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Lenovo ThinkPad T420 with UEFI Only

K0gen

By K0gen,
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goodguess
goodguess
Posted
Posted

Last deal in 2019, just received a T420S which is misbehaving so far.

The device has a Samsung 1600x900 display, good looking in GNU/Linux.

I´m using the T420s ACPI folder and the 2e2 config.plist to test with the T420s.

Starting with a Catalina mSATA made with my T420 I´m getting this:

 

P1080707.thumb.jpg.f9e6f31ea647665aa34a202000cb76d0.jpg

 

hwinfo has this about the LCD device:

30: None 00.0: 10002 LCD Monitor
  [Created at monitor.125]
  Unique ID: rdCR.iJ8kUQMT86A
  Parent ID: _Znp.PSB+pK7KRn9
  Hardware Class: monitor
  Model: "SAMSUNG  L KT LCD Monitor"
  Vendor: SEC "SAMSUNG  L KT"
  Device: eisa 0x324c 
  Resolution: 1600x900@60Hz
  Size: 310x174 mm
  Year of Manufacture: 2010
  Week of Manufacture: 0
  Detailed Timings #0:
     Resolution: 1600x900
     Horizontal: 1600 1648 1680 1760 (+48 +80 +160) -hsync
       Vertical:  900  902  907  930 (+2 +7 +30) -vsync
    Frequencies: 98.21 MHz, 55.80 kHz, 60.00 Hz
  Config Status: cfg=new, avail=yes, need=no, active=unknown
  Attached to: #22 (VGA compatible controller)

 

Is there an easy fix for the garbled screen maybe?

A Mojave USB installer stick suffers from exactly the same graphics issue.

 

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tluck
tluck
Posted
Posted (edited)

add the AddProperties key to your config.plist to ensure DualLink -- this works whether you inject IntelGFX or not.

  

	<key>Devices</key>
	<dict>
		<key>AddProperties</key>
		<array>
			<dict>
				<key>Device</key>
				<string>IntelGFX</string>
				<key>Key</key>
				<string>AAPL00,DualLink</string>
				<key>Value</key>
				<data>
				AQAAAA==
				</data>
			</dict>
		</array>
		<key>Audio</key>
		<dict>
			<key>Inject</key>
			<string>14</string>
			<key>ResetHDA</key>
			<true/>
		</dict>
		<key>Inject</key>
		<false/>
		<key>USB</key>
		<dict>
			<key>AddClockID</key>
			<true/>
			<key>FixOwnership</key>
			<true/>
			<key>HighCurrent</key>
			<true/>
			<key>Inject</key>
			<false/>
		</dict>
		<key>UseIntelHDMI</key>
		<true/>
	</dict>

 

Edited by tluck
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goodguess
goodguess
Posted
Posted

Thank you so much - another time - tluck.

I pasted the the text you gave me into the config.plist and everything is looking good.

No idea where to get the displays ID, but it does not seem to be needed for now.

I have yet to find a way to upgrade BIOS and put on a modded one, the notebook is on 1.31 and winflash stops on an error, even with /sa.

Maybe pflash from DOS will work.

 

T420S.png.3a67b5306c33b617b927c98601bc83fe.png

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tluck
tluck
Posted
Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, 80486sx said:

I had a message earlier that you didn't respond to

can you repeat the question? i thought you were good to go.

 

@goodguess

cool. you can get display ids from the EDID. 

 

ioreg -l |grep yEDID 

 

if you see "30e4 e202" in the EDID, then you need to not inject that EDID to see the native one. but if it works fine as is = good! happy new year!

 

$ ioreg -l|grep yEDID

    | |   | |         "IODisplayEDID" = <00ffffffffffff0030e4e2020000000001140103801f1178e233859956559127175054000000010101010101010101010101010101018025408060841a303020350036ae10000018000000000000000000000000000000000000000000fe004c656e6f766f0a202020202020000000fe0031363030783930300a2020202000ad>

Edited by tluck
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goodguess
goodguess
Posted
Posted

Best wishes for 2020 from my side either!

 

Just for the records, I managed to upgrade to BIOS 1.45 - the modded one.

First I needed pflash from DOS to flash the 1.45 original file,

second winflash from Windows 7 to put on 1.45 without whitelist etc. in both cases pflash and winflash, I used the /sa flag.

The T420s feels snappier with its new BIOS - waiting for the DW1510 from China to see if WiFi is working finally.

I could cannibalise a T420 for the WLAN, but there is no real hurry.

 

If anybody has trouble finding the T420S 1.45 modded BIOS, just let me know.

 

Lets see whether I can get USB3 working meanwhile. :)

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goodguess
goodguess
Posted
Posted (edited)

Please disregard the writing below.

BT was working with Catalina as soon as I had activated it in Windows 7

Quote

 

One last little nag:

The T420S has a BT device built in. I won´t use it much, but as usual - if its there, it should work, if possible.

From Linux, the device looks like this:

Quote

SysFS BusID: 1-1.4:1.1
  Hardware Class: bluetooth
  Model: "Broadcom BCM2045B (BDC-2.1)"
  Hotplug: USB
  Vendor: usb 0x0a5c "Broadcom Corp."
  Device: usb 0x217f "BCM2045B (BDC-2.1)"
  Revision: "7.48"
  Serial ID: "NOTTELLINGHERE"
  Driver: "btusb"
  Driver Modules: "btusb"
  Speed: 12 Mbps


How should I proceed adding the BT device in my config.plist?

Is the BCM 2045B working with macOS still?

 

 

Edited by goodguess
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tluck
tluck
Posted
Posted
4 hours ago, 80486sx said:

Im not able to control brightness, getting low FPS in Minecraft, and the keybinds are annoying me

 

what keys?

well clearly something is not right. and i don't under stand why you cannot use MBP8,1 ? 

 

can you put the results here for these 2 commands: 

ioreg -l | grep -vi kit | grep Panel
ioreg | grep Intel

 

can you try this to install the most recent stuff??

these commands in the terminal will

1 download the most recent package

2 mount the ESP

3 save the current EFI as EFI.good

4 copy the EFI just downloaded from GitHub to your ESP

5 and then copy the 2e2 config plist to be the default

6 copy some display overrides to match the new EDID

 

after this is done: reboot

 

git clone --depth 1 http://github.com/tluck/Lenovo-T420-Clover

bash ./Lenovo-T420-Clover/Utilities/root/usr/local/bin/espmount.bash /

mv /Volumes/ESP/EFI /Volumes/ESP/EFI.good

cp -r Lenovo-T420-Clover/EFI /Volumes/ESP/

cp /Volumes/ESP/EFI/CLOVER/config.EDID-2e2.plist /Volumes/ESP/EFI/CLOVER/config.plist

sudo cp -a ./Lenovo-T420-Clover/\:System\:Library\:Displays\:Contents\:Resources\:Overrides/* /System/Library/Displays/Contents/Resources/Overrides/

 

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namisloc
namisloc
Posted
Posted (edited)

It took a bit of work, but I was able to successfully install Mojave.  This may seem like a noob question, but I downloaded a combo update to 10.14.4, but I'm unsure how to proceed. 

 

I should note: I used Dosdude utility/guide to create my USB, however I didn't have the update patcher (must have done something wrong when creating).  I followed his guide to add the patch updater utility post-install and I now see the option to upgrade to 10.15.2, but I think I'd like to stay in mojave.

 

Screen Shot 2020-01-03 at 7.27.19 PM.png

 

Edited by namisloc
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goodguess
goodguess
Posted
Posted

I do see your point namisloc. I´m usually booting into Mojave too, though I have Catalina in the "WWAN slot" on mSATA available.

My main issue are some 32bit apps and helpers, but things may change over time.

 

For system upgrades, dosdude´s patcher also has an option "update this Mac" or similar.

You will have to re-install the MBP 8,1 patches from USB with every new release, I´m afraid, but thats a simple fix.

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tluck
tluck
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Posted (edited)
16 hours ago, namisloc said:

It took a bit of work, but I was able to successfully install Mojave.  This may seem like a noob question, but I downloaded a combo update to 10.14.4, but I'm unsure how to proceed. 

 

I should note: I used Dosdude utility/guide to create my USB, however I didn't have the update patcher (must have done something wrong when creating).  I followed his guide to add the patch updater utility post-install and I now see the option to upgrade to 10.15.2, but I think I'd like to stay in mojave.

 

 

 

 

To stay on Mojave, you would just the install Combo Update. (presuming the post install happened and the Patcher daemon got installed)  ... but your graphics does not seem to have transparency on the menu/dock so i am suspicious about whether you did the post install step: boot up dosdude install USB and run the post tool.

 

I tend to use the full installer vs combo on the USB modified by the dosdude tools. I download the standard full install for Mojave 10.14.6 and Catalina 10.15.2 and create the USB. This way I can install the OS and then run the post install tool.

Edited by tluck
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namisloc
namisloc
Posted
Posted (edited)
6 hours ago, tluck said:

 

To stay on Mojave, you would just the install Combo Update. (presuming the post install happened and the Patcher daemon got installed)  ... but your graphics does not seem to have transparency on the menu/dock so i am suspicious about whether you did the post install step: boot up dosdude install USB and run the post tool.

 

I tend to use the full installer vs combo on the USB modified by the dosdude tools. I download the standard full install for Mojave 10.14.6 and Catalina 10.15.2 and create the USB. This way I can install the OS and then run the post install tool.

I realized that I downloaded all of the dosdude patcher stuff but never actually used it, I ended up using the EasyMBR installer Maker. I had a few beers that evening lol.

 

I tried to use the Dosdude patcher originally, but after I create the USB and boot from it I end up staring at the apple load screen as it crawls to a complete bar (usually takes ~15m) and then it sits frozen at 100% loaded moving to the Mojave installer.  Any ideas? 

 

I have a working 10.14, should I reinstall fresh if I get the Dosdude patcher to work or is there an easier updater?  When I try to run 10.14.4 combo updater, it says "software not supported on your system".

Edited by namisloc
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tluck
tluck
Posted
Posted

well even if you have a "working" installation, you will still need to boot up the dosdude installer to install the postinstall patch items. i would download the full installation from here: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT210190. then use the dosdude tool to make the USB. clover on the hd will work or drop the clover zip on the EFI and youre good to go. just boot up and you can either update or use the post-install tool.

 

 

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namisloc
namisloc
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Posted
20 hours ago, tluck said:

well even if you have a "working" installation, you will still need to boot up the dosdude installer to install the postinstall patch items. i would download the full installation from here: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT210190. then use the dosdude tool to make the USB. clover on the hd will work or drop the clover zip on the EFI and youre good to go. just boot up and you can either update or use the post-install tool.

 

 

Is there a download link that you would recommend that is not the app store?  I keep getting an error from the app store when I try to download it saying "this software may not be installed on your computer".

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namisloc
namisloc
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Posted (edited)
2 hours ago, tluck said:

well you can temporarily set your model to something like MPB9,1 and that is a supported model.

I ended up bricking the install that was on mSATA drive.  I wiped it and started over with dosdude patcher (downloaded 10.14.6 through the tool).  I had a hang-up at 99% with "less than a minute remaining" - I didn't save the logs, but installation was complete, it was hung up removing files (I think). 

 

I rebooted and the mojave wasn't on my Clover options, even after fixing the EFI partition and running dosdude's post-install patcher.

 

For what it's worth, the installer sat at 99% ("less than a minute reminaing") for about 15 minutes before I forced it off.  I'm going to run the install again and leave my computer overnight to see if it makes a difference.  I'll get the logs this time.

Installer Log 01-05-20.txt

Edited by namisloc
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