CPU/memory upgrade for thinkpad 600 2645-45u

[mikec]

I bought the 2x128MB memory chips for my 600 2645-45U from Kahlon. I looked at Kahlon's website and the invoice sent to me with the chips and they all said P66. But the system only can see 228MB, not the 288MB (256MB + 32MB). I upgraded the BIOS to the latest. The BOIS says that total memory is 288MB, usable memory 228MB. I found that the first memory slot only can read 64MB even I put the 128MB one in. Is this the problem of my laptop's memory slot or the memory chip from Kahlon?

Also, I want to upgrade my PII 300MHz CPU on my 600 2645-45U to PIII. Can someone shed some light on this? Possible or not? If yes, what is the model or speed of the CPU?

Many thanks in advance.
Mike

[Laptop_wizard]

Yes it can be done, i did it, but the max your motherboard will read is 500MHz it still runs pretty fast. a few cmos tweaks and power-leap utilities
go to ebay and search MMC2 MMC-2 buy a 500MHz CPU and I will instruct you from there.
as far as the memory issue i don't know, you can send me one of your dimms and i'll try it my 600E, or if you have a freind with a 600s notebook
that would be much easier and cheaper, try takeing a can of air and blowing out the dimm slot, of a puff of air from your lungs might work, but i suggest you buy a can of "electronic cleaner" air, if that dosen't work.
new motherboard. about $40.00 for a 600.

[mikec]

Thanks Laptop_wizard. I'm going to ebay to get the one you recommended. And we go from there.

[Rob Mayercik]

STOP!!

Don't waste your money buying an MMC-2 processor - the 45U can't support it.

The 2645-45U (I have this exact machine) uses the MMC-1 processor modules, and as such is limited to a PII-400 (the PIIs never exceeded 400MHz, as far as I know).

The 600E and 600X use the MMC-2 form factor and can go to a PIII, but your 600 will not. Read THe Official 600 Upgrade and general information topic before you buy anything.

Rob

[carbon_unit]

Rob Mayercik is right.
I already went through this about 2 years ago.
At that time the 400 mhz was extremely expensive and the 366 was reasonable but it has to be an MMC-1 PII cpu not a celeron.
A celeron will not boot in the 45u. I speak from experience after an ebay seller sent me a celeron after selling me a PII.

[JHEM]

Yes it can be done, i did it,

No it can't and no you didn't!

I'm beginning to question the wisdom of allowing you to continue to post erroneous information in the Forums under the guise of being a self-avowed "wizard". You're not winning any points following this course.

--
James

[Laptop_wizard]

JHEM, i did not mean I did it with that EXACT model, i did it with a 600E.
I AM NOT TRYING O MISSLEAD ANYONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. I only offer help.

YES I DID!!!!!!!!!! do it, you misunderstood. I can be corrected with out
you critisizeing me or being harsh. I am not doing anything wrong.
no thinkpad 600 or 600E will boot up right at FIRST. you get error 127.
I know away around this, as i am sure many other members do.
Thankyou.

[Laptop_wizard]

and if their are any more problems, I am sure we can consult Bill to work this out. I have fixed and built many thinkpads.

[mikec]

Anyway, I returned the memory chips from Kahlon. I did use a can of "electronic cleaner" blowing my 2645-45U memory slots. Now any recommendations as to where I should buy the 128MB P66 memory chips for the laptop? Of course, the Kahlon won't be in the shopping list anymore.

I see the MMC-1 PII on ebay at $50. If I upgrade my 45U with it, am I going to have the error 127 or any error codes and to tweak the BOIS/CMOS and install the power-leap?

I'm trying to make it as a nice present for my father in-law's 70 year birthday aniversary. I got the CD-ROM upgraded to a CDROM/DVD. But the DVD playback quality isn't acceptable. I looked at the DVD-to-go on ebay. It only costs $20 around. I want to buy it also. Now my question is that with the upgrading the CPU to PII 400MHz and the DVD-to-go card, is this laptop good as a decent DVD player?

[Laptop_wizard]

Well, it's "ok" with the normal 366MHz, my 600E P3 500MHz plays DVD's
perfectly, the guys here are saying you can't use the MMC2, and $50.00
is WAY too much, there should be a MMC-1 around there for $10.00,
don't pay that much.
well i learned something new LoL!!!.

[Rob Mayercik]

JHEM, i did not mean I did it with that EXACT model, i did it with a 600E.
I AM NOT TRYING O MISSLEAD ANYONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. I only offer help.

YES I DID!!!!!!!!!! do it, you misunderstood. I can be corrected with out
you critisizeing me or being harsh. I am not doing anything wrong.
no thinkpad 600 or 600E will boot up right at FIRST. you get error 127.
I know away around this, as i am sure many other members do.
Thankyou.

Well, I for one read it to mean that a 600 would take an MMC-2. Perhaps your wording was ambiguous.

Anyway, to answer Mike's questions -

First, going from a PII-300 to a PII-400 should be plug and play. It's the same processor architecture/family, so it shouldn't be a problem.

As to DVDs, my 2645-45U plays DVDs fine on the 300MHz processor. Of course, I'm running Win98SE, and I have the memory maxed out. My RAM is 133MHz, which seems to work fine for me (my guess is that it's because 133 is considered a multiple of 66). I bought my RAM at a computer show from a used memory dealer, and I had the computer with me. We actually installed it and booted the machine to ensure that it would work (at the time, neither I nor the vendor could say with 100% confidence that it would work). Once I saw that it was working, I completed the sale.

With the 300MHz processor, max RAM, and minimal overhead (as few things as possible in the background), mine plays DVDs fine. Yours should do fine as well without a processor upgrade (though if you want to do that, go ahead). Also, the DVD-to-go card will take some load off the processor, so that can only help.

Hope this helps,

Rob

[carbon_unit]

Laptop_wizard: you just need to be more careful about your generalizations. A 45U is not a 600E, it is an original 600 and they use different processors and memory. I'm sure you did put an MMC-2 500 in a 600E but not in an original 600. Don't confuse the 600 with the 600E or the 600X.
These laptops are sensitive to what you put in them. Original 600's will not accept celeron processors either but later 600's (E or X) may.

[carbon_unit]

Anyway, I returned the memory chips from Kahlon. I did use a can of "electronic cleaner" blowing my 2645-45U memory slots. Now any recommendations as to where I should buy the 128MB P66 memory chips for the laptop? Of course, the Kahlon won't be in the shopping list anymore.

I see the MMC-1 PII on ebay at $50. If I upgrade my 45U with it, am I going to have the error 127 or any error codes and to tweak the BOIS/CMOS and install the power-leap?

I'm trying to make it as a nice present for my father in-law's 70 year birthday aniversary. I got the CD-ROM upgraded to a CDROM/DVD. But the DVD playback quality isn't acceptable. I looked at the DVD-to-go on ebay. It only costs $20 around. I want to buy it also. Now my question is that with the upgrading the CPU to PII 400MHz and the DVD-to-go card, is this laptop good as a decent DVD player?

I had a 366 PII in my -45U with a DVD to go card and it played DVD's perfectly.

You should get no errors after putting in a MMC-1 400 PII cpu. No Celerons.

[mikec]

You guys are the best. I'll go ahead to get the MMC-1 PII 400 CPU, DVD-to-go and the memory chips. I will keep you guys posted for how things are going. Please stay in touch.

[mikec]

I'm seeing MMC-1 PII 400 and MMC-2 PII 400 CPU's on ebay. Are they the same or different?

[Laptop_wizard]

I am sure if they have different numbers they are different CPU's they look the same to me. whats your ebay ID? i love ebay i use ebay all the time. i just baught a 600E for $60.00 took a zap through the power supply.
new motherboard, and i can sell it for %250.00
DVD 500MHz 256Mb ram 4gig hd NICE!!!

[farmer kev]

At the risk of being proven wrong and beaten with a wet noodle, this is just what all the brouhaha is about.


You want the one that says MMC-1.
The 2 is a diffrent creature that works with 600E and 600X models, it is NOT backward compatable.

[edit] Opps, fergot about the Celeron, you don't want that either.

Only reason I'm paying attention is I may upgrade some day and I have both the 600 and 600E.

[carbon_unit]

Yep, you've got it right Kev.
The original 600 (not E or X) must use an MMC-1 Pentuin II processor.
It will not use an MMC-2 or celeron processor.

[JHEM]

and if their are any more problems, I am sure we can consult Bill to work this out. I have fixed and built many thinkpads.

Feel free to contact Bill, but I've forgotten more about the 600 series in particular and Thinkpads in general than most folks will ever know!

You can backpedal all you want, but the fact remains that the OP asked about upgrading a specific model 600 and you gave him a wildly inaccurate response.

--
James

[DRHamp]

Hi all - I just purchased a 600 (2645-51U) on Ebay. It currently has 96MB of RAM and I would like to upgrade to 256 or 288MB. Any suggestions on a source for reliable SDRAM for this machine.

Also, it's running bios version 1.03 which is very old. I think I've read somewhere that the bios needs to be updated to support 288MB. Can anyone confirm this.

Thanks from a noob board member and Thinkpad owner.

[farna]

Make sure you read the sticky thread on upgrading 600 series machines.
Yes, you will need to upgrade the BIOS in order for it to recognize 256MB memory modules. The modules have to have 16 individual small chips (8 on each side) on them -- low density. The high density modules with only 8 chips (4 each side) won't work in the 600 series (any of them). PC 66 memory is called for, but PC 100 memory will work. Some people have had luck using PC 133 modules as well. There is a thread where someone mentions specific modules that worked by manufacturer and number, you should be able to easily find it.

No matter if you need it or not it's always a good idea to make sure you have the latest BIOS update on any computer. Even though you don't need it right now you may plug someting in later and find it doesn't work. Better to upgrade when you have the time rather than lose a lot of time on a project upgrading in the middle.

[DRHamp]

Thanks farna for the response.

I picked up a couple of 128MB sticks on EBay for $9.99 ea. They are new Kingston PC-100 and hopefully will work. What I don't know for sure is if this is low density or hi density RAM.

I've downloaded and created the Bios update diskette and will put that on before changing the RAM.

Just as an fyi, I took a look at the RAM that is currently installed. I have a total of 96MB - the base 32MB plus one 64MB stick. The 64MB stick has four chips on each side, so I guess that means that it's hi-density. It seems to be working fine, and the full 96MB is being recognized.

Thanks again for your response

[ndoggfromhell]

Correct me if I'm wrong JHEM, but the 600 not only uses the MMC1 type processor cartridge, but it also uses "on the cartridge cache" and not "on the die cache." I recently upgraded my friends and it wouldnt' take the PII-400mhz that I had. It would however take the PII-300mhz with the on cartridge cache (A processor that wouldn't work in my 770 so I gave it to him.) The easy way to tell is to look at the processor and if you can see 3 inch rectangular chips on the bottom of the cartridge, then it's an "on the cartridge cache" processor. Depends on the 600 though, cause it was originally a 266mhz. The 233mhz used "on the die cache". No idea why the change and only for the 266's but it's something to pay attention to.

[DRHamp]

I purchased two sticks of 128MB PC100 RAM on EBAY and installed it in the 600 (51U) this morning.

With the 32MB base memory, I should see 288MB total.

As in Mike's original post in this thread, I get 228MB. I never did see an answer to his original question about why 228 instead of 288. I may have missed it, but have re-read several times.

The sticks are apparently hi-density (4 chips on each side) - Is that the problem, is it bad memory, or is there something I'm not doing right.

Sorry to go back over the same issue again, but I'm lost.

Thanks,

[JHEM]

The sticks are apparently hi-density (4 chips on each side) - Is that the problem, is it bad memory, or is there something I'm not doing right.

The early 600 series machines almost demand PC66 memory, more than likely that's the problem here.

BION, in this instance you'd probably have had better luck using PC133 memory as it's easier to halve the memory clock speed than to throttle it to 66%.

Regards,

James

[DRHamp]

The early 600 series machines almost demand PC66 memory, more than likely that's the problem here.

Thanks James -- I'll pick up some PC66 and give that a try.

[mikec]

Hello everyone,

I'm back. First I would like to tell you a good news. I bought a dvd-to-go card and I put it into the 2645-45u. It works very well. The dvd images and sound are no longer choppy and choking. "It plays like a chime!".

But I'm still struggling with the memory. I bought a IBM 128MB PC66 from ebay. The parts # is 01k1153 and for my 2645-45u (I checked IBM website.). But when I boot my window 2k, it gave me the blue screen and some kind of address errors at last moment. I put it into another memory slot and this time it simpely did not boot to window OS at all. Does this mean the memory is bad or something wrong with my thinkpad 600 2645-45u? The seller said that it was pulled from a working IBM laptop. Any suggetion where I can get the good memory for my laptop?

If I can get the memory fixed, I will upgrade my CPU from 300MHz to 400MHz.

[JHEM]

Yes, the Margi card is the answer to DVD problems in early 600 series machines.

That is the correct memory for your machine and I can't think of why you're seeing these problems. Go into EZSetup and run the memory test, let us know the results.

Regards,

James

[mikec]

Thanks James for your help. I'm going to run right now and let you know the result shortly.

Just let you know James, Yesterday I was running like chicken without head to buy the memory from the some small computer stores. They don't have the PC66 but I tried PC 133 as you recommended before. It didn't work. People told me to go CompUSA. To be honest with you I haven't tried those big computer stores yet. I don't mind pay a little bit more to get quality memory now...

[mikec]

James, your right! Usually the BOIS memory test takes long time. But this time it only took several minutes the test showed some HW errors:

DEV 002
ERR 21
Fru 0020

I got this memory from ebay aceman who is selling the IBM Thinkpad 600 memory last week. I sent him the message about the blue screen and he hasn't responded me yet.

Should I go to CompUSA try the Notebook PC133 one? Or order it from some vendors like Kingston...

Thanks again for your help Jame!