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How can I make a bootable BIOS CD update out of a bootable BIOS Floppy disk

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gseries
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How can I make a bootable BIOS CD update out of a bootable BIOS Floppy disk

#1 Post by gseries » Wed Oct 25, 2017 12:51 pm

This is my first post so hi to you all.
I only love the old IBMs Thinkpad G40 and G41 models so I only have G40s and G41s in my collection and half a G50 too, in fact, less than a half...
When I update their BIOS, I have to use a floppy disk created with the IBM BIOS update application, that exe doesn't allow to use a cd as the target of its contents so is there a way to fool the IBM exe so it installs the update on a cd instead of a floppy disk?, if that's not possible, how can I transfer all the contents of the bootable floppy disk to a cd?, once I tried a couple things but the resultant cd never loaded the BIOS updating application.
I used the search function in the How tos section with several combinations of words and although I'm sure this must have been asked, I couldn't find anything so any help is very appreciated.

Thinkpad4by3
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Re: How can I make a bootable BIOS CD update out of a bootable BIOS Floppy disk

#2 Post by Thinkpad4by3 » Wed Oct 25, 2017 1:09 pm

Yes you can, just burn the IMG to a disk, though the disk will think the CD drive is a floppy.
Thinkpad4by3's Law of the Universe.

The efficiency of two screens equally sized with equal numbers if pixels are equal. The time spent by a 4:3 user complaining about 16:9 is proportional to the inefficiency working with a 16:9 display, therefore the amount of useful work extracted is equal.

gseries
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Re: How can I make a bootable BIOS CD update out of a bootable BIOS Floppy disk

#3 Post by gseries » Wed Oct 25, 2017 2:07 pm

Once I did something like that but the cd didn't boot or it booted but didn't load the BIOS update application, sorry but I tried some variants a couple years ago but gave up and now don't remember exactly all I tried.
How do I do what you are saying?. Thanks in advance for any help.

Thinkpad4by3
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Re: How can I make a bootable BIOS CD update out of a bootable BIOS Floppy disk

#4 Post by Thinkpad4by3 » Wed Oct 25, 2017 2:27 pm

You have a G41. Just load up an OS, pop in a blank diskette and just run it off there. You should be able to find a diskette in your local area, otherwise, eBay has your back.
7,657 results for 3.5" diskette
May I ask, what is half a G50. Do you have the motherboard from a g50?
Thinkpad4by3's Law of the Universe.

The efficiency of two screens equally sized with equal numbers if pixels are equal. The time spent by a 4:3 user complaining about 16:9 is proportional to the inefficiency working with a 16:9 display, therefore the amount of useful work extracted is equal.

gseries
Posts: 9
Joined: Wed Oct 25, 2017 11:55 am
Location: somewhere near Madrid, Spain

Re: How can I make a bootable BIOS CD update out of a bootable BIOS Floppy disk

#5 Post by gseries » Wed Oct 25, 2017 2:50 pm

I have more than 100 G40s and G41s so I would prefer to use CDs to update their BIOSes than having to use floppy disks that do not know how long they'll last, that's why I want to transfer the contents of the bootable floppy disk BIOS update application to a bootable CDs or an iso I can burn to a CD that works properly, IBM G40/G41 BIOS update application do not allow you to record the update on a CD, only on floppy disks that why I asked if there's a way to fool that exe so it records the update on a cd.
The less than half G50 is missing the screen and screen housing, keyboard, dvd drive and floppy drive, I bought it that way, I wanted to complete it but never found the time, I was going to list it on eBay to see if it was woth enough for buying another complete G40 or G41 but never unassembled the lower housing to see if the pcb was missing something or not so it's as is there getting dust.

Neil
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Re: How can I make a bootable BIOS CD update out of a bootable BIOS Floppy disk

#6 Post by Neil » Thu Oct 26, 2017 7:12 am

Maybe the following will help make a bootable BIOS CD image:

https://www.wikihow.com/Create-Bootable ... loppy-Disk

http://www.bay-wolf.com/bootcd6.htm
Collection = T430 - T500 - R400 - X300 - T61 (14" WXGA+) - R61 (15" SXGA+) - T60 - X40 - T43p - T43 - T42p - A30P

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Re: How can I make a bootable BIOS CD update out of a bootable BIOS Floppy disk

#7 Post by rkawakami » Fri Oct 27, 2017 5:27 am

@gseries:

TL;DR: The following MIGHT be able to do the job but I ran into a problem in trying this with a BIOS update on an X22 laptop.

I have been curious some time about doing exactly what you asked; transferring boot floppies onto CDs. I have just tried the following operation with an IBM boot floppy for updating the BIOS on an X22 laptop (it was the first BIOS update floppy that was at hand to test out):

1) Download MagicISO from http://www.magiciso.com/ and install it. This is a shareware program that has a limitation on creating .ISO files (only up to 300MB in size for the non-licensed version; $30 unlocks this limitation). Since we are talking about a SINGLE floppy that is bootable, that is no problem. Note: At the moment I do not know if this program can be used to combine multiple floppies into a single CD image. One such example in the old days would have been to combine the two, three, or more, floppies from a PC Doctor diagnostic into an .ISO suitable for burning onto a CD. As I have just mentioned a few days ago in another thread, I assume that one would have to edit the autoexec.bat files (or the equivalent) and/or alter the disk structure slightly in order to make that situation work.

2) If you follow the instructions at http://www.magiciso.com/FAQ/FAQ0006.htm that will yield a bootable CD. Note: Step 6) should read: Click "File/New/CD-DVD image". However, for my X22 BIOS attempt, when booting the system it displays the usual blue IBM splash screen (System Program Service Utility and copyright info), followed by a message saying that "The diskette in the default drive will not run on this system. Your system is now locked. To restart your system, press Ctrl+Alt+Del.". I initially thought that this message was being caused by the update software assuming that it should be running on drive A:\, and now found itself running from drive C:\ (the CDROM) but this is wrong. Even trying to use the boot floppy to run the update generate the same error. I AM trying to do this update without having a battery attached but I would have expected to receive a slightly different message (something along the lines of: "You need to have a charged battery attached.").

3) In any event, the CD that was created from this operation IS BOOTABLE. I tried another bootable floppy containing the FJDT disk diagnostic and that works fine. My attempt with the X22 is probably related to the missing battery so I'd give this a shot.
Ray Kawakami
X22 X24 X31 X41 X41T X60 X60s X61 X61s X200 X200s X300 X301 Z60m Z61t Z61p 560 560Z 600 600E 600X T21 T22 T23 T41 T60p T410 T420 T520 W500 W520 R50 A21p A22p A31 A31p
NOTE: All links to PC-Doctor software hosted by me are dead. Files removed 8/28/12 by manufacturer's demand.

gseries
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Re: How can I make a bootable BIOS CD update out of a bootable BIOS Floppy disk

#8 Post by gseries » Sat Oct 28, 2017 5:16 pm

Dear friends Neil and rkawakami, thanks a lot for your help.

I used Neil's http://www.bay-wolf.com/bootcd6.htm
I used the only G series machine that still uses the XP OS (I kept it just for the IBM BIOS update applications) from now on it will have Slitaz or Tiny Core Plus like all the others, I used Nero version 6.6.0.3 and I made sure that on the tab LABEL I wrote as volume label the same volume label created on the floppy by the IBM app.
It worked perfectly, I tested the latest BIOS update on one G40 and on one G41.

@rkawakami
When some time ago I tried a couple things to obtain a cd BIOS update, I think one of them was using the magiciso process (not 100% sure about this) but it didn't work, if I ever try that again, I'll post the results here just in case I am able to make it work this time.
About your problem with your X22, in case the real problem wasn't the magiciso method itself but the missing battery, I removed all the batteries of my G series as I use them only with AC adapter so I had the same problem with the floppy BIOS update refusing to update because of no battery, what I did was rename the file UPDTFLSH.EXE to UPDTFLSH.EXE.OLD and then create a copy of the file QKFLASH.EXE and rename that copy to UPDTFLSH.EXE and after that I could update both non battery G40s and G41s, I don't remember where I found that process or I would give credit to whoever wrote it, I'm not sure but I think it was specific for the old G series so not sure if other models have those files inside the BIOS update floppy or if they can brick the machine if you modify them but as I said, that modification worked on old IBM G series.

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