Nightmare upgrading WiFi on IBM Thinkpad T40

[Baldy18]

Alright I have a Thinkpad 2373-72U which comes equiped with the Intel PRO/Wireless LAN 2100 3B Mini PCI adapter.

I would like to upgrade it to the Intel PRO 2200bg Mini PCI adapter.

So I bought the adaptor and installed it and whe I booted to up I received the following error message:

Error
1802: Unauthorized network card is pugged in - Power off and remove the mini PCI network card.

There is another Thinkpad model based on the 2373-72U (2373-JU4) which is listed as wireless upgradable and can take either of these cards.

What I'm looking for, and IBM has been unable to tell me, is: How do they restrict this? and Is there a way around it?

Makes me pretty mad that I may either have to buy a new laptop or get and ugly and awkward PCMCIA card to upgrade to 802.11g.

 

[Zap]

Probably a limitation in BIOS. Workaround? Only if they release a BIOS that allows for it.

 

[inhotep]

Originally posted by: Baldy18


So I bought the adaptor and installed it and whe I booted to up I received the following error message:

Error
1802: Unauthorized network card is pugged in - Power off and remove the mini PCI network card.

This is an outrage!!!
I feel your pain brotha

 

[imported_nerve]

Go to ibm.com
On the top select Support and downloads.
Put 2373 as ur model/type and search.
Then select publications so it will filter them. Look for the HMM Hardware maintnence manual.
Open the PDF and read under symptom to fru.
Basically I think its a defective network card.

It says either the card or the systemboard and the old card works in it it must be the card.

If you have issues with getting another card I may beable to help.

 

[timmay01]

Ahhh, actually this is a known problem on the IBM T series. Basically IBM locked it so that you can only use their "approved" cards, even though most mini-pci cards work fine. There's a known hack for the BIOS to allow it to ignore the 1802 error though:

http://jcnp.pku.edu.cn/~shadow/1802/ (The TXT file explains it in detail)

Disclaimer: This is messing with a specific byte in your CMOS, so if anything goes wrong you're out of luck and may get in a complete no-boot. Also, I also haven't personally confirmed that site's files, I just re-searched for the terms I'd previously used to find the files. If you're at all queasy about this, don't bother and just get one of IBM/Lenovo's approved cards instead (I don't believe they're very expensive actually).

PS- The 2200BG's are cheap but have problems with numerous access points, especially Atheros chipset based (Try a few searches for 2200BG atheros and take a look). If you decide to buy a different one, go for the IBM branded one, which I believe is a broadcom. They're normally rock solid.

-Tim
(IT guy who's dealt with Thinkpads a lot)

 

[Baldy18]

Thanks Tim your info is very useful. I will research that a bit and probably try it. Anyone know if I could warrenty if it messes anything up?

I actually got this card much cheaper than it is availible for from IBM.

I did confirm with another 2200BG card and a Dell laptop that it was not the card since both cards worked in the Dell and neither worked in the IBM.

 

[The Linuxator]

Dude messing up your Thinkpad's BIOS isn't worth the couple of dollars savings, remember this isn't a desktop if the BIOS goes wrong say bye.
I never cared about the risks of BIOS modifications when doing it to my gaming rigs because I always had a backup of the BIOS chip and it's easy to fix the situation.
Do not risk it , I have seen a friend of mine turn a $ 1200 + laptop of his into just paper weight and I don't want it to see it happening again.

 

[ValuedCustomer]

Have you upgraded the bios? here's the link to the utility download page for your model if you haven't already. --

if you have updated and are still having the problem I'd take Linuxator's advice and forget about the hack.. it ain't worth the risk

 

[Baldy18]

Thanks timmay01 it worked perfectly.