Take a look at our
ThinkPads.com HOME PAGE
For those who might want to contribute to the blog, start here: Editors Alley Topic
Then contact Bill with a Private Message
ThinkPads.com HOME PAGE
For those who might want to contribute to the blog, start here: Editors Alley Topic
Then contact Bill with a Private Message
My new PIII 700 mHz X21!
-
- Senior Member
- Posts: 837
- Joined: Wed May 19, 2010 11:21 pm
- Location: Pardubice, Czech Republic
- Contact:
My new PIII 700 mHz X21!
In the 'parts only' section of a local auction site I saw a dim-screened X21 selling for $5. I thought it'd be a fun machine to program on but I wasn't sure if it'd run.
It arrived. It booted into bios and I was thrilled to see a ton of bios options. Played around with them for a bit and then was ready to get the machine running. Easier said than done.
I tried booting from usb. Failed. Tried network boot. Failed. Tried booting from a CD. Failed. This was going better than expected. Stuck a Kingspec SSD in and it booted into debian!
A few questions:
1. How much ram can it take?
2. There were two vertical rows of dead pixels when I first turned the machine on (also two rows in the sellers photos). After I put a hard drive in, one of the rows went away and now there is just one one row of bad pixels. What's going on? Will the other bad row appear or can I get rid of the remaining bad row?
3. the hinges hardly hold the monitor up. how do i tighten the hinges?
4. can I stick an interna wifi card from a t41 in (can i use the no-1802 error iso I used on the t41 or do I need an iso specifically for the x21?)
the output of ~$ lshw is here:
http://termbin.com/m187
It arrived. It booted into bios and I was thrilled to see a ton of bios options. Played around with them for a bit and then was ready to get the machine running. Easier said than done.
I tried booting from usb. Failed. Tried network boot. Failed. Tried booting from a CD. Failed. This was going better than expected. Stuck a Kingspec SSD in and it booted into debian!
A few questions:
1. How much ram can it take?
2. There were two vertical rows of dead pixels when I first turned the machine on (also two rows in the sellers photos). After I put a hard drive in, one of the rows went away and now there is just one one row of bad pixels. What's going on? Will the other bad row appear or can I get rid of the remaining bad row?
3. the hinges hardly hold the monitor up. how do i tighten the hinges?
4. can I stick an interna wifi card from a t41 in (can i use the no-1802 error iso I used on the t41 or do I need an iso specifically for the x21?)
the output of ~$ lshw is here:
http://termbin.com/m187
T420 i7 3612QM seabios; T420 i7 3630QM; T400 Q9100 seabios; T61 P9600; T60 libreboot; x62; x60s libreboot, led; x24 xiphmont led
-
- Senior Member
- Posts: 837
- Joined: Wed May 19, 2010 11:21 pm
- Location: Pardubice, Czech Republic
- Contact:
Re: My new PIII 700 mHz X21!
1. I've fixed the floppy display by replacing the screws below the hinges and tightening them.
2. Added a pci slot wifi card (also see an extra T30 has a minipci wifi card which may fit)
3. was running javascript-heavy websites via ssh X-Forwarding into a second machine with
ssh -XC user@ip
Still trying to figure out how much ram the machine'll take. HWM says 386 mb but linux reports 1 GB. I only see one ram slot - are there two?
2. Added a pci slot wifi card (also see an extra T30 has a minipci wifi card which may fit)
3. was running javascript-heavy websites via ssh X-Forwarding into a second machine with
ssh -XC user@ip
Still trying to figure out how much ram the machine'll take. HWM says 386 mb but linux reports 1 GB. I only see one ram slot - are there two?
T420 i7 3612QM seabios; T420 i7 3630QM; T400 Q9100 seabios; T61 P9600; T60 libreboot; x62; x60s libreboot, led; x24 xiphmont led
-
- Senior ThinkPadder
- Posts: 3832
- Joined: Mon May 28, 2012 5:49 am
- Location: Metro Manila, Philippines
Re: My new PIII 700 mHz X21!
Download the Hardware Maintenance Manual, from there you will read that:
1. there is 64 or 128 MB RAM soldered on the system board (depending on the model)
2. there is only one memory slot.
The Intel 440ZX chipset supports memory modules up to 256MB, so the maximum for the X21 is 384MB for models with 128MB RAM onboard, and 320MB for those with 64MB onboard.
IF it's possible to replace the RAM chips to put 256MB onboard, then the maximum becomes 512MB. But that's a very big IF.
1. there is 64 or 128 MB RAM soldered on the system board (depending on the model)
2. there is only one memory slot.
The Intel 440ZX chipset supports memory modules up to 256MB, so the maximum for the X21 is 384MB for models with 128MB RAM onboard, and 320MB for those with 64MB onboard.
IF it's possible to replace the RAM chips to put 256MB onboard, then the maximum becomes 512MB. But that's a very big IF.
Planned Purchase: T480s i5-8350 FHD Touch
Impulse Buy: Thinkpad not named for safety reasons
RIP: X220 4291-C91 X61 7676-A24 760XD-U9E
Impulse Buy: Thinkpad not named for safety reasons
RIP: X220 4291-C91 X61 7676-A24 760XD-U9E
-
- Senior Member
- Posts: 837
- Joined: Wed May 19, 2010 11:21 pm
- Location: Pardubice, Czech Republic
- Contact:
Re: My new PIII 700 mHz X21!
Yes, I'd read the HWM ram limit. But, maybe that was just poor documentation which didn't consider that modules would be larger than 256 MB. Also, Linux is reporting a 1 GB capacity:
Code: Select all
*-memory
description: System Memory
physical id: 25
slot: System board or motherboard
size: 256MiB
[b]capacity: 1GiB[/b]
*-bank:0
description: SODIMM DRAM Synchronous
physical id: 0
slot: U346, U347, U358, U359
size: 128MiB
width: 64 bits
*-bank:1
description: DIMM DRAM Synchronous
physical id: 1
slot: J303
size: 128MiB
width: 64 bits
T420 i7 3612QM seabios; T420 i7 3630QM; T400 Q9100 seabios; T61 P9600; T60 libreboot; x62; x60s libreboot, led; x24 xiphmont led
-
- Senior ThinkPadder
- Posts: 3832
- Joined: Mon May 28, 2012 5:49 am
- Location: Metro Manila, Philippines
Re: My new PIII 700 mHz X21!
The 440BX chipset (the 440ZX's big brother) supported a maximum of 1GB RAM, split into 4 slots of 256MB.
Laptops are generally limited to two slots at most, so the practical limit is 512MB.
The 440BX and 440ZX do not support 512MB RAM sticks (no exceptions). Finding compatible 256MB RAM may be problematic, as there are specific requirements. This page has some relevant info: http://homepage.hispeed.ch/rscheidegger/ram_bx_faq.html, and thinkwiki's page http://thinkwiki.org/wiki/Unofficial_ma ... mory_specs can help, as any Thinkpad with the 440BX chipset will have the same RAM compatibility constraints.
Laptops are generally limited to two slots at most, so the practical limit is 512MB.
The 440BX and 440ZX do not support 512MB RAM sticks (no exceptions). Finding compatible 256MB RAM may be problematic, as there are specific requirements. This page has some relevant info: http://homepage.hispeed.ch/rscheidegger/ram_bx_faq.html, and thinkwiki's page http://thinkwiki.org/wiki/Unofficial_ma ... mory_specs can help, as any Thinkpad with the 440BX chipset will have the same RAM compatibility constraints.
Planned Purchase: T480s i5-8350 FHD Touch
Impulse Buy: Thinkpad not named for safety reasons
RIP: X220 4291-C91 X61 7676-A24 760XD-U9E
Impulse Buy: Thinkpad not named for safety reasons
RIP: X220 4291-C91 X61 7676-A24 760XD-U9E
-
- Senior Member
- Posts: 837
- Joined: Wed May 19, 2010 11:21 pm
- Location: Pardubice, Czech Republic
- Contact:
Re: My new PIII 700 mHz X21!
Thanks for those links. My board has 128 MB on board, so I'll try adding a 256 MB module with a 16x8 configuration.
T420 i7 3612QM seabios; T420 i7 3630QM; T400 Q9100 seabios; T61 P9600; T60 libreboot; x62; x60s libreboot, led; x24 xiphmont led
-
- Senior Member
- Posts: 837
- Joined: Wed May 19, 2010 11:21 pm
- Location: Pardubice, Czech Republic
- Contact:
Re: My new PIII 700 mHz X21!
Added this stick of 256mb and it's working great:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/251266890046
Thanks again.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/251266890046
Thanks again.
T420 i7 3612QM seabios; T420 i7 3630QM; T400 Q9100 seabios; T61 P9600; T60 libreboot; x62; x60s libreboot, led; x24 xiphmont led
-
- Similar Topics
- Replies
- Views
- Last post
-
-
[TR] WTB: New X260 internal & external battery
by Nickolai » Sat Oct 28, 2023 7:37 pm » in Marketplace - Forum Members only - 0 Replies
- 1685 Views
-
Last post by Nickolai
Sat Oct 28, 2023 7:37 pm
-
-
-
Buying used ThinkPads in New Zealand
by m137 » Tue Nov 14, 2023 5:07 pm » in Marketplace - Forum Members only - 13 Replies
- 2840 Views
-
Last post by BillMorrow
Sat Nov 18, 2023 8:05 pm
-
-
-
Need some advice to choose my new T60
by KadYmz » Sun Nov 19, 2023 2:50 am » in ThinkPad T60/T61 Series - 5 Replies
- 2203 Views
-
Last post by ZaZ
Thu Nov 23, 2023 5:32 pm
-
-
-
FS: X2100 with need of love and a new home.
by mcfado » Wed Nov 29, 2023 7:29 am » in Marketplace - Forum Members only - 2 Replies
- 1476 Views
-
Last post by lars-rasmussen
Thu Nov 30, 2023 6:30 am
-
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 11 guests