Upgrade hard disk and Memory Thinkpad 600E

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Hilario · #1 Post by **Hilario** » Tue Jun 22, 2004 6:46 am

First, sorry by my bad english, I'm spanish and I don't know write english very good.

Well, I wish upgrade my Thinkpad 600E, it had PII 366Mhz, 160Mb, 6,4Gb, CD-ROM 24x. Model 2645-AAU

My preferences are change the hard disk, I have see many auctions in Ebay that selling 20Gb, 30Gb... hard disks TravelStar IBM / Hitachi, like my 6,4Gb installed in my Thinkpad 600E. Somebody knows if I can put the 20Gb or 30Gb in my Thinkpad? It's compatible? If not, Which are the max. of capacity for this laptop?

Another thing is the Memory, I thought put another 128Mb Module and so, 288Mb that is the top ¿no?
But I think if this new module isn't compatible with the actual memory in the laptop. I could buy two modules and sure that there are compatibles, it's true?
ah, which frecuency is correct for the RAM?? 66Mhz?

Another thing is the keyboard, it's in english, and the keys are not in their site (normal), I looked for this FRU in Ebay but not I didn't find it, did somebody knows any shop online where I find it?

Well, thank's for your reply,
Bye

Bruce Guttman · #2 Post by **Bruce Guttman** » Tue Jun 22, 2004 10:13 am

Your English is much better than my Spanish!

As to keyboards, you will have to look around. All you need to replace is the set of keys and Trackpoint inside the palmrest and bezel. Try out ACS Computer Parts, or IBM. You may be surprised at the price at IBM; they are lower than I remember.

You can put in any hard disk to (at least) 80 GB. I put a 20MB in a 600E and it worked fine. Only problem is that IBM still likes to have a FAT16 partition for its Hibernation file, so you will have to partition into a 2 GB partiton and another with the rest. Your Recovery Disk will do this for you.

You can use 66MHz modules in the 600E without any problem. If you mix 66 MHz and 100 MHz modules you may find that the system becomes erratic. Sometimes swapping the slots with the different speed modules will work, other times not.

I believe there are some folks who actually put in 2 256MB modules, but I haven't tried that.

Hope this helps.

sktn77a · #3 Post by **sktn77a** » Tue Jun 22, 2004 12:35 pm

If the keys are the same size, they just pop off and can be swapped. For 256MB memory modules, you need the latest BIOS (and to upgrade the BIOS you need a fully charged battery). According to IBM, only certain 600E models can use 256Mb modules but I've never heard of anyone's 600E not working after they upgraded the memory with the new BIOS.

Guest · #4 Post by **Guest** » Tue Jun 22, 2004 1:50 pm

What ist with a new hard drive in a TP 600 (no E or X)?

Hilario · #5 Post by **Hilario** » Tue Jun 22, 2004 5:20 pm

thank's for all!

I will try buy a 20 or 30Gb hard disk and more RAM for my Thinkpad.

The topic of keyboard is more difficult, ACS hasn't it and isn't posible change de keys, for example because the "9" key works fine, but "Shift+9"="(", and it will be must ")".

Thank's

Hilario · #6 Post by **Hilario** » Tue Jun 22, 2004 6:49 pm

Bruce Guttman wrote: You can put in any hard disk to (at least) 80 GB. I put a 20MB in a 600E and it worked fine. Only problem is that IBM still likes to have a FAT16 partition for its Hibernation file, so you will have to partition into a 2 GB partiton and another with the rest. Your Recovery Disk will do this for you.

I bought the Thinkpad 600E in a auction two years ago and I wasn't received any Disk, Can I get this Disk somewhere? for download or if I can do it with the Fdisk utility? It is create a logical partition of 2GB (C:) for the hibernation file and the rest for the OS and other (D:). Well, but when I say that the 2GB partition (fat16) is for the hibernation file?
If I can get the Recovery disk better, if not, can you explain me do it manually?

Thank's

Bruce Guttman · #7 Post by **Bruce Guttman** » Wed Jun 23, 2004 10:14 am

OK.

To install any disk you need the "caddy" (it's a U-shaped piece of metal with metal tabs that go on the pin end and a pull-tab at the opposite end. This allows you to put in and take out the drive (without the caddy, removal is very difficult.

Bill Morrow can sell you a copy of the recovery disk. His fee simply covers his costs; for US buyers it's about $10.00; for foreign orders, you need to check with Bill.

If you don't care about the Hibernation file, you don't need to use a Recovery Disk, but you will need to download all of the Drivers from the IBM site. The recovery disk has these, too. In this case you simply FDISK the new drive, create one (or more) partitions, format them, and install Windows. Then you need to install all the special drivers for the Sound, Video, etc. that you downloaded. Don't forget the Utility Program which allows you to turn devices on and off (like IR, serial port, modem).

Hope this helps.

Guest · #8 Post by **Guest** » Wed Jun 23, 2004 1:46 pm

The caddy I will use the actual in the 6,4Gb if is correct, else I will buy it.

I would like get the Recovery disk, i'll try find it.

Ok, thank's for all
bye

jes2 · #9 Post by **jes2** » Sun Jul 04, 2004 7:30 pm

Folks,

I just joined the Thinkpad conference, trying to get some additional info about replacing my Thinkpad 600e 2645-4BU hard drive (again).

The first time my drive failed, it was immediately after I'd run a defrag. Never was able to get this system to recognize it again, regardless of the diagnostics or recommended steps I was given in the repair manual.

So - I bought a used IBM Travelstar 12 gig to replace the original 10gig drive. Per IBM, they never issued an upgrade for this model's BIOS to recognize anything over 10gig. I found a utility (Hitachi?) that got the system to recognize the 12 gig (instead of only 7), and I went ahead with a rebuild of the OS (using XP Home instead of the previously installed 2000 Pro).

Rebuild the system & installed all patches, and the laptop was running just fine.

Until a few days later...

It apparently went into hibernation mode. I had a tough time getting this thing to shut down, then successfully reboot.

As of now, it does the following:

1) About every 4th cold boot, it will goes through the bootup through the BIOS screen, go into the initial Windows XP screen, then suddenly flash a blue screen of death for less than a second. It flashes up so fast you can't even begin to read the 50 or so words in the few paragraphs before it goes through the video tone, then the boot screen, and the XP screen, and around and around and around. The only successful wasy to get out of this is to shut the power off as soon as it gets back to the BIOS boot screen, then turn the power back on. Usually, it'll boot up OK, and you'll run just fine.

2) On occasion, while the PC may just be sitting there running, the hard drive will make a noise or two that sounds like it just threw a little rock at at ya! I am now thinking that this may be one of the infamous noises these Hitachis naturally make (and just learned about)..... or maybe not.

I've disabled all settings for hibernation in XP, but I think something may be hosed up.

I've run ScanDisk on the hard drive; it found a few boogered up clusters, but other than that, no problems.

I ran the Drive Fitness test on the drive when I installed it - ran clean.

So, folks, although I strongly suspect that the problem I'm experiencing has something to do with the XP hibernation file, I dunno.

I now have a new Hitachi 20gig drive available to me for installation, but before I jump the gun here, I'd like to determine exactly where the problem lies.

Anyone have any thoughts here? I need to get this thing running stable, since I'm on the road 60%+ of the time.

Thanks,

jes2

Bruce Guttman · #10 Post by **Bruce Guttman** » Mon Jul 05, 2004 10:11 am

I wasn't aware that the 600E had a 10GB limitation. OK, learn something new everyday.

I wonder if the "boogered" clusters were either part of the Hitachi large drive overlay or something else that is necessary.

If you have an old small drive (under 10GB) that still works, maybe you can test the system with it.

Another suggestion is that if you try to reinstall XP and it finds an earlier installation it will allow you to try a repair installation (NOT the Repair Console, which is just a DOS prompt). If some of the important files got cooked, it will reinstall them. Sometimes that will help.

Also, if you get into that odd loop, you should exit by pressing the RESET button near the power switch (you will need a pen or the end of a straightened paper clip).

One more thing to try: See if you can induce XP to boot into SAFE mode or "Last Known Good" configuration. There is an F key to press to get the menu to try these things, but I don't know which one in XP. It's F8 in Win98, and I think I remember seeing something about F3. You have to press it when the first Startup screen appears.

Hope this helps.

shined · #11 Post by **shined** » Mon Jul 05, 2004 11:09 am

Hi, jes2

TP600E can accept any size of HDD. It has no capacity limitation.
I know some people out there have installed even a 80GB HDD
into a TP600E without using any extra utility.

IBM has released BIOS updates many times in the past.
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... SHY-46HLKQ
And the latest version of the BIOS has actually added an official
support for WinXP. Take a look at the release note.
ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pccbbs/mo ... sdin36.txt

So I strongly recommend you should update the BIOS if your
TP600E's BIOS is any older. It may solve your problem.

Upgrade hard disk and Memory Thinkpad 600E

Upgrade hard disk and Memory Thinkpad 600E

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