Glad you like it! I love my X230 and hope it serves me well for years to come!

Yup. Thinkpads are the shit. They are the perfect tool for work related tasks. If one wants to game, then there are always stuff like Xbox or PlayStation. And tons of solutions for retrogaming. Eighter Raspberry-PI or authentic hardware. The choice for gaming, are actually enourmeous if you think about it. No need to waste a perfectly good thinkpad on gaming, except the small one, like solitair or frozen bubbles.

so hows that c++ goin mate

which core i7 gen you use and what series number?

Best with 16GB and dual channel at RAM, 10 to 15% better., with mixed ram cards you can't take advantage (I Think) People don't recomend msata SSD, becouse they say, the port is limited to SATA II, meanwhile the main sata slot is SATA III... Actual SSD have bottle neck when running on SATA II.

Thanks, I haven’t done the wireless upgrade yet because the current wireless is fine for me and I use Ethernet. I’m considering it in the future though!

With the X220 keyboard/palmrest and an IPS screen, it's one of my favorite laptops. The only killers for me are the lack of upgradeable processors (unless you're a master of soldering) and the lack of an integrated GPU, even though this machine could use an eGPU via the ExpressCard slot.

I bought it from eBay.

It’s an older battery, but depending on the tasks I still get between 4 and 7 hours. I imagine with a brand new battery you could get over 10 hours with the correct power saving.

I can’t say I’m familiar with the subsystem for Linux, but yes, the firmware can be changed back to the X230 keyboard.

Thanks for your reply! will upgrade my x230 keyboard by following your example. I will let you know if I can do the flashing in the subsystem, www.howtogeek.com/249966/how-to-install-and-use-the-linux-bash-shell-on-windows-10/

This patch changes the embedded controller and not the BIOS itself, so you can upgrade the BIOS after doing the patch and still have the correct layout. This is why if you plan on installing the 1vyrain BIOS mod it is recommended to do things like the keyboard patch first. I can't speak for the UK layout but I think it should work....can't say for sure. If you want to revert back to the original X230 keyboard layout you need to build a new EC patch like shown in this video, except you'll put in a command to turn off the keyboard patch (outlined in my video on removing the battery whitelist in T430's).

@@SebisRandomTech Hi Sebi, thanks a lot, I will check my X230's BIOS; the latest update from Lenovo was some time ago, I know you have suggested on the T430 Not to go over 2.31 (I think), do you know which BIOS for X230 is OK to run the embedded controller patch? Thanks so much!

@@christoskokkolis5110 On the X230 version 2.75 is the last one you can use with the embedded controller patch.

@@SebisRandomTech AFAIK if you flash a BIOS downloaded from Lenovo, it will flash the EC as well, so the keys will get messed up again. 1vyrain flashes only the BIOS, keeping the EC intact. I think you can do 1vyrain/EC patch flash in any order. The sequence I followed was: downgrade to last good BIOS using IVprep, flash the EC patch, flash 1vyrain BIOS. So far I've successfully done this on two X230t, one X230 and one W530. Gotta find and buy a spare X220 keyboard, they are getting more rare and expensive (there are some newer cheaper models available from China, they seem to be inferior to either of the three original makes, at least I didn't like the one I tried).

@@GenePavlovsky Glad the upgrades have worked out for you. I just remember reading on a thread somewhere that it was recommended to do the EC patches first, if you have luck doing either in whatever order then that's excellent to hear!

In my experience the battery life is about the same. The T430 definitely has stronger speakers since they face upwards, as opposed to the X230 which faces down. The IPS display on the X230 definitely looks nicer, but if you really need the T430 you can get an iPad and use it as a portable external IPS display (one of the few good uses for one of those :P). If that isn't an option for you there is someone in China who makes special boards to allow modern 1080p IPS displays to work in a T420/T430, but they are a very limited production run and hard to find. I personally just deal with the lower quality display on the T430 and use the X230 when color accuracy is important.

one thing i noticed on x230 with Windows 7 default audio driver, the audio was very low or Mono type..after downlaoding the realtek latest driver, it is much superior in audio clarity and gets the job done perfectly. not impressive for audio music buffs, but then why use x230 then.

@@parastolani i use x230 too, but it may be a big conflict if both intel display audio and realtek work together. but the speakers itself is so loud for me imho

I don’t use it for audio enough to justify the improvement, and when I am doing something audio sensitive I just use headphones.

The RAM I use is mostly based on availability and price. If SK Hynix is $10 cheaper than the equivalent Samsung or Crucial RAM, then I’ll use it. If Samsung’s cheaper, then I buy that. When it comes to RAM I really don’t have a preference besides it being from a reputable manufacturer.

The X220/X230 use mSATA SSDs, which are not the same as M.2. The X220 keyboard has larger nubs that go into the palmrest than the X230 keyboard, so it is necessary to replace the X230 palmrest with an X220 palmrest when doing the classic keyboard swap if you want it to fit properly. Alternatively, you can shave the nubs off the X220 keyboard for it to fit properly, but I think just replacing the palmrest is a less obtrusive method.

Literally just a random new keyboard off Amazon. No mushiness here!

Agreed, I have a desktop for that reason.

Caps Lock light does not work, but the other lights do. And no, the T60 uses a completely different keycap design.

DDR3L uses slightly less power, but the difference in battery life isn't really noticeable. The X240 and X250 do require DDR3L, while the X230 and earlier ThinkPads use regular DDR3.

16 GB is the maximum amount of RAM supported. I need more details as to what you are referring to with the BIOS whitelist. A 1080p screen *can* work in an X230, but you need to buy and install a mod kit from Nitrocaster for it to work properly.

It can blow out the fuse for the X230 keyboard backlight, if you never plan on using the original keyboard again this is of no concern, but it is something to be aware of if you ever plan on putting the original keyboard/a backlit keyboard back in.

I bought a Kingston because it was cheaper, but you can get SanDisk or Samsung for similar prices. If you don't have Linux, it's fairly easy to download a distro (I used Kubuntu) and then use 3rd-party software to install it to a DVD or a flash drive. I have actually done this before, just make sure when you write the modded BIOS that you don't write over the Linux drive!

Sebi's Random Tech Thanks. Out of curiosity, why did opt for an mSATA when it's slower than the regular 2.5" slot?

Using the mSATA slot allows me to use the 2.5” bay for larger capacity hard drives. Having that extra capacity is more important to me than a slight speed boost.

Do you think the Gobi WWAN cards are worth the trouble these days?

I have never heard of those nor do I use WWAN cards, so I couldn't tell you.

Displays are the same for both, so you can swap them. Absolutely make sure you unplug the AC adapter and battery before replacing the screen. The keyboard works after doing the EC patch shown in the video, use your X220 palmrest so it fits in nicely.

Pinocchio.

Lenovo still sells replacements on their website but they cost a fortune. Your best bet would probably be eBay, Amazon, or Batteries Plus.

But which is easier and less obtrusive, cutting up a palmrest or just swapping it?

The T500 does not support IPS displays as of this point.

RAM is upgradeable like on any other X200-series ThinkPad. I have not tried the classic keyboard in the X230T but it should work. I have an X230T on hand so maybe it can be attempted.

Try booting into a live distro of Linux and see if you still have the problem there. If you do then it's an issue with the hardware. If not then it's likely a Windows issue. Try using Lenovo Vantage to check for driver updates too and see if that fixes anything.

I bought the palmrest separately.

@@SebisRandomTech Thanks for the heads up! :) Looking forward to your new videos!

I would suggest contacting someone on the thinkpads.com forums or on r/thinkpad who would probably be able to give you more help than I can.

I’ve always done it on the machine I am modding for safety. As I said in the video, if you build the wrong BIOS you will brick the machine, so I like to play it safe as much as I can.

Sebi's Random Tech Thanks! I did it on the X230 and it worked fine.

Those pins go to the backlight on the X230 backlit keyboard. Putting in a xx20 keyboard without covering the pins causes the keyboard backlight fuse to blow, so if I were to put in a X230 backlit keyboard the backlight wouldn't work. There is a very minor chance of damaging the keyboard, but I've done this swap several times and that has never happened, and in most cases the person doing this swap has no intention of putting the X230 keyboard back in anyways so the loss of backlight functionality isn't really an issue. Ideally you would want to cover those pins in case you decide to go back to the X230 keyboard or swap it back in to sell the laptop, but you're not going to damage or brick the machine by not covering the pins.

@@SebisRandomTech thanks for the quick reply!

Performance wise RAM and SSD are the biggest improvements. The IPS screen just looks a lot better than the original TN panel.

@@SebisRandomTech Thanks, 2x4gb or 1x8gb (+1 of my existing 2gb sticks to make 10 in total)?

1x8 if you plan on adding another 8 later.

Get the SSD and the Ram. I would recommend 2x 4GB, as the X230 seems to gain advantage from two seperate Ram-Bricks via Dual Channel. This should esspecially affect the grafic performance as the Ram-Speed seems to be a bottleneck. 16GB of Ram are just a waste of money, there ist almost no appication you could use on the x230 that needs that much Ram. But seems like there are some Troubles with the 16GB Mods as mentioned in the Video. The SSD is a nobrainer, definitly get one. 2.5" or mSata depends on your needs. Do you need huge memory? Then geht yourself a big HDD and a moderate mSata like 120GB. If you dont need that much memory (up to 500GB) get an 2.5" SSD. As mentioned in the Video, the Maindisk gets SATA3, the mSata only SATA2. Also swapping the HDD with an SSD makes the machine lighter. If your machine has a WWAN-Card (SIM), the mSATA slot is already used and you have to use the 2.5". I'm using a Crucial MX500 250GB SSD and Samsung PC3-12800 Ram. Best Regards, Christian

You can keep the X230 palmrest, but you will have to make some tweaks to either the keyboard and/or palmrest for it to fit in properly.

I did not do the 3 pin tape thing, and so far have not had any issues (nearly a month since doing this mod). I did not need to do any changes to the fingerprint reader, as the palmrest I ordered already had it installed. The X230 fingerprint reader is slightly different from the X220 fingerprint reader, but the X220 reader worked for me without any issues.

oh that is good then as I saw some pics of those their keyboard burnt! So you don't need to unscrew anything related to fingerprint? How about the IPS panel you just replaced? I myself recently replaced my x230 with IPS ordered from China got a little backlight bleed. Have you got those?

What do you mean by backlight bleed?

open this link lcdtech.info/en/tests/dead.pixel.htm start test to black background in dark room and see if there is any white light leak from the side of the panel around the bezel. That is call backlight bleed. It happens a lot of B1 and B3 panels

I have noticed a small area on the bottom left corner that has some bleed, however considering that it's only one corner and not a larger part of the panel, it very well could be a defect or me being stupid when I installed the panel. And honestly it is only really noticeable on a mostly black screen, otherwise during typical use I can't see it even when I look for it.

See my T430 classic keyboard video - I address this there. I didn't tape the pins on the connector here and had no issues, but there is a small risk of damaging the keyboard or laptop if you don't tape them so it's generally advised that you do.

I did not tape my connectors and my trackpoint buttons stopped functioning. The ribbon also had a burn where the short circuit occurred as well.

That's a bit beyond my area of expertise, I would suggest checking out the ThinkPads.com forum or r/thinkpad for more info about something like that.

You could get a used keyboard and salvage the cable from it. As shown in my newer video about swapping the classic keyboard into the T430, with some careful precision you can remove the keyboard cable, so in your case if the keyboard is otherwise perfectly fine you could just replace the cable and continue using the original keyboard.

T430 is referring to any xx30 ThinkPad. X230, T430, W530, etc. And you *used* to have to get the latest BIOS, but that is *no longer advised* because Lenovo is now including a digital signature in the BIOS that prevents it from being patched.

Another question, i've heard that the x220 keyboard overheats if you don't make a mod to the keyboard connector, is it true?

@@viniciusmv7727 A difference in the circuitry causes a fuse to blow and burns a small part of the keyboard, which actually isolates the circuit and eliminates the problem. When I did this on my X230 I didn't bother and the keyboard worked just fine, however the backlit X230 keyboards will no longer light up and there is a small risk of frying the keyboard. So it's recommended to isolate a few pins on the keyboard cable, but if you feel like being risky and taking chances you can overlook the step like I did. As for installing older BIOS versions, use this link and scroll down to the "Previous Version" section: support.lenovo.com/us/en/downloads/ds029187

I believe this has been mentioned in previous comments, but you re-build the modded BIOS, except this time entering a command to turn the keyboard mod off. The process is explained in the ReadMe provided by hamishcoleman.

Working on a video about the official Lenovo method of adding an eGPU to the ThinkPad T60.

@@SebisRandomTech were is the video? In your channel? Can u link it?

@@alejandroleon3617 Haven't finished it yet....whoops.

Update the BIOS to the most recent version mentioned in the description, the *newest* BIOS versions from Lenovo don't allow you to patch the EC.

@@SebisRandomTech gotcha, thank you sebi.

When I tried Kubuntu on mine it would work with my home Wifi but not with my university's WiFi.

I believe they should.

Just a dream. This keyboard is both physically and electrically incompatible with the X240/250.

It's still working fine.

Best you can do is get an i7 motherboard, as the CPUs on all X-series ThinkPads are soldered. I don’t remember if a dedicated GPU was ever an option on the X230, however like I mentioned in the video you can buy an Expresscard to PCI express adapter to use a desktop GPU with the X230 and other ThinkPads.

thanks , i been thinking a bout IGP on the motherboard, but if doesnt have drastic effect you are right, not worth it

why not change the lcd panel. isnt changing the mboard and cpu as good as changing the laptop.

The motherboard and CPU are one part on this laptop. Sometimes it is cheaper than changing the whole laptop....and I don't even know what you mean about the LCD panel.

The availability of those parts change all of the time, and the sellers I purchase parts from don’t often have the same parts available. In the past if I posted links to where I bought stuff the items in question were often unavailable or the link was dead within a few weeks. So for me it just isn’t worth it to try and keep track of links on all of my videos. The best suggestion I can give is to just search eBay for the parts you need (X220 keyboard/X220 palmrest) and make sure to buy new if possible.

@@SebisRandomTech Will do. Much obliged.

Try replacing the thermal paste on the CPU and cleaning out the fan/vents.

This video was filmed almost a year ago, so the BIOS that current at that time may no longer be current. As always, it is best to upgrade to the newest BIOS before performing this mod.

Sebi's Random Tech thanks for replying. So you think that will still work? I mean the mod from the repository will be successful even now?

@@1kkk0 I don't see why it wouldn't work.

Sebi's Random Tech I just getting confused by the concept. I thought that for each new bios update by lenovo the patch needed to be updated. So far, for what I understood now, the patch from github is just an add on every version of BIOS to allow/deny features. Correct?

@@1kkk0 Basically.

DDR3.

Yes, but you will have to shave off the nubs on the keyboard and/or part of the palmrest. It’s easier and less time consuming to just get an X220 palmrest, and they are very cheap.

If I remember correctly it should work similarly in the X230T. And I have not gotten to test an external GPU with this, so I can't answer the RAM bug question.

Another question. I've read somewhere that thr procedure removes windows license key stored in bios. Did that happen in your case?

No it didn’t remove the license key. The EC in the T430 and other xx30 ThinkPads has been able to be flashed for quite some time, and now with the 1vyrain BIOS mod the entire BIOS can be unlocked or replaced without hardware flashing.

@@SebisRandomTech thanks for clarification. So EC flash for classic keyboard is completely independent from bios mod (1vyrain), that would e.g. remove wlan/wwan whitelist?

@@d_fens Very separate. It's recommended that you do the EC patches (keyboard, battery, etc) before doing 1vyrain.

@@SebisRandomTech one last question: does the fingerprint reader embedded on x220 palmrest work after this mod?

X230 is a pretty good choice. It should be enough for at least some basic development.

@@SebisRandomTech unfortunately the guy I was gonna buy from was overpricing it and when I agreed to buy even tho it was overpriced it was beat up from all sides I thought it was just cosmetic opened it and I find the trackpoint missing so I decided to not buy, because it looked a little too beat up for the price.

@@weltmeister Glad that you could recognize a bad deal like that. I hope you can find a reasonably priced X230!

i actually did get this working with 16gb of ram, basically i changed the expresscard port to generation 1 (as opposed to automatic) in the bios, and it ran stabley

@Maximiliano Contreras see other reply below/above, basically I changed the expresscard geneation (in bios- reply if u need help finding it!) to generation 1 rather than automatic, which made it work, see my channel for tips and setup etc!

It’s strongly recommended that you do, particularly if you plan on putting an X230 keyboard back in, but if you plan on keeping the X220 keyboard in for the rest of eternity you don’t necessarily have to. Not taping the pins blows the keyboard backlight fuse (for an X230 backlit keyboard) and in a few rare cases has caused keyboard damage, but most people haven’t reported any issues. I didn’t and 2+ years later it’s still working fine.

I'll have to see how that affects eGPU performance. I think they've managed to patch the eGPU issue with the X220, but I'm not sure about the X230.

@@SebisRandomTech ive not had any joy with my X230 with 16gb ram and egpu, my fiancee has an X220 Tablet, do u reckon that will work with egpu and 16gbs ram then? she wanted to get 16gb ram anyway so id be keen to know

@@TechDave No clue, I guess you'll just have to make a gamble!

@@SebisRandomTech sweet okay! gives me a project for the day then lol

Search around for a genuine Lenovo battery (sometimes you can find them open box or refurbished for $30-$40), and if you have no luck there you can do the battery whitelist removal trick outlined in another video (I demonstrated the process on a T430) to allow you to use after-market batteries.

Another question will you recommend upgrading into ips screen? Is there any issues?

@@seppptv Nope. Just drop in replacement. So much better than the original TN panel.

You can order a palmrest for your model that has the fingerprint reader, which is what I did. Make sure it comes with the reader itself and not just the cutout for the reader. It will plug into the motherboard via the same cable as the trackpad.

ok, thank you very much

@@SebisRandomTech How much did you pay for the palmrest with the fingerprint reader? Did it come with the trackpad? I bought a x220 palmrest (just the plastic cover) which didn''t come with the trackpad. Can I screw my x230 trackpad in the x220 palmrest cover and use it with the x220 keyboard? Btw great tutorial! Thank you!

@@jeanjean4097 You should be able to transplant the touchpad, if you can get it taken out of the X230 palmrest. I don't remember exactly how much I paid, but I think it was somewhere in the $30 to $40 range.

@@SebisRandomTech Truly appreciate you took the time to answer! So I guess the palmrest you bought came with the x220 trackpad? I heard that the x220 trackpad is actually much better than the x230's. Do you agree?

Sometimes.

I'm not quite sure what you're asking.

Outlining the process in this video for flashing the embedded controller should remap the keys correctly.

Yes.

It should.

@@SebisRandomTech thanks because I read an tutorial where it said you have to remove certain contacts on the ribbon for it to avoid burning

@@jonatan_leandoer96 Basically if you don't isolate certain pins on the ribbon cable the keyboard backlight fuse will blow when power is applied. As long as you don't want to put an original X230 keyboard back in it *shouldn't* be a problem, but it's a good precaution to isolate the pins to avoid future issues.

eBay.

Yes, you are only modifying the embedded controller. -Sent from a corebooted X230 with a 7row keyboard installed

Correct, it supports up to 16 GB (2 8 GB sticks) of DDR3 RAM.

@@SebisRandomTech Thanks for the info bro.

I agree!

@@SebisRandomTech so it's still the best for 2020..yes?

@@minerva7699 Depends on what kind of tasks you will be using it for.

The key itself works, but the LED for it does not.

You could but that requires physically modifying the keyboard.

@@SebisRandomTech thanks for your answer and tutorial!

You need to make sure you're on a compatible BIOS before doing the flash.

@@SebisRandomTech Ow thankyou. So if my laptop is X230, I need X230 bios? The original? Not the custom?

@@SilVer-hu2ps You need a compatible X230 BIOS, then you apply the Embedded Controller patch to that.

For me using the X220 palmrest was easier and provided a perfect fit, however some people have said the fingerprint reader won't work correctly or something like that. It worked fine for me.

@@SebisRandomTech im just a bit curios about the secret of 7row keys which people like the most

@@hafizhnabawi1707 Most agree that the layout of the 7 row keyboard was superior. With the more modern keyboard, not only was the layout changed, but many keys were completely removed. Also the classic keyboard has a bit more travel than the newer counterparts.

@@SebisRandomTech so that the 7row have more keys and shorter travel distance?

@@hafizhnabawi1707 More keys and *longer* travel distance.

Yes, Ubuntu or any other distro of Linux.

Yes. The X220 and X230 max out at 16 GB of RAM.

Yes

For a 12” screen I think it’s adequate. Anything larger basically requires a higher resolution panel. 1080p mods exist for this model though.