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I just purchased Lenovo T430s laptop with Thunderbolt and I'm wondering if I should be able to use my 27" 2011 iMac with Thunderbolt as an external display using target display mode.

So far, no luck.

What I've done:

  1. I connected computers to each other with Apple's Thunderbolt cable.
  2. I booted T430s and made sure that Thunderbolt is enabled in BIOS

What I found out:

  1. iMac says that there's nothing connected to Thunderbolt
  2. Pressing Command+F2 to enable target display mode does nothing
  3. Windows 7 in T430s does not detect any additional displays and there's not a word about Thunderbolt anywhere in Windows.
  4. Windows device manager is not showing any devices that are not functioning properly or missing drivers

Any help or ideas would be much appreciated.

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Have you connected the Lenovo laptop to a mini DisplayPort display? Does that work? How about a Thunderbolt display? – CajunLuke Sep 13 '12 at 19:21
Nope, I know that anandtech got TB Display working with a PC though. I currently don't have a miniDP or TB display available anywhere but maybe I could make the test in a store. anandtech.com/show/5829/… – Timo Salminen Sep 13 '12 at 19:23
Also: boot the iMac into Target Disk Mode (hold down T while booting) and connect it to the (booted) Lenovo via Thunderbolt. You should see the iMac's drive appear in Device Manager (though you probably won't be able to mount it because Windows won't be able to read the Mac's HFS+-formatted drive). – CajunLuke Sep 13 '12 at 19:25
Thanks for the tip. I tried. It didn't show up in device manager (booted T430s also). Also, when the cable is connected, iMac won't boot. When trying to boot, it takes 3 times as long to see desktop and it freezes after some programs have opened. Maybe I should get my hands on some TB periephals and see that the TB port is working ok. – Timo Salminen Sep 13 '12 at 19:48
It almost sounds like the Lenovo doesn't have any Thunderbolt drivers at all. – CajunLuke Sep 13 '12 at 20:03
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1 Answer

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Just got off the phone with Lenovo tech support after unboxing my T430s/i7 because it didn't have a Thunderbolt symbol on the back... just a DVI symbol. Confirmed: NONE of the 430's they're shipping even HAVE it yet. I'm sending mine back, suggest you do the same. The internet is saturated with references that they have it that all sound as though they are informed by press releases... and Lenovo chat even tells you they have it... but no joy. Technology never fails to disappoint.

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