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Lenovo ThinkPad T420 with UEFI Only

K0gen

By K0gen,
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OscarS
OscarS
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@OscarS - great story. glad everything is working out for you.

 

@Somez- do you have the modded bios where you can change the thermal settings? are they the same settings?

do have the same HD in each machine. a SDD runs a lot cooler. idle while writing this the CPU temps range from 41-44C (106-108F).  the FAN is running around to 1958rpm. 

my son has same computer but his runs a lot hotter for some reason.

attachicon.gifScreen Shot 2016-12-07 at 8.27.26 PM.png

 

@tluck my bios has that option (prolly because it was the latest bios found -date of upload-)

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/2ianoibx5i7rn1d/Lenovo_ThinkPad_T420_83ET76WW-83uj28us_NWL_LEN21_ADV_RAM_Speedo_AES_vBios-2170.zip?dl=0

 

Public for everyone who needs it

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Somez
Somez
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@tluck my bios has that option (prolly because it was the latest bios found -date of upload-)

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/2ianoibx5i7rn1d/Lenovo_ThinkPad_T420_83ET76WW-83uj28us_NWL_LEN21_ADV_RAM_Speedo_AES_vBios-2170.zip?dl=0

 

Public for everyone who needs it

 

Looks to be version 1.46. I have that version with whitelist disabled, but without these advanced options. I guess I can't flash this one without Windows :)

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davidian
davidian
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I got my DW1510 wifi card, flashed the bios, got wifi under windows, but nothing under OS X (I am using el capitan).

Under System Preferences / network I don't have the wifi card listed (only ethernet, pci serial adapter and firewire).

Any suggestions/tips?

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davidian
davidian
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Guys!

 

May I ask those who can reach cpu temperature around 41 C and fan speed around 2000 RPM to check what's the part number of their heatsink? It's located under the keyboard and starts as "FRU".

 

Thanks.

 

@Somez

In my experience it depends also on the specific heatsink/fan piece itself, not only if its single thick/double thin pipe heatsink, and different fan.

I had the 04W0627 which cooled very well the 2520m, but the 04W0407 worked better for me with the quad processor (idle now at 36 C/1962RPM, but its winter ;) ). Altough for some people it was the other way around, check out this thread if u understand german (https://thinkpad-forum.de/threads/170582-Erfahrungsberichte-Quadcore-im-T420-Mod-Bios-inside).

My gf's t420 has the 04W0627 with 2540m cpu, and its not cooling as well as the one i had (don't know if it just needs repasting, or else...), I can hear her fan spinning up a lot, just with browsing..

@davidian

 

- did you add the extra kexts for Broadcom support?

 

see this post http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/285678-lenovo-thinkpad-t420-with-uefi-only/?view=findpost&p=2297730

@tluck

thanks for the link

I tried, but I must've missed sthing, or not did it properly, cause it still doesnt show up (do I also need to do some dsdt patching?)..

Should I install all the 4 kexts with kext wizard? I installed only the Brcmxxx.kext ones, the FakePCIxxx are in EFI/Clover/kexts/Other.. maybe this is wrong?

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Somez
Somez
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@Somez

In my experience it depends also on the specific heatsink/fan piece itself, not only if its single thick/double thin pipe heatsink, and different fan.

I had the 04W0627 which cooled very well the 2520m, but the 04W0407 worked better for me with the quad processor (idle now at 36 C/1962RPM, but its winter ;) ). Altough for some people it was the other way around, check out this thread if u understand german (https://thinkpad-forum.de/threads/170582-Erfahrungsberichte-Quadcore-im-T420-Mod-Bios-inside).

My gf's t420 has the 04W0627 with 2540m cpu, and its not cooling as well as the one i had (don't know if it just needs repasting, or else...), I can hear her fan spinning up a lot, just with browsing..

@tluck

thanks for the link

I tried, but I must've missed sthing, or not did it properly, cause it still doesnt show up (do I also need to do some dsdt patching?)..

Should I install all the 4 kexts with kext wizard? I installed only the Brcmxxx.kext ones, the FakePCIxxx are in EFI/Clover/kexts/Other.. maybe this is wrong?

 

Thanks davidian! I don't speak German but Googl Translate helped me :)

I might order a 04W0627 and try out how that works.

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tluck
tluck
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@somez - i will check my 2 T420 systems for the Fan FRU. if you install the modded bios with adv menu that provides more control of fan vs temperature.

 

@davidian - install all 4 kexts in /Library/Extensions - one way is to use the zip script from the Guide -  if you add these kext to the T420/EFI/CLOVER/kexts/Other folder then run the _kext-install.command scripts.

the EFI kext folder is skipped when there are kexts on the HD. The EFI kext folder is just for OS installer and Recovery HD.

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Somez
Somez
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@somez - i will check my 2 T420 systems for the Fan FRU. if you install the modded bios with adv menu that provides more control of fan vs temperature.

 

@davidian - install all 4 kexts in /Library/Extensions - one way is to use the zip script from the Guide -  if you add these kext to the T420/EFI/CLOVER/kexts/Other folder then run the _kext-install.command scripts.

the EFI kext folder is skipped when there are kexts on the HD. The EFI kext folder is just for OS installer and Recovery HD.

 

Thanks tluck. Can you point me to a place where I can download that BIOS?

I guess I have no choice but update the BIOS under windows, right? Because then I have to install Windows on my optibay HDD and then swap it with my SSD which has macOS on it.

I don't want to risk messing up my macOS installation with bootloader changes or anything like that.

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tluck
tluck
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@Somez - OscarS just posted a download of that BIOS - there are probably others if you search this thread.

 

Note: you can install and run Windows on the OptiBay without changing or swapping. i keep a windows partition on my optiBay disk (HD). To simplify windows installation, it may be best to pull your main drive though.

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Somez
Somez
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@Somez - OscarS just posted a download of that BIOS - there are probably others if you search this thread.

 

Note: you can install and run Windows on the OptiBay without changing or swapping. i keep a windows partition on my optiBay disk (HD). To simplify windows installation, it may be best to pull your main drive though.

 

Argh, you're absolutely right, I've just downloaded his BIOS. Thanks for telling.

I'll pull my macOS drive just in case.

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davidian
davidian
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@somez - i will check my 2 T420 systems for the Fan FRU. if you install the modded bios with adv menu that provides more control of fan vs temperature.

 

@davidian - install all 4 kexts in /Library/Extensions - one way is to use the zip script from the Guide -  if you add these kext to the T420/EFI/CLOVER/kexts/Other folder then run the _kext-install.command scripts.

the EFI kext folder is skipped when there are kexts on the HD. The EFI kext folder is just for OS installer and Recovery HD.

 

I did that, and no change (previously I did it in S/L/E).

The kexts are now in /L/E. I tried to see what kexts are loaded from these 4, but only FakePCIID is.

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Somez
Somez
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Argh, you're absolutely right, I've just downloaded his BIOS. Thanks for telling.

I'll pull my macOS drive just in case.

 

I tried to flash this modified BIOS using winflash but it told me I have the same or older version of BIOS which is correct. Is there a way to force it?

Thanks.

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tluck
tluck
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@davidian - what about the broadcom kexts? the FakePCIID_Broadcom kext just injects properties - there is no binary. the broadcom kexts load the firmware onto the card.

 

@somez - i recall installing that same bios on my 1.46? yes there is a way to reinstall etc. pflash or winflash.exe /sa xxx.bin

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Somez
Somez
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@davidian - what about the broadcom kexts? the FakePCIID_Broadcom kext just injects properties - there is no binary. the broadcom kexts load the firmware onto the card.

 

@somez - i recall installing that same bios on my 1.46? yes there is a way to reinstall etc. pflash or winflash.exe /sa xxx.bin

 

Thanks, I just did it with the following command: winflash.exe /sv /sd "83ET76WW\$01C8000.FL1"

With the new BIOS I get full resolution even at Clover menu during boot :)

Fan speed remains the same but I'll play with the advanced settings tomorrow. I don't have high expectations though.

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davidian
davidian
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@davidian - what about the broadcom kexts? the FakePCIID_Broadcom kext just injects properties - there is no binary. the broadcom kexts load the firmware onto the card.

 

I found out that

Vendor : Device Id is 14e4 : 4353 (Is this a problem? It was advertised as DW1510, BCM94322HM8L, but according to wiki it's DW1520 BCM943224HMS)

 

Now that I know I have a different model than the one ordered, I did some google-ing, and found out that it's probably apple whitelisted.

Anyone knows how to proceed from here?

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Somez
Somez
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@Somez: How did you fare so far with the extended settings?

Presuming you are using this 1.46 flavor there are lots of settings available.

attachicon.gif$01C8000.FL1.zip

 

The RAM speed setting is the only obvious one to me, any thoughts what else might better a Hackintosh?

 

Well, I haven't changed any advanced settings so far. I'll try to play with the values for the low fan speed, e.g. to trigger low fan speed on higher temp. This will not cool my CPU down though...

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davidian
davidian
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I found out that

Vendor : Device Id is 14e4 : 4353 (Is this a problem? It was advertised as DW1510, BCM94322HM8L, but according to wiki it's DW1520 BCM943224HMS)

 

Now that I know I have a different model than the one ordered, I did some google-ing, and found out that it's probably apple whitelisted.

Anyone knows how to proceed from here?

 

After some googling and hex editing, I found a solution for my DW1520 (BCM943224HMS).

Add this to config.plist:

 

<dict>
<key>Comment</key>
<string>DW1520 Whitelist Patch (MBP8,1)</string>
<key>Disabled</key>
<false/>
<key>Find</key>
<data>
TWFjLTJFNkZBQjk2NTY2RkU1OEM=
</data>
<key>Name</key>
<string>AirPortBrcm4360</string>
<key>Replace</key>
<data>
TWFjLTk0MjQ1QjM2NDBDOTFDODE=
</data>
</dict>
 
It works without having installed the FakePCIID and Brcm kexts
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Somez
Somez
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Hey guys!

 

Since the topic is very silent I believe posting my experiment with the fan/heatsink will not cause any harm.

 

I bought a used 04W0627 heatsink with fan and an Arctic MX-2 thermal compound.

I tried both my old heatsink and the new one with this thermal paste and the 04W0627 has an approx 2 C advantage (CPU cores and heatsink temp) over the 04W0409. Noise and RPM rates are the same. The new heatsink is seemingly able to reach it's lowest temp at a much faster speed than the old one.

 

However I still cannot reach 2000 RPM even when I have the following temperatures. (ambient is 22.5 C)

post-1647866-0-12007500-1481806557_thumb.png

 

I've taken a 2 photos of the inside of machine hoping somebody will notice something that's different on his machine and can be the root cause. Like there is a black sticker/foil on the face of the CPU, around the core. Seems to be there to keep the heatsink levelled but I would think it does not conduct heat well. I did not remove it though because it looks to be there on purpose.

 

post-1647866-0-74843900-1481806822_thumb.jpg

post-1647866-0-86441000-1481806833_thumb.jpg

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