Problem with unauthorized MiniPCI network card
Contents
Problem Description
Although the MiniPCI slot is an industry standard and can accept any MiniPCI adapter, the IBM BIOS is set to only allow you to boot with an 'authorized' adapter installed. Attempts to install an unsupported card will result in the following message:
1802: Unauthorized network card is plugged in - Power off and remove the miniPCI network card.
This is because the card's sub-vendor PCI-ID (which can be seen using lspci -v) are checked against a whitelist in the BIOS. IBM's reasoning for this is that the combination of MiniPCI card and the integrated antenna in the ThinkPad needs to be certified by the US FCC (Federal Communications Commission).1 or similar agencies in other countries.
Affected Models
All machines with integrated WiFi, or machines with WiFi added
Affected Operating Systems
All - problem is in the BIOS
Status
- Workarounds exist for most affected models.
Solutions
It may be possible to use the computer with the unauthorized card deactivated (but not removed). Press F1 to enter the BIOS and deactivate the WLAN card, then attempt to boot with the card disabled. This does not make the wireless card work, but it may allow you to boot the computer normally.
NOTE!
Any of the following solutions should suffice to make the wireless card useable. You only need to perform one of them.
- You may can modify the BIOS whitelist to include the PCI-ID of the card you wish to use. The complete instructions for this procedure are here.
ATTENTION!
It is dangerous to mess with your BIOS, you can easily make your machine unbootable, proceed with caution!
- A safer and better method than modifying the BIOS is modifying the PCI-ID of the wlan card to match the authorized one(why? 1.you'll risk the wireless card instead of the motherbord 2.future BIOS updates will not create any problem 3.no problem with newer laptops with different BIOS, the only reqirement is to find an ID that is already listed in the BIOS that can be easily acheived if community maintain a compatibility table). The instructions are here. This page is for Atheros-based cards and HP notebooks, but it applies to Thinkpads as well. It also has links on how to edit the PCI-ID on Intel Pro Wireless cards. Instruction for intel 2200/2915 cards are here.
NOTE!
Modifying your PCI-ID will require either a laptop without a BIOS lock or a PCI adapter for your desktop. Also, this procedure can render your card useless, but that's better than bricking your laptop.
- You can use the no-1802 and no-01C9 Linux Live CD without applying the no-01C9 patch. It is very convenient to use and based on the C code below.
- You can use the DOS no-1802 utility, written by Tisheng Chen.2 It will set a certain bit in the CMOS memory which disables the whitelist check, but it has been reported not to work on the latest machines, such as the T43 and X41
- You can compile and run (as root) the following C-code, which was written by Matthew Garrett. It was based on the code written by Vojtech Pavlik, which in turn was based on the assembly used in the no-1802 program. 3
#include <stdio.h>
#include <sys/types.h>
#include <unistd.h>
#include <sys/stat.h>
#include <fcntl.h>
int main(void)
{
int fd;
unsigned char data;
fd = open("/dev/nvram", O_RDWR);
if (fd==-1) {
printf("Opening /dev/nvram failed\n");
return 1;
}
printf("Disabling WiFi whitelist check.\n");
/* BIG INFORMATIONAL WARNING */
/* The linux nvram driver doesn't give access to the first 14 bytes of
the CMOS. As a result, we seek to 0x5c rather than 0x6a. If you're
implementing this under another OS, then you'll have to go to whichever
address is appropriate for your access method */
lseek(fd, 0x5c, SEEK_SET);
read(fd, &data, 1);
printf("CMOS address 0x5c: %02x->", data);
data |= 0x80;
printf("%02x\n", data);
lseek(fd, 0x5c, SEEK_SET);
if (write(fd, &data, 1)<0) {
printf("Unable to write to /dev/nvram - hack failed\n");
close(fd);
return 2;
}
close(fd);
printf("Done.\n");
return 0;
}
NOTE!
On the R32, T43, X41, X60 and probably others, the BIOS hacks and the "no-1802" utility don't work.
Successful BIOS Modifications
ATTENTION!
This table is meant to give users an idea of what models have been successfully modified and how. As stated before, it is dangerous to mess with your BIOS, you can easily make your machine unbootable. Please proceed with caution!
The following table contains information about ThinkPad models that have been successfully modified to run an unauthorized Mini PCI card. 4
| Model | Type | BIOS Version | Operating System | Method | Success |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ThinkPad 240 | 2609-21G | 1.18 | Damn Small Linux | Matthew Garrett code 3 | Yes |
| ThinkPad G40 | 2388-2UU | 1.21 (2006/2/24; 1TETA6WW) | Windows XP Home | no-1802 DOS 6.22 floppy | Yes |
| ThinkPad R31 | 2656-6FG | 3.11 (12-01-2004) | Windows XP Boot Disk | no-1802 utility | Yes |
| ThinkPad R32 | 2656-EG1 | 2.16 (16-06-2006) | DOS Boot Disk | no-1802 utility | No |
| ThinkPad R40 | 2656-69U | ? | Windows 2000 Pro | no-1802 utility | Yes |
| ThinkPad R40 | 2681-F7G | n/a | Windows XP Pro SP2 w/ Intel 2200BG | No-1802 utility | Yes |
| ThinkPad R40 | 2682 | ? | Debian Etch | Matthew Garrett code | Yes |
| ThinkPad R40 | 2896-J3U | 1.24 (10-18-2005) | Fedora Core 4 | Vojtech Pavlik code | Yes |
| ThinkPad R40 | 2681-L7U | 1.24 (10-18-2005) | Windows XP Pro | no-1802 utility | Yes |
| ThinkPad R40 | 2722-BDG | 1.33 | Windows XP Pro | no-1802 Linux Live CD | Yes |
| ThinkPad R40e | 2684-LKG | ? | Windows XP Pro | no-1802 DOS boot CD | Yes |
| ThinkPad R40 | 2681-CDG | 1.27 (10-06-2006) | Windows XP Pro | no-1802 LiveCD | Yes |
| ThinkPad R40 | 2722-DM2 | 1.09 (2003) | Windows XP Pro | no-1802 LiveCD | Yes |
| ThinkPad R40 | 2681-CFM | 1.24 (10-17-2005) | Gentoo & XP Pro | no-1802 utility (boot from USB key to apply) | Yes |
| ThinkPad R40 | 2724 | 1.30 (10-19-2005) | FreeBSD 6.1-p1 | code by Matthew Garrett, compiled and run on bactrack | Yes |
| ThinkPad R40 | 2724-3XU | 1.33 (06-29-2006) | Windows XP Pro | no-1802 utility | Yes |
| ThinkPad R40 | 2682 | 1.01 (2003-01-24) | Debian GNU/Linux etch (March 2007) | Matthew Garret's code | Yes |
| ThinkPad R40 | 2722-BDG | 1.33 (2006/6/29) | Lunar Linux (2007/03/04) | Matthew Garret's code | Yes |
| ThinkPad R50 | 1829-7RG | 3.21 (02-06-2006) | Windows XP Pro | no-1802 Linux Live CD | Yes |
| ThinkPad R50p | 1832-2AG | 3.19 (13-10-2005) | Ubuntu 5.10 (kernel 2.6.12-10-686) | Vojtech Pavlik code | Yes |
| ThinkPad R51 | 2887-W2C | 1.27 (03-03-2006) | Windows XP Pro SP2 | no-1802 utility (boot from USB key to apply) | Yes |
| ThinkPad R52 | 1849-BMU | 1.27 (09-20-2006) | Windows XP Pro SP2 | no-1802 utility (boot from external USB floppy) | No |
| ThinkPad T23 | 2647-4MU | 1.18 (08-06-2004) | Windows XP Pro/SP2 | no-1802 utility (W98se-bootfloppy) | Yes |
| ThinkPad T30 | 2366-68G | 2.09 (08-08-2005) | Windows XP Pro | no-1802 utility | Yes |
| ThinkPad T30 | 2366-ES1 | 2.10 | Windows XP Pro | no-1802 utility | Yes |
| ThinkPad T30 | 2366-97G | 2.09 (08-08-2005) | Windows XP Pro | no-1802 utility | Yes |
| ThinkPad T30 | 2366-N6G | 2.09 (08-08-2005) | Windows XP Pro | no-1802 utility | Yes |
| ThinkPad T30 | 2366-N6G | 2.10 (26-06-2006) | Windows XP Pro | no-1802 utility | Yes |
| ThinkPad T30 | 2366-81U | 2.10 (27-06-2006) | Windows XP Pro | no-1802 Linux Live CD | Yes |
| ThinkPad T30 | 2366-86U | 2.10 (27-06-2006) | Windows XP Pro SP 2 | no-1802 utility | Yes |
| ThinkPad T30 | 2366-86G | 2.10 (27-06-2006) | Windows XP Pro SP 2 and Ubuntu 7.10 "Gutsy Gibbon" Intel BG2200 | no-1802 Linux Live CD | Yes |
| ThinkPad T30 | 2366-DU9 | 2.10 (27-06-2006) | Suse Linux 10.1 | no-1802 Linux Live CD | Yes |
| ThinkPad T30 | 2367-RU1 | 2.01 (06-08-2002) | Windows XP Pro SP2 | no-1802 Linux Live CD | Yes |
| ThinkPad T40 | 2373-7CU | 3.21 | Windows XP Pro | no-1802 Linux Live CD | Yes |
| ThinkPad T40 | 2373-4BG | 3.21 | Windows XP Pro SP2 | no-1802 Linux Live CD | Yes |
| ThinkPad T40 | 2373-7CU | 3.21 (06-02-2006) | Windows XP Pro SP2 | no-1802 Linux Live CD | Yes |
| ThinkPad T40 | 2373-75U | 3.21 (09-12-2006) | Fedora 6 w Intel 2915ABG | no-1802 Linux Live CD | Yes |
| ThinkPad T40 | 2373-82U | 3.18 (09-15-2005) | Windows XP/ SUSE 10.1 | No-1802 utility | Yes |
| ThinkPad T40 | 2373-8CG | 3.05a (2004-05-14) | Arch Linux | No-1802 LiveCD | Yes |
| ThinkPad T40 | 2373-8CG | 3.15 (2005-03-29) | Windows XP Pro SP2 w/Gigabyte GN-WI01GS | No-1802 LiveCD | Yes |
| ThinkPad T40 | 2373-PU7 | 3.21 (09-12-2006) | Windows XP Professional | No-1802 utility | Yes |
| ThinkPad T40 | 2373-42G | 3.20 (11-05-2006) | Windows 2000 Pro | no-1802 utility | Yes |
| ThinkPad T40 | 2374-8CG | 3.20 (11-05-2006) | Ubuntu 6.06 LTS w/Intel Pro Lan2200 | no-1802 Linux Live CD | Yes |
| ThinkPad T40 | 2374-8CU | 3.03 (07 Apr 2004) | Windows XP | no-1802 utility (applied via FreeDos bootable USB stick) | Yes |
| ThinkPad T40 | 2374-DG1 | 3.21 (06-02-2006) | Ubuntu 6.10 w/Broadcom 4306 | Matthew Garrett's code | Yes |
| ThinkPad T40p | 2373-G1G | 3.19 (10-13-2005) | Debian GNU/Linux (sid) | no-1802 Linux Live CD | Yes |
| ThinkPad T40p | 2373-G5G | 3.21 (2006-06-02) | Windows XP Pro SP2 / Gentoo 2007.0 | no-1802 Linux Live CD | Yes |
| ThinkPad T41 | 2373-1FG | 3.21 (2007-06-18) | Windows XP Pro SP2 | no-1802 utility | Yes |
| ThinkPad T41 | 2373-5G1 | 2004 | Fedora Core 6 w/Intel Pro 2915ABG a/b/g | no-1802 Linux Live CD | Yes |
| ThinkPad T41 | 2373-9HU | n/a | Ubuntu 6.10 w/Atheros 5212 a/b/g | no-1802 Linux Live CD | Yes |
| ThinkPad T41 | 2373-2FG | n/a | Windows XP Pro SR2 w/ Intel 2200BG | no-1802 utility | Yes |
| ThinkPad T41p | 2373-GEG | BIOS Build ID: 1RETDOWW(3.20) | Gentoo / XP pro SP2 | Matthew Garrett's code 3 | Yes |
| ThinkPad T41p | 2374-GGU | 3.21 (1RETDPWW) 6/2/2006 | Slackware / XP pro SP2 | Matthew Garrett's code | Yes |
| ThinkPad T41 | 2373-K32 | BIOS Build ID: 1RETDOWW(3.20) | CentOS 5.0 w/Atheros 5212 (CM9) | Matthew Garrett's code | Yes |
| ThinkPad T42 | 2373-6UU | Not noted | Fedora 7 w/Atheros 5212 | Matthew Garrett's code | Yes |
| ThinkPad T42 | 2373-4TG | 3.13 (1RETDHWW) (29-10-2004) | Windows XP Pro SP2 w/ Intel PRO 2200BG | no-1802 Linux Live CD | Yes |
| ThinkPad T42p | 2373-HTU | 3.23 (1RETDRWW) (06-18-2007) | Windows XP Pro SP2 w/ Intel 2915ABG | No-1802 utility | Yes |
| ThinkPad T42 | 2373-K2G | 3.17 (07-27-2005) | Windows XP Pro SP2 w/ Intel 2915ABG | No-1802 utility | Yes |
| ThinkPad T42 | 2373-M1U | 3.13 1RETDHWW (10/29/2004) | Fedora 7 w/ Intel PRO 2200BG | Matthew Garrett's code | Yes |
| ThinkPad T42 | 2373-LM1 | 3.23 (1RETDRWW) (06-18-2007) | Debian Lenny (2.6.21-2-686) w/ Intel PRO 2915ABG | Matthew Garrett's code | Yes |
| ThinkPad T42 | 2378-EXU | 3.18 (09-15-2005) | Windows XP Pro SP2 | No-1802 utility | Yes |
| ThinkPad T43 | 1871-F1G | 1.19 (70ET59WW) (2005-09-20) | n/a | no-1802 Linux Live CD | No |
| ThinkPad X22 | 2662-95G | 1.32 (2003-06-10) | Debian GNU/Linux testing, kernel 2.6.18-3-686 | Matthew Garrett's code | Yes |
| ThinkPad X30 | AR5212 | ? | Debian Linux 2.6.18-5 | Matthew Garrett's code | Yes |
| ThinkPad X30 | 2672-41j | 1.08 (08-09-2005) | Gentoo Kernel 2.6.15 | no-1802 utility | Yes |
| ThinkPad X30 | 2672-4XU | 1.09 | Win XP Pro SP2 | no-1802 Linux Live CD | Yes |
| ThinkPad X30 | 2673-EU2 | 1.09 | Windows XP Pro SP2 | no-1802 utility | Yes |
| ThinkPad X31 | 2672-C2G | 3.02 (22-09-2005) | Debian Etch (Testing), Kernel 2.6.22-rc7 | no-1802 utility | Yes |
| ThinkPad X31 | 2672-PG9 | 2.04 (2003-11-10) | Debian Etch (Testing), Kernel 2.6.21-2 | Matthew Garrett's code | Yes |
| ThinkPad X31 | 2673-C27 | 3.02 (22-09-2005) | Ubuntu 5.10 (kernel 2.6.12-9-386) | Matthew Garrett code 3 | Yes |
| ThinkPad X31 | 2672-1UG | 3.02 (22-09-2005) | FreeBSD 6-STABLE | no-1802 Linux Live CD | Yes |
| ThinkPad X31 | 2672-CEG | 3.02 (22-09-2005) | Debian Etch (Testing), Kernel 2.6.17-2-686 | no-1802 Linux Live CD | Yes |
| ThinkPad X31 | 2672-CXU | 2.04 | Windows XP Pro | no-1802 DOS boot CD | Yes |
| ThinkPad X31 | 2672-PBU | 3.02 | Windows XP Pro | no-1802 DOS boot CD | Yes |
| ThinkPad X31 | 2672-I5A | 3.02 | Windows XP Pro | no-1802 DOS boot CD | Yes |
| ThinkPad X31 | 2672-C8G | 3.02 | Debian (kernel 2.6.16.20-386) | Matthew Garrett code 3 | Yes |
| ThinkPad X31 | 2672-CEG | 2.11 (02/13/2004) | Debian (kernel 2.6.18-4-686, gcc 4.1.2) | Matthew Garrett code 3 | Yes |
| ThinkPad X31 | 2884-BRU | 1.03 (1QET34WW) 2003-04-08 | Windows XP Pro SP2 w/ Intel 2915ABG | no-1802 DOS boot CD | Yes |
| ThinkPad X31 | 2672-C2G | ? | Win XP Pro, w/ Gigabyte GN-WI03N-RN | no-1802 Linux Live CD | Yes |
| ThinkPad X40 | 2371-8EU | 1.42 (2004/09/16; 1UET92WW) | Windows XP Pro | no-1802 Linux Live CD | Yes |
| ThinkPad X41 | 1866-6SU | ? | Windows XP Pro | no-1802 DOS boot CD | No |
| ThinkPad X41 | 2525-A2U | 2.06 (2006/03/14; 74ET61WW) | Windows XP Pro | no-1802 Linux Live CD | No |
| ThinkPad X41 | 2528-ELU | 2.06 (2006/03/14; 74ET61WW) | Windows XP Pro / OSX 10.4.8 / Ubuntu Edgy | no-1802 Linux Live CD | No |
| ThinkPad X60s | 1702-3JU | ? | Debian Testing | Matthew Garrett's code | NO (bricked) |
Problem with WiFi LED
After getting an unauthorized card to work, you may notice that the WiFi LED found on the ThinkPad is not working properly. The general cause for this is the fact that the MiniPCI standard leaves the implementation of the LED signals available on the MiniPCI connector to the card vendors. Some newer WiFi cards use one of the signals originally meant for LEDs to implement the "radio kill" switch input. As a result, the LED doesn't get its signals and doesn't work as expected.
Details
The WiFi LED found in ThinkPads is connected to following pins on the MiniPCI connector.
| Pin | Signal | Description |
| 11 | LED1_GRNP | WiFi active LED + |
| 13 | LED1_GRNN | WiFi active LED - (older cards) / RF Silent input (newer cards) |
Note: The descriptions are specific to this article.
The problem is the pin 13. Newer cards may no longer provide the necessary negative signal there to drive the LED. Before you make any modifications to the card, be sure to check the voltage between pin 11 and ground (for example the UltraBay chassis) - it should give you about 3.3V while the WiFi is active and 0V otherwise. The voltage between pin 13 and ground should measure about 2.5V. If this is the case, your LED is fixable.
Solution
The solution is to connect the ground (GND) to the pin 13. However, since the new RF Silent input signal is active low, grounding the card side will tell it to turn itself off. Therefore, we have to separate pin 13 of the card from the system board and connect ground to the system board side only.
TODO: Mechanical solution.
External Sources
- Additional Information about "Unauthorised" MiniPCI adapters can be found on Matthew Garrett's website.
- Thinkpad Mini PCI Wireless compatibility matrix.
- Bootable "no-1802" CD and floppy image
| FOOTNOTES [Δ] |
- This is explained in a message to the LKML and subsequently clarified.
- The no-1802 tool was announced and explaned in a message to the Linux-Thinkpad ML.
- Vojtech Pavlik's C-code was originally posted in a message to the LKML. It was based on the assembly used in the no-1802 program. Matthew Garrett rewrote the code to provide more error checking.
- This information has been added by users. Please feel free to add systems if you have had personal success or failure.
