Thinkpads Forum

Hello Thinkpad forums.

Not too long ago, I had an IBM technician change the motherboard in my T43.
I later found out, that when re-entering the machines serial- and modelnumber, he mistyped the serialnumber and wrote a wrong type number.

I called up IBM, who told me to download the latest BIOS update and run it, although I already have the latest BIOS update. Within the flash app, there should be the possibility to enter a new serial- and modelnumber.

I downloaded the update and ran it. The app rebooted the machine, but it only boots like normal - ending up in windows again.

Has anyone here tried this? and have a solution?

No ideas?

Torque wrote:Not too long ago, I had an IBM technician change the motherboard in my T43. I later found out, that when re-entering the machines serial- and modelnumber, he mistyped the serialnumber and wrote a wrong type number.

I called up IBM, who told me to download the latest BIOS update and run it, although I already have the latest BIOS update. Within the flash app, there should be the possibility to enter a new serial- and modelnumber.

I downloaded the update and ran it. The app rebooted the machine, but it only boots like normal - ending up in windows again.

Has anyone here tried this? and have a solution?

I have not heard of a BIOS update fixing the serial numbers. I believe you need the Hardware Maintenance Diskette. Unfortunately you cannot buy it. You can download an older version that may work. Search this site for Hardware Maintenance Diskette 1.69. Click on radio button: Search for all terms.

You can read more about it in the Hardware Maintenance Manual.
Hardware Maintenance Manual (July 2005) - ThinkPad T43 (1871, 1872, 1873, 1874, 1875, 1876)
Hardware Maintenance Manual (July 2005) - ThinkPad T43/p (2668, 2669, 2678, 2679, 2686, 2687)

As far as I remember, the BIOS update program lets you change the serial number etc.

I'll try and look for the util. However, I dont have a diskette drive

..and I find it quite worrying that my Thinkpad cant update its BIOS.

Here is a recent thread from the Windows OS forum that may provide some help.

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=27781