Thinkpads Forum

I just got a 701CS (butterfly) off ebay, but it unfortunately did not come with any way to communticate with the outside world (aside from the screen, keyboard and slow modem) I want to get linux on it, and I want to know:


1- can it boot from an external PCMCIA Disk drive?
2- can it boot from a network (again it would be PCMCIA)?
3- what drives are compatible with the dd port on the back of the thing?
4- What on earth is the ifrared port good for?
5- Is there a tutorial on manually replacing the cells in the battery pack?


I know multiple questions in one post makes it less likely to have them all answered, but I'm confident in the expertise of the readers on this forum!

Look at the boot options in EZSetup. I think it will not boot from a PCMCIA drive.

It can boot from a PCMCIA network card, but I've never seen that done. Maybe you can get it to work. Keep in mind the 701CS has 16-bit PC Card slots, not 32-bit CardBus slots.

You should be able to get a floppy drive, and use that to boot a network Linux installation. See this page: http://thinkwiki.org/wiki/Installation_ ... -ROM_drive

IR can be used to print to an IR printer, or synchronize to a PDA, for two things.

I haven't seen a tutorial on replacing cells. Let us know if you find one.

whizkid wrote:Look at the boot options in EZSetup. I think it will not boot from a PCMCIA drive.

It can boot from a PCMCIA network card, but I've never seen that done. Maybe you can get it to work. Keep in mind the 701CS has 16-bit PC Card slots, not 32-bit CardBus slots.

You should be able to get a floppy drive, and use that to boot a network Linux installation. See this page: http://thinkwiki.org/wiki/Installation_ ... -ROM_drive

IR can be used to print to an IR printer, or synchronize to a PDA, for two things.

I haven't seen a tutorial on replacing cells. Let us know if you find one.

Thanks, whizkid.

Where would I find a manual for the 701 online?

Check out my other thread, everyone, it's a weird problem.

The 701 is a pre-web machine. There is no user manual available online.

Thanks very much, that was quite helpful.

Is there any chance you could point me to a howto for the network install? I bought a d-link dfe-650 which works quite well, under windows 95, but I haven't a clue how to get the thinkpad to boot from it.

It's not exactly a how-to, but it's a start.

http://thinkwiki.org/wiki/Installation_ ... -ROM_drive

Another possibility... use an older Backpack (parallel CD rom drive)
assuming you have the dock that has a parallel port along with
serial port.

Also if you can boot from floppy you might be able to load files
onto hard drive separately then boot off floppy and attempt
setup in that way.

Good luck...

I looked all over, and it seems the floppy drive cables are pretty hard to find. So what I'm gonna do is unscrew the hd from the caddy& use a 2.5" to 3.5" adaptor to hook it up to my desktop system. I will then install the os on it that way, and pop it back in. All I'm missing is the proper screwdriver for the caddy. Where would I find it? also the hd connector looks exactly like a pcmcia connector. Is there some converter I can buy, so i can do this without messing with the caddy? also I was thinking about using this opportunity to upgrade the hd. What is the going rate for a 2.5" 6 gig drive? Can the 701cs handle more?


Thanks

Which OS are you going to install?

In old ThinkPads like yours, it is important to partition the drive IN the ThinkPad, and NOT do it in another machine. Your system may well be unable to boot otherwise.

Once the drive is partitioned, you can format it in any machine and copy the installation files onto the drive, and maybe a simple OS like FreeDOS if you want it to boot.

Then (if installing Windows) put it back in the 701 and run setup from there. It goes pretty fast from a hard drive install.

IMO, you need to have at least two good ways to boot a machine. With the 701, a floppy drive is a very reliable option. Too bad you can't find one easily.

Here is a link to an eBay auction for a 701C floppy drive with cable (74H0219):

http://cgi.ebay.com/IBM-Thinkpad-Extern ... dZViewItem

The auction says:
"Can be used with ThinkPad 365X 2625, ThinkPad 560 2640, ThinkPad 560E 2640, ThinkPad 560X 2640, ThinkPad 560Z 2640."

Not sure if that is true or not, but if it is, then you might have more options in finding a drive.

seems like the 701c refers to the model number of the floppy drive, not the computer it's supposed to be compatible with. Apparently the part number I am looking for is 10H4068.

Does anybody know where I can get one, or one that is for sure compatible with it?

Also, I should get my hd convertor any day now, so I'd like to know if there is a way to partition it that would be safe on the other computer. I will need to have at least three: 1- a primary fat16 partition 2-linux swap , and 3-ext2

Would I be safe to use "logical partitions" instead? Is there a way to manually pass parameters to fdisk that will simulate the thinkpad?

Thanks

Sorry about that.

How about these two:
http://froogle.google.com/froogle_clust ... &scoring=p

It worked! I just swapped the hd and installed, then swapped back. no problems whatsoever with patitioning, by the way. hope I never need to even think about using floppies again!