This subnotebook from a bygone era lay unnoticed on my “notebook mountain” for years: It was originally purchased by my brother as a highly mobile travel device with a long battery life. After a few years, it was replaced, and so this model ended up with me and remained unused for a long time.

Until now: I was given an AtomStack A5 Pro laser engraver/cutter, but it only allows one type of control, namely via USB 2.0 Type B. This is basically the ideal application for this ThinkPad with a first-generation Core i CPU.

Hardware:

Firmware:

Software:

Benchmarks:

Screenshots:

Documents / Drivers

Drivers

Der Beitrag <h5>Setup: </h5><h3><b>Lenovo ThinkPad X201</b></h3> erschien zuerst auf flohs blog.

This notebook served us well for many years as the predecessor to the Lenovo ThinkPad W540 in our living room as a general-purpose computer. Since it doesn’t really need to deliver top performance when searching for things and doing research, it would still be doing the job today – if it weren’t for the well-known and hated cheap display hinges, which eventually break out of the plastic base irreparably.

Even heavy artillery only provided a temporary remedy (superglue, epoxy resin, a combination of both, 3D-printed replacement parts, stronger screws and nuts, etc.). In the end, I removed the 17“ TN display with a resolution of 1600 x 900 pixels, which was not earth-shattering in terms of quality anyway, along with its attachments – WLAN and BT in the form of a mini PCIe card were also removed, along with the antennas. Since then, the headless device has unfortunately been used very little; it was intended as a ”low-power game server” for Windows-based games.

This computer has also been upgraded repeatedly over the years. Our specific model was originally delivered with a dual-core Intel Core i3-2310M, 4 GB DDR3-1333 (2 x 2 GB), and a 2.5″ Toshiba HDD with 320 GB capacity (SATA-II). Even back then, this combination was not exactly lightning fast under Windows 7 Home Premium.

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Documents / Drivers

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Der Beitrag <h5>Setup: </h5><h3><b>LP-Gameserver</b></h3> erschien zuerst auf flohs blog.

This notebook is primarily used as a replacement device or for setting up networks. Some automotive software is also installed, with VCDS being used particularly often. Battery life is the main focus, which is why this notebook was purchased (it has two batteries, one of which can be replaced during operation!).

Hardware:

Firmware:

Software:

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Documents / Drivers

Drivers

Der Beitrag <h5>Setup: </h5><h3><b>Lenovo ThinkPad T440s</b></h3> erschien zuerst auf flohs blog.

This workstation notebook is used by us as a general-purpose PC and is permanently located in its docking station on the living room table.

Hardware:

Firmware:

Software:

Benchmarks:

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Documents / Drivers

Drivers

Der Beitrag <h5>Setup: </h5><h3><b>Lenovo ThinkPad W540</b></h3> erschien zuerst auf flohs blog.

This otherwise really good but now outdated workstation notebook from Lenovo had major thermal problems right from the start. My model has the most powerful non-Extreme mobile processor available, an i7-4910MQ. This quickly becomes very hot with Lenovo’s cooling solution. An Nvidia Quadro K2100M is installed as a 3D accelerator, which is not exactly the most energy-efficient mobile graphics chip either.

Based on my experience with liquid metal in other previous projects, I thought, why shouldn’t this also help with this Thinkpad? No sooner said than done. I had taken the notebook apart many times before, and you really have to remove a lot of screws before you get to the cooler. Then, as usual, I made the preparations, applied thermal paste around the die for insulation because a notebook is mobile, and applied liquid metal*.

Better?

In short: no. The difference is a whole degree Celsius. The cooler is simply undersized. And I’m only talking about full CPU load (even without AVX!), which very quickly causes thermal throttling. If the GPU is also under load at the same time, the ThinkPad can no longer be used effectively. Even old games are unplayable because the system repeatedly throttles heavily and the notebook simply shuts down after a short time due to overload.

I am writing this post so that no one else takes this device apart and puts it back together again multiple times for no reason. New thermal paste* only helps if the existing paste has been in use for several years. But even then, you shouldn’t expect miracles. It’s a shame, because in terms of features, this is a really good 15″ notebook.

Der Beitrag Lenovo ThinkPad W540 – Liquid Metal erschien zuerst auf flohs blog.

Like many others, I have found that the fan curves of various ThinkPads are not ideally chosen. In less powerful models (such as our T440s with a 15-watt CPU and no dedicated GPU), this is tolerable, but even these models run at higher speeds than necessary more often than not.

On devices with decent power consumption and output, such as our W540 with a 47-watt CPU and 55-watt GPU, this behavior is less tolerable—the fan runs at low speed for a long time until it can’t go any slower, then revs up repeatedly to quickly cool down the heat generated, only to slow down again a few seconds later. This cycle repeats itself endlessly.

With modern Windows versions such as 10 or 11, the fan often revs up because background processes such as Defender generate short load peaks, which in turn cause heat and thus fan speed peaks. With Windows 7, this behavior is far less pronounced.

TPFanControl

Many ThinkPad users are tech-savvy, and the devices are known for being robust, repairable, expandable, and powerful. You could also call them the “MacBook Pro for practical users”.

As a result, software was developed to control fan behavior very precisely via the energy management EC registers in the devices. The first version was developed by shimodax until 2009, and the second version was then developed by troubadix until 2015. Later, a third iteration by Shuzhengz was added.

The first and second versions of the program are no longer being developed, but the existing versions still run on the supported models. On my W540 running Windows 11 Professional 25H2, the second version from troubadix has been running without any problems and to my satisfaction so far.

Links and instructions

The first version is available at SourceForge:

Thinkpad Fan Controller (tpfancontrol)
by shimodax, troubadix
Click here for the repository

The second variant, which I and many others have successfully used as an alternative in ThinkWiki:

TPFanControl
by troubadix
Click here to visit the website
Good, detailed instructions can be found in ThinkWiki

And finally, the newcomer on GitHub:

TPFanCtrl2
by Shuzhengz
Click here for the repository

Der Beitrag Perfect fan control on Lenovo ThinkPads erschien zuerst auf flohs blog.

As described in detail beforehand, our two HP EliteBook 8540p laptops are equipped with the following components, some of which differ significantly from the standard configuration. Both are identically upgraded.

Hardware:

Other possibilities:

The following components are original and will probably remain so for various reasons:

Firmware:

Software:

Benchmarks:

Screenshots:

Documents / Drivers

Drivers

We use the following accessories, two of each:

Der Beitrag <h5>Setup: </h5><h3><b>RetroBook</b></h3> erschien zuerst auf flohs blog.

Based on everything I now know about the 8540p, if I were to tackle a similar project again, or if I were to come across another model like this that needed to be made suitable for retro LAN gaming, I would try the following configuration:

So what would be the new philosophy?

As you can see, I would primarily reduce the power consumption somewhat.
The reason is clear—less power means less heat and thus inevitably less wear and tear on the components. It also means less noise, as the cooling system has to work significantly less or less frequently.
This also saves electricity, which is no longer cheap these days.

For example, when I run the overclocked Nvidia Quadro 2000M at its limit with Unigine Heaven—and at the same time run all cores at maximum capacity with Prime95—I find that in our current configuration, after a few minutes (it also depends on the room temperature; the test was conducted in spring, ~ 22 °C) the 8540p shuts down on its own due to overheating or overloading the power supply – I can’t say for sure which.

However, I strongly suspect that the temperatures are getting too high – in HWiNFO, I can see that the CPU and GPU are CLEARLY above 90 °C, approaching 100 °C, and the GPU VRMs are above 110 °C. The system also has other temperature sensors in many places, and for an emergency shutdown, it is sufficient if one of these reaches a limit specified by HP in the BIOS.

Next time, maybe the AMD FirePro M5950 would be better?

If the AMD FirePro M5950 with 1 GB GDDR5 can be made to work, which I don’t know and can’t estimate due to my limited knowledge of ATI/AMD graphics cards, it would definitely be the better choice. Drivers are also available down to XP, so there are no restrictions.

It is supposed to achieve 1314 PassMark points with 20 watts less power consumption, which are strong arguments.
In my case, however, it was much less common second-hand and, when available, considerably more expensive than the Quadro 2000M (approx. 50% more expensive). Added to this are the uncertainties regarding operability and a lack of experience with modifying ATI/AMD drivers – I don’t know if this would even be necessary.

Is more VRAM better?

The M5950 naturally has “only” 1 GB VRAM, while the Quadro 2000M has 2 GB – I don’t think this should be a major problem for retro applications, as compatibility and processing speed are more important.
Especially since GDDR5 is considerably faster and more efficient than DDR3 and even GDDR3.

The original NVS 5100M we installed also had “only” 1 GB GDDR3 VRAM, and I never came close to reaching the limit with anything relevant to us, even though we installed the HD+ (1600 x 900) display. With demanding games, however, you’ll quickly fill up the 1 GB at this resolution, even with the “smallest” display option available at the time, “HD” with 1360 x 768.

In conjunction with the Full HD displays that are also available, however, VRAM becomes much more relevant, and I would almost want to require 2 GB or more (more pixels = larger frame buffer = more VRAM required), because when limited by the full VRAM, the overall performance drops very quickly and very sharply.

All in all…

…I am satisfied with the selected hardware.
In terms of performance, overclocking brought the Nvidia Quadro 2000M at least close to the maximum performance of the AMD FirePro M5950 (~20% difference, 1100 points for the Quadro 2000M compared to 1314 points for the FirePro 5950), and since the components will rarely run at their limits (and even if they do, it will only be for a short time), I think the maximum has been achieved.

Der Beitrag <h5>RetroBook 8540p #12: </h5><h3><b>Conclusion and thoughts</b></h3> erschien zuerst auf flohs blog.

I will try to keep this section as brief as possible, as it is a very individual matter.

BIOS-Update:

If the BIOS has not yet been updated to the latest version (F.60 Rev. A), I would do so now at the very latest.

The updater runs on Windows, so an operating system must be installed—preferably Windows 7, which was originally installed on these notebooks when they were shipped.

Link to the file:
BIOS F.60 Rev. A for the 8540p (archive.org)

What operating system(s) would be suitable for the EliteBook 8540p?

Driver support starts with Windows XP, which was also the prerequisite for upgrading this notebook model in the first place. I ultimately decided on the following, very maximum operating system configuration:

• Windows XP Pro, Service Pack 3 (32-Bit)
• Windows 7 Ultimate, Service Pack 1 (64-Bit)
• Windows 10 Pro, 22H2 (64-Bit)
• Windows 11 Pro, 24H2 (64-Bit)

The limit is four systems regardless, as MBR is not only limited to a maximum partition size of 2 TiB, but can also only handle a maximum of four primary partitions, and Windows can only be booted from these. Because Windows XP should be installed on it, MBR forces me into these limits (as previously written in the “SSD” article in this series, XP only supports MBR).

I won’t document the exact installation of these systems here, as there is more than enough information on the internet if you have any questions.

The order is particularly important:

First, install Windows XP. It is best to use another computer to create an NTFS partition of the desired size on the planned drive beforehand. Of course, set this up as a primary partition at the very front of the data carrier.

Then insert the drive into the notebook, start the Windows XP installation either from an optical data carrier or USB stick (boot menu), and install it on the existing partition. Just that for now, no drivers, etc.

Then start the Windows 7 setup in the same way, create a new partition behind the existing XP partition during the process, and install. Again, no drivers for now.

Now do the same with Windows 10.

Finally, do it again with Windows 11.

So, from old to new.

This process has the advantage that with each additional operating system that is newer than the previous version, the older system is automatically recognized and entered into the boot loader. Ultimately, there are four selectable entries when booting the notebook (or possibly three, because Windows XP uses a different boot loader than all subsequent versions).

These can of course be customized. For legacy systems like this, I use EasyBCD, which has always worked very well, always on the latest operating system (i.e., install it on Windows 11!).

Why is that…?

To ensure that the latest possible boot loader is used in the MBR – especially since, starting with Windows 8, the so-called “Metro” look can also be enabled optionally with EasyBCD. It looks nicer and more modern, so I usually use this one.

If an entry is missing, it can also be quickly added later with EasyBCD.

All that remains for me to say is that the appropriate drivers from HP should be used for Windows XP, the same applies to Windows 7 (Note: was a 32-bit or 64-bit system installed?), and everything runs smoothly with the drivers for 7 for Windows 10 and 11.

For original graphics cards, search for the latest driver from Nvidia and use the one that matches your operating system. For unofficial modifications like I did, use the modified, compatible, and latest driver.

Click here for the original drivers from HP

Next, I will summarize this project and what I would do differently next time.

Der Beitrag <h5>RetroBook 8540p #11: </h5><h3><b>Software Setup</b></h3> erschien zuerst auf flohs blog.