[SOLVED] Thinkpad 380ED infamous "08611" trackpad issue - how to boot past this error

[Artanis]

Hello!
For the past two hours I have unsuccessfully tried to google around to solve the problem with an old Thinkpad 380ED, that I just acquired for my retro laptop collection. This Thinkpad has the infamous "08611" (Trackpoint/system bus failure) error. There seems to be a procedure on how to disable the trackpad through the BIOS config utility (the one where you edit the CMOS contents in raw format, by pressing Control+D while in Config menu). The problem is - all tutorials that I've found shows how to do this on 600-series laptops, but not on older 380. The parameter that should be changed ("02" to "01" in the first column of the third row - address 20 in the CMOS utility) doesn't work on this 380E - I guess that the parameter responsible for the trackpad is stored somewhere else in the CMOS, but I can't find any guide or documentation.

Any help would be appreciated! Thanks in advance!

EDIT - I managed to solve this:

After a few hours of nonstop googling, trial-and-error and starting pulling out my hairs, I accidentally stumbled across this article by some fellow, written 15 years ago - https://matt.ucc.asn.au/thinkpad.html
Long story short - in most of the tutorials people are suggesting to change the aforementioned byte in the BIOS config hex editor from "02" to "01". But as it turns out, it actually needs to be set to "20" for the older machines - this flag will then allow machine to skip most error messages during the POST, including the bane of the old Thinkpads - error 8611 / 08611 (also known as DEV 086 - ERR 22 - FRU 10).

Here is the config line I'm referring to (your BIOS hex values in other rows may look quite different, but the cell I highlighted will be the same):

03 99 56 99 16 99 00 08 05 05 26 02 50 80 00 00
40 00 F0 00 03 80 02 00 BC 7F 00 00 00 46 11 00
02 00 C9 F1 00 00 00 00 00 77 77 00 00 02 05 F2 (02 -> 20)
00 BC 20 11 00 00 00 02 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
9A 88 02 01 00 03 00 04 00 0B F0 00 00 FF FF FF
00 06 50 28 0C 00 F0 14 0C 00 F0 3C 14 00 FF FF
FF 00 06 03 61 05 0A 01 96 80 39 04 FF F0 00 00
C9 04 04 0C 0C 0F 00 00 0A 2E 02 82 49 53 B2 00

So, just for the future reference, if somebody else happens to find this topic through google: To fix the issue 8611 (trackpoint error) that prevents your machine to pass the POST and boot in to the OS, you will need to do the following:

1. reboot machine while holding the F1 key (or alternatively you can click the "Test" button in the error message that laptop shows you, then press "Esc" key to return to Setup screen)
2. in the Setup screen click the "Config" tab
3. While in Config screen, press Control + D combination on the keyboard
4. In the CMOS hex editor that opens, use your arrow keys to go down to the third row (starting with prefix "20")
5. Replace the first entry in that row (showing "02") to "20"
6. Press F2 key (cursor will jump back to the top row)
7. Press the F3 key to exit
8. Reboot the machine

[Artanis]

Just wanted to mark this question as solved. I also edited my post above to include the solution to this error (and some other common old vintag IBM Thinkpad error messages that will prevent machine from booting up properly).

[rkawakami]

Welcome to thinkpads.com!

Appreciate you tracking down this information and posting your findings here. Over 12 years ago I documented the procedure to bypass the 8611 error code for the 600 series systems: http://www.kawakami-ca.com/ibm_600x/disable_trackpoint/ I did this in order to pictorially outline the editing procedure as there was some confusion when telling people either how to get into the editor, and then which byte to edit and how.

[Artanis]

[..] Over 12 years ago I documented the procedure to bypass the 8611 error code for the 600 series systems: http://www.kawakami-ca.com/ibm_600x/disable_trackpoint/ [..]

Hello! Thank you for your effort as well - your guide was actually the one that I was referring at the beginning of my post - I hoped that this procedure will be the same for the 600-series and my 380-series, which, unfortunately, proved not being the case. Nevertheless, it turned out to be quite a similar solution in the same spot in the BIOS contents, but instead of "01" it turned out to be "20" (32 in decimal). But thank you as well also - as your original article drove me to try to dig through tens if not hundreds of other forums and websites in search for the correct value.

[nfraser01]

Long story short - in most of the tutorials people are suggesting to change the aforementioned byte in the BIOS config hex editor from "02" to "01". But as it turns out, it actually needs to be set to "20" for the older machines - this flag will then allow machine to skip most error messages during the POST, including the bane of the old Thinkpads - error 8611 / 08611 (also known as DEV 086 - ERR 22 - FRU 10).

Apologies for reviving an old thread but I just tried this on a faulty 770E and it also appears to work for this model.

Thanks.

[Luizapper]

Long story short - in most of the tutorials people are suggesting to change the aforementioned byte in the BIOS config hex editor from "02" to "01". But as it turns out, it actually needs to be set to "20" for the older machines - this flag will then allow machine to skip most error messages during the POST, including the bane of the old Thinkpads - error 8611 / 08611 (also known as DEV 086 - ERR 22 - FRU 10).

Apologies for reviving an old thread but I just tried this on a faulty 770E and it also appears to work for this model.

Thanks.

Hello you all,

I can also confirm that on 770 changing the 20h byte from "02" to "01" works.

Any clue what can solve the source of the problem itself?

Thank you.

[solidpro]

Wow this info could be a game changer - I've had a few Thinkpads (of which I can't exactly remember the model here and now) which have a notoriously unreliable trackpad, and therefore a notoriously possibly 08611 error combined with a notoriously hard to find any spare parts for situation, and I've wondered if there is any way to get past it. I've never seen this editor, so I'm now going to have to crack open a machine and check it out.... and then also try to remember what machines I hit a stalemate at because I had no replacement trackpoint with which to get past the 08611 error with!

[Luizapper]

Wow this info could be a game changer - I've had a few Thinkpads (of which I can't exactly remember the model here and now) which have a notoriously unreliable trackpad, and therefore a notoriously possibly 08611 error combined with a notoriously hard to find any spare parts for situation, and I've wondered if there is any way to get past it. I've never seen this editor, so I'm now going to have to crack open a machine and check it out.... and then also try to remember what machines I hit a stalemate at because I had no replacement trackpoint with which to get past the 08611 error with!

After using contact cleaning spray on base of the stick (removing cap and square plastic in between) has solved this 08611 error on my 770 case. It seams that it solves the trackpoint being stuck while booting up and all it needs is cleaning due to grime and dust accumulated through the years. For now it does not need a "backup plan" to silence the error