ThinkPad X220 (i/T) Owners Thread

Such a difference seems to be unreal if based only on changing the os.

 

Just a heads up for anyone who is installing Win 8, the SD Card Reader driver has a bug that causes high cpu usage. They still haven't updated it with a fix.

600X, I'll give it a try again this week. Out of curiousity, do you set battery limits or just pick the optimization option? I've noticed after picking limits that my battery will sometimes go directly to 6 or 7% from 20% or 30%. No idea what's up with that, never experienced it on Windows 7.

 

I think that's just a calibration issue; try doing a reset through Power Manager.

 

How exactly would I go about doing that? I don't recall seeing that option.

 

That bug has been known for quite some time. It happens if you set charge limits on the X220 6c. That's why I didn't set any limits. Basically the power manager virtually removes one of the 6c cells. I am using 50/90 for my 9c though because it is bug free.

My SD card reader does not cause any CPU usage at all.

 

That charging bug also happened to my X220T 6cell and 3cell batteries. I actually did a reset using Power Manager on the 3cell, but with the charging limits in place. After the reset was done, BatteryBar reported my battery wear being exactly 20%, meanwhile my charging limit was set to top out at 80%. Watch out for things like this.

 

FWIW I got going today and fresh installed Win7 to a 256GB M4 mSATA SSD.

Meaning I pulled out the 320GB HDD on my X220 (slow 5400rpm, now set aside for the next year as my "extra warranty policy" in case any warranty issue comes up, I can pull out the new boot mSATA, and put back in the known to be working boot HDD).

Cold start timing dropped from ~1.4 minutes to ~12 seconds.

But it remains to be seen what it'll total to, after I've used this new mSATA boot SSD (w/Win7) for several months.

Given the Win8 issues on X220 being discussed here, this past 24 hours, I just don't see Win8 for me (regardless of price) until Win8 SP1 shows up.

Unless of course, Win9 shows up.

Another FWIW is that pulling out the HDD and leaving it out, lowers the X220 weight by slightly over 4oz; 120gm net difference, weighed on an Ohaus triple beam balance; I forgot about the weight of the rubber rails and weight of the metal "sled" that the HDD sits in.

 

Damn, thanks for the tip.

600X, this is the bug I ran into. Not sure what triggers it.
X220 Ricoh Media card driver high system cpu usage - Lenovo Community

 

Bumping this. I'd really like to hear from anyone else... Maybe there aren't too many people with this combination.

Without the dock under load I can get into the high 70s. For example when compiling a large project like openwrt. Today I was building openwrt and I saw sustained readings of 95C+ while in the dock.

My max fan RPM threshold is set at 74C.

Now if you'll excuse me I'm off to cook some food on my new grill...

 

Hey Guys,
Need your help. Bought last June, two x220s one for me and one for my wife but I am running into something on mine I just noticed in Device Manager under Other devices section called Base System Device - keeps popping up every time I restart and shows driver is not installed and cannot get it to install one. Have no idea what this is and could not get any clear answer. I am running Windows 7 Pro 64 bit. It's not on my wife's machine, at least not yet. If you have any ideas what it is and how I can get rid of it, I would bout very grateful and thanks.

Gary

 

You're still under warranty.

Call up Lenovo support and ask them.

 

I might do that but I really do not want to go back to a factory reset on this laptop if I can avoid that. Have not noticed any hardware problems yet but it is just bugging me to see it there. Thanks again.

Gary

 

Have you tried running the automatic lenovo driver update thingy (technical term)?

Updating Lenovo Drivers and Applications using ThinkVantage System Update

 

Thanks. Yes, I use System Update regularly on both laptops. It looks like my Ricoh Controller for SD card is not showing up under IDE section in Device Manager like my wife's is although the Ricoh driver was installed and I reinstalled it. Cannot find any real solutions but did edit a related inf file that someone posted about in another forumm found at http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/X-Serie...der-Not-Showing-in-Device-Manager/td-p/599291 that may let me use it if needed. Still bothersome. If anyone else knows anything again, I appreciate your input and thanks.

Gary

 

Hm, maybe your card reader has a different PCI ID from the one DFarmerTX has there. Or did you not try the inf tweak yet?

 

Got it sorted out but don't know exactly how. Doublechecked bios setting to make sure memory card was enabled, reinstalled the drivers several times and it finally stuck, at least for now shows up in Device Manager. Thanks again for all help.

Gary

 

I have a Lenovo x220tablet, alltough it took some time to adjust. But now i'm happy with it. But there's something wrong with the trackpad. I allready taught myself to use it without the pysical buttons in the bottom, and now make fully use of al that synaptics has to offer.
But sometimes I have to use the buttons, because it comes handy when dragging something or whatever. At first, I did not like the buttons, but the where usable, but with time, they got worse.
It is very hard to explain this for me in English, but, thats why I made a little movie which is linked below.

Anyone suggestions what to do about it?
Of course I've used google, and found many many topics about the trackpad, but that were mostly driver problems.

2013 02 15 17 34 18 - YouTube

The click is so loud, it seems to get stuck somewhere and I have to push very hard. Almost like there's something stuck, like a bread crumb or so between it. But it's perfectly clean.

Any advise (besides; do not use it) is welcome.
And apologies for my English

 

Can I ask what usb 3.0 card you are using? (been looking for one)






What is the difference between the Lenovo and Thinkpad Power management drivers? They both came up in system update and I was wondering whether to install both or not.

 

I'm using an Orico Adapter. It cost me 35€ which is nearly 50$, but the build quality is really good, it stays very cool and it works. What more do you want? If you connect an external SSD you get about 150MB/s reading speed.

 

thanks dude

 

And doing my weekly build of openwrt today on my miniBBQ plus 3...

Code:

Feb 16 19:34:21 x220 kernel: [155496.859442] mce: [Hardware Error]: Machine check events logged
Feb 16 19:34:21 x220 mcelog: Processor 0 heated above trip temperature. Throttling enabled.
Feb 16 19:34:21 x220 mcelog: Please check your system cooling. Performance will be impacted

100C peak, 97C average... a new record!

 

Has anyone else noticed that the brightness range of the display is different on Windows 8? The lowest setting on Win7 was so dim that I could barely make out the text, now after upgrading to Win8 the lowest setting is too bright for my eyes. I've tried different video drivers from Lenovo and Intel, but nothing seems to help.

 

Yes, it's different, for the better. Now you can actually adjust in small steps, unlike in Win 7 where you went from 0 to 100 per Step.

I use 8/15 which is probably around 150 NITS and recommended for indoors. 0/15 is still too dark IMO. Installing other drivers won't help, when using Win 8 you will need to get used to it.

 

Does anyone know of a safe procedure that would allow me to delete my System_Drv partition from my SSD and still be able to boot from C partition that holds Win 7 Pro 64bit on my x220? I did not do a clean install of Win 7 but used recovery flash drive but I would love to get the space back from that partition if possible without doing a clean install of Windows. I have laready deleted the recovery partition with no issues. Thanks for your input as always.

Gary

 

Pretty sure it isn't possible. I looked for some time when I first got my x220. Couldn't figure out a way and just lived with it.

 

So you want more drive space, right?

1st HDD are cheap, but the X220 7mm drive thickness limit results in current HDD max of 500GB.

So lets say you've got a 320GB HDD in the X220.

1st buy a 7mm 500GB HDD and do an "as is" clone backup by booting a recent Acronis True Image CD (no older than 2011).

So now you've got a 2nd drive with the same s/w. Pull out the original HDD and put in the cloned 7mm 500GB HDD. Check that it boots OK.

Now boot gparted (either via CD or USB stick) and delete the "Lenovo" partition; from memory it's physically last and ~14GB. Apply the change. Now highlight the main partition and make it bigger; in other words, use all of the remaining open HDD space. Apply the change.

You should now be left with 2 partitions on the HDD: a very small boot partition of ~1GB, together with the rest of the drive in the 2nd large partition.

Shut gparted down; boot the machine; it should boot.

But if it doesn't work, put the original HDD back in and ponder where you went wrong.

If you don't want to buy a 2nd HDD, all I can say is that it's not worth the risk; kinda like doing a circus trapeze act without any net.

 

I just noticed the lower left side my the screen's bezel is separating from the screen assembly and I can see the backlight through it, is there anything I can do to fix it? I've never taken the screen apart myself.

edit: i'm out of warranty so lenovo isn't an option for a fix

 

Would you mind posting a picture?

 

No need, I went ahead and used the service manual to take off the bezel. It turns out the guy who replaced my screen a few months ago must have broken the clip either when removing or putting it back together. As soon as I removed the screws I was able to lift that portion of the bezel outwards without a clicking noise like the other clips, and it's physically missing though I can see a small mark where the clip likely used to be. Not sure why it took me this long to notice it haha.

Is it safe to put a small strip of double-sided tape inside the bezel where the clip used to be? This is the location:


Also, I managed to lose one of the screw cover stickers in this ordeal Where can I buy new ones for the X220? All I see on eBay are ones for older thinkpads in various shapes.

 

I wouldn't bother, my X220 is missing a clip as well (broke it when putting the magnets back in), I don't even notice it.

As for the cover, you might want to try asking in the marketplace.

 

hi, my Lenovo X220-4290-FC1 will be arriving this week. I have already placed an order for 256gb Samsung 840 pro SSD and being spoiled by IPS panel I am planning to replace the TN panel that it comes with. Will the following panel work with my X220?

Lenovo ThinkPad X220 FRU 04W3462 IPS 12.5" LCD DISPLAY BILDSCHIRM HD LED | eBay

I am also planning to connect the laptop with GTX 660 Ti through PE4L v2.1. Will there be any egpu compatibility issue if I upgrade the BIOS to the latest 1.37 and run Windows 8(UEFI)?

 

Why wouldn't you just find a model with an IPS screen? Installing a new screen isn't hard but will most likely void your warranty, why bother taking that risk?

 

If you need to send in the X220 just put the old screen in again. Then your warranty magically appears again.

I'm running a GTX550Ti via PE4H and Win 8 with no problems.

 

Because:
1) In UK the IPS model is extremely expensive and difficult to find
2) There wasn't much to choose from.(refurbished model £399)
3) If I need a warranty I'll just pop back the old one.


So, if this the right one?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Lenovo-Th...7?pt=Notebook_Komponenten&hash=item35b8d53c61

 

Yeah, I bought the same one I think. Arrived within a few days, might take a bit longer to the UK.

 

Thank you for confirming (rep added)

 

Little bit off topic, but what version of NVIDIA drivers are you using for this? I've been getting random crashes on the FFXIV Benchmark using version 295.73. Random crashes of pcsx2 were common with the 310.67 drivers, which were the newest at the time, so then I switched back to the older stable drivers. Now I don't know what to use.

 

I'm using the 310.90 drivers which I just recently downloaded. So far it has been running very stable.

 

I'll give those a go. Thanks!

 

Just want to give an update on my new laptop. received it today. Smacked a 256GB SSD in and installed windows 8. Connected a eGPU and it worked great, played Battlefield 3 in MAX. Coming from smooth finish of Apple product the lenovo's have a totally opposite feel to it, now I totally get it when they say "you wither love it or hate it".

The TN Panel is just POISON!, feel like banging my head against a wall, its THAT terrible! Cant wait to get it swaped with IPS panel.

 

I'll bite, what is TPM???

And why does disabling it in the BIOS shave 5 seconds???

Where exactly do I find it in the X220's Lenovo/Phoenix/bios???

 

TPM = ThinkPad Monsters.














Just kidding. It's Trusted Platform Module. 'Security Module' under the Security tab in the BIOS setup. Disabling skips initialization, thus decreasing the POST time.

 

snip pic

FWIW my browser only pulled up your pic and not your following text, and I thought what is this!!!

Thanks; I'll check it out.

Are there any downsides to disabling it???

 

If you're not encrypting anything, then no.

 

Does anyone have the email contact for Lenovo Support in the US? The current website links don't work ( http://www.lenovo.com/services_warranty/US/en/index.html) ( http://shop.lenovo.com/us/landing_pages/contact/) and not sure what to do now.

I'm trying to get support on my X220T (fractured) screen and the serial number is reported as not being registered in their database.

Thanks in advance.

 

1-800-426-7378.

 

Thanks ZaZ!

 

Does anyone know how to disable the touchscreen completely in Windows 8? "Pen and Touch" and "Touch input settings" can't turn off functionality completely - wondering if there's a driver in Device Manager directly related to it that's not the monitor driver.

 

There is a driver for it in the Device Manager, under Human Interface Devices. It is one of the HID-compliant devices. I found it by disabling each one, one at a time, until Touch was completely disabled. Then I created and pinned to my Taskbar two shortcuts: one to disable touch and another to enable touch, using DevCon.

I outlined the process here:

Disabling/Enabling TPT2's touch ?

 

Thanks! I'll give it a try.