x300, x301, t400s*, ?? screen upgrade option

[OhYou_]

So I took one of these adapters for a T420/T430 and re-soldered all the wires in the connector to match the pinout of the x301.
It seems to work fine.
I havent yet found a panel that will fit within the lid of the x301 though.
current panel is out of a t460s , I've tested it on a x300 and a x301 so far.

Has anyone else messed with these adapters any? I would ideally like to dump the rom and poke through it as currently it does not seem to work with 1920x1200 panels, though I've tested it on just one panel.
Does anyone know where I can get these cables manufactured in low volume? I'd like at least two more but I am not making more myself.

picrel
https://files.catbox.moe/13deid.jpg

FORUM warning:
picture(s) WAY too big, tags removed. Please read the Forum Rules, especially Section 5: viewtopic.php?f=16&t=14339

[TPFanatic]

You're a legend.

Back in the day I remember seeing kits made for the 15" models (eg. T520). I haven't seen them for sale in a long time. On another tangent I've seen one person power up a 15.6" LCD on a T410, not really for practical use, and personally I ran a T410 LCD on a T420 base once, so I know there is some interoperability between the different sized displays. Meanwhile I once tried running a T420 LCD on a T410s and blew up something due to different pinouts.

I think you're the first to (publicly) adapt something on the X300 series. This has potential to be a game changer for X300 enthusiasts.

[axur-delmeria]

The T420 has 2-channel LVDS in order to support its 1600x900 screen, and the added channel has enough bandwidth to support 1920x1080 and even 2560x1440 screens. The X300/301 and T400/410 (all variants), only has 1-channel LVDS, which is limited to 1440x900 @ 60Hz.

I think the only way to get higher-resolution screens to work is via the Displayport, which the X301 and T400s have, but the X300 doesn't.

[OhYou_]

Thanks, yeah these adapter kits have been around since i think 2018 for the t420/30s, but it seems they work fine on a lot more with a little bit of soldering.

a bit more I should add though, So this actually converts the x301 lvds to eDP. So it opens up quite a fair bit of panel compatibility, but fitment is the issue.
I did a bit of math and some of the newer 14in panels have very thin borders and will actually fit. I found the very popular N140HCG-GQ2 is just barely able to fit. I dont have one to test yet but I have one on order.
The bezel actually doesnt need to shrink in height, it should be close enough, but it will become wider considerably.
Both the hinges and the RF cables are in the way, I may be able to trim the hinges and use the antennas from the t460s or similar
There is also no reason the 1440p adapter cable wouldnt also work, but I dont think the gpu will handle it with a modern DE

I'm hoping to make some game changes to the x300/1 yes, because I really enjoy it's size and weight. I cant justify a x200 at the prices they unfortunately go for now, so It's seemingly a solid next choice for a libreboot laptop. The stock screen stopped me though, it's not just bad, it's unusable. It physically hurts my eyes and brings ruin to my day. This already feels so much better to use even if its just taped on currently

The T420 has 2-channel LVDS in order to support its 1600x900 screen, and the added channel has enough bandwidth to support 1920x1080 and even 2560x1440 screens. The X300/301 and T400/410 (all variants), only has 1-channel LVDS, which is limited to 1440x900 @ 60Hz.

it is 2 channel, or it is at least wired for it in the schematic.
it should be or else it wouldnt work I feel

[RealBlackStuff]

Have a look at this FHD screen: https://www.panelook.com/NV133FHM-T03_B ... 45524.html
Outline Size: 300.26(W)×187.95(H) ×3(D) mm
It's from X390/X13 etc.
No idea if it even fits...

[OhYou_]

yes a 13.3 is a good go to if you dont want to completely cut one up
unfortunately you would have to go down to a 13.0 or 12.8 or so to avoid cutting the bezel
I do not like the much shorter height of it though

Also to add a bit less confusions in the future, so the x220 edp mod I believe would tap into the DP lanes that go to the port replicator, and the x301 doesnt have.
the x220 doesnt use any of the sandy bridge PEG pins, instead all of its displayports come from the panther point PCH
x301, the displayport is connected directly to the cantiga-gm peg tx pins.
x301 cantiga-gm does have 16 lanes for peg, but the other 12 are not terminated and you would need a plx chip to splot the single 16 lane to four 4 lane, and at that point you are lifting the cantiga and sandwiching a breakout pcb between and questioning your life choices
the x301 ich9m south bridge doesnt have any digital display interface support like the x220
so for these reasons I do not believe it is possible to replicate the mod of the x220 without losing the displayport
it is also displayport 1.1..? and does not support MST so no hub.

it looks like my screen comes in a week so I will find out then how well it fits

[TheForgottenKing]

Very well done. It'd be great if you could publish your wiring so we could make a custom PCB adapter maybe. As for the LCD, use the one from the X13 Gen 2 - it's a 13.3" 1920x1200 panel so it should fit perfectly and be 16:10. The panel model number is NV133WUM-N61 (there may be others) and it isn't particularly expensive.

[OhYou_]

I made a github and put all the relevant info there.
I may add more to it if needed but I think that was all I used to do it
https://github.com/OhYou-0/thinkpad/tre ... 301/FHDmod

as for the x13 gen 2 panel, I believe the mod chip is incompatible with panels that are a different resolution to 1920x1080.
my theory is that it is telling the laptop that there is essentially no blanking zones or very thin ones, then manually adding them itself for the panel.
it would require modification to the rom of the modchip in order to change these values for 1200p
I tested it on a NE140WUM-N63
I may order one of those 13.3 though and test it to be certain

[600X]

Interesting stuff, any more progress? Previous X301 screen upgrades were elusive and difficult to complete, with only one AFFS panel option: viewtopic.php?t=119764

A LVDS to eDP adapter like seen on the X220/T420 would be great option, especially since I don't think that X301 AFFS conversions are available anymore.

[TPFanatic]

From the github it look like the x300 bezel when cut does fit the 14" FHD nicely enough.
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/OhYou ... os/003.jpg

The adapter kit sellers do have a listing where you tell them your laptop and they build you an FHD adapter custom to your factory LCD cable, supposedly. I've never ordered one but when I did ask them if they were willing to program resolutions other than FHD they said no.

[600X]

Anything other than 16:10 is a no-go, though I wonder if the X301 could accept one of the newer 3:2 displays similar to the X210.

[TPFanatic]

X210 uses a custom motherboard with native eDP support, so that's how they can natively support probably about any modern eDP screen.

In the case of modded X220/X230 they need a special board that converts a dock video to eDP out, that's how they wind up supporting modern eDP screens.

Meanwhile T420/T430 and T420s/T430s were lucky recipients of the LVDS to preprogrammed eDP LCD adapter, and the understanding is they cannot use LCDs other than that preprogrammed. Some deviation works but it's not universal. Panasonic LCDs for instance fail.

I managed to reuse T420s/T430s QHD adapter on a T530, as both use 40 pin FFC/FPC, to use a specific 15.6" QHD by Innolux but it's imperfect, and another 15.6" QHD by BOE overloads the adapter.

OP with fine motor skills managed to repin a T420/T430 kit to the pin assignment of X300. X300's LCD connector was reused on X301, T400s, T410s, T410, T420, and T430. But T410,T420,and T430 introduce a new pin assignment, hence the need to reassign for use with T420/T430 adapter kit.


I believe there is potential to program different resolutions into the adapter kits , but it's beyond me, and X300 doesnt have a CS09 dock connector or any dock at all to try and adapt the Nitrocaster style X220/30 kit to. But X301 has an onboard Displayport, so there's potential to hijack that.

That said the machine is a 15 year old platform and if the best it can do is FHD, in that size segment it is outperformed. I've never touched a X300 but I understand the fit,finish,size and weight are desirable. At least with 14" FHD the active area gets barely any shorter and mostly wider. 16:9 is not so bad when done right, ie. FHD is better WSXGA+, HD+ better than WXGA+, WXGA better than XGA....

[600X]

Thanks for the insightful summary. I've haven't been that active in the TP community since 2015 so that was useful to read.

The X300 series was never that practical from a performance usability standpoint to begin with, hence why its design, ergonomics and quality have always been the desirable aspects. IMO a 16:9 display does not make sense for that exact reason. It's improving on a metric that was mostly irrelevant to begin with. In order to maintain the desirable aspects of the X300, it really does need to maintain the aspect ratio and display size. Perhaps it would make more sense to focus efforts on recreating the Leo Kim cable, given that the AFFS displays are mostly still available and leave the desirable X300 aspects intact. Like you said, this device doesn't and never did compete with the likes of the X200 or T400 series, so that AFFS panel, in many ways, is a better solution if you ask me.