Booting options on X24

[lostinxlation]

Hi,

I'm thinking to buy a used TP X24, and I'd like to know a little details about booting options on X24. I'm going to install Linux(Slackware, probably) on it, and as you know the easiest way to install is booting from CDROM.

I have an IBM floppy drive(legacy interface. I got this when I bought TP240 brand new) and an IBM portable USB CDROM drive, which I used to boot on TP240, however, I'm not sure they work with X24.

What I'd like to know is,
1. Does X24 boot from USB CDROM(Genuin IBM) alone ?
2. If the answer to #1 is no, can I connect the floppy drive(remember it's not USB, but legacy interface) to use boot diskette and let it recognize USB CDROM drive ?
3. I also have a floppy drive with USB(That is also IBM genuine which came with TP s30). Can I boot on X24 with the combo of a IBM USB floppy drive and CDROM drive ?

Also big appreciation to the similar info for other X2* and X3* family members.

Thanks

[rkawakami]

Welcome to thinkpads.com!

The X24 should be able to boot from a USB connected floppy drive. Mine does from an FRU 06P5223 diskette drive. If you only have a drive with the "legacy" interface, then you would need a port replicator or docking station since those peripherals have the required connector. The "normal" solution to booting via a floppy and having an optical drive available at the same time would be to mount the X2 system in the "media slice" or UltraBase (FRU 08N1180).

edit: Hmm... seemed to have misplaced my Portable Drive Bay 2000... . Tried an Ultrabay Slim-to-USB adapter and the BIOS in my X24 was able to see the drive but could not boot from it. The same setup is able to boot a Ubuntu disk when connected to a T23 so I'm not sure what's the problem. My guess would be that the X24 should allow booting from a USB optical drive but I can't confirm that at the moment. And yes, the X24's BIOS and EC are current (1.32 and 1.30, respectively).

[sjthinkpader]

I try the following on my X24:

FRU USB FDD
Booted ok with a Win98 boot disk.

3rd party USB CD drive
Booted ok with a Win2K retail install CD. The X24 USB port didn't have enough current for my USB drive. I had to power the drive externally.

[lostinxlation]

Thanks for your replies.
It seems it can boot through USB CDROM. That helps a lot.

[sjthinkpader]

Some external FRU USB CD drives have a USB power cord or a power adapter. You may need one of these for the drive to have enough power to work.

[graywolf]

Thought I would just add that my X24 will boot from a USB drive. However, some older USB CD drives did not have a boot capability, I have and old external HP CD/RW like that.

You can also boot and load software from the network.

[Tasurinchi]

I'm getting confused between the USB CD drive and USB drive. If your X24 can boot from a USB Drive (a thumb drive), it should be possible to install different Linux distros on it.

I'm typing this in my X40 with Ubuntu Karmic, all installed from a USB drive, works like a champ!

In case you don't know it, check out this page. They specialize in installing different Linux distros/versions to USB drives...

Will be nice to hear how these distros work with a X24... Please keep us posted!

Cheers!

[misfit]

I try the following on my X24:

FRU USB FDD
Booted ok with a Win98 boot disk.

3rd party USB CD drive
Booted ok with a Win2K retail install CD. The X24 USB port didn't have enough current for my USB drive. I had to power the drive externally.

I know that this is a very old thread but it's new to me.

I recently bought an X24 sans HDD and, although I don't have a 'media slice' of any kind I figured I'd install XP the same as I did with my X31s; Using a USB CD-ROM. However, after many hours of trying different CD-ROMs and BIOS settings gave up. It just wouldn't do it.

Luckily (after a couple days of trying to pre-copy XP install files to the HDD...) I realised that it might work using an optical drive in the ultrabay of a Dock II that I have in the back room. It did.

I have no idea why it wouldn't boot from the USB CD-ROM. Thinkwiki seems to think that it should, and your post confirms that at least *some* X24s will do it. Perhaps my X24 is an early revision planar or something? I had my doubts about booting from, and installing via USB 1.1.

Cheers,

[automobus]

I had an X30 that would boot from USB only one time and no more. I had to go into setup, disable the "USB BIOS support" option, reboot to save changes, enter setup again, and re-enable USB support. Then, I had one shot to boot from USB.

Rinse and repeat. I could boot from USB if I needed to, but it was a chore to to have to do it every time.