is it possible to replace the wifi card with another one?

[sarah-kho]

Hi

I have a t400 with intel 5100 wifi card and now I want to install mac os on my laptop.

problem is that mac os does not detect the 5100 series of wifi card and I want to know whether it is possible to replace the current 5100 model with a older series?

Is there any certified service center in Uppsala/ Sweden to do that?

Thanks,

[lead_org Microsoft MVP Contributor]

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sarah-kho wrote:

Hi

I have a t400 with intel 5100 wifi card and now I want to install mac os on my laptop.

problem is that mac os does not detect the 5100 series of wifi card and I want to know whether it is possible to replace the current 5100 model with a older series?

Is there any certified service center in Uppsala/ Sweden to do that?

Thanks,

---

i don't think you can. But i will give it a try for you i will report back tomorrow afternoon. 

[mcc · Accepted solution]

Lenovo restricts the wireless cards to Lenovo branded units certified to work with the machine. This is done through a whitelist in the system BIOS. I recently disassembled the latest (version 3.14-1.06) T500/W500 BIOS and found the following whitelist table. This is raw big endian hex appended with what I found by searching the device ID's. Redundant entries are for varying vendor IDs.

86803B428680111000 Intel Corporation PRO/Wireless 5350 AGN [Echo Peak] Network Connection

86803D428680111200 Intel Corporation WiMAX/WiFi Link 5150

868036428680111000 Intel Corporation Ultimate N WiFi Link 5300

868037428680111200 Intel Corporation PRO/Wireless 5100 AGN [Shiloh] Network Connection

868037428680161200 Intel Corporation PRO/Wireless 5100 AGN [Shiloh] Network Connection

8C161C008C16350000 Atheros AR5007EG

EC107281EC1020E000 Realtek RTL8191SEvB (Yuck, Realtek! I'd hate to have one of these...)

86803D428680161200 8086:423D Intel Corporation WiMAX/WiFi Link 5150

8680840086801513 Intel Corporation Centrino Wireless-N 1000

Your T400 is from the same lineup and probably has the same list. Remember, you'll need to purchase a Lenovo branded unit.

Also look for a PM with additional information.

[lead_org Microsoft MVP Contributor]

i tried the older wireless card yesterday but no go there.