/tpg/ - ThinkPad General

verbose edition

Previous Thread: Don't buy anything OTHER THAN IBM/Lenovo ThinkPad T, X, and W/P Series if you want the Real Business Experience™!
>Other business laptops are welcome in /tpg/ (Dell Latitude/Precision, HP EliteBook/ZBook).

Libreboot-compatible models:
>T60 (check lcd), X60(s/t.), X200(s/t. -s requires soldering), T400(s), T500, W500.

Modern models:
>X220/X230 - 12", 768p, cheap and light
>T420/T430 - 14", 900p, socketed CPU, quadcore-compatible
>T520/T530, W520/W530 - 15", 1080p, desktop replacement
>T440p, T540p, W540/1 - last models with socketed processors

Upgraded models:
>X210 - X200/X201, i5 8250U quadcore
>X62 - X61, i5 5250U
>T70 - T60, i7 7700HQ
High-res IPS displays, USB 3.0, M.2 x4, mini-DP
forum.51nb.com/forum.php?mod=forumdisplay&fid=117


Why ThinkPad?
>Used machines are plentiful and cheap
>Excellent keyboards - tactile feel and quiet
>Great durability: magnesium rollcage for structural integrity, high quality plastic body panels
>Utilitarian design: indicator LEDs, 7 row keyboard layout on older models
>Docking stations that easily turns your laptop into a desktop
>Easy to repair (most models), upgrade & maintain thanks to readily available service manuals for every model, spare parts easy & cheap to obtain
>The TrackPoint™, great for those who type a lot or hate swiping their fingers all over a touchpad
>Excellent GNU/Linux & *BSD support

Helpful links:
>Buyers guide:
dankpads.com/tpg/
>thinkpad-tech-tree.txt - a plaintext map of ThinkPad history:
github.com/Monkeyfume/thinkpad-tech-tree/blob/master/thinkpad-tech-tree.txt
>ThinkWiki - info on ThinkPads & running GNU/Linux on them:
thinkwiki.org/wiki/ThinkWiki
>Coreboot compatibility list:
coreboot.org/status/board-status.html
>BIOS logo booru:
biosimage.booru.org

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Other urls found in this thread:

notabug.org/libreboot/libreboot/issues/513
github.com/hamishcoleman/thinkpad-ec
thinkwiki.org/wiki/Install_Classic_Keyboard_on_xx30_Series_ThinkPads#Warning
forum.notebookreview.com/threads/guide-how-to-overclock-and-change-timings-for-any-ram-on-most-laptops.805589/
doc.coreboot.org/northbridge/intel/sandybridge/nri_freq.html#xmp-profiles
valid.x86.fr/9pbjcz
youtube.com/watch?v=FLLf2F7vYiU
twitter.com/AnonBabble

why haven't you librebooted/corebooted your thinkpad?

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because I dont have a working thinkpad :(

i need money :(

I'm visiting america so ill get a t400 and libeboot it,
or a x200/x220 and libre or core it :) :( not sure what ill look for

no trannies allowed

librebooted because stock bios had computrace enabled might switch to coreboot some day

Attached: librebutt.jpg (4032x3024, 1.44M)

But I have, fumo fren. Visiting some friends in another state soon, and I'll probably help them coreboot their thinkpads too.

I bought an x250 today. Thanks for the memes, lads. It's bretty good. I like the clit and sperated mouse buttons.

redpill on libreboot

Isn't the entire purpose dead when the CPU's are vulnerable to spectre and meltdown exploits?

potential exploits that still hasn't been seen in the wild, mostly mitigated by patches provided by the os and software, variants needing vendor-supplied microcode not a huge threat to neets using 10+ y/o laptops for anime and shitposting on Jow Forums

vs

actual malware in the stock bios advertised as features

Hello /tpg/! I made fried pickles!

But I have!

This is the only viable excuse.

Based. You can remove the password by overwriting it in the eeprom. Some info on how to gain access to it on a Librebooted/Corebooted system can be found here: notabug.org/libreboot/libreboot/issues/513

I forgot the offset for the password, though. It's stored as keystrokes, and can easily be overwritten with 0's and your vendor BIOS will just read it as a password not being set. Try asking on Freenode's #libreboot for more info.

Very nice of you, glad to see competent people here for once.

You fucked up, nu-pads are a mistake.

Not when you use a kernel that puts mitigations in place (Eg; an updated Linux install). The main benefit is no proprietary Intel ME backdoor with full access to everything on your device including internet access running at all times on its own co-processor. You can pretty well "neuter" the ME on Thinkpads all the way up to the XX30 series, and potentially beyond. Couldn't help you with nu-pads, worst I'll go is the XX30 series.

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Highest i should pay for a x230, i5, 128gb msata, 500gb hdd, with 2x6 cell battery (one is almost new) and IPS screen? He said he might have a dock to throw in too. Currently haggling and have him down to about 235 dollars.

Way too high. Try ebay and aim for under $100. Keep in mind that everything on these things is easily replaceable. If something looks like shit, you have all the power in the world to replace it. Something normies hunting for used laptops with an OS pre-installed wouldn't want to do. Use this to your advantage!

are you joking? I can't tell. As a europoor I would buy that without second thoughts.

This is assuming he's in the US. I can't speak for how unfortunate it is to live in Eurostan and also want to buy Thinkpads. :

it sucks bad man
im happy my gf uslandian so im going to use her address to get me a thinkpad

>I can't speak for how unfortunate it is to live in Eurostan and also want to buy Thinkpads
It's pretty bad yeah, prices usually are around double of what you'd pay in the US.
Pic related is the worst one I've seen in a while, i3 X230T for 450€.

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Yea im europoor. If i get a non ips with low ram and storage, how much would it cost to upgrade everything and how easy would it be?

assuming a ~90$ budget which thinkpad would you get as US? I have the tools at home to modify it and have spare parts for a few gens

If you're a Europoor then I would take what you're being offered. As far as I can tell, you'll be hard struck finding another one if you pass that up.

>how much would it cost to upgrade everything
IPS panel would probably run you ~70€, RAM would cost however much it would cost for you to grab some DDR3 SODIMM.
SSDs are around 20€ for a 120gb one.
>how easy would it be?
There's guides for pretty much everything so not really that difficult if you can follow instructions.

That depends on what he's being offered, good deals can pop up every now and then and if he's paying more than it would cost to ship a better one from the US it's just a waste of money.

Well that depends entirely on what you want to do with it and your skillset. You can easily get a XX00 series Thinkpad for $50 or less and have a nice Librebooted machine in no time. Add another $100 for ram and storage and you'd be set, assuming you already have something you can program over SPI with.

If you want something maybe a little less secure, but much more powerful, you can grab a XX20/30 machine for under that $90 price point, but lacking maybe RAM and storage of course. Again, spend that extra $100 and you can put a SSD and RAM into it and make it work fine.

Or you can go all-out and blow a fat stack of cash by replacing almost everything on the machine to make it as close to "new" as possible, and deck out the specs. That's what I usually end up doing on my machines, prices would vary immensely in that scenario. Up to you how far you want to go.

You can find great deals on ebay by searching up "Thinkpad XXXX no" for machines with no RAM or storage, or "Thinkpad XXXX lock" for devices locked with a BIOS password. Assuming you're going to install Libreboot or Coreboot, there's no reason to give a shit about a password on the vendor BIOS.

Pic related. All of these base machines were obtained for under $60... That is, until I spent way too much making them pretty. Also, sorry for the Reddit spacing!

Yeah I can't speak on the subject being in my position, my bad for jumping to conclusions.

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So are you suggesting it isnt a good deal at that price? Seems like all id have to buy extra would be maybe a new 9 cell, but it does come with 2 6 cell batteries anyway so idk. Seems like its in good condition too cosmetically.

If you're talking about 235€ for the i5 X230 w/ IPS I wouldn't say it's a great deal but it's not exactly a terrible one either.
It's still probably cheaper than what it would cost for you to find a shittier one and upgrade but that depends on where in yurope you live.

I need to get a Fru: 45n2211 keyboard which should be a NMB. I currently have a chichony keyboard its pretty bad the volyme buttons doesnt even have a curve

So, I found a local NMB keyboard but it doesnt work when I connect. Can i fix it or replace everything with chichony or should I go and buy a new nmb Keyboard. They are pretty expensive, i dont know what to do. Any suggestions?

emacs - guixsd or maybe nixos will be my will with it. thanks for the info really not knowing what to expect from the american market.

I have a range of thinkpads mostly with either broken screens or motherboards. so I have ram to add and chargers. I also have a spare samsung 850 for it. so I guess I'll be good

the bios password thing is a nice tip btw c: time to filter ebay tonight

How much did you spend in total for the T430?

So why do you guys go apeshit over T60's when they're just as outdated and shitty as a modern Macbook with Retina display?

Bought a lot of Thinkpad for 150. One of them was a t430s with lots of issues. Put the motherboard in the oven and now it boots! I'm pretty happy with myself. Should any of the older style keyboards work with the t430s?

Yes you should be able to put a xx20 keyboard on the T430s

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Can someone recommend a laptop? Need good battery life and want to install linux+ some word processing software for writing. Not sure if a thinkpad is the way to go. Don't need anything too powerful, just a decent screen and keyboard and battery life.

Thanks user

No problem! Have fun!

Yikes, that's an question I'm ashamed to answer. I got it for $37 originally, in pretty "meh" shape and with a supervisor password. In the end I spent probably close to $500 total to get it in the condition it's currently in?

- $37 for the base unit
- $35 for a 1600x900 display
- $10 for a new display bezel (Shitty plastic clip bezels fucking fall off over time)
- $20 for a new palmrest/keyboard bezel
- $120 for the 3840QM
- $60 for 16GB DDR3L
- $20 for dgpu heatsink
- $35 for new OEM battery
- $10 for ath9k compatible wireless card
- $7 for RAM door
- $5 for HDD cover

That totals just under $400, but I bought a few extra things alongside those that were not requirements to me, like a spare battery and a few other spare parts for the future. You can also likely do MUCH better than I did on parts if you buy from China and wait a month, I was in a little bit of a hurry to have fun putting it together.

Flash a modded EC ( github.com/hamishcoleman/thinkpad-ec ) and tape some contacts ( thinkwiki.org/wiki/Install_Classic_Keyboard_on_xx30_Series_ThinkPads#Warning ) and it'll just werk

You won't find decent screens here, unless you want to grab a XX20 machine and find an aftermarket display. T420 + 1080p IPS aftermarket panel on Chinabay might be a good choice. Would do what you want and much more.

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Reminder that the w520 is the #1 thinkpad

Poorfags with your underpowered t/x series can stay jealous

>heavy
What are you, a weak manlet?

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>w520 is the #1 thinkpad
what is a w530 with a retrofitted w520 keyboard then?

BTFO Though personally, I'd rather not have a shitty outdated Nvidia GPU to worry about drivers with. At least it can be disabled (if you don't like video output through DP)...

the gpu has open source drivers included in linux

>to worry about drivers with

what did he mean by this?

I'd actually prefer the new keyboard :P

Guys, I dun goofed when making a manjaro live USB through Rufus. I didn't choose "dd" option when installing it, now it won't go through the grub rescue screen. Is there a way to fix this without having to reinstall the live USB? I did it at my friend's house, and now I'm at home. I also don't have any ssd/hd in the laptop. I just wanted to use it already, couldn't wait for the mail to come. Please help.

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It also has a proprietary blob that needs to be passed to it at boot in order for it to function, but that's hardly a concern when you have to also pass the ME blob to a coprocessor in order for your computer to even turn on.

The Nouveau and the proprietary NoVidya driver are equally painful to use compared to the iGPU, but that's just my opinion. Feel free to use whatever you'd like, it's not my concern.

Cringe.

what happens when you type in "exit" in rescue mode?

because I'm an idiot and couldn't get my cheapo SPI clip to attach for shit and then broke its pins
now I'm too broke to buy one and won't be able to until I get a paycheck

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This:
>Unknown command 'exit'.

Should I get rid of my elitebook 9480m and upgrade to a newer thinkpad? Is it worth the money for something I only use to write and create presentations at work?

I sometimes use my T400 for videogames, and if I libre/coreboot I will lose access to the discrete HD3470.

Attached: IMG_20190407_184901.png (1616x956, 1.77M)

>muh proprietary graphics drivers
who gives a shit about the drivers when basically every software that makes use of dedicated, powerful graphic cards is proprietary anyways

>upgrade
>newer thinkpad
No.

No you won't. Compile Coreboot and supply the GPU's proprietary blob.

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I do because I don't need powerful graphics processing, and I like maintaining software freedom on my machines.

then why buy a machine with powerful graphics processing hardware in the first place
and not save on money, weight, size and power consumption

God dammit. Apparently I have no choice but to reinstall it using DD. It sucks to be dumb, bros.

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If you're referring to my W500, then it's because I got the machine for less than $40 in basically brand new condition, not because I wanted the onboard graphics.

Otherwise, yeah. Why wouldn't you?

>Why wouldn't you?
because I need powerful graphics processing

what ram are you using on your t430? 2 kits of 16gb. hynix and pny. the pny refuses to boot on coreboot but it works okay on stock bios(no fucking idea why).
and the t430 only reads 8gb of the 16gb hynix ram.(12gb works fine for some reason) stranger yet all 16gb work properly on my x230 and x220

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Definitely sounds like a seating issue, I haven't heard of any issues with RAM compatibility on the XX30 Coreboot ports. The vendor BIOS tends to be more lenient on RAM seating than Coreboot (Eg; on the vendor BIOS you're more likely to run into RAM corruption due to improper seating later on). I would try cleaning contacts and just taking your RAM in and out until something happens, seems to be the most common solution when I hear about this kind of thing.

Pic related are the specs on what I'm currently running. When in doubt, use Samsung.

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i'll give that a shot and recompile the coreboot rom just incase. thanks

>800Mhz
why?

That's probably around as much as I've put into my T420. Maybe a little less: I only have a 3632QM and haven't upgraded the display yet, although I put a bunch of money into now-dead batteries. Does the 3640QM put a dent in the battery life compared to 35W CPUs? I've heard a lot of people putting 45W CPUs into their thinkpads, but I'm slightly prioritizing battery life so I was too scared to take the jump. Also I'm probably going to get a dGPU heatsink in the imminent future to see if that'll improve my thermals any. I should've gotten a T520 but I've already dumped too much money into this thinkpad so far.

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come to irc, I can help ya retime your ram if youre using coreboot. basically, you need to write your own xmp.

thats 1600MHz dude. DDR. double data rate. really shows dumbfucks around here.

>irc
never used it t.bh,
>you need to write your own xmp.
how would i go about do this?

forum.notebookreview.com/threads/guide-how-to-overclock-and-change-timings-for-any-ram-on-most-laptops.805589/
doc.coreboot.org/northbridge/intel/sandybridge/nri_freq.html#xmp-profiles

heres a cpuz validation showing that it werks, DDR3 1066 and DDR3 1333 both overclocked to DDR3 1600
valid.x86.fr/9pbjcz

Why not 1866mhz or 2133mhz? I see mixed answers everywhere about if xx30 can use the higher frequencies than 1600mhz, Intel's website kinda states that no though...

Wanna rank RAM manufacturer's in order by what you think is best?

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thanks. i'll try that out tomorrow and report back

what kind of meme sorcery is this

disabled bios power manager and maxed the windows power manager yet Im still getting 50% of performance while on battery power

w520

are there any decent 1440/2160p thinkpads available?

I plan to soon. My t420 needs coreboot.
based.

>ebay sellers who block out the serial number

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If i can get an x220 for under 100 vs an x250 for under 200, should I pay more for that extra bit of performance or just save the dough for the 220? I don't care about coreboot or the nu-keyboards btw

The 8th gen thinkpads are solid and their high res displays are actually really good too but they're pricy, if you're looking for value then some older X1 carbon with 1440p may be an option but the best is the 8th gen right now.
>1440p
T480, T480s, X1C6
>4k
P1, X1 Extreme, P52, P72

Does Lenovo have physical stores? Say I go on vacation to Canada and buy one there, what's the best place to go? Also any anons got any experience smugglin laptops through customs?

what is the "actual malware in bios"

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bought i5 X230 in EU for about 80$ got a new SSD, KB, and 16GB RAM for it which cost me like 90$ planning on getting IPS display, new back and front cover, essentially refurbishing the whole thing and the projected cost of it all would be around 220-270$(including what i've already spent). The point is idk where others live in EU but I can get a TP and upgrade it for not so much $

>buy x1 carbon
>install fedora
>clit and buttons not working after sleep
>battery life is gone
>always hot

Yeah, that sound like I will waste week or so tinkering with that shit after work

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no idea why you autists run Linux on NewPads

just did the mod uwu

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Lmao thanks Ima hack u now gonna get all dem boipussi pics danks

Can I use a T520 keyboard in my W500/T500?

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seriously why do some of the bulk recycle sellers do this? they don't have a whole lot to gain from it, besides me not wanting to buy their shit because i can't tell what it is

Can't speak for the 3640QM, but my 3840QM gets a solid 6-8 hours on a 99% capacity 9cell ("Turbo" disabled). Don't put a 45W CPU into a T4XX, your thermals will be dogshit. I hit and stay at 90C with all cores at 3.4GHz with the dGPU heatsink on my T430. I'd only put a XM in a T5XX machine because of the much bigger heatsink.

The dGPU heatsink is a great investment. You won't be able to comfortably use quad-core CPUs without it.

Because expensive, and I'll likely not even notice the performance improvement. You can definitely use up to 2133MHz modules in these machines if you feel like paying out the ass for them.

I can't even answer that second question. I do know that in terms of compatibility, Samsung is likely your best bet. I've had very good luck with Crucial as well, though.

No, but why? Is a little LED light really that important? lol

>I hit and stay at 90C with all cores at 3.4GHz with the dGPU heatsink on my T430
not him but what are actually some temps to aim for with a T420? I already feel uncomfortable when I hit 65C from watching a 1080p vid, but maybe I'm being too careful?

How bad is this? Battery is from 2012 or 2013.
Just checked my mom's probook 4540s battery from 2012, it had wear level 0.

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>>thinkpad-tech-tree.txt - a plaintext map of ThinkPad history
will he ever finish it?

Yeah that was a typo. Must've got my wires crossed.
>Don't put a 45W CPU into a T4XX, your thermals will be dogshit.
Sounds like my current CPU but faster. I already hit thermal limit under load and already get 6-8 hours on a fresh 9-cell.
>You won't be able to comfortably use quad-core CPUs without it.
I can kinda get away with the two-pipe iGPU one, but the most stress I put this under right now is compiling Gentoo updates. I'm hoping the dGPU has enough cooling capacity to stress the CPU and GPU without hitting thermal limit under the few games I can play on the thing, even if that means modding the damn thing. If that doesn't work I'm up shit creek.

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>verbose edition
I invite external evaluation on the ReflectionSlab model x200's capability in the practice of creating three-dimensional computer graphics using software such as Blender.

65C is fine. Keep in mind that your CPU will start throttling at over 110C, you have plenty of headroom. If you're not using the dGPU heatsink then 65C sounds completely normal to me.

>I'm hoping the dGPU has enough cooling capacity to stress the CPU and GPU without hitting thermal limit under the few games
I have no doubt that you'll be able to comfortably do that with the dGPU heatsink installed and some fresh thermal paste. That's a much more "normal" use case than compiling gentoo updates lol.

I'm also not at all surprised that the iGPU heatsink is struggling to keep your current CPU from throttling. Some of the iGPU heatsinks even come with lower-power fans that are much quieter, but perform terribly for cooling. Odds are you have one of those, and they're kinda sought after for people looking for cooling of low-TDP CPUs.

Outcome appears bleak.

Anyone actually using higher than 1600Mhz RAM on their Thinkpad? Have you corebooted? See any difference and is it working allright? What brand?

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That works out to a lot more time and more expensive then my deal. Looks like ill take it

ThinkPads are the Chick-Fil-A of computers

I have on my x230t, i tried coreboot on the x201 but it's borked as fuck. It somehow breaks drive formatting in both windows and linux

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those look delicious :3
you can probably boot using super grub 2 disk and then reinstall grub once booted

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More than 1600 is a ripoff.

Very nice. Brianlet question why does it say ddr3-1862 little upper? How is it working for you?

you actually can create XMP profiles on your dimms and have them run on coreboot. I'll post more of these, just wait a bit

redpill me on why these old dinosaur penis heaters are useful

i remember playing osrs as a kid on one of these in like 2006, good times

welp, I lost most of them

youtube.com/watch?v=FLLf2F7vYiU
is this who im talking to on this board

what is this and why do i want to read it

Hirogacchau no ga ii no, it's good