I have an A31P to which I have added both wireless and Blutooth options with amix of new, refurb and other parts, all works OK. IBM provided a utility software app that uses a FN F5 hotkey to bring up a faceplate to control global setting on wireless devices/services. Try as I may, by re-installing a couple of times, from IBM/Lenovo support site, the app does not respond in the way it is described. Have any of you who have worked with the A31P a bit more had any better luck with all of the finer details of these software apps? Just wondering out loud if this is similar to how the machine bios has a preferred hardware list of sorts, of parts that will install without a bios error code or similar response.? Hve any others had similar findings with this machine?
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Hello George. I know from previous posts that you have messed with more than afew A3x systems. Do you have any specific knowledge as to why it won't work ? Is it similar to the control hardware list in bios used for add on cards, etc? I am thinking the software querys the machine type, IE mine as N3U that did not ship with wireless/bluetooth, and simply will not install all functions. IBM/Lenovo won't help as the upgrades were not factory installed on this machine. Anyone have any idea?
Even on the A3x machines that left the factory with wireless and bluetooth, Fn+F5 doesn't do anything at all, and there is no way to enable this function. BIOS and hardware do not allow it, it is really that simple.
Please DO NOT PM me with requests for individual support, but post your questions and concerns in the appropriate section of the forum where other users can benefit from them as well. Thank you.
Well, you've got to remember how old these things really are. It's a tremedous coimpliment to their design team that people are still using them as daily drivers, six years after the very last A31p rolled off the assembly line, and that space stations are still filled with them...
High-end A30p and A31p units had the button in the middle of clear plate that activated the bluetooth, something I've only seen on certain T30 machines apart from them. Wiring of the BT, when compared to later ThinkPads, is entirely different, and pretty weird in my opinion.
Wireless card, although wired in a common-sense manner unlike the BT, was a pretty rare thing at the time, and my assumption is that no one really gave the idea of turning it on/off much thought...once again, these ThinkPads had their debut in 2002, when most people had yet to get off their dial-up, let alone go wireless...
Please DO NOT PM me with requests for individual support, but post your questions and concerns in the appropriate section of the forum where other users can benefit from them as well. Thank you.
TNX for the reply George. Yes I DO agree the large amount of overengineering is what sets these machines apart from the rest of what is available out there, but the unfortunate trade off, is that they are somewhat difficult to upgrade or deviate from how they were originally supplied. But as you have stated, yes they are still amazingly capable even all these years after they were dicontinued as a production item. Kudoo's to IBM/Lenovo for that.
Well, the upgrades are really not that limited or complicated, apart from BT which as I've previously stated, was originally wired in a somewhat awkward way...to throw a couple of things at you, just as an idea...
My A31p came with BT and wireless from the factory, so I left that alone, because the machine sits hardwired into the router anyway since its battery life is very short, but...
a) I've upgraded the CPU from 1.7 to 2.4 (SL6VC) with proper fan, and it's much faster and more responsive, although I wouldn't attempt to run Vista on it...
b) RAM is maxed at 2GB.
c) The original 60/4200 hard drive has been replaced with 80/7200. If you need more space, Samsung 160/5400 is pretty fast and very quiet in my experience.
d) Installed a USB 2.0 PCMCIA card.
So yes, these oldtimers are still pretty upgradeable, and some of these upgrades are not really that expensive anymore...
Please DO NOT PM me with requests for individual support, but post your questions and concerns in the appropriate section of the forum where other users can benefit from them as well. Thank you.
just to add my 2 cents worth here ..... I have a a31p that currently am running XP, Vista, and Win7 on. I have 2 160GB drives in it, and I just admit, this machine runs outstanding! Here's the system info screen from win7.
OS Name Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate Version 6.1.**** Other OS Description Not Available OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation System Name THINKPADWIN7-PC System Manufacturer IBM System Model 2653BU6 System Type X86-based PC Processor Mobile Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 - M CPU 2.50GHz, 2500 Mhz, 1 Core(s), 1 Logical Processor(s) BIOS Version/Date IBM 1NET16WW (1.10 ), 10/19/2006 SMBIOS Version 2.31 Windows Directory C:\Windows System Directory C:\Windows\system32 Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume1 Locale United States Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "6.1." User Name ThinkpadWin7-PC\Thinkpad Win7 Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 1.00 GB Total Physical Memory 1.00 GB Available Physical Memory 313 MB Total Virtual Memory 2.00 GB Available Virtual Memory 1.09 GB Page File Space 1.00 GB Page File C:\pagefile.sys
