Thinkpad T420 Owner's Thread

Maybe FreeBSD while you're at it, Ubuntu indeed is Fugly as is Unity, i prefer Lubuntu, but then again I've always been a LXDE fan.

 

I pray on my bare knees to god for future x240's and T440's to revert back to the supreme oldskool keyboard or i'll never buy a Thinkpad again ever.

Btw the TN panel is very descent, it's made for business it does what it supposed to do and the vertical viewing angle is so bad it's much harder for someone to look over your shoulder unnoticed.

 

my trackpoint malfunctioned and would click things randomly when i wasn't anywhere near the laptop, uk support were easy to reach and they sent a new keyboard overnight. i noticed that the newer keyboard looked a bit different on the underside from the stock one.

 

I wonder if it was feasible to get the T-430 keyboard and do a backlit mod for it on the T-420. On a side note, my darn WEI scores for windows aero still stuck at 4.6 although gaming graphics 6.5, CPU 7.4 (was 7.1 with the i5), memory, ram 7.6 and disk 7.8. Getting the i7-2820 was well worth it.

 

Great perspective right there. Gonna start bragging about my business-class viewing angle.

 

Hi guys, just wanting to know the ideal settings to set the battery manager at in order to care for the battery when charging and discharging... 50%-98% ok? would appreciate your feedback

 

It varies with different users but personally I set 35%-95% on my battery thresholds. Even with 35% I still can get 2 hours worth of run time on my 9 cell battery which is plenty of time for me.

4.6 for Windows Aero is a bit on the low side, try updating the Display drivers as I got 5.9 on mine.

 

@FMruss
4.7 is OK if you have 1x4GB of RAM. (Or 1x8GB) But if you have at least 2x4GB then you should be getting a 6.3 or in your case a 6.4. (high end i7 HD3000 has higher Clocks)

 

I have 16 (2x8). Will try to get the HD drivers from the Lenovo site. Last time i tried it- I bricked it ( well i messed with the bios too).

 

Installing software then it stops "don't meet the minimum requirements"

 

Try manually installing it using the Device Manager. Taken from my Q&A:

 

I think you need to uninstall the old Intel driver first and install the new one normally afterwards. It worked for me.

 

I think the thinkpad's software version of the T-420 was designed for the i5 and not the i7 so that's why it is not recognizing the HD3000. Did try to uninstall the hd3000- then my screen went blank and had to go inside the bios and have the system run as dedicated graphics only. I think the other problem is my buddy sold me a system that did not have it's original software (win 7 pro) and I had to install win 7 premium (that's what I had available).

 

I am going to try to download drivers from intel and bypass Lenovo and see if that will work.

 

Shoot, still no luck- will have to do another clean re-install.

 

I hope this doesn't get buried, but I need help on selecting and eSATA cable for the T420. Will this eSATA+USB Power to eSATA Cable work Amazon.com: StarTech.com eSATA and USB A to Power eSATA Cable M/M - 3 feet (ESATAUSBMM3): Electronics ?

Or do I need to find one of those eSATA USB hybrid cables like the one described here: Addonics Technology: Hybrid eSATA (eSATA USB hybrid) interface

I have an external enclosure with an eSATA port (did not come with an eSATA cable) and am thinking of trying it out.

 

I'm sorry if this sounds like interminable whining, but after seeing the hp 8460p screen at a local store, it makes it so ever harder for me to wait for X1C to come out.. HP's screen might not be as bright as the one on my t420, but its viewing angles are visibly better.. I used to watch a lot of movies on my old laptop's screen and now... guess what! I still watch them.. on my old laptop... I really hope the X1C and t420 screens are interchangeable.

 

Get the $2.99 cable at the top of the page I already provided.

See SATA Cables External and eSATA cables External

 

hehe i like to be the first to inform about Bios Update
New Bios Update is out version 1.40
Version 1.40
UEFI: 1.40 / ECP: 1.19

Download

 

Thanks for the update Kyohiros. For those who prefer the Bootable CD version of the 1.40 BIOS you can get it here.

 

Hi,
I've bought this displayport cable linked above to connect my t420 to my Dell UltraSharp U2412M monitor. The VGA connection is working fine but when I try the displayport connection I can see a blurred image for only a fraction of second on the U2412M and then get the error message "display driver stopped responding and has recovered. display driver intel graphics accellerator drivers for windows 7(R) stopped responding and has recovered". Any tips on what I can try to solve this issue?
thanks

 

Are you using the latest Intel Graphics drivers? If you're using the older version try updating them to see if it solves the problem, the latest ones can be found here.

 

thanks. just tried that. I don't get the error message I got before but still get a flickering image on the external monitor

 

Hey guys,

I've been noticing that my thinkpad (t420, 4177, intel wireless) can't connect to open, non-password protected public wi-fi hotspots. chipset is Realtek re8188ce. Are the wireless cards in these computers crappy or have I messed something up while I was playing around in linux (and if so, how can I reset wireless configuation)? Anyone else had wireless troubles?

 

Did you have trouble connecting in Windows or under Linux?

 

Sounds odd. Usually digital signals like this are either on or off. Flickering usually doesn't happen.

 

what happens at the moment is that when I connect the monitor via DP I get a flickering and intermittent image on the ext monitor. Any advice at all on what I can try to do to understand what the problem is?

 

Well the basic troubleshooting steps I'd recommend (in order) are:

1) Try a different cable.

2) Try a known-good image source with a known-good cable.

3) Try a known-good cable (of the same type) with the same image source and a different monitor.

If you do those it should be pretty easy to narrow it down based on your results...

 

yep thanks, certainly makes sense. Anyone knows of a "known-good cable" for my T420-U2412M displayport connection I can buy from UK?

 

I just wanted to say that T420 -> Dell U2412M does work through the Displayport as I finally got it working today.

I had trouble with bad cables as well, as I had a lot of trouble with the first cable I bought from monoprice. I got a bad image and then it stopped working altogether. Bought a different (and more expensive) cable from NewEgg and it worked perfectly right from the start.

This is the working cable:

Newegg.com - Link Depot Model DIS-15-MM 15 ft. DisplayPort Cable - M/M M-M

When Displayport is working, it's great, but it always seems you have to go through a few cables to get one that functions correctly. I had similar problems finding a good cable to connect to the T420 to the HDMI connector on my TV.

 

Bummer. Usually monoprice has high quality at rock bottom prices. Sorry that didn't work out for you.

 

monoprice service has been excellent the few times I've had to use it. If you asked I'd imagine they would replace it.

 

Hey I'm wondering if anyone can help:
When I press Fn+F3 and then choose "power off display" it turns off the screen (like its supposed to). Then I move the mouse or press a key and the screen comes back on. However, when I try to use Fn+F3 the second time (or anytime thereafter) I get to the screen and press "power off display", but nothing happens!!
Its a bummer because this is one of my favorite features on any laptop ever. I have an ideapad s10 (netbook) and the quick screen off/screen on is possibly the best thing ever.
Anyone else have this problem???

 

I just noticed that this happens to me too... I'm pretty sure that it didn't before

 

Works on my X301.

 

i just tried it and the same thing happens, i don't know why.

edit: for some reason this is only happening for me when i have vlc running in a sandbox; i noticed that as i closed vlc the screen turned itself off in response to the f3 command that hadn't worked when i pressed it hours ago, sort of like it was queued up. i can recreate the behaviour by running it in the sandbox again. it's not the sandbox software itself, as it's been running the whole time, and it's not vlc, since it doesn't have this effect when run outside the sandbox. strange.

 

Same story with my W520. Probably Lenovo power manager bug.

A quick workaround is to create a desktop shortcut running "nircmd.exe monitor off" ( NirCmd - Windows command line tool ). You can assign a keyboard shortcut to it too.

 

is this just for uefi? i've never updated bios before

 

The BIOS can be applied to both UEFI and Legacy BIOS formats. Generally you shouldn't really need to update the BIOS unless you're after a specific feature or are having experiencing problems with your existing setup.

 

Thanks. Nircmd is working for me

 

So my T420s doesn't has a Nvidia sticker of the palm rest, but it does have when I check Device manager, but not sure if it is using the battery optimize technology...how do I know?

 

it seems that the screen from the infamous X1C Russian review finally appeared on the market... oh how i wish this has good viewing angles and colours...

LP140WD2 (TL)(E2) LG Philips 14" WXGA++ (LED backlight) LCD Screens, (New) most screens $345 to $455
LG Philips LP140WD2 (TL)(E2) LCD Screen, Call for Pricing
https://www.lcdtec.nl/LG_Philips--LP140WD2_(TL)(E2)--14.0-wxgaplusplus--laptop-screen.shtml
LG Philips LP140WD2 (TL)(E2) Ecrans Portable, 168€ - 14.0-pouces wxga++ (1600x900) : Ecrans-Direct.fr

LCDs4Less Search: 1 results for lp140wd2 tl e2 Laptop Screens - 73 pounds ==> what do you say, Hearst? tempted? ;

 

It might be tempting at £73 though there's still little analysis on the panel at this stage so I think I might wait a little longer for another opinion before taking the plunge.

 

How come the T420 won't even accept the Intel Advanced 6200 ABGN card pulled from another Thinkpad? I can understand that it won't allow aftermarket ones, but one that's supplied by Lenovo.

 

Yeah, the BIOS may include the ID for Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6205, but not 6200.

 

now that it has become official that X1C has the TN screen, I guess it's a (potentially) safe bet to go for it (the screen, I mean)... or maybe it's better to just wait for an official notebookcheck review.

 

So the 1 year warranty which came with my T420 is about to expire soon and I was wondering what your guys' opinion is on renewing the warranty. Should I do it or save my money? I've had zero problems with my T420 since I bought it last year.

 

I guess if you don't mind paying to repair if there's anything happen in the future, you can save the money...

 

I'm currently trying to buy (via an eBay UK auction) a ThinkPad 420 (4180-PR1) but just wanted to confirm with my fellow members which is the best option for purchasing the 16GB (2x8GB DDR3 DIMMs) memory upgrade in terms of cost, reseller & manufacturer. Cheers

 

I have this set in my T420 and they work great. They're a lot cheaper now then when I bought them back then!