table of Contents
Foreword
First, the origin
Second, first see
Third, God pit one: FHD screen
Fourth, God pit two: motherboard
Section 1: Ordering
Section II: Dismantling
Fifth, counterattack: motherboard and high score screen
Sixth, upgrade WIFI network card
Seven, recommended software
Eight, simple test
IX. Extended use
to sum up
Foreword
In this article, the PO is writing under this position, and it also leads to the following pit story that I and the T420 have to say.
First, the origin
In October 2015, it was a chance for me to buy an SSD in the transaction section of an IT forum. A seller in Macau had to pay 800 yuan for a LENOVO THINKPAD T420 machine, and it began to puzzle me and the T420. The reason is that the taste is not a word, stepping on the pit, seeing JS's face, recently perfect, I recorded this process, as a late student to buy 2 notebook a negative teaching material, to provide a bit of their own heavy Lessons to the police.
This net friend is actually very good, and the quality is also very high. The people of Macao say that when the scrap is out, the 800 yuan hard disk problem T420 with an I5 2410M CPU and a Kingston DDR3L 1600 original 8GB memory, in fact, very cost-effective , On this CPU and Kingston 8GB of genuine low-voltage memory in October 2015 will have 500 dollars, which is not yet the fuselage keyboard and screen.
Second, first see
A look at the positive and negative aspects of the hand is fine. In the past, 98 new things could not be said, and 80% was still there.
Keyboard looks oil-free
Fingerprint function
In this way, the appearance is still acceptable.
Look at the model: 4180J4C, serial number: P1203GP
Enter 4180J4C in the product search box
Look at the configuration is correct:
i5-2410M (2.30GHz), 2GB RAM, 500GB 7200rpm HD, 14in 1366x768 LCD, 1GB NVIDIA N12P-NS1, CDRW/DVDRW, Intel 802.11bgn wireless, Bluetooth, Modem, 1Gb Ethernet, UltraNav, Secure Chip, Fingerprint reader, Camera , 6c Li-Ion, Win7 Home Basic 32
Then enter P1203GP in the column of serial number
Machine that passed the warranty on August 15, 2014.
In fact, this machine does not have any problems. Just go straight to the hand and re-flash the BIOS just fine.
Third, God pit one: FHD screen
In December 2015, the Internet saw 51NB J out of a number of T420 FHD kits, 1080P support kit, this sharp, but the amount has been sold out.
Just in the 51NB trading forum, there was a brother who was out of the suite and 1080P AUO AUO's B140 HAN01.1 matte IPS perfect screen, so it went to the trading.
However, I overlooked a serious problem. The brother himself said that his T420 is a version of the T420 that represents the HD3000 but not the NVS4200M. I started to ignore this, and 51NB also saw a lot of books. The FHD did not see feedback from people, so it was bold enough to go straight to the conversion.
According to the 51NB J tutorial cut the roll cage, install the screen, BIOS I NVS4200M and HD3000 dual graphics mode.
Not yet cool to 24 hours, suddenly there is a serious Huaping situation.
I find the reason everywhere, suddenly discovered that my NVS4200M alone became unrecognizable, the use of display screen display is normal, one can not recognize the NVS4200M device and driver, and directly spend the first half. However, this was not proposed by the developer of the package at that time. Later in his signature, he said that the T420 FHD had serious design issues, suspended sales, and waited for revision. Until February of this year, the update signature was to stop the development of the T420 FHD kit. I played one. The price of the ticket FHD is that the NVS4200M of my T420 motherboard has been burned out. What's even more amazing is that even my keyboard and fingerprint module are actually broken along with the motherboard, and then the motherboard starts to send out a very serious current of AIDS. It seems that the motherboard must be changed.
Fourth, God pit two: motherboard
Section 1: Ordering
Ma Yunjia found a seller of the cheapest T420 motherboard, the results told me that set the motherboard 130, alone significantly 300, SF to pay, I rely on a good expensive, no way ah, buy it.
Since the replacement of the motherboard, then simply put the CPU and USB3.0 card together in place, directly under the single I7 2720QM quad-core eight-wire and NEC chip USB3.0 EXPRESSCARD, but the price of this USB3.0 card is really black, smoothly The keyboard and fingerprint module were also bought together for $70.
Because the seller is equipped with a Kingston DDR3L-1600 1.35V C11 8GB of memory, the individual is also very good impression of Kingston memory compatibility, stability and quality assurance, I would like to directly buy a good, with dual-channel 16G is enough.
Section II: Dismantling
To replace the motherboard, dismantling is a necessary step. No way, the disassembly process is not difficult to disassemble the screws and connectors, but what kind of length and specifications of screws will be remembered in which hole when you finish, if you There is no extraordinary memory, so stupid way to take pictures while leaving the information for reference, or you directly collect this post for a rainy day. My annotations are very simple. The red ones are screws and screw holes, and the yellow ones are plug-in connectors. It's very intuitive.
The bottom cover of the memory is the first step to be removed. The disassembly of this single screw is very simple, but it is necessary to install it by hand against the keyboard, because it is one of the two screws fixing the keyboard.
After the memory cover is removed, there are a total of 13 screws on the back of the main unit that need to be removed. I will first remove the 9 peripherals. See the figure for length.
At the top left, this long screw is the other one that holds the keyboard. The right side is the MSATA SSD's fixing screw.
A total of 13 back screws have been removed.
Push the keyboard directly to the screen direction to pull out the cable to get super simple, the rest is to disassemble the palm rest, need to disassemble 3 screws
Two or so fixing screws, please note that these two are unique models in the machine.
Remove the fan fixing screw, and then slowly press the palm rest of the crevice, the difficulty is the headset jack, this piece of courage need to be careful and modest, the headset jack passed, then the entire palm rest on 80% disassembly completed.
Removing the palm rest with the fingerprint module requires the removal of the lower connector. Be careful when the connector is weak.
After the palm rest is disassembled, it is necessary to face the red screw and the yellow connector. Look at the figure for disassembly. Remove the yellow connector first. Remove the connector and then remove the screw.
One left horn screw
Two right horn screws
Left screen shaft screw
Right screen shaft screw
Part of the heat sink GPU fixing screws and tablets.
At this point the radiator is fully exposed. Remove the four main screws on the heat sink.
You can remove the heat sink
The HD3000 and NVS4200M dual graphics card versions have three heat pipes and work extremely well.
Then remove the tablet line interface tab screw
To remove the WIFI network card, first remove the IPX antenna connectors on both sides
Remove one NIC fixed long screw.
FRU: 6Y3240, WIFI network card of INTEL wireless N1000, only 2.4G.
Remove the yellow connector in the upper right corner and secure the two screws that enhance the power supply of the USB yellow connector.
Record the length of the screw.
Unplug the USB module connector and remove it.
It seems to be a cat's module. Simply remove the two screws. Remember that there is a pin plug underneath. Be careful to pull it out.
BIOS battery and speaker power connector removed.
Remove screen connector
This one set screw is often overlooked. I point it out and hide it too deeply.
Pull out the yellow connector in the figure and screw out the PCB fixing screw. The upper half of the motherboard is removed.
Remove the two iron frame screws in the lower right corner
Remove the two iron frame screws in the lower left corner
At this point ABCD is completely separated on all four sides. To remove the motherboard, you must remove the motherboard from the iron frame and continue.
There are five screws on the reverse side of the motherboard frame that need to be removed.
Write down the length and position of the screws
Finally, use a vise to unscrew the VGA connector retaining screw. Otherwise it will not take the motherboard.
The iron frame is completely separated from the main board, and the main board is replaced.
Both motherboards are independent, and the process of installation is the reverse process of dismantling. As long as you remember the screw position, the corresponding length and the joint position, whether installation or disassembly is very simple, the following should be prepared for something we are ready to replace. .
Since the T420 seller had a Kingston DDR3L-1600 8GB memory, I went to the tea house to buy a dual channel.
At first, I was worried about whether it was compatible with the pairing. After all, this guy's one was bought a few years ago.
At first glance, basically nothing to worry about, model labeling is almost exactly the same, both are parameters of 1.35V 1600 C11.
The particles are also Kingston. If the model number is the same, the SPD parameters are the same. It is unlikely that there will be compatibility issues. Kingston is trustworthy. Kingston is the best choice when the FRU memory of the original factory is not found.
On the left is the original I5 2410M, on the right is the newly purchased I7 2720QM, theoretically the highest CPU support T420 is 2960xm, but Lenovo's highest heat to support the original factory is I7 2640m. With 2670qm such as u, easily 100 degrees, of course, the use of down-clock is not impossible, but I do not think much meaning, so I choose I7 2720QM, the performance can be another heat can also be pressed.
Even the SNB architecture, I7 2720QM quad-core eight-wire 2.2G maximum Turbo 3.3G, regardless of any aspect I think rolling I7 2640M dual-core four-wire 2.8G maximum Turbo 3.3G is not any suspense, not to mention the I5 2410M Flow, as long as the temperature of the full-load roaster is within 95, I think there is no problem.
NEC's USB3.0 EXPRESSCARD seems to be very awesome. However, apart from this card, the T420 has no other better choice for USB 3.0 expansion, so the price of this product is particularly black. The difference between the new version of BC638 and the old version is that the new version is not easily uprooted when the USB device is plugged in and out. The fixing of the mold is better, but the price is still too dark. Jianxing M6M 128GB MSATA SSD, old inventory, obsessive-compulsive disorder to come up with a few, MSATA empty is also very hard to accept ah, after all, is a SATA6G interface, the whole machine also two SATA6G mouth how can not properly use it.
Knowing the nameplate's firmware knows that this is the Lenovo version of INTEL 520 240GB SSD, yes, with the original FRU, it should be X230 disassemble. Old stocks are stuffed directly into the SATA bit. So I have a 368GB SSD, and all of the old inventory.
Newly bought T420 keyboard, really a penny a minute, the quality is very general, generally I do not want to mention it.
T420 original keyboard FRU: 45N2071, this keyboard FRU: 45N2141, feel a bit worse, simply compatible, it is recommended to buy a keyboard to Lenovo United States check out their notebook host FRU original parts to buy.
Here to provide
Enter the PART number, you can find out the host's FRU number, most of the original parts are necessary, otherwise it may not be compatible. However, sometimes there will be detected FRU and your original host does not match, but now is common, if you buy accessories or in accordance with the host with the FRU or check out the FRU to buy more reliable. For example, if the keyboard is detected, the FRU is 45N2211, but when the host is removed, it is 45N2071. Both of these FRUs can be bought.
Fingerprint module, 10 dollars of goods, but fortunately FRU correct, not afraid.
FRU:04W1625 is fully compliant.
Do not look at my spray is very pleasant and very reasonable, the following said that the worst thing happened after downloading the T420, can be normal operation can be bright, but once the shutdown, you must plug the battery to boot, this pit ah, immediately go to FRU on the motherboard is the same under the same, quickly asked a friend over the phone industry, friends, said the motherboard's tantalum capacitor aging problems, when the boot power storage battery, short circuit protection activated, so must unplug the battery discharge After plugging in the battery to boot, you must replace the tantalum capacitor on the motherboard. I was thinking about it and quickly bought a motherboard. This problem is a bit strange for the owner of the motherboard. It is said that the motherboard can be bright. , it will not be returned, the pit of the motherboard is really twists and turns. You must not rush to confirm the payment to buy the motherboard, we must take a variety of tests, all interface functions, stability, switch machine should try.
Fifth, counterattack: motherboard and high score screen
Because my T420 4180J4C's screen is a 1366X768 low score screen, not perfect, I always want to upgrade the original 1600X900 high score screen, you have to say I was dead, in front of the FHD screen burned the motherboard keyboard fingerprint Have you burned 500 bucks and burned it? Burning and continuing to burn, I decided, after buying a motherboard, I even bought it with high score screens, so I couldn't give in to the twists and turns. So continue to crawl to search the motherboard, finally found one, the motherboard plus high score screen to send the high score line and the BIOS battery 500 yuan, a question has FRU, decisively won.
I gambled on a character, according to the FRU provided by the store to check the problem, at least a little peace of mind.
Buying a THINKPAD cheapest 4337 docking station without USB3.0, I found that with USB3.0 docking station is to grab money, why not cheap, anyway, T420 USB3.0 docking station is also a waste.
Finally received three parcels, motherboard, high score screen and line, docking station.
I opened the motherboard box, I laughed, the seller is sent together with the entire iron frame, what the horn is all over, to save the old and many things, and naturally need to investigate the problem is much less, compared to the previous one sent over The problem motherboard is simply the instantaneous pace of the spike.
This motherboard is really impressing, which saves me at least one hour of dismantling time and hopes to light up once.
Iron frame FRU:04W1629, no problem.
Motherboard FRU: 63Y1705, there is no problem.
High score screen FRU: 93P5689, HD + screen 1600X900 no problem, LG is a Lenovo OEM product, but still TN, IPS would not even think about it.
High score screen FRU: 04W1618, check no problem, adapt HD + high score screen.
First use a business card to open the plastic shell of the screen. Here you have to go back and forth, do not worry, there are snaps, violence is easy to break the buckle, so only four weeks back and forth slowly open, 10 minutes to get all the separation.
Remove the screen screw and remove the screen and frame directly.
Remove the four screws in the picture and you can drop the screen.
The original low split screen is Samsung's, FRU:04W0476, this one goes first
Pick up the high score screen and install the high score screen first
After inserting, fix the screen wire with electrical tape and then install it back.
Because the motherboard has a 70% reduction in mounting pressure with the iron frame, the I-7 2720QM and the Kingston 8G memory below the keyboard are directly plugged in.
CPU put on the CPU motherboard cover film, if you want to use liquid metal, this cover film is necessary, because the exclusion of the CPU surface is exposed, without this cover film, you may use a liquid metal thermal paste may hit fatal.
A layer of silicone grease can cover all the cores. It can be according to my smear area.
Install the heat sink, connect the screen and cable, and the keyboard.
Try it out first, try it out, light up, overjoyed, switch on and try it out, no problem, this time the motherboard is finally on the right, the screen is also good, it seems necessary to check the FRU number before buying. Follow the previous steps to install the host.
The second Kingston DDR3L-1600 8GB RAM and MSATA SSD are installed on the back of the host
Put back to refer to the screw length and hole position in the previous figure.
Check the existence of the FRU before installing the optical drive
FRU board has FRU
The memory cover also has a FRU
There are also FRUs like batteries. The FRUs of these widgets are proof of verifying whether the machine you are buying is an original machine or an assembled machine.
Replace the optical drive battery.
Finally, install EXPRESSCARD USB3.0, the perfect job.
Sixth, upgrade WIFI network card
T420 with WIFI is INTEL N-1000 2.4G use effect can only say make do, I have more advanced INTEL 7260 and BCM94352, T420 can be whitelisted to compatible with other network cards, but the white list BIOS version is only 1.37, The latest BIOS optimized for the NVS4200M under WIN10 released in February 2016 is 1.48.
I simply put the difference between these two BIOSes:
The 1.48 version specifically solves win10 using the NVS4200M stuck problem and UEFI optimization problems, but the memory is forced down to 1333, there is no whitelist version, so you can only use the network card in the Lenovo FRU list up to three antennas INTEL 6300AGN After the upgrade, Lenovo will not allow you to downgrade the BIOS version, but the living person will not die in urine. The visionary brothers studied ways to downgrade:
I found a new way to downgrade the BIOS: enter the command line through cmd, then enter winflash /sa, enter, start the skip all check (avoid validating) brush mode, browse the old BIOS file, open the brush, successfully The BIOS is downgraded and the computer is working fine. .
The 1.37 version has a whitelisted version of the BIOS, memory 1600 is automatically recognized, and the whitelist is compatible with other non-FRU WIFI cards.
Because I use WIN10 as the main system, plus my personal memory frequency of 1600 and 1333 is not sensitive, directly on the 1.48 version, the network card naturally no choice, the highest only 6300AGN, direct orders.
Lenovo FRU version of the INTEL 6300AGN three-antenna version is actually very cheap, supports 2.4G and 5G mode, 5G support 450M, in fact, I have two AC network card, but the speed to see 5G support useless, we really need to support 5G The long-distance stable link, the signal stabilized after linking. Sometimes the cost of several times the effect may be very poor, my example is INTEL 7260 NIC named, compatibility is not that the link quality is not stable, Bluetooth is equal to waste, this card to more than 100, far from level The BCM94352, in the link quality above INTEL 7260 even 6300AGN not as good, far away. Another point is that the T420 has reserved three-antenna IPX. Above this point, the 6300AGN three-antenna version is the FRU standard god card. The advantage is self-evident. The network card said plainly that speed cannot be guaranteed on the basis of link distance and link quality.
Find out the antenna arrangement of the original NIC of the T420. Look at the three blue circles, indeed the three antennas, but only reserve one antenna.
Just take out the N6300AGN to see, 3X3 antenna, FRU is 60Y3233, there is no problem with the official website authentication.
Dual network card to take a photo
Remove the N1000 NIC and insert the N6300AGN. After connecting the two antennas to the IPX connectors 1 and 2 on the network card, remove the other unused antenna.
The third one was removed from the protective cover and plugged into the middle of the IPX 3 interface in the middle of the N6300AGN. The installation was completed. Boot card, it really is genuine Lenovo FRU network card, the signal is also much stronger than the N1000, if the strength and stability of the signal feel and my BCM94352 is almost the same, before the N1000 move to lose the signal, and now the N6300AGN full house There are no fewer than four grids running around, and the links are fast.
Seven, recommended software
Many brothers bother looking for driver software for the THINKPAD T420. The corresponding software for different systems is too much and too complicated. In fact, one can solve the problem.
Do not rely too much on Lenovo’s official website to go directly to the US station.
Download the SYSTEM UPDATE of the corresponding system version, real-time update your system software and driver, do not need to go to a single download, worry and effort, and the update speed and frequency is much faster than the national service, the national service also has a software called Lenovo drives management, but the drivers and software that can be updated are not as varied as versions or types, and are not as comprehensive as SYSTEM UPDATE.
Incidentally, the new diagnostic tool in 2016 is a good thing. The PASS test for almost every aspect of the CPU, graphics card, memory, hard disk, motherboard, PCIE, and battery, FRU and warranty, stability verification, can be completed with diagnostic tools. For my remodeling machine is of great significance.
VIII. Extended use
The T420's portability is not good. If you simply talk about mobility, the T420 is not the same as the classic X230, but the T420 has its own characteristics:
1. Full-featured: Built-in optical drive; X-frame THINKPAD keyboard experience is excellent; there is a cheap 4337 docking station can choose, seconds to desktop.
2. High operability of DIY: Non-BGA welding of CPU can be replaced arbitrarily, so that the original top CPU I7 2640M dual-core four-wire can be directly upgraded to quad-core eight-line I7; MSATA and SATA are both 6G interfaces, wireless network card can be extended three The antenna's standard God card N6300AGN, the screen can also be divided into 1366X768 directly for high scores 1600X900, EXPRESSCARD can be extended USB3.0 interface.
3, 1.48 BIOS enhanced WIN10 support, UEFI support is more mature, NVS4200M can also support 30HZ refresh rate in 4K resolution, if you use the 1.37 whitelist BIOS, you can directly increase the memory frequency from 1333 to 1600 And you can use any wireless network card.
4, the disadvantage is that there is no IPS screen can be selected, because the weight and 14-inch screen and optical drive is fully integrated resulting in poor mobility.
So I like to use the T420 as a home console. It doesn't take up light, but you have to have a docking station to convert to a desktop.
The FRU I got for the THINKPAD 4337 non-USB 3.0 docking station is the 75Y5735. This stuff can be said to be the most cost-effective docking station in history. There are a large number of 50 packages for the Ma Yun family.
The interfaces are DP, VGA, DVI, RJ45, AUDIO IN, AUDIO OUT, and 6 USB 2.0 interfaces, which is enough to extend the keyboard and monitor and other peripherals.
Because T420 does not natively support USB3.0, so there is no need to select the USB3.0 version of the docking station. The USB2.0 4337 docking station can be used directly. USB2.0 can be directly used to expand the two interfaces of EXPRESSCARD.
After the docking station is plugged in with the T420 power adapter, the green light of the docking station indicates that the laptop is successfully connected to the laptop and powers the notebook and the docking station. Pressing the key on the docking station, the power-on key in the horizontal position indicates that the power key can be pressed at any time. The square key below pops up the notebook and separates it from the docking station.
When the red key of the key is locked at the same time, the notebook can be locked so that it cannot leave the docking station.
Some people say that the T420 is very sloppy even if it changes the high score screen. In fact, I think it's okay, but the viewing angle is indeed relatively small, but when the angle is correct, the picture quality is not as bad.
Choosing the odd angle, even if the T420's 1600X900 high score screen is minute, it makes you think about it. I can only say that in the face of the T420, please don't fly. Please move a chair and sit facing the screen. You will feel much better.
The IPS's viewing angle parameter is 178 degrees, but the T420 high score TN does not expect to see anything at this angle.
Take a picture of the screen.
If you can't stand the T420's TN screen then you can't be bothered by an eye. Use an external monitor and a mouse to use it as a desktop computer. When the PO master works, it is in this state.
When brush Yi Xun, PO main habits to open the T420 screen, the monitor is the main screen, T420 is used to expand the screen, so you can brush Jingdong specials and grab tickets while browsing Wang Xiaobai's original food masterpiece.
to sum up
Before T420 configuration:
i5-2410M (2.30-2.9GHz), 2GB RAM, 500GB 7200rpm HDD, 14in 1366x768 LCD, 1GB NVIDIA NVS4200M, CDRW/DVDRW, Intel wireless N-1000, Bluetooth, Modem, 1Gb Ethernet, UltraNav, Secure Chip, Fingerprint reader, Camera,6c Li-Ion,
After the upgrade:
i7-2720QM (2.2-3.3GHz), 16GB RAM, 368GB SSD, 14in 1600x900 HD+ LCD, 1GB NVIDIA NVS4200M, CDRW/DVDRW, Intel wireless 6300AGN, Bluetooth, Modem, 1Gb Ethernet, UltraNav, Secure Chip, Fingerprint reader, Camera, 6c Li-Ion, USB3.0
On the basis of guaranteeing the basic FRU fitting basis and heat dissipation balance, the basic configuration of the T420 independent display is perfectly configured, and it can completely fight for another two years. Finally thank you for watching.