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FixeQ
FixeQ

Posted on • Edited on • Originally published at gist.github.com

My Hardware Journey: From ThinkPad Survival to ZBook Power-Up

Once upon a time, I had a loyal ThinkPad T470.

Specs?

💻 i5-6300U

🧠 16 GB RAM

💾 ADATA LEGEND 710 512GB on a M.2-to-SATA adapter (because native M.2 wasn’t a thing, and yes, no screw, classic ThinkPad moment).

Still, it worked - barely held together, but it did.

Then, after one of those nights, the ThinkPad decided it had enough.

No power, no signs of life. Just... silence.


Enter: a new hope.

🖥️ HP ZBook 15 G6

💪 i7-9850H

🧠 32 GB RAM

🎮 NVIDIA Quadro T2000 Max-Q
⚡ WD BLACK 512GB NVMe

💸 1699 zł (~$400), bought via Allegro Smart from Malanet.

It arrived, it booted, everything looked good.

Until...


I tried installing Arch Linux (of course),

but the BIOS was locked down like a government server.

Secure Boot enabled, BIOS options greyed out, no way to disable anything.

And I had no chip flasher, no mood for soldering.

So I messaged Malanet.

They said:

"Ship it back, we’ll unlock it for free. We’ll cover shipping both ways."

📦 I sent it.

2 days later - it returned.


But then...

🤡 No SSD.

The WD BLACK? Gone.

Just a sad, empty M.2 slot.

No big deal.

I grabbed the ADATA from the dead ThinkPad,

unscrewed a random screw from its motherboard (because yes, it fit),

slotted it into the ZBook, and installed Arch Linux like it was nothing.

Then I contacted Malanet:

"Hey, your SSD didn’t make it back."

They replied:

"Whoops, sending it now."


2 days later, InPost delivered again.

They used a regular small parcel instead of a mini one -

💸 InPost got that extra 5 zł (~1.20 USD) for no reason.


While installing it, I discovered something magical:

💡 "WAIT… there’s a second M.2 slot?!"

Boom.

✨ DUAL SSD MODE ACTIVATED ✨

ADATA for Arch Linux.

WD BLACK for whatever else I want.

And yes, the ThinkPad screw is still holding strong.


Big thanks to Malanet for BIOS unlock + SSD fix.

Shoutout to InPost for delivering my packages without crashing them lol.

And eternal respect to the ThinkPad screw, still doing its job in a completely different machine.

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