T430s owners'/would-be owners' thread.

There are different manufacturers for the same model, with different parts suppliers.

 

Yeah, just look at the FRU BOM document. But, so what? I buy a product from Lenovo, I don't buy parts from different manufacturers.

On top of that, fit-and-finish reflects assembly/manufacturing quality and has nothing to do with the part suppliers.

 

Just got a new T430s (to replace my T410s). I have now installed Windows 7 (64) and Windows XP (32) on a dual boot. Windows 7 has been set up with the AHCI driver but the AHCI driver provided by Lenovo for XP (g1im15ww) does not seem to work (I get a BSOD). So I have to switch AHCI/Compatibility when I change OS. Has anyone been able to get a working AHCI driver on XP?

 

Yes, using the driver from intel.com

 

Thanks. Could you be more specific? It is taking a long time to plough through the site.

 

Sure.

Download http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&DwnldID=21730&ProdId=2101&lang=eng

This is the driver package I used (f6flpy-x86.zip) to create a 3.5" floppy for the F6 method during Windows XP Pro x86 installation. If you don't have a compatible USB floppy drive, I hope you are good at slipstreaming drivers into the Windows XP setup process.

Here is a snip of the floppy contents.



After the driver loads up and you are prompted for the SATA family, I used "Intel 7 Family AHCI".

XP setup proceeded without issue afterwards.

 

Thanks. I tried these but they did not work. In fact, they appear to be the same ones as Lenovo provide and wiith which I already had problems.

Was this also on a T430s?
I installed XP and have been trying to add the AHCI driver afterwards. I did this for Windows 7 on the T430s. I did it also for other PCs, including the T410s. If the driver works from install, it should also work when post-installed, I would have thought.

 

Let me be clear. I created the 3.5" floppy and installed them using the F6 method. I installed Windows XP Pro x86 to a fresh 7mm HDD in our T430s.

I know what you are trying to do. I provided some links to helpful articles in the post at Re: T430s - dual boot XP and Win7 on new pc? - Page 2 - Lenovo Community

I will warn though that Windows XP is fickle and doesn't always want to cooperate in the way the articles suggest. I personally have not had much success with those methods. It's the reason I tried to old floppy method. It almost always works and it did nicely with the T430s. Therefore, you know the driver I pointed you at works.

Looks like Amazon.com: D353FUE MITSUMI D353FUE MITSUMI D353FUE: Everything Else is nearly identical to the drive I have. Same Mitsumi model number. The Mitsumi is listed in the intel readme's as compatible.

Might be worth $20 for a drive and some media to support your short and long term XP needs.

 

Thanks Thors. As you say, I had to reinstall Windows XP with the drivers on my external floppy. These drivers are not in the latest Driver Packs for nLite, so I am going to try to insert them into my install usb with BartPE/Windows7/WindowsXP for future use.

I did have a problem, however. I had Windows XP on the third partition (the first two being taken by Windows 7). The install somehow screwed up and could not find ntldr (looking on the first partition, I suspect). Also, the MBR got screwed. I had to delete the Windows XP partition, shift the Windows7_OS partition down and stretch the SYSTEM_DRV partition (the first partition) so I could install XP on it.

It is a good arrangement. Windows 7 does not 'see' the first partition that contains Windows XP. Windows7_OS is c: drive. I will try to hide the Windows7_OS drive in Windows XP.

 

Was windows 7 already installed when you did the windows xp install?

 

Yes. I know it was not the best arrangement for a dual boot (as I found out), but it seems to have worked for others. At least I have a clean install of both OSs now.

(My next problem is how to get these storage drivers onto usb. In BartPE, it seems that I cannot isolate the XP drivers from drivers for the other OSs and I get BSODs. The drivers seem to be organised differently. It means there is little likelihood of creating an XP install running from usb alone.)

 

I could understand all the trouble if you building an image and process to deploy to a 1000+ workstations, but for a single machine you are doing this the hard way. At this point the topic really isn't about a T430s. It is about Windows installation so I would recommend a more suitable forum and venue for questions about those issues.

 

Yes, of course. However, the particular relevance for the T430s is that the AHCI drivers for XP cannot yet install via slipstreaming, nor after installation of XP. They require a floppy disk drive during XP installation. T430s owners may need to be aware of this issue.

 

Superdeal!!!

Samsung 840-Series 250GB 2.5-inch SATA III Internal SSD Desktop/Notebook Kit for $149.99

Samsung 840 Series 250GB 2 5" SATA III Internal SSD Desktop Notebook Kit 887276006673 | eBay

 

Anyone run into problems doing a fresh install of W7 on an Samsung 840? I get the "Windows can not install. . ." message, and it only goes away when running in "Compatibility" mode.

 

It's farly easy to install the SSD. Left top side when you turn it up side down its a little screw, pop it out and yust open the little hood. Drag out the little black plastic and the HDD comes out(yust drag it strait out) The metall box that are around the HDD screw it loose from the sides and place it on the SSD. Also the black rubber place it on the sides.

Put in the SSD and you're done.

PS: be sure to remember what way the plugs where so you set the SSD the right way inside again.

 

Having a really weird problem right now with my T430s. All of a sudden USB ports aren't working and Thunderbolt devices are flakey (i.e. showing up in Disk Management but not in Windows Explorer and I cannot assign a drive letter). I eventually noticed under Device Manager that what should be called 'System Devices' there's an entry called 'Unknown' - actually there are two categories called 'Unknown' and what's under each are what you would normally see un 'System Devices'. I've tried manually over-writing the Intel Chipset drives and uninstalling devices but when I reboot it just installs the devices under the 'Unknown' again. I'm thinking a factory reinstall is probably in order.

I'm attaching a screenshot here for reference:

 

There doesn't seem to be a way of creating a full set of recovery disks in Windows 8 on the T430s. The only option is to create a "repair disk"... There is no option in the Lenovo ThinkVantage application to create factory recovery disks. Does anyone have suggestions?

EDIT: NVM, I think it's possible, but USB flash drive is the only way to go in Win 8.

 

I know this is a shameful question to ask: Thors or anyone, I've migrated my OS and data to my new SSD. (Samsung 840 pro). How do I step by step make the SSD the bootable drive in BIOS, given that the computer is still booting from the HDD.

 

My method has always been to backup the HDD with Acronis True Image Home 2013, remove it from the notebook, install the SSD, and restore to the SSD.

 

The CD that came with your Samsung should have a utility called Data Migration. You hookup the Samsung SSD via USB, run the utility and it will clone your drive, take the HDD out and replace with the SSD and away you go. Just did this earlier tonight with a desktop. There may be issues cloning the service partition on the Thinkpad so the other way to go would be to use the factory restore discs with just the SSD installed and do a fresh install. You could use MS User Transfer before and after to move your data.

Here is a Samsung YouTube video showing the process - Samsung SSD - A Guide to using the Samsung Data Migration Tool - YouTube

 

Thanks for the info. Data migration worked fine, just needed to change the boot order in the BIOS and remove the HDD on first boot.
My first impressions of the T430s with SSD: it's simply amazing. The machine speed is truly impressive, keyboard feels great. As for all the screen-bashing I've been reading, I don't think it's justified. Sure, it's not a retina display. But the screen is more than fine, had I not read anything about it, I'm not sure I would've noticed any quality issues.

I'm running windows 8, which is actually a cool OS. Mind you, I'm coming from Max OSX. All in all, this computer is just astounding.

 

Just noticed today you CANNOT clone from a Samsung SSD to a Samsung SSD. I knew that the Data Migration was limited in copying/cloning TO a Samsung SSD. Just an FYI for anyone else out there.

 

Hi all
How easy is it to install a msata on a t430s?
Basically I want use the msata to bootup alongside with my regular hdd that came with it?

What kind of msata should i be looking at? Please recommend few links?

As for me...I have never opened a laptop

Please advise.

 

Since you're a photographer (took a look at your website, nice pictures btw) I was wondering how this configiuration was working out for you. I'm thinking of buying a T430s too. Don't know the configuration yet (it's either the i7 with HD4000 or the i5 with discrete graphics) but I guess you use photoshop quite a bit. As a designer I use it too from time to time. Do you use an external screen for photoshopping?

 

If you are going to do anything photography related using a Lenovo ThinkPad, you are going to need to use external panels. The notebook panels just aren't very good. The IPS screen available for the X230 is decent, but it is a small screen and isn't for everyone. On the opposite end of the scale is the FHD screen on the W530 which is also considered very good. It is even better calibrated.

The 14" screens in the middle of the pack are pretty lame so don't expect much and you won't be disappointed.

 

That's why I was asking, obviously. Still, some photographers take their laptops with them to watch the pictures 'on scene' on a bigger display then on the small lcd on their cameras. Hence the portability of a 14inch.

 

I would say it's working out pretty well. Yes, definitely must have a proper external panel for Photoshop; the laptop monitor is weak ( details here). Having had the machine for a while now, I would say that the i7 is probably worth the upgrade if you work with large RAW files. If I'm processing a large batch of 5D MKIII CR2 files, I definitely feel the processor being pushed to the max. One thing I appreciate about the T430s is the ability to up the RAM far beyond what any ultrabooks allow at a reasonable price.

ETA: Discrete graphics aren't necessary for Photoshop - the HD4000 is totally adequate. But as I'm sure you know, it's awfully RAM hungry.

 

Physically, it's barely more complicated than upgrading the RAM - maybe 3 easily removed screws. See page 68 of the Hardware Maintenance Manual. Of course, if you plan to run your OS off the mSATA, there are some complications. You'll want to read something like Hearst's Guide to Clean Installing on a ThinkPad. I'm using this drive, but there are newer versions, and Crucial and Mushkin are both making good options.

ETA: Keep in mind the mSATA connection is SATA II, not SATA III, so there's no point in going overboard trying to max our the read/write capability of the drive, since that's not where the bottleneck is.

 

I'll add some additional food for thought that isn't often discussed. I'm pretty sure Lenovo (and most of the OEMs) don't support booting the OS from the mSATA drive.

That doesn't mean it doesn't work. It simply means if you hit a problem/bug, you may be asked to re-create the issue on the originally shipped configuration. Lenovo doesn't ship ANY configurations with the OS on the mSATA drive. They only ship a mSATA drive when it is used as a high speed cache for a HDD.

Cool pics nrbelex. The Jimmy Carter shot stopped me in my tracks.

 

The webshop where I plan to buy my T430s offers to build in a 80gb mSATA from Intel (310 series) for 209 euros (159 euros for the mSATA + 50 euros for buiding it in). That's without VAT. Going for the Crucial option too.

Could have used that guide when I ed up my girlfriend's x121e btw.

 

You're being too kind.

True. (That FHD AUO 15.6" screen has 95% color gamut coverage, natively. Calibration makes per-screen color presentation more precise. Professional phographers tend to care about such things. Most people who look at famiy snapshots? Not really.)

True.

 

got my t430s yesterday and already having issues with it.
the whole system is too slow and top of that i was facing connectivity issues...the internet connection was very slow and it would took forever top open webpages...the connection would drop most of the time...it has the intel centrino adavanced N6205 adapter (there was nothing wrong with my Internet service as it was running fine in my other laptop)

I talked with the lenovo tech people and they said that I probably have a bad adapter...they suggested me to uninstall the driver but it wasn't uninstalling either...finally decided to return the laptop

the resolution sucked also..my 4 year old laptop has a better resolution than this..

 

Sorry if this has been answered before, but why the hell did they switch the keyboards? I LOVE the keyboard on my T420. I am really not a fan of the island style keyboards. How does it compare? Is it an improvement or a step backwards?

 

Had a slow connection on a x121e too. And sometimes totally unexpected it would say that there was no wifi whereas every other piece of equipment had no problems. Contacted the people where it was bought. They said that it was a common thing with the x121e. So I called Lenovo tech. Said it was a driver issue. I picked up a screwdriver and found out that one of the two cables attached to the wlan card was not attached. Probably happened when the thing was bought and the people at the webshop upgraded the RAM.

The screen by itself is not the best. You should have picked the 1600x900 upgrade to make something out of it.

 

Anyone cares to revisit this topic?

 

Not especially.

 

I'll go. I much prefer the island style. Took a few days to get used to it, but now that I have an X230, I can type much faster than on my T520, which I sold.

Both are great, I just prefer the newer design.

(hides)

 

Oh, I think we should. Especially since many of us have had the keyboard for 6+ months.

I'll start:

1. The layout sucks
2. As far as chiclet keyboards go, they rock.
3. Compared to previous ThinkPad keyboards, they suck.

Did I leave anything out?

 

Largely agree with the above. The layout is weak. They keys themselves are not as objectionable as I was worried they might be. Illumination is appreciated.

 

Lenovo probably should have waited another product cycle to think more about changing the layout because they went just a little too far with that. I do prefer having Pg up/down near the arrow keys, but other things like the keypad (even if rarely used) are omitted unnecessarily. The Thinkvantage button turning into 'Blackbutton' is just ridiculous.

I'm fine with 'island' keys... they are still sculpted (not flat) and the mechanism underneath them is still the same. They do feel a bit easier to type on than the old key shape, and any benefits they bring in slimness and dirt-rejection are welcome.

The quality of the new keyboard does seem to be lacking, however. Keys are popping off for some people, and others like myself have a keyboard assembly that is loose in the lower-right and vibrates vertically when the arrow keys are used (which is almost always). Also in my case, the rear bezel of the keyboard doesn't extend back far enough and I can see some of the motherboard by peering down the back. IOW, the keyboard fits poorly into the laptop housing and Lenovo's tolerances are becoming crap.


On Wireless:

Mine is working OK, but its an issue for many other Thinkpad users. I discovered tonight that my T430s has an antenna wire routing snafu just waiting to cause antenna damage (maybe other people are getting bit by this without realizing it). It might explain a lot of the low link quality and disconnect issues some people have been experiencing.

 

Has anyone here with a T430s (or any Lenovo with the same chip) found drivers to boot BartPE in AHCI mode without switching to Compatibility mode? It would be convenient not to have to enter BIOS each time I change the boot device.

 

I replaced the SSD830 by an SSD840pro. (the old one goes to my wife). Here are the results:


This shows a big icrease. I should note that the SSD840 had 22 GB overprovisioning additional to what the drive already has internally, which may or may not influence the result.

But I also measured some other things:

Code:

                                       SSD830    SSD840pro
boot into Win7                           9,65s     9,91s
login                                   24s       22,65s
VS 2008 project rebuild                 60s       60s

Interesting, no significant change could be measured. Says something about the little relevance of synthetic benchmarks.

 

Thanks for saying it outloud.

 

I received my T430s yesterday that was ordered from Lenovo Outlet. I got a good deal on it that pushed me over the edge to consider it and overlook the "bad" screen.

I was really afraid of the bad screen and coming from Macbook Pro 15" (Early 2008), It is comparable/similar to my eyes with my short time using it. I understand that I am comparing it to a 5 year old screen but there are not any good choices when it comes to PC laptops comparable to the quality of Thinkpads.

I am glad I went with the T430s instead of X230, the screen quality is decent/okay if you are looking straight or sharing the screen with somebody else. Everything else is perfect to me about it; the resolution, the keyboard, fan noise, heat, and even the trackpad is good. Just wished that the backlit has an auto option!

I have a couple of questions:
1. I have a Crucial M4 SSD 9mm, Will this model fit to replace the HDD slot?
2. Can I use the mSATA slot as additional drive/space/another OS or is it limited to cache?
3. The ultra-bay battery, does it have to be a white-listed part or can I purchase a third-party from amazon?
4. My expresscard came empty. Where can I purchase the same one Lenovo offers? Or does it come pre-built + an additional expresscard on T430s?

Thanks in advance!

 

7mm.

You can populate the PCI-Express WWAN/mSATA slot with mSATA SSD and set it up as you wish.

You can insert an ExpressCard device (not necessarily sold by Lenovo) into the empty ExpressCard slot. Such a device may provide a media adapter or additional USB 3.0 ports, for example.

Welcome to the forum!

 

The battery has to have a chip in it or it won't charge. Some early Lenovo batteries are incompatible with the T430s. The model that I use with my T430s is the Part# 0A36310.

 

Hi Guys,
My T430s automatically clicks the left mouse button sometimes. Do any of you experienced the same issue? can anyone help me with a solution
Thanks

 

I had the same problem. It were the trackpad buttons that caused this. It stopped after turning the trackpad buttons off in the UltraNav tab of the mouse settings. Later I hade it repaired by Lenovo.

 

Thanks for the suggestion. I did the same and the clicking stopped. So, what needs to be repaired on the computer?

I thought it was my $4 mouse that I bought at fry's 5 years ago, but it is not.

Thanks.