Sebi should start providing this service as a paid service for us that were like "WTF" half way through the video. TO much computer science for me. Smiles.
I barely understand it either, as long as you closely follow the ReadMe included with the EC files it isn't too terribly daunting. - from someone who barely passed Intro to Computer Programming.
When I did this on my x230 tablet I tested they keyboard swap without isolating the pins and the laptop started smoking within moments of turning on. Thankfully I hadn’t actually attached the keyboard into case so I was able to yank it out before any damage was properly caused. Please isolate the pins.
Very nice video! Thanks for sharing! (One remark though, at 11:44: "sudo apt-get update" refreshes only the package information. It does not actually perform any "update". For this, one should issue the command "sudo apt-get upgrade" after the information on the packages has been updated. Unfortunately, the keyword "update" does not have the same meaning for every package manager. For instance, in Fedora, "sudo dnf update" will in fact update/upgrade your system.)
This is A MUST SEE VIDEO. Thanks MVP. It was about time somebody updated the classic keyboard tutorial to include the physical changes that needed to be applied. And the list of compatible hardware for the mod is listed, perfect.
I totally agree. For now we can stock up on *30 series thinkpads, and mod them with the *10-*20 keyboards. And stock up on spare keyboards. But sooner or later the day will come... what are we going to do when the keyboards supply is exhausted? Or when the laptops that can use them don't function anymore, or are too slow to run the ever bigger and slower software of the day?
you know what fate is? seeing your video about Ivy Bridge Thinkpad 1 minute after it was posted, AND just so happened I just bought my T530, thank you Sebi
12:08: It should not be necessary to run 'git' as the superuser in this step. Downloading and building the EC software should be possible with ordinary user privileges. 12:45: Again, _building_ the software should not require root. (The reason you needed root in this instance is because you ran `git` as root earlier, and the thinkpad-ec directory and all its files are consequently owned by root.) 14:32: Helpful mnemonics for the `dd` args: "-if" == input file; "-of" == output file.
I've been using an X220 since 2011, and am a big fan of it's keyboard. I had a desktop PC at work, I got a ThinkPad USB keyboard for it, which has the same layout as an X230. I have to say the keys have pretty good feel and I did a lot of coding on that keyboard and basically it's a pretty good keyboard. But, even if the keys are good, the layout is not as good as the 7-row keyboard. I kept missing the way the Del/Home/End/PgUp/PgDn keys are arranged on the 7-row, and also the F keys being divided into groups of 4. So I think it's worth the hassle to fit a 7-row keyboard into the *30 models.
I just followed your guide in this video to swap my T430 keyboard to the x220 keyboard. Worked great! I'm looking forward to your video on the HD screen upgrade.
Hello! Thank you for making this guide, it was very useful. I successfully installed a T420 keyboard in my T430. Hope you get back to RUclips someday! Would love to see the screen upgrade.
Great video! You might want to add the lsblk command, to the -o part the model parameter : lsblk -o name,model That way you can see the drive model and it will be a bit easier to identify your drive.
This video was so damn interesting! i've been just remapping keys with Sharp Keys, but i was so disappointed the other keys didn't work as they're labeled. You are amazing, thank you for sharing this!
Thank you for the video, it's been a long time since I've done this mod on an Ivy ThinkPad and I could use the refresh since I'm doing it again now. You are very informative I really appreciate it.
Trust me, I've wanted to get one since it was first announced. Never had the money for one when they were new, and they're nearly as expensive (not to mention nearly impossible to find) on the used market. If I ever get my hands on one I will be sure to do a video about it!
@@teguhrama2522 I would honestly rather just bite the bullet and install Windows if I needed those programs and couldn't get them working in GNU/Linux. Outside of the terminal, I can't stand using OSX. Windows 10 LTSB 2016 and LTSC 2019 work pretty well without the bloat of normal Windows 10. They only get mandatory security patches, but I'm pretty sure that you can stop updates through group policy.
Sebi, I wish I could send you my T430 so you can mod it with the 7-row keyboard, then send it back to me. I'm not too confident with the steadiness of my hands and my attention span. I fear I might break my system if I attempt this mod, not gonna lie. XD
I will be installing 1vyrain on here, which I believe opens up the possibility of Corebooting it. Not sure if I'll do that just yet though, for my uses there is little reason to do it.
When installing classic kb in my x230, I isolated the three pins, but then discovered that trackpoint buttons did not work (probably too much or too little tape). I then removed masking tape and the buttons worked again. So I decided to install it as is and everything works perfectly. I even installed chiclet kb again in x230 to see if backlight would work and it does. Closer inspection revealed that the burnout happened close to the three pins on the classic kb but it seems that it does not have any adverse effect. Putting that classic kb back in x220 does not incur any problems, everything works ok. But it might not be the case for all. YMMV
Yup, even in reading the comments on here it seems everyone has had different experiences in regards to the isolating of the pins. I took the "better safe than sorry" approach and taped the pins this time.
Hi Sebastian. My trackpoint buttons did not work either. It did work the first time, but I have the Power Button not lighting up, so I removed the tape and put it back again. The Power Button did light up this time, but the trackpoint buttons did not. What do you suggest I should do? I am stuck here. I found another video talking about a similar issue. But I don't understand what he said (3:00) Can you help me with what the guy said? Thanks. ruclips.net/video/t4_6LQrmu14/видео.html(from 3:00)
Your problem might have been caused by the masking tape being too thick, resulting in other (not isolated) pins not making proper contact anymore. It's better to use very thin tape, such as kapton tape, which is perfect for this application. I've done the mod to 4 thinkpads, and isolated the pins on all with kapton tape, didn't get any problems.
The stock T430 keyboard doesn't really bother anywhere near as much as the newer, cramped chiclet style keyboard of today. T430 keyboards are in that transitional area between the amazing keyboards of their chonky ancestors, and those DREADFUL keyboards you'd find on, say, a modern Dell laptop. Useable overall tbh.
As I said in the video, the feel of the T430 keyboard doesn't bother me, it's mostly the layout. I still think modern ThinkPads have better keyboards in both feel and layout than many of their competitors, but I prefer the 7-row layout of older machines hence the main reason for doing this mod. Nothing wrong with preferring the stock T430 keyboard though!
@@SebisRandomTech Now you want an AMAZING Thinkpad keyboard? Those late 90s IBM Thinkpad keyboards were HEAVENLY to type on. Lol. The screens? Well...the keyboards were nice. Lmao!
Best classic keyboard mod video out there! Are the mentioned FRU/Part numbers mandatory, or does the mod work with any other T420 keyboard on a T430, regardless of the FRU/Partnumber? Cheers
Very nice! I will keep my T430s (i7 Thunderbolt) in vanilla look (except IPS mod) since I've already installed a new palmrest .... but I think of getting a X230 just to do the keyboard mod! :D ... I mean I have one X230i ... but it's a Sandy i3 and it stinks (literraly ... the guy was a smoker) so I'm selling it ... next time I will give a laptop a little sniff when buying :D X230T i7 would be a nice catch T430, T530 or W530 are nice and powerful machines ... but I don't want to mess with the keyboard or palmrest...
Thank you for making this guide, although I do have a few minor critiques about it. First, would it be possible to timecode each part of the guide based on which models you're referring to? 5:10 appears to be when you refer to the x230 keyboard swap. Second, can you provide links to the exact parts you used for the keyboard swap on each model? That would really be appreciated. Thanks again.
I don't bother leaving links anymore because the sellers who have them always change. By the time somebody actually uses the links they're dead or the item is no longer available. For most viewers outside of the US the links aren't very helpful either. I don't have enough time to go back to all of my old videos and constantly update the links for that stuff. A part like the T420 keyboard is easy enough to find with a Google/eBay search, and most of my other videos where I do stuff like this I make sure to list or say the model/part number so someone can easily search for it themselves.
Man I' m thinking about maxing out my t430 and making some custom mods like the keyboard change. Even implementing a tri-boot for Windows/Linux/MacOS. What a dope project computer. Just Wish I could get a better graphics card in it with out the limitations emoving the wifi for a PCI card would bring.
You can use an ExpressCard to PCI-E adapter to use an external graphics card (limited bandwidth but still massive performance boost compared to the internal graphics).
Great video Sebi, thanks! I'm looking forward to the follow ups. I'm eager to buy T430 just to do the QHD mod. Why? For fun, to see T430 with higher resolution than my FHD T440p 😁 I'm in the narrow club of people who actually like x230 or T440p keyboards, maybe because my ThinkPad hobby is quite new and I never got conditioned with classic 7 row keyboard.
The new keyboards are still awesome, and it depends. My t430 has a very bad travel, but I had an X230t with a keyboard that I consider better than the chicony-manufactured classic keyboard in my T530.
@@maxstevens9643 Chicony is generally considered to be the "worst" of the ThinkPad keyboards, so that makes sense. I have had some xx30 keyboards that felt better than some xx20 keyboards, all depends on your luck with the keyboard manufacturer lottery.
@@SebisRandomTech Sorry I meant NMB, I mixed that up, NMB is what I actually have. I'm not sure of the my X230t's keyboard manufacturer as I sold it but I want to find out so that I can track one down. Another thing was that that X230t was in literally untouched condition when I got it so that may be part of it.
Love love love my T530. I'm thinking of buying an upgraded t530 I found on ebay. I was going to upgrade my current t530 with a faster processor more RAM and the 1080p screen but I decided to check eBay and I found one for half the cost of my upgrade. Now I can't decide if I want a new laptop with a beautiful touch screen and all the resolution or if I'd be fine with a classic ThinkPad for another 10 years. What thinkpads have the T430 keyboard that are still worth buying?
If you're referring to the classic keyboard as shown in this video the xx30 series is as new as it gets. They did release the 25th Anniversary Edition in 2017 which has a classic keyboard, but those are hard to obtain and can't be easily modded into other newer models.
If you want it even more modern you need to be lucky to find a 25 anniversary edition. It's a shame they only had it in that one since the keyboard can clearly be fitted into a more modern Thinkpad that the T430.
Some people have managed to make the anniversary edition's keyboard work in the T480, however rumor has it the guy who managed to modify the T480's embedded controller to properly detect all of the keys is keeping the code for himself. Once the embedded controller issue gets resolved I would love to tinker around with installing that classic keyboard in a more modern machine.
@@SebisRandomTech I was surprised to see the trackpoint not working but all it was just the trackpad's flex cable loose. Didn't expect to see you still read comments on this video!
Nice video! Weird question though.. if for some reason you decide to switch back to the chiclet keyboard, is there a way to mod the bios back to stock bios? Thanks
If I wanted to return to using the island-style keyboard, after flashing the EC to work with the classic, would I have to reflash the EC with a backup?
Interesting. I still use a T520 with the old keyboard, but it has been acting up due to some Intel ME problem, which caused a timer based system shutdown after 30 minutes. This problem has since mysteriously disappeared though. But it was news to me that replacement bioses exist (other than coreboot? which my machine supposedly didn't support.) Btw, I recall reading about this keyboard swap some time ago, and if I remember correctly, it also suggested swapping the plastic handrest part - maybe doing so will obviate the need for filing the metal tabs?
On the T430 the palmrest is different enough from the T420's that you can't just swap them, hence the need to file the metal tabs. On the T430*s* and the *X*230 you can use a T420s/X220 palmrest.
@@SebisRandomTech As I have the T520 I may have focused on using its keyboard on the T530, I think the handrests may be compatible between these as well.
This is a very helpful video. I'm considering the mod but I'm wondering if there's any keyboard flexing after the swap. Even any minor difference in feeling on different parts of the keyboard is very disturbing to me. Some videos on youtube make them look very unstable. Can this be mitigated?
Mine feels fairly solid, if there is any flexing it's within the tolerances of what the original keyboard would have had. You just have to be very careful with how much you file down the keyboard tabs - too little and it won't fit into the palmrest correctly, too much and it will be loose. If you want to do a keyboard swap on a different Ivy Bridge model I know for a fact that you can get a matching xx20 palmrest with the keyboard and install it without any filing or modifications into the X230 or T430s. I in fact did this several years ago with my own X230, I swapped the keyboard and palmrest for ones from an X220 and it fit perfectly without any modifications.
Hello sebi, I followed your flashing tutorial. Everything was going smoothly until 15:58. I did not get the flashing embedded controller screen. I tested fn + pg up. And the think light did not turn on. Any idea what’s going on?
What are the best prices for T430 in Canada/US? I think Canadian and US prices are quite similar. I live in Canada so I expect ThinkPads to be a bit more expensive here.
In the US I would say anywhere between $100 and $200 USD would be fair depending on condition and specs, and keeping in mind that recent events have inflated the prices of laptops across the board. I imagine it might be a little bit higher in Canada because of availability and differences in currency.
@@rickcupola6262 I would hold out for a price under $200CAD, unless it is a super specced model with extras. Avoid eBay, as the prices are higher. Kijiji/Craigslist will have better prices. If you're not in a rush, take your time and see what deals pop up. Remember, the listings you see right away are there because the asking price is probably too high.
Can I flash the bios for enabling 1866mhz ram and removing the wifi card white-list after doing the EC flash or is the Bios flash reverting the changes of the EC?
I've got a T420 in pretty good condition. Just picked up a P14s (on the outside, a T14 with smoother keys). Can I cannibalize the keyboard from my T420 and do the same thing?
I'll do it the old-fashioned way: Close my eyes and wish for it really hard. Maybe I'll wake up and find my chiclet-style keys and the LED on the lid replaced by a nice keyboard with lots of buttons and a ThinkLight.
I gouged out the palmrest when i did mine, and it's probably just as good as filling the tabs on the keyboard. Actually, my keyboard does touch my screen when the lid is closed, but i figured that's because the classic keyboard is actually thicker and sticks up further. If you look at the middle mouse button on the keyboard when it's screwed into place, it kind of butterfly's up awkwardly. Oh well. Is anybody else's classic keyboards touching their screens?
Here is a good question... Is there a list of trackpads that can be used in other Lenovo thinkpads? A cross reference list, maybe by part number. Have a T/P Edge E535, trackpad doesn't work, (keyboard inop too, but I have a replacement keyboard) I don't want to replace the whole wrist pad/rest, just the trackpad. Plus eventually up the CPU to an A8
I think on many older ThinkPads the touchpad is essentially part of the palmrest. It *could* be replaced, but it wouldn't be easy. Starting with the T440 series and most newer models, the touchpad is a separate part that can be more easily replaced.
I see you took a linux approach to flashing the embedded controller, which i think is really cool, imho. If i could own any Thinkpad, I'd get a Thinkpad W530 and put the Intel Core i7 3920XM @ 3.8Ghz and do an IPS Screen Mod, Classic Keyboard and IvyRain mods to it, and run something like OpenSUSE or Artix Linux as my primary OS, and have Windows installed on a 2nd drive just for compatibility. Is this a viable option? how much does a W530 with the 3920XM pre-installed usually go for on eBay (as I'm not confident in my ability to mod it without breaking anything) Also, what form factors and stuff does the W530 support in terms of Drives? does it support M.2? if so, is it SATA only? or can i use NVME? how many drives (and what form factors/types) can i use on it?
What kind of workloads would your laptop need to deal with? With the CPU you want pre-installed I'm seeing them go for $350-500 on eBay right now (bearing in mind prices right now are a bit inflated because of the pandemic and people working from home). In terms of drives the W530 accepts 2.5" SATA, mSATA, and a second 2.5" drive in place of the DVD drive using a hard drive caddy. You can not use NVME with it, however someone in the ThinkPad community is working on an ExpressCard adapter that supports NVME.
@@SebisRandomTech the expected heavy workload would be music production, so working with stuff like Reaper, Ardour, Audacity, LMMS, and other DAWs with lots of VSTs and plugins, so having good (and preferably fast storage) along with high capacity/fast RAM along with general multitasking and productivity work (Such as using Discord, Browsing the web, and potentially using art software to make my album art, but that's kind of reliant on the Display being color accurate enough to do so, which i kind of doubt.) I may end up building a full on gaming/Workstation rig in the mean time, but i'm really interested in thinkpads, and wouldn't mind owning one for on the go productivity. It's a shame intel was stuck on 4c/8t for so long cause a 6c/12t or an 8c/18t thinkpad with upgradable RAM, NVME storage and a good display would be fantastic. I mean to be honest, my dream Thinkpad would be a Ryzen 4800H w/ 32GB of DDR4 RAM, a 1TB NVME drive and either no dGPU, or an Radeon 5600M (because nvidia on linux is a nightmare), though, my wish list is kind of unrealistic
@@arcturus0389 Unfortunately while there are AMD ThinkPads, they don't have any heavy workload options or premium features like the "main" ThinkPads. The A485 is the closest thing to having what you would want (fast storage, AMD processor, 32+ GB RAM, etc) but those are pretty uncommon. The W530 would be good for your needs, and I should point out that while the W530 uses TN panels, they are *very good* TNs and the high-gamut 1080p displays are actually on par with some IPS options. Meanwhile the T430 had complete junk for its displays. :P
I gota W530 and I put a i7-3940XM (3.9GHz, overclockable once you 1vyrain it) in it. Classic keyboard already fitted. It came with a 1920x1080 screen. While it's not an IPS display, it is a very good screen, I don't feel any deficiency, compared to my X220/X230 IPS screens. Give it a try as is, you might not want to do any IPS mods. I'm in Luxembourg and paid 400 EUR for the laptop (which cames with i7-3820QM) and 140 EUR for an i7-3940XM (you know, on this model the CPU is removable, Socket is called G2)). I think in USA they are cheaper. Replaced the CPU and thermal paste and it's running well and pretty cool (cooler than my X220/X230). No M.2 or NVME. You can use regular a 2.5" SATA SSD or HDD in the main drive bay, and one more 2.5" drive in the Ultrabay instead of the DVD drive (you need a special Ultrabay HDD adapter). You can add an mSATA SSD into the slot which is normally either empty or has a WWAN (3G) card, it will run at SATA 2 speeds (max drive speed will be slightly limited by the bus, which is 3 Gbps max - not bad at all, but modern drives can deliver higher speeds than that), while the other two drives run at SATA 3 speeds (6 Gbps max).
How common are the nmd and chicory productions of this keyboard? I’ve played around with a t420, but don’t know the manufacture- it doesn’t feel any better than some of the t430 chicklet boards. But I hear people raving about nmd, and hating on alps. Is it so different?
To me they are different but not really better or worse. Many have said NMBs are the best, but it's ultimately up to the individual user's preference. All of them are solid keyboards. As I discussed in the video, many people swap the keyboards for the different layout, as the actual typing feel is similar or identical between the T420 and T430.
@@SebisRandomTech thanks a lot! I appreciate your response. I love the t430, while playing with a t420 today more though… it’s so much better for typing can’t wait to swap this keyboard into the t430. I’m doing the ivyrain and a network card and display mod myself before too long! It’s crazy to me how snappy ivy bridge modes are for so cheap.
Gonna put the keyboard from a t420 I got into the t430 tonight! Thanks again for the video I was asking about the nmd vs chicory vs alps kinda as a blind study. I found a vendor for nmd keyboard but they are quite used he warns I will probably buy one and update on the keyboard I have here Ivy bridge is definitely my favorite line of think pads at the moment. My first thinkpad was a t540p so I’m kinda in the middle on my favorite series. 4th series is a lot of fun too and I like both the stock screens and appreciate the 4K capabilities for external display and better express card slot. But as a first tinkering thinkpad I would definitely suggest t430. They seem the most affordable and incrementally upgradable (and over all). The cpu is easier to control thermally than the t540p I have.. you can pretty easily modify the heatsink and the 3740qm is so easy to run over clocked but the 4900mq is very hard to keep cool in my experience. It’ll be a while til I can afford it lol, should be focused entirely on upgrading my current machines. But I’m interested in knowing your favorite small screen thinkpad. My gut tells me go for a x230t but I haven’t looked too much into a x270 or x230.
Which BIOS should I downgrade to?-I have copied the patch to my USB but my BIOS version is 2.82 after having done the 1vyrain mod already. Having read the advice on GitHub I'm not sure which BIOS is compatible with this EC patch. Also will it work if I have Ubuntu and the EC patch on the same USB when I boot up?
I am waiting on my keyboard to come in, would I be able to do all of these steps so tht when it does come in, I can just plug it in? Also while doing the battery patch, can I take care of the wireless whitelist while i am at it? As well as CPU?
No, to do the wireless whitelist and any sort of CPU patches you have to install the 1vyrain mod, and it is suggested that you do that after doing the EC patch.
Yes I know that the keyboard of the X220 is much better, but mine no longer works and in my country this model is no longer available. Thank you for your reply
@@abdeljelilbenabid4097 It's possible to install the keyboard but I don't know if it's possible to remap the keys. You'll have to deal with having a few keys that don't work properly or don't do the function written on them. If anybody watching/reading these comments knows a way to remap the keys, feel free to reply. I would suggest using it as a placeholder until you are able to find a replacement X220 keyboard.
I like to use plastic spudgers to avoid potential damage to cables. They are pretty cheap on eBay, I got several for free when I bought some other parts from China.
You would build a new EC patch in Linux, but when you're preparing to build it, type in the "make patch_disable_keyboard clean" command to revert it to the T430 layout.
@@SebisRandomTech Hello, it's me again, no matter how much I try, I don't have the same and the iso remains the same, could you help me create one that cleans the registry and return to the original keyboard please? I know I ask a lot but I already despair and for more than I try, I have no choice, please ... I have a T430
Is there a possibility that the after market keyboard has built in keylogger? I tried to isolate the pin and made they keyboard unusable. I think some connection problem as some keys are not functioning. I have screwed up two keyboards because of this...
Never heard of anything like that, worst case scenario you could just not bother with isolating the pins, just bearing in mind you'll blow the keyboard backlight fuse if you do so.
In theory everything is possible. Every device you own is probably already spying on you and sending info back to the Chinese government (Russian, US?)
Man, I overwrote my main hard drive by accident because I forgot to read the part where its mentioned that I need a random usb without anything important to install the modification because its going to delete the stuff in it, do you know if there is a way to recover this information or is it lost forever?
There may be a way to recover your data before it is overwritten, but I don't know very much about that process. I would suggest asking around on a few forums or look into a data recovery service - and don't use the drive at all until you can get the data recovered. On most storage devices the data isn't overwritten right away, it is marked for deletion meaning if new data is written to the drive it can overwrite the old data.
Welp, after 8 hours of repeating your steps exactly as you showed i rebooted my laptop, set to Legacy mode and after booting from USB my entire screen was covered with weird symbols. i almost shit my pants, but at least it didn't break my bios after i forcefully shut my T430 down. Edit: and my flash drive now has 36MB of memory instead of 16GB. Is there a way to fix this? None of formatting helps
I want to do this mod, but due to my OCD and generally clumsiness I wanted to ask a couple of questions. 1. Is it possible to skip some of the mechanical altering of the keyboard? 2. Between the keyboard and lower palm rest on your T430 I see a gap that shows where the filing is done. Is there a way to adjust that?
Like I said in the video, you can brute force it into the palmrest and then insert that combined assembly into place, without making any physical alterations. As for the second question, try your best with the filing is my best suggestion, or look into the brute force method! :P
@@SebisRandomTech I'll probably just brute force it in there and hope it doesn't detach itself :P Also, I read that someone bricked their keyboard doing the pin isolation. So in the end is it safe to do? Also, do I need to cover one side of the pins or both sides (since the cable appears to be double sided)
@@jugostran That's your call. It's only one side of the pins. I did the swap without issue on my X230 and on a different T430 a few years ago (without isolating the pins), but as that other person shows there is a risk of bricking the keyboard or doing other damage, hence why it is recommended that you isolate them.
Mine is a Liteon, I've had good luck with Samsung, Toshiba, and MyDigitalSSD mSATA drives. There are many other manufacturers out there that I've had good experience with.
Samsung 860 EVO mSATA is the fastest one I know of. Personally I'm using Samsung 850 EVO mSATA in two of my ThinkPads. Kingston KC600 is a cheaper alternative which is recommended, I haven't tried it. Do note that the mSATA disk will run at SATA 2 speeds (3 Gbps), while if you get a regular SATA SSD in the main drive slot, it will run at SATA 3 speeds (6 Gbps), which will be somewhat faster. Plus, I think no one develops new models of mSATA SSDs anymore, while newer generation SATA SSDs are getting a bit faster (e.g. Samsung 870 EVO). If your budget allows it, for an X model go for a large SATA SSD in your main drive bay, and forget about the mSATA slot. For a T or W model, use a SATA SSD (as large as you need / can afford) in your main drive bay, and put a 2 TB HDD in your Ultrabay (you will need a suitable Ultrabay HDD caddy / adapter).
@@SebisRandomTech I see, thanks man. Final question is do you know any reputable communities who help source cheapo T430 units from recycling dumps, refurb them, and upgrade for a reasonable cost? Canadian prices are crazy overpriced.
Over the years I've bought by now about 10 keyboads from China (ebay) for several ThinkPads. It's indeed tricky to find a good one, especially these days. These days the market is saturated by some kind of newly manufactured compatible keyboards. They look the part, but are not as good in quality. They have quite distinctive shape of the key cutouts on the backside. Just a few years ago, I haven't seen any classic keyboards with this shape of cutouts. But now the majority of keyboards on offer are those. Once I bought a keyboard from ebay, the photos looked like my original keyboard. However what arrived was this new model, I tried it but didn't like it much. I requested a return (because item was not as described) and in the end the seller refunded the money. Since then, I always ask the seller first, if what I get is exactly what I see, or it can be a compatible substitute, possibly another part number / FRU. Most of the sellers reply that they can't guarantee the exact model I will get, so I don't buy from them. Last keyboard I bought, I had to pay 60 USD for it (plus customs fee / VAT). I think the supply of original keyboards is drying up, there is sometimes a bit of new old stuck surfacing here and there, but for the most part it's either used, used&reconditioned, or new non-original "compatible" keyboards.
does the bios have to be 2.81 in order to get the EC mod to work? I did it with 2.64 since I'm planning on doing the ivyrain mod but when i tested to use the Fn+ pageup for the thinklight, nothing happened
Might be quite late but i noticed that in ec flash github page there are different versions of the embedded controller listed (2.64 is G1HT35WW) maybe you flashed the wrong version of the bios but the correct model so your laptop didn't brick but the patch didn't work
Okay so, I have this really big gaming laptop and I want a portable laptop with a big screen and can play games at a reasonable fps for cheap. Got any suggestions? I was thinking of getting the Lenovo ThinkPad x230. Thanks!
The X230 has a 12” screen, so it certainly won’t be *big* by any means but it is fairly portable. You’ll have to elaborate on what type of games you would want to play for me to give a good suggestion.
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Sebi should start providing this service as a paid service for us that were like "WTF" half way through the video. TO much computer science for me. Smiles.
I barely understand it either, as long as you closely follow the ReadMe included with the EC files it isn't too terribly daunting.
- from someone who barely passed Intro to Computer Programming.
When I did this on my x230 tablet I tested they keyboard swap without isolating the pins and the laptop started smoking within moments of turning on. Thankfully I hadn’t actually attached the keyboard into case so I was able to yank it out before any damage was properly caused. Please isolate the pins.
Just put an x230t motherboard in my x220t last week and this is the first I'm hearing of this, I think I might have open it back up today
Very nice video! Thanks for sharing! (One remark though, at 11:44: "sudo apt-get update" refreshes only the package information. It does not actually perform any "update". For this, one should issue the command "sudo apt-get upgrade" after the information on the packages has been updated. Unfortunately, the keyword "update" does not have the same meaning for every package manager. For instance, in Fedora, "sudo dnf update" will in fact update/upgrade your system.)
Whoops! Good to know.
This is A MUST SEE VIDEO.
Thanks MVP.
It was about time somebody updated the classic keyboard tutorial to include the physical changes that needed to be applied.
And the list of compatible hardware for the mod is listed, perfect.
the keyboards on the old thinkpads like the t420 are THE best laptop keyboards hands down. it's orgasmic to type on it
I totally agree. For now we can stock up on *30 series thinkpads, and mod them with the *10-*20 keyboards. And stock up on spare keyboards. But sooner or later the day will come... what are we going to do when the keyboards supply is exhausted? Or when the laptops that can use them don't function anymore, or are too slow to run the ever bigger and slower software of the day?
you know what fate is? seeing your video about Ivy Bridge Thinkpad 1 minute after it was posted, AND just so happened I just bought my T530, thank you Sebi
Great video I have been waiting for your T430 upgrades and have been putting off upgrading my laptop ever since you announced it on your T480 video.
12:08: It should not be necessary to run 'git' as the superuser in this step. Downloading and building the EC software should be possible with ordinary user privileges.
12:45: Again, _building_ the software should not require root. (The reason you needed root in this instance is because you ran `git` as root earlier, and the thinkpad-ec directory and all its files are consequently owned by root.)
14:32: Helpful mnemonics for the `dd` args: "-if" == input file; "-of" == output file.
I've been using an X220 since 2011, and am a big fan of it's keyboard. I had a desktop PC at work, I got a ThinkPad USB keyboard for it, which has the same layout as an X230. I have to say the keys have pretty good feel and I did a lot of coding on that keyboard and basically it's a pretty good keyboard. But, even if the keys are good, the layout is not as good as the 7-row keyboard. I kept missing the way the Del/Home/End/PgUp/PgDn keys are arranged on the 7-row, and also the F keys being divided into groups of 4. So I think it's worth the hassle to fit a 7-row keyboard into the *30 models.
I just followed your guide in this video to swap my T430 keyboard to the x220 keyboard. Worked great! I'm looking forward to your video on the HD screen upgrade.
Hello! Thank you for making this guide, it was very useful. I successfully installed a T420 keyboard in my T430. Hope you get back to RUclips someday! Would love to see the screen upgrade.
I see a problem at 2:19
We didn't get to hear the buckling springs of the Model M
You get to hear it at 0:00!
perfect! :) makes it alot easier for me! Using T430 aswell.
Great video! You might want to add the lsblk command, to the -o part the model parameter : lsblk -o name,model
That way you can see the drive model and it will be a bit easier to identify your drive.
Good to keep in mind.
Or plug the drive in, do `dmesg | tail` to see the kernel messages for the just detected device, the device name will be there
sebi I’m begging for that follow up I love these videos
This video was so damn interesting! i've been just remapping keys with Sharp Keys, but i was so disappointed the other keys didn't work as they're labeled.
You are amazing, thank you for sharing this!
Just swapped keyboard on my x230. Thank you for such a great guide!!!
Somewhat soon is the best ETA I can provide! Trying my best to get these done soon!
Its worth noting that "apt update" only updates the repositories. To actually update the system you would run "apt upgrade" after that.
Whoops!
0:18 oooo streetcar 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Thank you for the video, it's been a long time since I've done this mod on an Ivy ThinkPad and I could use the refresh since I'm doing it again now. You are very informative I really appreciate it.
No problem! Glad you liked the video.
This is like the PC version of a LS engine swap in a car, nice work very cool.
Love your channel brother, keep up the good work.
Thinkpad 25 review would be cool.
Here is to hoping you can get your hands on one.
Trust me, I've wanted to get one since it was first announced. Never had the money for one when they were new, and they're nearly as expensive (not to mention nearly impossible to find) on the used market. If I ever get my hands on one I will be sure to do a video about it!
As T440p user, always envy to my friends who used classic keyboard Thinkpad. They look so so sexy
@Dhyan Jay yeah, the main reason i bought t440p is the screen, which i replaced too with IPS and also I installed OSX 14.6
The layout is irreplaceable. I love it so much I'm buying a mechanical keyboard inspired by the design!
@@teguhrama2522 Why did you put OSX on a Thinkpad?
@@comicsans1689 because I work with Logic Pro and Final Cut Pro.. and I hate Windows update 😅
@@teguhrama2522 I would honestly rather just bite the bullet and install Windows if I needed those programs and couldn't get them working in GNU/Linux. Outside of the terminal, I can't stand using OSX. Windows 10 LTSB 2016 and LTSC 2019 work pretty well without the bloat of normal Windows 10. They only get mandatory security patches, but I'm pretty sure that you can stop updates through group policy.
Sebi, I wish I could send you my T430 so you can mod it with the 7-row keyboard, then send it back to me. I'm not too confident with the steadiness of my hands and my attention span. I fear I might break my system if I attempt this mod, not gonna lie. XD
11:46 apt update only updates the repositories so apt upgrade (which you should run afterwards) knows what upgrades are available
Thank you so much I was looking for a video guide for this. Are you going to Coreboot it?
I will be installing 1vyrain on here, which I believe opens up the possibility of Corebooting it. Not sure if I'll do that just yet though, for my uses there is little reason to do it.
Nice points about the classic keyboard.
When installing classic kb in my x230, I isolated the three pins, but then discovered that trackpoint buttons did not work (probably too much or too little tape). I then removed masking tape and the buttons worked again. So I decided to install it as is and everything works perfectly. I even installed chiclet kb again in x230 to see if backlight would work and it does. Closer inspection revealed that the burnout happened close to the three pins on the classic kb but it seems that it does not have any adverse effect. Putting that classic kb back in x220 does not incur any problems, everything works ok. But it might not be the case for all. YMMV
Yup, even in reading the comments on here it seems everyone has had different experiences in regards to the isolating of the pins. I took the "better safe than sorry" approach and taped the pins this time.
Hi Sebastian. My trackpoint buttons did not work either. It did work the first time, but I have the Power Button not lighting up, so I removed the tape and put it back again. The Power Button did light up this time, but the trackpoint buttons did not. What do you suggest I should do? I am stuck here.
I found another video talking about a similar issue. But I don't understand what he said (3:00) Can you help me with what the guy said? Thanks.
ruclips.net/video/t4_6LQrmu14/видео.html(from 3:00)
Your problem might have been caused by the masking tape being too thick, resulting in other (not isolated) pins not making proper contact anymore. It's better to use very thin tape, such as kapton tape, which is perfect for this application. I've done the mod to 4 thinkpads, and isolated the pins on all with kapton tape, didn't get any problems.
and done, I now own the best laptop money can buy. god this thing is wonderful.
excellent
I just want to buy a T430 and do all of Mods you did
i enjoy your content a lot
The stock T430 keyboard doesn't really bother anywhere near as much as the newer, cramped chiclet style keyboard of today. T430 keyboards are in that transitional area between the amazing keyboards of their chonky ancestors, and those DREADFUL keyboards you'd find on, say, a modern Dell laptop.
Useable overall tbh.
As I said in the video, the feel of the T430 keyboard doesn't bother me, it's mostly the layout. I still think modern ThinkPads have better keyboards in both feel and layout than many of their competitors, but I prefer the 7-row layout of older machines hence the main reason for doing this mod. Nothing wrong with preferring the stock T430 keyboard though!
@@SebisRandomTech Now you want an AMAZING Thinkpad keyboard? Those late 90s IBM Thinkpad keyboards were HEAVENLY to type on. Lol. The screens? Well...the keyboards were nice. Lmao!
Best classic keyboard mod video out there!
Are the mentioned FRU/Part numbers mandatory, or does the mod work with any other T420 keyboard on a T430, regardless of the FRU/Partnumber?
Cheers
It should work with any xx20 keyboard, as they all should be interchangeable.
@@SebisRandomTech ok, good to know, thank you!
Very nice! I will keep my T430s (i7 Thunderbolt) in vanilla look (except IPS mod) since I've already installed a new palmrest .... but I think of getting a X230 just to do the keyboard mod! :D ... I mean I have one X230i ... but it's a Sandy i3 and it stinks (literraly ... the guy was a smoker) so I'm selling it ... next time I will give a laptop a little sniff when buying :D X230T i7 would be a nice catch
T430, T530 or W530 are nice and powerful machines ... but I don't want to mess with the keyboard or palmrest...
Thanks for the video, great watch!!
Im lazy, I bought a T420 corebooted and dropped in a ivy bridge quad core cpu
might get an x230 to do this on, I can swap in my old t410 keyboard
Thanks so much for making this video. helped me out so much
Thank you for making this guide, although I do have a few minor critiques about it. First, would it be possible to timecode each part of the guide based on which models you're referring to? 5:10 appears to be when you refer to the x230 keyboard swap. Second, can you provide links to the exact parts you used for the keyboard swap on each model? That would really be appreciated. Thanks again.
I don't bother leaving links anymore because the sellers who have them always change. By the time somebody actually uses the links they're dead or the item is no longer available. For most viewers outside of the US the links aren't very helpful either. I don't have enough time to go back to all of my old videos and constantly update the links for that stuff. A part like the T420 keyboard is easy enough to find with a Google/eBay search, and most of my other videos where I do stuff like this I make sure to list or say the model/part number so someone can easily search for it themselves.
are we ever going to get the t430 screen replacement video? what happened to that
Man I' m thinking about maxing out my t430 and making some custom mods like the keyboard change.
Even implementing a tri-boot for Windows/Linux/MacOS.
What a dope project computer. Just Wish I could get a better graphics card in it with out the limitations emoving the wifi for a PCI card would bring.
You can use an ExpressCard to PCI-E adapter to use an external graphics card (limited bandwidth but still massive performance boost compared to the internal graphics).
Great video Sebi, thanks!
I'm looking forward to the follow ups. I'm eager to buy T430 just to do the QHD mod. Why? For fun, to see T430 with higher resolution than my FHD T440p 😁
I'm in the narrow club of people who actually like x230 or T440p keyboards, maybe because my ThinkPad hobby is quite new and I never got conditioned with classic 7 row keyboard.
The new keyboards are still awesome, and it depends. My t430 has a very bad travel, but I had an X230t with a keyboard that I consider better than the chicony-manufactured classic keyboard in my T530.
@@maxstevens9643 Chicony is generally considered to be the "worst" of the ThinkPad keyboards, so that makes sense. I have had some xx30 keyboards that felt better than some xx20 keyboards, all depends on your luck with the keyboard manufacturer lottery.
@@SebisRandomTech Sorry I meant NMB, I mixed that up, NMB is what I actually have. I'm not sure of the my X230t's keyboard manufacturer as I sold it but I want to find out so that I can track one down. Another thing was that that X230t was in literally untouched condition when I got it so that may be part of it.
@@maxstevens9643 Wear and tear can definitely be a factor in how good a keyboard feels, especially any rubber dome keyboard.
Will it work with the L530, as well? Hopefully, it does. I'll buy one ASAP. Those classic keyboard are freakin beautiful.
I'm not sure if it works with the L series.
@@SebisRandomTech Well, I gotta do some more research. Thank you tho,
Love love love my T530. I'm thinking of buying an upgraded t530 I found on ebay. I was going to upgrade my current t530 with a faster processor more RAM and the 1080p screen but I decided to check eBay and I found one for half the cost of my upgrade. Now I can't decide if I want a new laptop with a beautiful touch screen and all the resolution or if I'd be fine with a classic ThinkPad for another 10 years. What thinkpads have the T430 keyboard that are still worth buying?
If you're referring to the classic keyboard as shown in this video the xx30 series is as new as it gets. They did release the 25th Anniversary Edition in 2017 which has a classic keyboard, but those are hard to obtain and can't be easily modded into other newer models.
@@SebisRandomTechSebi we’re waiting for more vídeos 😂💪🏾💪🏾💪🏾
Esos teclados son de los mejores ya que se sienten muy confortable teclear. Saludos.
If you want it even more modern you need to be lucky to find a 25 anniversary edition. It's a shame they only had it in that one since the keyboard can clearly be fitted into a more modern Thinkpad that the T430.
Some people have managed to make the anniversary edition's keyboard work in the T480, however rumor has it the guy who managed to modify the T480's embedded controller to properly detect all of the keys is keeping the code for himself. Once the embedded controller issue gets resolved I would love to tinker around with installing that classic keyboard in a more modern machine.
Can you 1vyrain before/after this patch?
Better to do it after.
I got a ThinkPad t420 does not need all that complications :)
Worth it for my uses to have better performance and native USB 3.0 support, but the T420 is still an equally solid machine.
@@SebisRandomTech Well said!
You could also take a t420 and put an ivy bridge CPU with coreboot on it.
Excellent tutorial!
Does the trackpoint work right off the bat?
It should, and does for me.
@@SebisRandomTech I was surprised to see the trackpoint not working but all it was just the trackpad's flex cable loose.
Didn't expect to see you still read comments on this video!
Nice video! Weird question though.. if for some reason you decide to switch back to the chiclet keyboard, is there a way to mod the bios back to stock bios? Thanks
You would apply the BIOS patch but in the terminal in Linux you would type in a command to change the keyboard patch to "OFF".
I just bought a T420 instead of a T430 BC of the classic keyboard!
You can put a 3rd gen Intel i7 in a t420 with some mods
@@chindvids i know that but i am getting one with an i7 in it already!
@@sophiethecat9256 That's a second gen not a third. Ivy bridge processors are faster than the Sandy bridge.
@@klwthe3rd that did not go into choosing the thing, i do know that though.
If I wanted to return to using the island-style keyboard, after flashing the EC to work with the classic, would I have to reflash the EC with a backup?
You would reflash the EC and put in the "Keyboard patch OFF" command before building it.
Thanks for the help
Interesting. I still use a T520 with the old keyboard, but it has been acting up due to some Intel ME problem, which caused a timer based system shutdown after 30 minutes. This problem has since mysteriously disappeared though. But it was news to me that replacement bioses exist (other than coreboot? which my machine supposedly didn't support.)
Btw, I recall reading about this keyboard swap some time ago, and if I remember correctly, it also suggested swapping the plastic handrest part - maybe doing so will obviate the need for filing the metal tabs?
On the T430 the palmrest is different enough from the T420's that you can't just swap them, hence the need to file the metal tabs. On the T430*s* and the *X*230 you can use a T420s/X220 palmrest.
@@SebisRandomTech As I have the T520 I may have focused on using its keyboard on the T530, I think the handrests may be compatible between these as well.
This is a very helpful video. I'm considering the mod but I'm wondering if there's any keyboard flexing after the swap. Even any minor difference in feeling on different parts of the keyboard is very disturbing to me. Some videos on youtube make them look very unstable. Can this be mitigated?
Mine feels fairly solid, if there is any flexing it's within the tolerances of what the original keyboard would have had. You just have to be very careful with how much you file down the keyboard tabs - too little and it won't fit into the palmrest correctly, too much and it will be loose.
If you want to do a keyboard swap on a different Ivy Bridge model I know for a fact that you can get a matching xx20 palmrest with the keyboard and install it without any filing or modifications into the X230 or T430s. I in fact did this several years ago with my own X230, I swapped the keyboard and palmrest for ones from an X220 and it fit perfectly without any modifications.
Oh wow, will this apply the other way around? Say putting the ivybridge keyboard to my x200si?
It wouldn't work in an X200 model, but it could be possible to put one in an X220.
Can test keyboard without seal fleksibel tape
Great Great video. Hi can you tell me which is the best model Wifi card that I can upgrade to after the whitelist removal? Thanks.
please review t460p thinkpad
hi man can you make a video hoe to replace t440p speakers?
good job, take pride in that
Thank you, lets change and display :)
Hello sebi, I followed your flashing tutorial. Everything was going smoothly until 15:58. I did not get the flashing embedded controller screen. I tested fn + pg up. And the think light did not turn on. Any idea what’s going on?
I have a 12 yr old w520, 20 gb, 1 tb(SSD+hd), i7 2nd gen. Still going great.
How do I add external GPU, to do some machine learning stuff?
Sebi should 100% link the patched t430 BIOS in a pinned comment or the description
What are the best prices for T430 in Canada/US? I think Canadian and US prices are quite similar. I live in Canada so I expect ThinkPads to be a bit more expensive here.
In the US I would say anywhere between $100 and $200 USD would be fair depending on condition and specs, and keeping in mind that recent events have inflated the prices of laptops across the board. I imagine it might be a little bit higher in Canada because of availability and differences in currency.
@@SebisRandomTech would less than CA$300 be reasonable?
Depends on the specifications and condition.
@@rickcupola6262 I would hold out for a price under $200CAD, unless it is a super specced model with extras. Avoid eBay, as the prices are higher. Kijiji/Craigslist will have better prices. If you're not in a rush, take your time and see what deals pop up. Remember, the listings you see right away are there because the asking price is probably too high.
Can I flash the bios for enabling 1866mhz ram and removing the wifi card white-list after doing the EC flash or is the Bios flash reverting the changes of the EC?
I've got a T420 in pretty good condition. Just picked up a P14s (on the outside, a T14 with smoother keys). Can I cannibalize the keyboard from my T420 and do the same thing?
Sadly no. The T420 keyboard can only be fitted into a xx30 machine, like the T430 W530, or X230.
I'll do it the old-fashioned way: Close my eyes and wish for it really hard. Maybe I'll wake up and find my chiclet-style keys and the LED on the lid replaced by a nice keyboard with lots of buttons and a ThinkLight.
does this also works for the L430?
Hey I know this video is old, but do you know if I can do this with Heads/CB instead of the stock BIOS?
I gouged out the palmrest when i did mine, and it's probably just as good as filling the tabs on the keyboard. Actually, my keyboard does touch my screen when the lid is closed, but i figured that's because the classic keyboard is actually thicker and sticks up further. If you look at the middle mouse button on the keyboard when it's screwed into place, it kind of butterfly's up awkwardly. Oh well. Is anybody else's classic keyboards touching their screens?
Mine seems to be flush with the palmrest. No keys or buttons are raised up higher than the palmrest in my case.
@@SebisRandomTech hm... I'll have to do some more diving into this
Here is a good question... Is there a list of trackpads that can be used in other Lenovo thinkpads? A cross reference list, maybe by part number. Have a T/P Edge E535, trackpad doesn't work, (keyboard inop too, but I have a replacement keyboard) I don't want to replace the whole wrist pad/rest, just the trackpad. Plus eventually up the CPU to an A8
I think on many older ThinkPads the touchpad is essentially part of the palmrest. It *could* be replaced, but it wouldn't be easy. Starting with the T440 series and most newer models, the touchpad is a separate part that can be more easily replaced.
@@SebisRandomTech yeah I thought so. I thought the touchpad itself could be replaced, & not the whole palm rest & cover. Thanks for the help.
I see you took a linux approach to flashing the embedded controller, which i think is really cool, imho. If i could own any Thinkpad, I'd get a Thinkpad W530 and put the Intel Core i7 3920XM @ 3.8Ghz and do an IPS Screen Mod, Classic Keyboard and IvyRain mods to it, and run something like OpenSUSE or Artix Linux as my primary OS, and have Windows installed on a 2nd drive just for compatibility. Is this a viable option? how much does a W530 with the 3920XM pre-installed usually go for on eBay (as I'm not confident in my ability to mod it without breaking anything)
Also, what form factors and stuff does the W530 support in terms of Drives? does it support M.2? if so, is it SATA only? or can i use NVME? how many drives (and what form factors/types) can i use on it?
What kind of workloads would your laptop need to deal with? With the CPU you want pre-installed I'm seeing them go for $350-500 on eBay right now (bearing in mind prices right now are a bit inflated because of the pandemic and people working from home).
In terms of drives the W530 accepts 2.5" SATA, mSATA, and a second 2.5" drive in place of the DVD drive using a hard drive caddy. You can not use NVME with it, however someone in the ThinkPad community is working on an ExpressCard adapter that supports NVME.
@@SebisRandomTech the expected heavy workload would be music production, so working with stuff like Reaper, Ardour, Audacity, LMMS, and other DAWs with lots of VSTs and plugins, so having good (and preferably fast storage) along with high capacity/fast RAM along with general multitasking and productivity work (Such as using Discord, Browsing the web, and potentially using art software to make my album art, but that's kind of reliant on the Display being color accurate enough to do so, which i kind of doubt.)
I may end up building a full on gaming/Workstation rig in the mean time, but i'm really interested in thinkpads, and wouldn't mind owning one for on the go productivity.
It's a shame intel was stuck on 4c/8t for so long cause a 6c/12t or an 8c/18t thinkpad with upgradable RAM, NVME storage and a good display would be fantastic.
I mean to be honest, my dream Thinkpad would be a Ryzen 4800H w/ 32GB of DDR4 RAM, a 1TB NVME drive and either no dGPU, or an Radeon 5600M (because nvidia on linux is a nightmare), though, my wish list is kind of unrealistic
@@arcturus0389 Unfortunately while there are AMD ThinkPads, they don't have any heavy workload options or premium features like the "main" ThinkPads. The A485 is the closest thing to having what you would want (fast storage, AMD processor, 32+ GB RAM, etc) but those are pretty uncommon. The W530 would be good for your needs, and I should point out that while the W530 uses TN panels, they are *very good* TNs and the high-gamut 1080p displays are actually on par with some IPS options. Meanwhile the T430 had complete junk for its displays. :P
I gota W530 and I put a i7-3940XM (3.9GHz, overclockable once you 1vyrain it) in it. Classic keyboard already fitted. It came with a 1920x1080 screen. While it's not an IPS display, it is a very good screen, I don't feel any deficiency, compared to my X220/X230 IPS screens. Give it a try as is, you might not want to do any IPS mods. I'm in Luxembourg and paid 400 EUR for the laptop (which cames with i7-3820QM) and 140 EUR for an i7-3940XM (you know, on this model the CPU is removable, Socket is called G2)). I think in USA they are cheaper. Replaced the CPU and thermal paste and it's running well and pretty cool (cooler than my X220/X230).
No M.2 or NVME. You can use regular a 2.5" SATA SSD or HDD in the main drive bay, and one more 2.5" drive in the Ultrabay instead of the DVD drive (you need a special Ultrabay HDD adapter). You can add an mSATA SSD into the slot which is normally either empty or has a WWAN (3G) card, it will run at SATA 2 speeds (max drive speed will be slightly limited by the bus, which is 3 Gbps max - not bad at all, but modern drives can deliver higher speeds than that), while the other two drives run at SATA 3 speeds (6 Gbps max).
SUPERB.
I do believe the t430s is only compatible with the t420s keyboard, while all others are cross-compatible.
As far as I know they're the same as any other model from that time period.
How common are the nmd and chicory productions of this keyboard?
I’ve played around with a t420, but don’t know the manufacture- it doesn’t feel any better than some of the t430 chicklet boards. But I hear people raving about nmd, and hating on alps. Is it so different?
To me they are different but not really better or worse. Many have said NMBs are the best, but it's ultimately up to the individual user's preference. All of them are solid keyboards.
As I discussed in the video, many people swap the keyboards for the different layout, as the actual typing feel is similar or identical between the T420 and T430.
@@SebisRandomTech thanks a lot! I appreciate your response.
I love the t430, while playing with a t420 today more though… it’s so much better for typing can’t wait to swap this keyboard into the t430.
I’m doing the ivyrain and a network card and display mod myself before too long!
It’s crazy to me how snappy ivy bridge modes are for so cheap.
Gonna put the keyboard from a t420 I got into the t430 tonight! Thanks again for the video
I was asking about the nmd vs chicory vs alps kinda as a blind study. I found a vendor for nmd keyboard but they are quite used he warns
I will probably buy one and update on the keyboard I have here
Ivy bridge is definitely my favorite line of think pads at the moment. My first thinkpad was a t540p so I’m kinda in the middle on my favorite series. 4th series is a lot of fun too and I like both the stock screens and appreciate the 4K capabilities for external display and better express card slot.
But as a first tinkering thinkpad I would definitely suggest t430. They seem the most affordable and incrementally upgradable (and over all). The cpu is easier to control thermally than the t540p I have.. you can pretty easily modify the heatsink and the 3740qm is so easy to run over clocked but the 4900mq is very hard to keep cool in my experience.
It’ll be a while til I can afford it lol, should be focused entirely on upgrading my current machines. But I’m interested in knowing your favorite small screen thinkpad. My gut tells me go for a x230t but I haven’t looked too much into a x270 or x230.
You said something about software for downgrading bios update can you please give its link
Use the link to Lenovo's website in the description and download the appropriate older BIOS version.
Which BIOS should I downgrade to?-I have copied the patch to my USB but my BIOS version is 2.82 after having done the 1vyrain mod already. Having read the advice on GitHub I'm not sure which BIOS is compatible with this EC patch.
Also will it work if I have Ubuntu and the EC patch on the same USB when I boot up?
I am waiting on my keyboard to come in, would I be able to do all of these steps so tht when it does come in, I can just plug it in?
Also while doing the battery patch, can I take care of the wireless whitelist while i am at it? As well as CPU?
No, to do the wireless whitelist and any sort of CPU patches you have to install the 1vyrain mod, and it is suggested that you do that after doing the EC patch.
Will this work on a x240? I mean I can live with the normal keyboard but might replace it just for fun.
No, this will only work on --30 series ThinkPads.
Thank you for the video. I can install the X230 keyboard on the X220? Is it compatible ?
You could, but I'm not sure why you would want to! I mostly put X220 keyboards into X230's! :P
Yes I know that the keyboard of the X220 is much better, but mine no longer works and in my country this model is no longer available. Thank you for your reply
@@abdeljelilbenabid4097 It's possible to install the keyboard but I don't know if it's possible to remap the keys. You'll have to deal with having a few keys that don't work properly or don't do the function written on them. If anybody watching/reading these comments knows a way to remap the keys, feel free to reply. I would suggest using it as a placeholder until you are able to find a replacement X220 keyboard.
can i switch the t61 keyboard into a t410s? included the fron cover ?
No, they use keyboards that are physically incompatible.
x230 to x220 keyboard blew my mouse buttons without the keyboard pins being isolated
what screwdriver did you use to release the ribbon cable from it’s place
Just a precision Phillips head.
I like to use plastic spudgers to avoid potential damage to cables. They are pretty cheap on eBay, I got several for free when I bought some other parts from China.
Hi can you tell me if the same procedure works with keyboard Part Number 45N2123 FRU 45N2158 Italian Layout? Thanks
As far as I know, it should. Obviously make sure to get the files for the Italian layout and not the US layout.
Hello, I need to return the keyboard to the previous controller, what can I do? Thanks.
You would build a new EC patch in Linux, but when you're preparing to build it, type in the "make patch_disable_keyboard clean" command to revert it to the T430 layout.
@@SebisRandomTech Hello, it's me again, no matter how much I try, I don't have the same and the iso remains the same, could you help me create one that cleans the registry and return to the original keyboard please? I know I ask a lot but I already despair and for more than I try, I have no choice, please ... I have a T430
12:05 Did he just download the files so that he could read the instructions to download the files again?
Is there a possibility that the after market keyboard has built in keylogger?
I tried to isolate the pin and made they keyboard unusable. I think some connection problem as some keys are not functioning. I have screwed up two keyboards because of this...
Never heard of anything like that, worst case scenario you could just not bother with isolating the pins, just bearing in mind you'll blow the keyboard backlight fuse if you do so.
In theory everything is possible. Every device you own is probably already spying on you and sending info back to the Chinese government (Russian, US?)
13:42 You don't need sudo, just lsblk!
Man, I overwrote my main hard drive by accident because I forgot to read the part where its mentioned that I need a random usb without anything important to install the modification because its going to delete the stuff in it, do you know if there is a way to recover this information or is it lost forever?
There may be a way to recover your data before it is overwritten, but I don't know very much about that process. I would suggest asking around on a few forums or look into a data recovery service - and don't use the drive at all until you can get the data recovered.
On most storage devices the data isn't overwritten right away, it is marked for deletion meaning if new data is written to the drive it can overwrite the old data.
Welp, after 8 hours of repeating your steps exactly as you showed i rebooted my laptop, set to Legacy mode and after booting from USB my entire screen was covered with weird symbols. i almost shit my pants, but at least it didn't break my bios after i forcefully shut my T430 down.
Edit: and my flash drive now has 36MB of memory instead of 16GB. Is there a way to fix this? None of formatting helps
I want to do this mod, but due to my OCD and generally clumsiness I wanted to ask a couple of questions.
1. Is it possible to skip some of the mechanical altering of the keyboard?
2. Between the keyboard and lower palm rest on your T430 I see a gap that shows where the filing is done. Is there a way to adjust that?
Like I said in the video, you can brute force it into the palmrest and then insert that combined assembly into place, without making any physical alterations. As for the second question, try your best with the filing is my best suggestion, or look into the brute force method! :P
@@SebisRandomTech I'll probably just brute force it in there and hope it doesn't detach itself :P
Also, I read that someone bricked their keyboard doing the pin isolation. So in the end is it safe to do? Also, do I need to cover one side of the pins or both sides (since the cable appears to be double sided)
@@jugostran That's your call. It's only one side of the pins. I did the swap without issue on my X230 and on a different T430 a few years ago (without isolating the pins), but as that other person shows there is a risk of bricking the keyboard or doing other damage, hence why it is recommended that you isolate them.
@@SebisRandomTech Thanks for all the answers. Cheers!
It is about a german QWERTZ T420 keyboard...
Can't you just make the coding process work through the Windows Subsystem for Linux?
Someone else with more knowledge of how all of that works probably could. I can't.
May I ask, what msata ssd do you use for your t430? I'm looking to upgrade my x230 with an msata drive as my boot drive. Thanks
Mine is a Liteon, I've had good luck with Samsung, Toshiba, and MyDigitalSSD mSATA drives. There are many other manufacturers out there that I've had good experience with.
Samsung 860 EVO mSATA is the fastest one I know of. Personally I'm using Samsung 850 EVO mSATA in two of my ThinkPads. Kingston KC600 is a cheaper alternative which is recommended, I haven't tried it. Do note that the mSATA disk will run at SATA 2 speeds (3 Gbps), while if you get a regular SATA SSD in the main drive slot, it will run at SATA 3 speeds (6 Gbps), which will be somewhat faster. Plus, I think no one develops new models of mSATA SSDs anymore, while newer generation SATA SSDs are getting a bit faster (e.g. Samsung 870 EVO).
If your budget allows it, for an X model go for a large SATA SSD in your main drive bay, and forget about the mSATA slot. For a T or W model, use a SATA SSD (as large as you need / can afford) in your main drive bay, and put a 2 TB HDD in your Ultrabay (you will need a suitable Ultrabay HDD caddy / adapter).
Hey Sebi, curious but do you trust Lenovo T420 keyboards from China? I'm thinking of doing the same.
It’s a bit of a lottery. Sometimes you get a good one, sometimes you don’t.
@@SebisRandomTech I see, thanks man. Final question is do you know any reputable communities who help source cheapo T430 units from recycling dumps, refurb them, and upgrade for a reasonable cost? Canadian prices are crazy overpriced.
Over the years I've bought by now about 10 keyboads from China (ebay) for several ThinkPads. It's indeed tricky to find a good one, especially these days. These days the market is saturated by some kind of newly manufactured compatible keyboards. They look the part, but are not as good in quality. They have quite distinctive shape of the key cutouts on the backside. Just a few years ago, I haven't seen any classic keyboards with this shape of cutouts. But now the majority of keyboards on offer are those. Once I bought a keyboard from ebay, the photos looked like my original keyboard. However what arrived was this new model, I tried it but didn't like it much. I requested a return (because item was not as described) and in the end the seller refunded the money. Since then, I always ask the seller first, if what I get is exactly what I see, or it can be a compatible substitute, possibly another part number / FRU. Most of the sellers reply that they can't guarantee the exact model I will get, so I don't buy from them. Last keyboard I bought, I had to pay 60 USD for it (plus customs fee / VAT). I think the supply of original keyboards is drying up, there is sometimes a bit of new old stuck surfacing here and there, but for the most part it's either used, used&reconditioned, or new non-original "compatible" keyboards.
@@GenePavlovsky Thank you. I really appreciate your response.
does the bios have to be 2.81 in order to get the EC mod to work? I did it with 2.64 since I'm planning on doing the ivyrain mod but when i tested to use the Fn+ pageup for the thinklight, nothing happened
Try again with 2.81 and see what happens.
Might be quite late but i noticed that in ec flash github page there are different versions of the embedded controller listed (2.64 is G1HT35WW) maybe you flashed the wrong version of the bios but the correct model so your laptop didn't brick but the patch didn't work
Okay so, I have this really big gaming laptop and I want a portable laptop with a big screen and can play games at a reasonable fps for cheap. Got any suggestions? I was thinking of getting the Lenovo ThinkPad x230. Thanks!
The X230 has a 12” screen, so it certainly won’t be *big* by any means but it is fairly portable. You’ll have to elaborate on what type of games you would want to play for me to give a good suggestion.
@@SebisRandomTech Thanks for responding! Okay so, I want a laptop that can run Kerbal Space Program, Roblox, And maybe X-plane. Thanks!
@@northern830 It should run the first two games perfectly fine, X-Plane might struggle a bit if its one of the newer versions.
@@SebisRandomTech Thanks!