T430 Owner's Thread

Just so you know, installing mSATA in the T430 is the same as installing a RAM, 30 second job. Let us know how it goes.

 

Ummm...that's not good! I wonder what Lenovo is thinking on this issue. As per the threads that I have been reading about this, I believe for a competent engineer (like the ones in the Lenovo and ThinkPad labs), reworking the controller would be - at the most - a week's worth of work. It would make life better for the loyalist ThinkPad folks. But then again, what do I know about how mega-corps work...

 

I work for a mid-size company and any change has to go through more than 30 regression tests to see if anything is broken by the new change. Probably lenovo is not much different.

 

I doubt they are working on fixing the fan issue at all... at least not in the way we think of "fixing the problem". According to all those threads on Lenovo forums, this has been a problem since the last generation, and obviously nothing has been done about it. I wouldn't hold my breath for a fix... choose another laptop or try to find a set of tpfc settings that you are happy with.

 

I will comment on the fan noise or the lack of it when mine comes next week.

 

oh awesome! I didn't know that :thumbsup:

One more question; I've heard that the Crucial M4 mSATA SSD's don't come with the screws to screw it in......would you happen to know what size it is or can I get away with not screwing it in?

 

None of the mSATA SSD packages I've come across contains a screw. Lenovo does provide one, right there, in the mSATA/WWAN slot.



See the shining screw cap? The other thing is not a screw: it's a gray plastic dome that fits tightly into the other hole of the mSATA SSD board.

 

ahhh awesome!
Thanks!

 

Anybody here has windows 8 installed? Does the laptop seem to get hotter? Especial he are under the mouse?

Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk HD

 

I don't see any problem with that. Just slot it in the spare PCI-e slot and activate the mSATA drive by formatting it using Disk Management under Windows.


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Wow that's really similar to what I got too. Should be receiving it next week.

I have a question though. I will be swapping the internal HDD for my existing 80GB SSD. I will be doing a clean install of Windows. Would I need to install all the Lenovo software as well? And does the official nVidia driver work well or do you guys prefer a desktop-driver port?

Also, is there any WWAN card for the T430 in the market that supports LTE?

Thanks!

 

You don't need to install any of the TP stuff other than the drivers if you don't want it. Some of them aren't really all that useful. Personally I just use PowerManager, HotKey functionality, and the UltraNav utility.

 

Folks, thanks for the help on my previous post. I'm still hesitating a little to choose the final config for my T430. My question now refers to the battery life with 6 cell compared to the 9 cell. I've seen plenty of reviews featuring the 9 cell, but I haven't found any that mentions the realistic battery life of the 6 cell. It would be great to have the 9 cell, however I'm a little bit concerned about weight. The difference between the 6 and the 9 cell is about 0.4lb (based on the 5.2lb vs 4.8lb total weights reported).

Anyone with the 6-cell and integrated graphics can report a realistic average battery life with light/medium usage?

 

You can do about 7-8w with the proper configuration if you're careful about screen brightness and extra processes. On the 56WHr battery, that's about six hours.

 

Yeah I think 5-6 hrs of normal office use is no issue at all. Optimus is pretty good so if the NVS is not been used it draws virtually no power, my battery life is closer to five than six, probably because I have BT enabled and a power hungry SSD.

 

hey guys; something weird has been happening to my T430 and it'll suddenly lock up at times. I figured out what was causing it today.....sudden RAM spikes chewing up all my RAM :O

look at the attached screenshot. (audiodg.exe is chewing up over 2GB of RAM) I've got another 4GB stick coming in to upgrade my RAM to 8GB....but in the mean time any ideas what could be causing the RAM spike?

This happens at random.

I'm using dolby v4 right now for more customization but I'm pretty sure that isn't whats causing this to happen.

 

Could audiodg.exe be the problem? a virus or a malware?

 

If I kill the process tree it shuts of the sound.... It must be the audio management service.


Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

Just try re-installing the audio driver?

 

I have two problems with my T430 that I am looking for some help on.

The first is that Dolby advanced audio isn't working all of a sudden and this pop-up keeps coming up.



The second problem is that I have had several blue screens recently and I don't know why. The error that it shows is IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

 

I am attempting to set up a SSD + HDD system, with the SSD in the primary hard drive bay, and the HDD in an ultrabay adapter, but I'm having problems!

I have successfully installed the SSD and done a clean install of Windows 7 on it, but my HDD in the ultrabay adapter is not being recognized.

As far as I can tell, there is no sign that the drive is being recognized. No pop-ups, no entry in the device manager, nothing. I think I hear the drive spinning, but I'm not sure.

I have tried two hard drives in the adapter and neither of them worked, and I have confirmed that both of the hard drives are still functional by testing them in another computer.

My best guess right now is simply that the adapter that I received is a dud. I bought a cheap ebay adapter that I believe was recommended in this forum, maybe even earlier in this thread: NEW SATA 2nd HDD HARD DRIVE caddy for 12.7mm Universal CD/DVD-ROM adapter DV25 | eBay

I'd hate to buy another one only to find that the adapter wasn't the source of the problem.

Does anyone have any ideas?

 

do you have another adapter to test with?

or maybe swappping the HDD and SSD to confirm?
Contact the ebay seller?

 

I don't have another adapter, unfortunately.

I haven't tried swapping the HDD and SSD, but I think trying out two HDDs, both of which I've confirmed to be working in a second laptop, essentially serves the same function (ie: confirming that it's not a problem with the HDD).

Now that I've listened closely, I'm pretty sure that the HDD is in fact NOT spinning. It's just sitting in there, as if it were dead. Except, of course, I know that it's not dead.

Also, I have confirmed that the optical drive still works in the ultrabay, so I know that the ultrabay is working.

 

All those observations point to a bad UltraBay HDD caddy adapter: its connector does not make the proper power and electrical connections with the UltraBay connector. Spend $15 on another one.

 

Definitely the adapter, ask the seller to send you another one.

 

How hard is it to replace the 1x1 wifi card with a 2x2 intel centrino 6205 card? Can I just buy one off of ebay?

 

Not that hard. Make sure you buy a Lenovo branded card with a FRU on it. It won't boot otherwise.

 

Very easy to swap. Extremely hard to get the new card to work. BIOS whitelist prevents you from willy-nilly putting in any card purchased off ePray (which, in certain cases, a factory reject item).

 

If I order one off ebay with the right FRU number, will it work?

And I don't see the 6205 listed in the parts list for some reason. Anyone know the FRU number?

 

If the ThinkPad was ever sold in a configuration which included that FRU, yes. Otherwise it's a definite maybe.

 

The laptop has the 2x antennas I need, even if it came with a 1x card originally, correct?

So this should work?:
Lenovo Thinkpad x220 x220i t420 60Y3253 Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6205 Wifi Card | eBay

 

I have two problems with my T430 that I am looking for some help on.

The first is that Dolby advanced audio isn't working all of a sudden and this pop-up keeps coming up.

View attachment 85832

The second problem is that I have had several blue screens recently and I don't know why. The error that it shows is IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

 

IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL is usually a driver issue, if you have updated drives recently and know which ones were updated, try uninstalling the updates and see if that works. I've seen posts related to IRQL ranging a bunch of different drivers so without seeing a pic of the BSOD I can't say much more.

Not sure about the Dolby issue, I saw the op a few days ago.

 

So I want to replace my T430 screen with an HD+ screen. I have a T420 with HD+ and tried to swap the LED displays, however, it didn't work correctly. The color was off and instead of being one display, it was quartered so there were 4 small equal sized displays! I then replaced the LED display with the original and it's working fine. I've seen some posts here stating they purchased a T420 screen and cable off ebay and it worked! So do I need to swap both the screen AND cable from the T420? If not, then can someone point me in the right direction to purchase a compatible HD+ screen for my T430?
I do a good bit of RDP sessions and this low resolution is killing me!

Thanks
J:

 

I just got my T430! The screen is really disappointing, comparing to my old Vostro 1500. It seems grainy, which happened to my Vostro as well, but I managed to get the LCD swapped for a LG-Philips one which was far superior.

Anyhow, how should I proceed with reinstalling on the SSD? I was reading through the thread here. Is it the same? And I guess I wouldn't be able to go for Option A, just B?

I don't mind keeping the recovery partition on the HDD, but I do not want it to go on my SSD.

Thanks!

 

Are certain LCD displays that come on the laptop better?

 

This is specifically for the Dell Vostro 1500. The LCDs come from LG-Philips, Samsung and another Chinese company that starts with A which I can't recall. LG-Philips' LCDs were FAR better than the other two.

Here's a sample thread with users experiencing that: http://forum.notebookreview.com/dell/228235-lg-vs-samsung-lcd-screen-vostro-1500-please-help.html

It took me several replacements before I got LG-Philips. I was told repeatedly that it's a random choice, whatever gets sent to the on-site technician. I then told the Dell TSR specifically that I probably won't stop until I get LG-Philips. Being at the other side of customer service right now, I definitely would've been seen as a difficult customer, but I definitely was not going to settle for an inferior product due to chance. After that call, I got the LG-Philips, and let me tell you, the difference was simply remarkable.

 

My laptop comes with the 1x wifi card. Does all laptops come with 2 antennas in them (just one disconnected), so I can upgrade to a 6205 card from ebay?

 

I'm pretty sure they should all have at least two antennas.

 

What is the size needed for recovery media? I went out to buy an 8GB USB flash drive, but I am getting the message that there is not enough space in there. I have followed the instructions on http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/detail.page?LegacyDocID=MIGR-74246

I called in to technical support and was denied support because my warranty does not show up on their system, even though it does on lenovo.com/warrantystatus which ironically is where the hold "music" asks me to go check on my warranty. Terrible service.

 

So I decided to forgo the recovery media - at least for now. Plugged in my SSD and tried to install Windows but failed. The SSD currently has Windows Ultimate loaded on it from my previous system, and I have a USB loaded with Home Premium. It boots up fine, in fact I am using it right now to type this, but I want to carry out a clean install to rid off the drivers and junks carried over from my Vostro.

Screenshots below show my attempt at installing Windows onto this SSD.






Got the driver from Intel Rapid Storage Technology Driver Windows 7 (64-bit), Vista (64-bit) and XP (64-bit) - ThinkPad





What am I doing wrong?

 

It seems to be asking for your ultrabay DVDRW driver, which is weird since it never asked me when I did the clean install. Besides you are using the thumbdrive created from the ISO file right? So it shouldn't even be using the optical drive.

 

Yup, I used the Microsoft's ISO to USB tool on the ISO I downloaded off Digital River. Hmm I didn't even think about that it was asking for the DVDRW driver. I'll try to look for the driver later, either that or I'll remove the Ultrabay drive before doing the install. Hopefully that would work.

 

Is the USB stick plugged into the yellow powered USB 2.0 port?

 

I couldn't find a driver for the DVD drive, just a firmware update utility. So I tried it without the drive in Ultrabay, same message.

The one with Windows is not, the one containing the driver is. Does it matter? Guess I'll swap it off and try.

Btw, the yellow port is supposed to be the always-on port right? I plug my mouse into the other port, but it (or at least its LEDs) seem to remain on despite having shut down Windows.

LOL. Got it fixed.

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...sing-usb/61eda679-66cc-4512-b175-d02871394461

That was all that was needed. DOH!

 

Glad you got it figured out, Microsoft got confused.....

 

Same issue here:

E430 Dolby Advanced Audio Issue - Lenovo Community

I had the same issue on a couple of E430's recently. Basically, Go to add/remove programs and uninstall the HD Conexant Audio Driver. Windows will uninstall and then reinstall the default audio driver. Reboot and then run the Lenovo Upgrade Advisor Tool again and re-download and install the Audio Driver and all should be updated and the error should go away.

Also for anyone having problems with Windows Update failing, I found that installing updates 1 at a time will resolve it.

 

Have a questions for those knowlefdgeable out there. What is the better performer, NVIDIA Optimus (NVS5200M) or the INtel 4000 running on the t430? my gut feel would be the NVIDIA but Lenovo charges more for the Intel 4000 and reviews on it are good but cannot find a comparator.

Responses please??

 

should it be NVS5400M rather than NVS5200M? NVS5400M is almost the same as GT630M and 25-30% more powerful than the intel HD4000.

 

nevermind
fixed it

enjoying my new mSATA SSD