ThinkPad X220 - Latest Drivers

I thought it might be helpful to create a list of the latest non-lenovo drivers as they might perform better...

I'm not too sure though if there are any lenovo drivers which were specially designed or modified for the X220, so please let me know.

Please post additional drivers and I'll keep this post updated.

Chipset:

-

Video:

2nd Generation Intel® Core™ Processors with Intel® HD Graphics 3000/2000

Networking: Wireless LAN

Intel® Centrino® Wireless-N 1000

Intel® Centrino® Advanced-N 6205

Intel® Centrino® Ultimate-N 6300

Intel® Centrino® Advanced-N + WiMAX 6250

Networking: Ethernet

-

 

Maybe these?

http://forum.notebookreview.com/lenovo-ibm/573336-skype-needs-new-sound-driver-new-thinkpads.html

 

lenovo's drivers are tweaked and optimized specifically for their systems, including receiving some of the enhanced experience optimizations.   for that reason alone i would recommend against using manufacturers' generic drivers -- especially if you want the drivers to perform better or be more stable.

 

Good to know.. what about the display drivers though? I think I just recently read here that as for the 420 or 520 the colors and also the WEI got much better with the Intel drivers or just an exception?

 

every time i've tried a generic intel display driver it killed the on-screen display and provided no benefit.   i know for a fact that the lenovo display driver is one of the EE-optimized drivers.

colors would only change if the display profile changes.   that's irrespective of the driver.

it's fair to run a different driver if there's a known issue that a manufacturer's driver fixes.   since that's rare, i recommend sticking with what lenovo provides unless you have a specific problem.

if you do have a driver issue though, i recommend reporting it on lenovo.com using the site feedback link or posting on the lenovo forum with details of your problem.   that will help get things corrected for everyone.

 

is thread for windows only?

 

Well, you'll probably get more Linux driver help in the Linux forum. If this pertains to Mac, you should know that's a no go here.

I'm waiting for more Vista drivers, which is about the only good thing about my late ship date.

 

Why do you want Vista when the machine comes with 7?

 

I updated the UltraNav driver from what came with my X220. The newer driver fixes a memory leak.

Lenovo Support - UltraNav driver for Windows 7 (32-bit, 64-bit), Vista (32-bit, 64-bit) and XP (32-bit, 64-bit) - ThinkPad

 

i haven't discovered any problems yet with my T420 and linux 2.6.29 ... but if others are using older linux distros, then they might need some drivers tweaks updated in this thread also.

 

What's the suggested order of installing drivers after a fresh OS install?

Chipset -> Video -> Networking ?

And what is:

Intel AMT

Management Engine Firmware

Management Engine Interface and Serial Over LAN driver (SOL) Driver

?

 

Download System Update and let it do it. You can select what you want installed.

 

So once I did a fresh OS install on a ThinkPad I just install System Update and install all drivers with it?

 

Yep, that's the first thing I download after Firefox. So much easier than back in the day when you had to do each one manually.

 

Intel has released a new chipset driver a few days ago I believe. Can we safely install these or stay with Lenovo's

 

Actually I tried that earlier today and it missed 2 of the 3 drivers listed in this thread.

So Lenovo Update is far from updated.

 

Can you link it? I can't find info on which chipset the x220 has..

 

Because I like Vista better.

 

lol what do you like about Vista better compared to 7? I found it to be a horrid OS.

 

Here you go [Lets make sure that Lenovo driver is needed over Intels or not first. Just to be on the safe side]

This is a link that one can run from Intel that wil automatically tell you if you need to update the chipset file

http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Det...wnloadType=Utilities, Tools and Examples#help


Drivers themselves but still a question as to whether they are for our systems
http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Sea...=Intel®+Chipset+Software+Installation+Utility

 

What do you think Windows 7 based on? Windows 7 is like Vista 2.0.

It's funny when Vista was released, it was perhaps a bit buggy, which was probably the result of a development cycle gone too long. There were some other ancillary issues like sticking Ready for Vista stickers on boxes with 512MB of memory and single core CPUs.

Microsoft clearly raised the bar with Vista in terms of hardware. If you had a newer machine it ran pretty decent. I never had any problems with it on my R60 or desktops I ran it on, but if you had an older machine, Vista didn't do so well. Fast forward three years later and a lot of those older machine went through a refresh cycle and now Windows 7 is the greatest ever. Vista with SP2 runs quite well. While I'm sure there's a few nice features, but I don't use any of them.

To answer your question, there's one program I use that does not work in Windows 7 and that's the main reason why I prefer Vista. It's called AlphaXP. It makes transparent all the little tooltips that pop up when you mouse over things in Windows. They drive me nuts, which I'd point out is a short trip. I searched in vain for years before I found it. It was a godsend and the best $15 I ever spent. It runs perfectly in Vista 32 bit, but they changed something in 64 bit Vista and it has carried over to Windows 7. I've posted everywhere including the Microsoft forum and no one seems to know how to do it. I like the Vista sidebar too.

If Windows 8 comes out and it's still not working, I'll just move onto Linux. I know how to get rid of them in Linux too. I'd miss photoshop a bit, but I'm well versed with the gimp and nothing else I do is very Windows centric, at least on my laptop.

 

The last couple kernel versions that have nice updates for Sandy Bridge and other new hardware also have a glitch yet to be explained: They eat a significant amount of extra power

[Phoronix] Another Major Linux Power Regression Spotted

My linux use on x220 will be inside a VM for the most part, but I do boot a custom read-only image from time to time and I was planning on updating it for this laptop. Oh well...time to wait for .40 or later.

Its actually pretty ironic since in the last few years linux has been getting a lot more (paid) enterprise eyes working on it, and power draw matters in the datacenter too.

 

Thanks for the link .. as the main developers for linux ...Intel, IBM, Oracle, Novell, HP, Red Hat .. these guys should be getting onto this asap!!

oh well at least all the linux drivers are built-in and we're not stuck googling the universe for every hardware driver.

 

I am confused - after fresh install of Win 7 > Run System Update > I still need to check Intel and Lenovo driver support sites?

 

Normally System Update will retrieve the latest drivers/utilities available for your system so you don't have to get them after yourself. Intel's generic drivers are normally much newer than the Lenovo versions but you may find certain options not working properly such as the Hotkeys features (i.e. status indicators) in line with the graphics drivers for example.