I paid less than $500 for this widescreen T520, which seems to be in perfect cosmetic condition, but when I press the "on" switch I get a mouse cursor that is frozen in the middle of the screen with Win7 in the background. I can move around with <tab> but that cursor is stuck.

So I loaded from a USB Ubuntu 12.04 stick (which works on other Thinkpads) but got the same result, frozen cursor.

I'm guessing that the T520 is looking for a USB or bluetooth mouse: maybe the Previous Owner used one.

Or maybe the BIOS startup is improperly configured.

Here are some snatches from the BIOS data:

BIOS: UEFI: 8AET56WW (1.36)
UEFI date: 2011-12-06
Controller version: 8XHT38WW (1.20)
Machine type: 4242RR6
CPU type: i5-2520M

Keyboard/mouse:
Trackpoint [Enabled]
Think[pad [Enabled]
Fn&ctrl key swap [Disabled]
FN keylock [Disabled]
TP numlock [Independent]

Display:
Boot Display Device [Thinkpad LCD]

I've got snapshots of all the BIOS screens on my iPod and will post them as soon as I unload 'em and move to this computer.

Any ideas?

I'll send a note to the PO asking about the USB or Bluetooth mouse, etc.

First thing I would do, since you are able to get to the BIOS, is reset the BIOS to factory defaults. I think that would be F9, but it will be obvious if I'm wrong. That should eliminate any configuration issues. But I suspect there is something else wrong. Try the reset and then let the board know if it worked or not. I'm sure other suggestions will follow. Good luck.

Thanks, mixz1. I went into into BIOS and hit F9, as indicated on the menu, and exitted and restarted, but it's unchanged.

I just went to the Lenovo online debug screens and picked up keyboard/mouse drivers and utilities (2 exes and 2 txts) and will apply them later tonight.

My warranty has another 2 years (checked at the Lenovo warranty check webpage), so maybe Lenovo will fix this for me.

I have high hopes for the 2 fixes I DLed today. we'll see.

try unplugging and plugging in the touchpad connector. i assume not too much has changed in thinkpads recently so all you should have to do is unscrew a few screws from the bottom to remove the palm rest.

does the trackpoint work?

The trackpoint doesn't work.

I installed the two exe's IDLed from lenovo support, but no change.

I'm looking around here to see if I can find an old mouse to try.

Probably as simple as replacing your keyboard which is only two screws.

Brad

I was digging around in the junkbox for an old USB or PS2 mouse, and stumbled on a Microsoft cordless mouse (not bluetooth, but RF to a USB plugin) so I plugged it in and it works! Which is double wonderful since it's never worked before! It was a freebie.

So now the T520 seems to be fully functional, except for the trackpoint. I'm using the T520 right now for this note, with the MS wireless mouse. My problem just about MUST be something mechanical/ electrical in the trackpoint and not the software or BIOS or firmware, etc.

So, I guess I'll just start taking screws out of the bottom to free the KB so I have some access to blow pressurized air around in there.

Anyway, first impression is that this T520 is pretty nice, a suitable portable desktop type machine, which is what I was looking for.

Maybe I can plug in one of the USB HDTV sticks I've got, and then figure out how to get a HDTV DVI or HDMI signal to my big LCD display.

Thanks, guys, for your help. It's encouraged me to open up the T520 and look for a trackpoint problem, which is better than sending this of to Lenovo and waiting.

If you have the Intel 6300N WiFi card, You have WiDi built in. A 90 dollar adapter from from Belkin or several other vendors would connect to your big LCD via an HDMI caable (included with the Belkin) and you could a) steam anything on your computer to the LCD and b) go back to what your were doing on your 520 like email or a Word document while a movie streams to the LCD. If you go for it, download the latest drivers from Intel's website. They have an automatic tool which will diagnose what drivers you need. Lenovo's drivers are a bit stale for the WiDi application.

You should still contact Lenovo right away about the matter. They might just send you a new keyboard (sounds like you are going to need one), to install yourself. Just tell them you can't afford to be without your computer if they ask you to send it in for repair.

I had to suspend the t520 project while I did some other things. But today I spent the afternoon on it.

I undid the two screws holding the KB down, carefully lifted the KB a couple millimeters, sprayed some canned air around to dust it off, and pressed the connector to make sure it's secure. Didn't solve my problem.

So I now hypothesize that I am lacking some software/firmware for the Trackpoint: possibly the PO erased the system and re-installed Win7. When I poke around thru the Control Panel (while using my MS3000 RF mouse) I can find NO mention of a mouse or trackpoint, just references to the MS3000 (which works fine). So I'm trying to install "UltraNav" from the Lenovo website since it appears that maybe the "Fn-F8" key combination should give me mouse/trackpoint options. When I try "Fn-F8" I get a message: "UltrNav driver not installed", even after I've (apparently) successfully installed it!

It looks like I just need that UltraNav driver installed (and, I guess, the utility package that comes with it) but I can't figure out how to do that install. Figuring that maybe I needed to be using an administrative logon ID (instead of good ol' "John") I logged on to the only other non-guest ID on the machine, "Think2012", then re-installed that driver again, and even though it LOOKS like it ran alright, I still get "UltraNav driver not installed" when I hit "Fn-F8". And yes, I re-start the T520 after the install.

It seems so simple, and yet I can't get it going.

Otherwise, the T520 seems to work well, despite being rather bulky and heavy (which is OK since it's intended use doesn't involve much portability).

Pretty soon I'm going to have to try that telephone support line at Lenovo.

If you are uncertain about how to install the software, it might be good to carefully follow the installation instructions provided by Lenovo.

I installed Ultra Nav as carefully and accurately as I could. But maybe I missed something.

I had a T410 this week where the trackpoint did not work after an onsite technician finished. The technician said check the BIOS. I did and everything looked ok there. I thought the new keyboard was bad.

My issue though the ultranav still worked.

I opened her up and pressed on the connector and it didn't seem loose or unconnected. That didn't help. Then I removed the connector completely and reconnected. That did work.

If you have a chance call for service I am postive they will be happy to help you.

Brad

I ran the bootup memory check and it reported tons of failures starting about 130MB.

So I bought a new 8gb RAM circuit figuring that would replace the faulty 4gb memory in the 520, but when I installed it I discovered that the memory is now 12gb and there are the same errors in the first 4gb! In other words, the new memory didn't replace the old one, but just added to it.

Now I don't know what to do. I bet that the 4gb is integrated into the main board and I have to replace the whole thing.