The result is that I feel like I have a very good running setup and a good idea about how to use hibernate, sleep, and the ThrottleStop modes to maximize performance and battery life. Below are some of those details.

OS and System Details
Lenovo X301 Model: 2777-CTR
2GB RAM
Wimax card (turned off)
DVD-RW drive installed in ultra bay
SSD info below:
Amazon.com: Aleratec mSATA SSD to 1.8" SATA Drive Converter with Frame: Computers & Accessories
Amazon.com: Crucial M500 240GB mSATA Internal Solid State Drive CT240M500SSD3: Computers & Accessories
Running Windows 7 Ultimate 64 with all Lenovo drivers and ThinkVantage software.


Flashing The Bios
1) Take pictures of all your bios screens before you start, just in case something is wrong later and you suspect a BIOS setting.
2) Make a bootable USB drive. I used free software called Rufus to do this.
3) There are 3 BIOS files you need to copy to the bootable flash drive: BIOS.rom., a .setup.bat file, and a PHLASHABCXYX.exe file. I needed to shorten the name of the PHLASHABCXYX.exe file to PHLASH.exe for things to work right. I then edited setup.bat with the newly named PHLASH.EXE name.
4) boot from the USB drive and run setup.bat. and follow the instructions. Make sure you don't have a power outage during the flash.
5) Go through the BIOS menus and compare them to your photos, and make any necessary changes to match your original setup.
Observation: The new bios does not have the SSD secure erase feature, otherwise all features appear to be supported.

result:


Windows 7 Settings
Setup your windows power options like below. This is because you will be setting up ThrottleStop to manage your CPU throttling instead of windows. For your active power plan, set it up like this...

If you're using ThinkVantage Power Manager,I also made the following power plan tweaks to set max CPU speed to highest:


Install Throttlestop
1) Download ThrottleStop. I got mine from Download ThrottleStop 6.00 | techPowerUp
2) Extract the zip file to C:\Windows\Program Files\ThrottleStop_600
3) Put a shortcut in your startup menu for ThrottleStop.exe so that it starts automatically.

Setup ThrottleStop
ThrottleStop takes care of throttling your CPU. It has 4 user configurable profiles, plus some global options. I set up the following profiles. See screenshots for specific settings.
1) Max Performance: CPU stays at highest multiplier (8) giving me 1.6GHz clock speed without throttling.
2) Practical: Throttles CPU according to on-demand usage with a max multiplier of 7, 1.4GHz.
3) Power Save: Throttles CPU according to on-demand usage with a max multiplier of 6.5, 1.2GHz
4) Max Power Save: Throttles CPU according to on-demand usage with a max multiplier of 6, 800MHz. This plan is not very practical. Typing speed and cursor movement are just barely slow enough to be a little annoying. This Plan will likely never get used.

I also read the ThrottleStop included documentation and set the global options to what made sense to me. I also setup notification area shortcuts that allow me to see the current clockspeed, and conveniently switch ThrottleStop profiles. So here are the Screenshots for all the profiles and options:

Options:


Profiles:








Power Consumption Observations
In order to monitor power consumption, I used a Kill-A-Watt meter between the AC power source and the Thinkpad (original X301) power adapter. I also removed the battery to eliminate current being used to recharge the battery. While testing the power consumption profiles, I had 3 chrome tabs open, and thunderbird mail client running. No stress tests were being run and system was mostly idle using resources only for Thunderbird, Chrome, and my normal background applications/services.

Here are the Kill-A-Watt readings in different states:
A) The AC adapter uses 0 watts if not connected to the back of the X301. Off, machine totally shutdown, with AC adapter plugged in consumes .7-.8 watts. Not sure why since the battery is not installed.
B) Profile 1: 14.3 - 16 watts
C) Profile 2: 13.3 - 15 watts
D) Profile 3: 13.2 - 14.2 watts
E) Profile 4: 13.2 - 13.8 watts
F) Bootup into windows login screen from shutdown state: 17.6 - 22 watts for about 35.6 seconds
G) Sleep mode: .7 watts
H) Hibernate running system: 20 watts for about 28.7 seconds
I) Hibernated system: .5 watts
J) Resume hibernation: 16 - 20 watts for about 36.1 seconds
K) Significant power savings come from screen brightness, with each step up/down consuming an extra .7 - 1 watt of power.
L) The LED to light the keyboard only uses maybe .1 watts at the most, so it is not a big power waster/saver.

Power Consumption Findings
1) The CPU power consumption profiles only make slight differences in actual power consumption.
2) Sleep mode is way better than hibernation. Hibernate consumes lots of power hibernating and unhibernating and the difference between hibernate and sleep power consumption is only .2 watts
3) The only practical benefit for using hibernation is if you know you want to resume your exact system state a lot later, like days later.
4) Keep your screen brightness as low as practical to stretch your battery life.
5) If you need the keyboard light on, go ahead and use it. It won't have a significant impact on your battery life.

I hope some of you find this info useful. Let me know if you have any questions.

 

I'm currently hunting for a 3 cell main battery. Just trying my luck, have anyone here bought from this listing before? If so, is that a 3 cell or a 6 cell? P/N on the listing says 3 cell while the specs sheet appear to be 6.

Or any other places to get a 3 cell battery?

 

That is advertised as 4000maH battery, so it is not a 3 cell. A 3 cell will have about half the capacity.

If you think about modern cells and how much they weigh, a AA rechargeable battery has about an average of 1500maH of capacity, so a 3 cell will save you the weight of about 2-3 AA batteries AT MOST, I'm guessing, but it's a very educated guess.

My x301 with DVDRW drive and 6 cell batteries weighs 3 pounds 3.5 ounces for your reference.

Also, you would be wasting a lot of money spending that much money when you can get this equivalent battery, which I just got and fits, works, and looks just like stock...

Laptop Battery for IBM ASM 42T4523 FRU 42T4518 FRU 42T4522 | eBay

 

I would also go with the 6 cell battery as the main. It provides a decent amount of battery life without too much more weight.

 

I'd do the same thing.

 

Thanks for the help! I actually wanted to make my X300 as light as possible but I don't think I will have a choice, it seems that there is hardly any reasonable 3-cell main or the bay battery out there in the market, whether genuine or 3rd party ones.

 

If you don't need the ODD while you travel, you can get the blank cover for the bay drive and lighten your load that way. I guess I'm a bit less concerned about weight when I travel because I keep the 6 cell and 3 cell bay batteries in when I'm on the road. I also keep a spare 6 cell in my bag. I can normally stretch an easy 8 hours out of that combination without skimping on power or display brightness.

 

I was wondering if anyone here has Toshiba 1.8" 128GB SSD installed in their X30* and if they were happy with its performance?

I'm thinking about ordering one from 1.8" 128GB TOSHIBA SATA SSD FOR IBM Thinkpad X300 X301 T400S Dell XT2 d4200 HDD | eBay

Would that be an OK deal?
Thanks!

 

Toshiba is slow, I'd rather recommend something like this: Intel x18 M SSDSA1M160G2GN 160GB1 8" Usata Solid State Drive SSD | eBay

Keep your eyes open for a Crucial C300/C400. Those are the fastest SSD's available for the X301.

 

Great, will try to find Crucial C300/C400 then =)

 

You're going to pay a lot more for a 1.8" drive. Instead, if there is a significant price difference (which there likely will be) I recommend an msata drive with an Areca msata to 1.8" adapter. A few posts back, I have links to exactly what I bought. I am very happy with the measured performance, capacity of the drive, and the price I paid. It was also a no-fuss installation. It just worked.

 

someone can confirm that Lenovo Power Manager (graphical interface - like in windows 7) works in windows 8.1 x64 ?
seems that also HotKey doesnt work ,seriously i just hateeeeeee windows 8.1 .

 

Why not stick with Windows 7 if you hate Windows 8? The X301's supplied drivers are all for Windows 7.

 

Because i already spent my money to buy 1 retail license of Windows 8.1

 

I guess if there's not a choice, since you already bought Win8 and don't want to go with Windows 7, install Win8 and find out. We'll help you work through problems.

Honestly, the power manager is not that big of a deal in my opinion. I think all the power settings are built into windows anyway. The hotkeys to control the radios are more of a bigger deal, which by the way are not managed by the power manager software, if I recall correctly.

I was able to set up some command line things for turning on/off bluetooth which may work for you if the function key (hotkey) doesn't work. You could setup some desktop shortcuts perhaps. Anyway, sounds like you already made your choice for Win8, so install it and be on the road to a working system, hopefully to your satisfaction.

 

Hotkeys should be available with exception of the brightness on screen display. Due to the newer Intel graphics driver that comes with Win 8 that information isn't shown anymore. Volume etc. works.

The power manager should also work as far as I know. If necessary just try installing it in compatibility mode.

I'd recommend Win 8 anyway, the X301 feels a lot snappier with it.

 

Power manager is the one program I don't even use in Windows 7.

 

Hi to all,

Just bought a new bay battery for my X301,but i have a little problem !!

Both battery can be seen in the power manager program, as well as their charge state,same are in good condition.
6 cell main battery - 39 cycle
3 cell bay battery - new - 1 cycle

The problem is that once the bay battery is drained the system goes immediate shutdown rather than using the primary battery.

if I dont remove the drained secondary battery, or plug the AC power, even the primary battery is 100%, my laptop cant boot.

I try with both Win7Pro and Win8.1 , all drivers up to date from lenovo site - in both cases the problem persist in same mod !!

Have someone here experience the same problem ?

 

I have read somewhere that an aftermarket bay battery can have this effect. If I come across the discussion I'll link it. I forget if there is a solution.

 

this is insane, because an OEM bay battery is very expensive : 42T4642 - battery 3 cel - 215 EUR

i bought this 3 cel bay battery from BattPit amazon.uk

 

Machine is cool. Got the password and all is good.

 

Hopefully, your seller had the password.

 

For some reason I doubt that...

 

Machine is so light.