ThinkPad X220 (i/T) Owners Thread

My wireless (6205) hangs on large file downloads, so I updated the driver through the Lenovo system update to no avail. Do I have to uninstall and then reinstall?

 

Any issues with Flash video in IE9 after upgrading to Flash 10.3? I am wondering if this issue impacts Sandy Bridge (Intel HD 3000/2000 as on the X220) as well as earlier Intel HD graphics?

Reported issues with Flash Player 10.3 and Internet Explorer 9 Adobe AIR and Adobe Flash Player Team Blog

Adobe says this is fixed in the Intel driver version ending in 2361 (April 13, 2011).

http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Det...rs&ProductProduct=Intel®+HD+Graphics&lang=eng

Lenovo only has an older version on their site - 8.15.10. 2321 (March 29, 2011)

Lenovo Support - Drivers and software - ThinkPad X220, X220 Tablet, X220i, X220i Tablet

 

I dont think so. Try manually updating by going to Lenovo's driver site. Use an ethernet cable.
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-77063

When I had wifi issues with the 6205 I could not even use a web browser, it was that slow, pages wouldn't even load. My problem may be different than yours if you're only having issues with large downloads.

The current driver version should be: 14.0.1.2

 

Finally, I got my x220i (i3 and standard led screen). It was actually really cheap with the student discount.
I love it. No serious problems so far. I've installed OS, drivers and all my crap. SC2 is working fluently on low details and native res. Temperature: 40-50 in idle, up to 75 in prime95/sc2. Fan is on all the time, but overall its pretty silent. No flex in any place.
Things I dont like:
- Screen is a little grainy,
- Touchpad/trackpoint aren't cooperating too well. If I use trackpoint's buttons or trackpoint itself, touchpad stops working for a sec. Hopefuly this minor issue will be fixed. Other than that I like both tracking devices,
- I think that fan extractor (hope its the right word lol) is kinda ill-placed. Should be like 0,5cm lower, because I can see the cooling coppere pipe. But temperatures are good, so no need to bother with it I guess.

 

8-10 seconds after I've logged in.

 

The BIOS update today seemed to fix my problems with it. It's now near instant (by the time I swipe my finger and get back to the desktop, I'm reconnected).

Edit: it may have also been the power manager update that fixed it. I did both at the same time.

 

Too lazy to do a screen shot at the moment:

Field Value
Device Properties
Device Description NEC uPD720200 USB 3.0 Host Controller
Bus Type PCI Express 2.0 x1
Bus / Device / Function 14 / 0 / 0
Device ID 1033-0194
Subsystem ID 17AA-21DA
Device Class 0C03 (USB Controller)
Revision 04
Fast Back-to-Back Transactions Not Supported

Device Features
66 MHz Operation Not Supported
Bus Mastering Enabled

 

I am on a slow and sporatic cellular connection atm, so I can't do much searching.

If you performed a clean install, check the X220 Windows Update Supplements for possible solutions.

Lenovo offers something called "Lenovo Instant Resume". This keeps the Wireless radio connected in Standby. Likely you need the Lenovo drivers for this to work.

The Lenovo Files ThinkPad Just Says No To Dropped Wireless Connections

 

Thank you so much!
PCI Express 2.0 runs at double the speed of PCI Express standard (1.0)... Effectively making it like a higher speed port - this means it'll run awesome stuff like hdmi capture!

 

HDMI at 4:2:2

 

That doesn't work for me since I have it set to do nothing when I close the lid. I put the machine to Standby manually.

 

Are these the only ones that need to be manually installed? What about the rest like ultranav, wifi, audio, etc?

 

This is sequence was for his issue "control the brightness of the display."

In the X220 thread, there are lists of essential drivers to install first. Follow the priority and use WIN update to install from fresh install and going forward. ThinkVantage is unnecessary software for updates is what I read.

Is your Intel SSD freezing due to Win LMR issue?

 

No I'm just updating everything on the factory image install, and read that System Update doesn't install everything in the correct order.

What Intel LMR issue?

 

If you read how to do a clean X220 install article and look under the section how to do a manual driver install using SWTOOL folder, it gives you the order of driver install to follow. I read that you only need to do the first four or so in order, then WIN UPDATE will take care of rest.

Apparently a board member had his Crucial SSD freeze for 30 sec intermittently and found someone in German with the solution. I read about the LMR issue causing this in the List of compatible SSD drives for X220 thread.

 

just wondering if anyone else's power connector (the yellow jack in the back) is a bit loose when you plug in the power connector (the jack moves around a bit).

 

Folks, I'm having a bit of a major issue I can't solve with my x220 (i7/6gb/160gb ssd).

It is connected to the AC, with the battery also plugges in. 99% charge.

When I play Civ 5 for any length of time, the CPU throttles down to 800mhz (8x multiplier) - which really hits performance drastically as you can imagine. CPU temp never gets above mid-70s using HWinfo32. Power Manager is configured to maximum performance.

Even when I reset the computer, the CPU doesn't throttle back up to normal speed - I have to actually shut-down and restart from cold for CPU to rethrttle back up.

I'm running bios 1.11. I really don't want to have to disable CPU power mgmt in the bios. This is kind of a deal breaker problem - no??

Any tips or guidance greatly appreciated - thanks.

Petrov.

 

Hey, I posted later that I did these steps after a fresh factory install. After the factory install I did a windows update until it was all finished, then I did a thinkpad update, which updates all the lenovo drivers and apps. It was after the windows update, and lenovo update that I did those steps.

I remember dealing with my x40, the lenovo factory image and the lenovo apps: It appears to be just as magical as before.

 

I think that is normal. My SL510 is like that. Works well.

 

I believe this is an overheating issue after all. I tried Civ 5 myself and it made my x220 i5 to overheat (reached 100 C and then throttled down to a permanent 800hmz state untill i rebooted). If you run a maximum turbo power profile the cpu:s will run at 3200mhz almost constantly when playing civ 5.

If i play games on my x220 i just turn it upside down, helps with the cooling, otherwise heat accumulates beneath it. So try that, and/or create a powerprofile that doesn't run at full turbo, or, get one of those laptop pads that help with the cooling. But imo i haven't tried to play it for very long. Could you perhaps try to create som kind of cooling, maybe even a simple kitchen fan and see if that makes any difference?

 

Guys I have a small question, is the thinkpad x220 heavier or lighter than the thinkpad x201 (with the same battery)?

 

This thread lists the x201 weights:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/lenovo-ibm/499777-lenovo-x201-real-weight.html

Seems its a tiny bit less weight except with the 9 cell battery.

 

So if I have the x220 with 9-cell battery it is actually HEAVIER than the x201? shame shame...

 

Interesting points. Strangely, once it throttles down, it won't throttle back up unless you do a cold boot - a simple restart wont reset the cpu clock to 3ghz!

Petrov.

 

Hey guys (especially those who still own or have recently owned previous X series notebooks), I just wanted to check with you all on the keyboard: I tried two X220s in two different stores, and the keyboard stinks. Next to them were the older X201, and the keyboards were way better, along with my own X61. Is that the case with you? The new keyboards have less defined "click" and as a result are way softer in tactile feedback. Personally that is a huge setback, but I wonder if it's just a sample issue?

 

I think the quieter keyboard is intentional. I prefer mine clicky-clacky too.

 

Ok, the Mac user part is not to stir emotions but rather to quickly explain that I am scared. I have not owned a Windows machine as my primary computer for ages and now the X220 will be just that.

I have read all 70+ pages of this thread and have to admit some fear. The saving grace is that I used to build my own PC boxes back in the day so I am not unfamiliar with the ideas of drivers and troubleshooting in the Windows environment. I ordered an i5 w/IPS and 7200 320gb. I am going to primarily use this as a mobile culling/light editing laptop in my photography business. I decided to get it over the Macbook Pro 13" for the slightly smaller size (I know, usually us photo people want bigger screens), better display and the overall better specs for about $400 less.

That said, I wondered what advice you'd give me for when I get my delivery on Thursday 5/26. I don't really want to do a full OS reinstall but will if it will help my performance and save drive space. I guess since I am new again to the Windows world I wanted to see if that was just a thing everyone does when they get a new computer or just those interested in max benchmarks. I would love to just open the box and enjoy the machine but will take your advice. Thanks in advance for making my switch easier.

 

Hi. I don't see any reason why you can't just open the machine and get started using it. Much of the trouble has come from us installing aftermarket SSD's. Be forewarned though, the ips screen does have 2 annoyances, first is the "ghosting" issue, and the fact that the color space is LESS than sRGB. The Greens in this LCD are especially weak. I have a hardware color calibrator to tell.

 

Thanks! As for the IPS being less than RGB, forgive me for being somewhat ignorant of these things but from what I understood, this display is better than those on the Macbook Pros, is that not correct? I am not concerned so much about color accuracy with this laptop. I will primarily be using it for culling down large sets of images in Lightroom and doing some preset based adjustments that I don't really need to see absolute correct color to judge.

I briefly owned the MBP 13" i5 a few weeks ago and the glossy screen killed me. I didn't want to spend $2000 on this machine (read: 15" MBP) so the X220 seemed a perfect fit.

Thanks also for clarifying the "issues" I keep reading about. I don't have any plans of making hardware swaps right away. Maybe a SSD sometime down the road. So you think I am good to go out of the box?

 

I have a MacBook Pro 15" as well as the X220 and would say that the colors on the MBP are better. I don't use the X220 for serious editing though so it's not an issue for me. The MBP is my desktop replacement for use at home, the X220 is for traveling.

Yes, just boot it and start using it. As stated earlier, the issues have been with reinstalls of Windows for whatever reason. The X220 is a great machine right out of the box.

 

Thanks Larry. I am lurking while I have time to. Curious. ALL the reviews and most of the posts here suggest the IPS display on the X220 is one of the best going right now and superior to the MBP. If the color is not better, and the resolution is similar, is all that superiority based simply on viewing angles?

 

Yeah, accuracy, and the size of gamut are not commensurate. Your monitor's gamut should be, at minimum, the same size of the gamut that your output space is. For most work on the internet and HD video, the gamut is sRGB.

Accuracy also is determined by the tracking of the gamma curve. On this account, the x220's LCD is very good. The brightness values are very well spread out between the darkest, and lightest shades.

So as a recap. The gamma curve tracking on the IPS lcd is very good. The color gamut, however, is not. While I was NOT expecting a high gamut display, I was hoping that the gamut would be a bit better.

EDIT: Also, viewing angles are very good, I will say that.

 

Ok, so obviously though I am a professional photographer (20+ years) I have not really paid that much attention to my spec on my monitors. Of course I have mostly had iMacs, Macbook Pros (G4ti) and Apple displays so maybe I didn't really need to worry much about specs. All I am concerned about is if I will find this display "pleasing" or not. I have used crappy monitors as a 2nd display on my iMac and have HATED them. So this talk of the IPS being somehow not great is scaring me a bit. I know I didn't like the glossy of the MBP 13" so the matte is a great improvement already. At the end of the day are we splitting hairs here and this is a great display with a few minor flaws or could these things be a deal breaker?

 

Considering these are probably the first negative comments I've ever read about the screen on the X220, I think it's probably just splitting hairs. I wouldn't stress it, personally.

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying one is better than the other for everyone or that I've done any "real" technical comparison. I just prefer the colors and brightness on the MBP for photo/video editing over the X220 in my own workflow.

Nothing negative about either display for me, just a personal preference.

 

Just an update, here is a screen shot of my system undergoing the "semi permanent" throttling of the i7 down from 3.2ghz to 800mhz in one foul swoop after gaming or 3dmark06 runs. AC and battery plugged in at the same time, 1.11 bios, max turbo settings under power manager Only "curable" with a cold reboot (until it throttles again...), and it's one-way throttling.



Petrov.

 

Man that's disheartening. I've been reading about your issue and I find it odd that nobody else seems to care or have it.

Out of curiosity, are you playing in DX9 or DX11? Have you tried dropping to DX9 and throttling your graphics to minimum to see how that affects it? I know Civ is very CPU intensive as the game drags on so having it throttle down seems like a terrible thing for that game (a game which I was hoping to play on my X220!).

Oh, and have you read of any reports of this happening with the i5 or is it only the i7?

 

Thanks mate - it's disheartening for me too, as it makes the whole experience a bit of a disaster! Interesting point, both 3dm06 and civ5 are (or are run in) dx9 mode. I think it could be a gpu issue, as the throttling doe not occur running CPU benchmarks, like wprime or prime 95, and they cause the cpu temps to go alot higher (>>93C) than civ5 or 3dm06 (<<85C). But the games do cause the gpu to clock up to 1.3ghz from 650mhz, which the CPU benchmarks don't do...

I can't imagine it's specific to the i7, as an i5 user is reporting a similar (although not "semi-permanent") problem on the lenovo thinkpad forums at forums.lenovo.com.

Petrov.

 

Petrov,

I ran 3dMark06 twice with a rest interval of 30mins in between;
according to perfmon, CPU frequency stayed constant @ 2701;
min/max temps from 34C to 76C.

Another cooling off period,
then ran Prime95 on 4 threads for 39mins.
Same CPU frequency, but max temp climbed to 90C.

I'd say the throttling that you see is abnormal;
have you enabled the Lenovo Turbo Boost? This sets the fan to high RPM, and should keep the max temp in check.
If you keep a log of perfmon, it'd tell you at which point in time the throttling occurred (don't know how you'd save the corresponding temps tho).

 

Spam, thanks for running the tests. I also cannot replicate the permanent throttling using wprime or prime95. I can replicate it running 3dmark06 usually 3-4 times with little or no meaningful break in between runs. 2 runs with a 30 min break are unlikely to induce permanent throttling for me either. Any chance you could try running up to 4 3dmark06 runs with little to no break in between?

And yes, enabling the turbo boost fan doesn't make a difference for me.

Thanks,
Petrov.

 

Fortunately you can do quite a lot of tweaking with the screen's colors to your liking via the Intel graphics utility. At this point, I am quite happy with mine!

The issues I'm having still remain however:

• Momentary CPU throttling during heavy GPU usage under good temperatures
• Unusably jumpy touchpad when 90W UltraSlim adapter is attached
• Uncontrollable switch to 50Hz refresh rate when unplugged from AC

I certainly hope someone at Lenovo at least acknowledges these issues and begin researching solutions to them. The touchpad problem means less to me than the other ones, but I'd love to see them all corrected as they are legitimate issues. As yet, I have not recommended this laptop to any of my clients thanks to the problems which have not been acknowledged.

 

with a clean installation of server 2008 R2 enterprise SP1 and the latest intel driver from lenovo (8.15.10.2342), mine remains on 60Hz whether on AC or battery and in all power plans.   perhaps your issue has to do with the preload?

 

Huh! Perhaps so... I hope not, as I left the stock Lenovo image intact. All I've done since then is update some drivers (including an eventual removal/clean install of Power Manager after encountering said issues with the UltraSlim adapter, which did not correct it).

I appreciate your input erik. I will investigate further and hopefully arrive at a solution. Perhaps it is related somehow to the Intel graphics drivers.

 

Did you change the setting in the Lenovo Power Management program? It's under Idle Timers.

 

Yup, it's set to Never. This was recently submitted as a bug to engineering for the T420s I think it was.

 

No one seems to care. I can't believe Lenovo are getting away with this serious downgrade of the keyboard.

 

I wouldn't call it a serious downgrade of the keyboard. So the keys are quieter? I can't help but believe that most people, including me, find that a positive. I still find the keyboards response very nice and responsive, and can type just as well on a newer thinkpad keyboard compared to our older "clicky" thinkpads.

 

Here is new issue:

The audio port on the back of the Ultrabase, is incredibly noisy!

The audio port on the x220 itself does not have this problem. On a side note, although the audio on the x220 is quiet, both with speakers and headphones, the audio quality is excellent with headphones!

 

Anyone notice that their 6-cell battery has some slight play? If I tap on the battery from the bottom, it seems to move a very small bit, more so on the right side

 

YES! Very annoying, makes it feel slightly cheap. I was gonna look at the latching mechanism a bit more closely to see if i could rig something up to make it fit a little tighter.