New T40 2373 14U owner - HPA backup problems

[JohnY2]

A few days ago I recieved a new-to-me T40 2373 14U from Dimitri_P.
It's a very nice machine (thanks Dimitri). I've been reading through documentation and trying to get a full backup. I did get a g4u image streamed over my network and I think I got the whole 30gb disk, but I'm not certain.

I've tried following the intructions in the hpa_aibm.pdf to extract fwbackup.exe and fwrestor.exe:

1. Ensure that the Access IBM Predesktop Area security level is set to Normal. This is the IBM default setting.
2. Copy the FWBACKUP and FWRESTOR tools from the factory recovery area in the HPA using the following procedure:
a. Start the system and press the Enter key or the Access IBM button during startup.
b. Double-click the Recover to Factory Contents icon. The Recovery Menu is displayed.
c. Press the F3 key. A command prompt is displayed.
d. Change to the A: drive. (This is a virtual diskette drive in the hidden protected area.)
e. Change to the recovery directory. The command prompt displays
A:\RECOVERY>
f. Insert a diskette into the diskette drive, which is mapped as the B: drive.
g. Type copy fwbackup.exe b:
h. Type copy fwrestor.exe b:

That procedure doesn't seem to work with BIOS 2.02 and R&R 3.10.0022. There is no Recovery to Factory Contents icon and pressing F3 key doesn't seem to work in the Recovery wizard in R&R 3.10x. that came on the machine. I'm probably missing somethng obvious.

Does anyone have a solution for HPA backup that will work for a machine without a floppy or CDRW burner. I want to be sure of my backup before I upgrade bioses and such.

(I plan on adding a 7200 RPM 80gig, another 512mb and a mini-pci wireless card. )

I'm enjoying this machine, after a couple of toshiba's and a still working TP500.

Great forums!

JohnY2

[JohnY2]

Well I have been reading hpa_aibm.pdf and cme_firstware_wp.pdf, IBM's and Phoenix's papers about BEER and Parties. It looks like I don't see the cME console with the icons to start Repair and Recovery options. What comes up for me is the help screen and wizards for recovery, migration and diagnostics. This is with R&R 3.10.0022 and either the 2.02 bios or the newest 3.2x bios on my T40. With a Knoppix CD I can see the 4.7GB and access some of the files whether the security is set to normal or disabled.

The G4U image that I made looks incomplete. I guess next I'll try repairmbr.exe and the predesktop_utility.exe to see if they allow me to acesss the cME console (shown in hpa_aibm.pdf at the top of page 7) and extract fwbackup.exe and fwrestor.exe (can't see them with Knoppix).

If anyone has any hints or tips, pass'em this way. If this stops being fun, I'll just order at set of Recovery CD's....

JohnY2

[JohnY2]

Well I guess my questions have changed. After reading

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-64677

Rescue and Recovery v3.1 - Considerations


Any machine that has IBM Rescue and Recovery with Rapid Restore Ultra 1.0 or IBM Rescue and Recovery 2.0 factory preloaded, then installs Rescue and Recovery 3.0, will lose the ability to have Rescue and Recovery installed on the machine after a Restore to Factory contents action is selected when booting from the computer's hard drive

ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pccbbs/th ... 37us00.txt

Consideration 12
Computers that have a hidden protected area (HPA), also referred
to as PARTIES, and have the Rescue and Recovery program installed
will not be able to boot into either the PARTIES or Rescue and
Recovery workspace after recovering the original factory contents.
To enable the PARTIES area again, restore a backup using either the
Rescue and Recovery program in the Windows environment or by booting
from rescue media and then uninstall the Rescue and Recovery program.

My questions change to:

1> With my T40 2373 14U, what version of Rescue and Recovery ships with the factory preload?

2> Since the machine shipped to me with Rescue and Recovery 3.10.0022 is there still an HPA there or does R&R 3.1 ship with just a hidden partition?

3> If the HPA is still present if I uninstall R&R 3.1 will the HPA show up again if I install the version of R&R that the machine originally shipped with?

All I really want to do is get a full backup of all the software on the machine for future recovery, as I add new hardware.
I'm sorry if this is all old hat to the veterans here, but my last Thinkpad was a TP500 (which I still use, and has held up like a tank!)

Thanks,

[johnlusf]

does anybody have a solution to this problem? F3 does not bring me to the command prompt either.

[JohnY2]

What I have found so far is that Rescue and Recovery 3.1x does not use HPA, it uses a Type 12 partition. Ghost/True Image should image it if you have a combo dvd-cdrw or dvd-ram. Getting a good image over the network hasn't worked for me yet. Whether the HPA is still on the drive after R&R is upgraded from v1.x to 3.1 - I don't know. I haven't found it yet, and I think that's what happened to the T40 2373-14U that I have.