Thinkpads Forum

The recent thread THE MOST RUGGED THINKPAD EVER? (http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=115420) got me thinking of the two 600's I have!

600 #1 has Win98 on it, without USB support. Apart from the USB support, this machine runs great. Anyone know how I can get the USB working without changing the OS? I'd like to keep it's current Win98 on it, as it's running well otherwise, if possible.

600 #2 has no hard drive (which I will add), but boots up. So, I'll need to find an OS for this. Which Linux is good for these machines? I hear Debian Wheezy?

Windows 98 should have support for USB controllers; a 600 has a built-in USB 1.1 port. I think W95 shipped early on without USB support. Several questions:

- If you know, what was used to install the OS? Factory or retail version?
- What is reported by Device Manager for Universal Serial Bus controllers (right-click My Computer, then Properties, then Device Manager tab, scroll down to the USB controller entry, click the + sign on the left)?
- Are there any yellow exclamation marks attached to any one of the Device Manager entries?

Dos3.1 wrote:600 #2 has no hard drive (which I will add), but boots up. So, I'll need to find an OS for this. Which Linux is good for these machines? I hear Debian Wheezy?

I run Linux Antix on my 600. Not exactly sure what version, I can check it out this afternoon if you like to know more. Runs just fine on a machine with a 266MHz PII CPU. I have maxed out the RAM, but I rarely exceed 200MB in use, so that's never an issue. Wireless PCMCIA runs fine. So I use that machine regularly for light tasks like checking the forum, email, typing word documents, etc.

The one issue is that the speakers don't work under Linux Antix. I have put quite a lot of effort into getting them to work, even installed a DOS partition with the Thinkpad Configuration tool, but to avail. The conclusion is that Linux simply refuses to deal with the sound chip, and doesn't even load it. I was considering buying a PCMCIA soundcard to check if that would work, but I realized I didn't miss sound that much.

Did you disable quickboot? Make sure to do this on the 600 series, else the sound drivers frequently fail to load on linux.

Yes, I disabled Quick Boot before I even installed Linux the first time.

rkawakami wrote:Windows 98 should have support for USB controllers; a 600 has a built-in USB 1.1 port. I think W95 shipped early on without USB support.

Yes, first USB support was added in Windows 95 OEM Service Release 2.1 (aka Windows 95b/c).

Main issue with pre-2000 Windows is that you often/usually needed to install drivers for the devices you plug in. Newer versions have most of the basic drivers included.
Copied from another thread on 600X USB: http://www.technical-assistance.co.uk/kb/usbmsd98.php

rkawakami wrote:Windows 98 should have support for USB controllers; a 600 has a built-in USB 1.1 port. I think W95 shipped early on without USB support. Several questions:

- If you know, what was used to install the OS? Factory or retail version?
- What is reported by Device Manager for Universal Serial Bus controllers (right-click My Computer, then Properties, then Device Manager tab, scroll down to the USB controller entry, click the + sign on the left)?
- Are there any yellow exclamation marks attached to any one of the Device Manager entries?

I have no idea how the OS was installed - no history on the machine. I'll have to check the other things you mentioned and report back when I have the machine in front of me. Thanks.

Norway Pad wrote: I run Linux Antix on my 600...The one issue is that the speakers don't work under Linux Antix.

Interesting. Great that you are getting such use out of the 600. Not having sound would be a drag, however I'll save Antix as a last resort, thanks for the tip!

jdrou wrote: Yes, first USB support was added in Windows 95 OEM Service Release 2.1 (aka Windows 95b/c). Main issue with pre-2000 Windows is that you often/usually needed to install drivers for the devices you plug in. Newer versions have most of the basic drivers included. Copied from another thread on 600X USB: http://www.technical-assistance.co.uk/kb/usbmsd98.php

Yes, that's been a problem with the lack of drivers with Win98. Thanks for that link, looks like it just might be the fix! I'll check in later when I've had a chance to update the 600 and report back.