AN Attempt to rebuild 600 ;help welcome

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Crash_Maniac · #1 Post by **Crash_Maniac** » Sun Dec 11, 2005 3:47 pm

Ok guys you seem from all the posts to be the Gurus at this,

I recently bought a 600 model # 2645-85U from E-bay quite cheap,
still powers on, Bios error # 000192 wich I know means fan error and means Cmos battery (hopefully) needs to be changed, it had no HDD or Caddy, No optical drive of any kind, no battery, no AC power supply,and just 32Mb of onboard RAM. I have purchased ,through much searching and penny pinching all the parts I need ,HDD& caddy, DVD-rom, 2 batteries, Cmos battery, AC power supply, a 128mb stick from crucial, .
I want to put this monster together and run XP PRo, just to replace my Dell insp 8100 wich will be going to my daughter ,I rebuilt it a few years back while in the Military in Afghanistan, wich was easy because gov used latitudes and the parts are interchangible ....heheheh, any way I am Tech savy , but not very comfortable with some things, flashing bios is one of them ,Im used to using .exe file provided by manufacturers, I would like to know if some one can give me some detailed instructions on doing this .I have DL'd the latest BIOS from IBM, put it on a floppy but Im not sure if I did it right, I just put it on a formated floppy, now do I need an MS-Dos startup disc too?, I plan on flashing BIos when I get CMOS Battery changed , with no HDD in place, any help would be greatly appreciated

440roadrunner · #2 Post by **440roadrunner** » Sun Dec 11, 2005 6:07 pm

I would save "flashing the bios" for one of the very LAST things you do, if at all.

If you read the pages associated with the bios flash program, that should give you the answer on creating the bios flash floppy.

Again, I'd recommend you "save it for later."

Get the basic laptop working FIRST, and it looks like you have a long road ahead........

Please don't start multiple threads for the same basic question.

I'm not sure I understand why you bought such a stripped unit, hoping to find all the accessories. This can get very expensive.......

Crash_Maniac · #3 Post by **Crash_Maniac** » Sun Dec 11, 2005 7:23 pm

sorry about the multiple threads ,
I have spent 160.00 total that is not all that bad, a friend had one too and it does nothing , so he gave me some stuff,DVD ROm floppy with Bith bay and cable, I could have bought one assembled for not that much more but , ...lessons learned I guess, I like tinkering with them anyway, you say I should wait til last, I wont be able to load XP without the latest BIOs right? also if and only if the BIOS is already 1.22( this rig should arrive tommorrow via Fedex) wont changing Cmos Battery set it back to default ,maybe Im wrong ?

440roadrunner · #4 Post by **440roadrunner** » Sun Dec 11, 2005 8:26 pm

Changing the cmos/ bios battery has nothing to do with flashing the bios.

The bios battery saves the system settings, like what kind/ size of hard drive is installed, and what the boot order is to be, etc

"flashing" the bios is serious business, and should not be undertaken lightly. Basically, you are launching a program that fiddles with the very lowest level thing on the motherboard---the very start of a spark of life out of the thing. IF THAT SHOULD FAIL, you might just have a boat anchor on your hands.

Because desktop boards are much larger, and some desktop boards have "socketed" bios chips, this means that repair is possible--if not always economically pracitical.

Wait until you see what you are up against before you fiddle with the bios flash.

pcnoob · #5 Post by **pcnoob** » Sun Dec 11, 2005 8:45 pm

Hi, I have a question about flashing the bois. Can I create a cd to flash it or do I have to use a floppy?

Crash_Maniac · #6 Post by **Crash_Maniac** » Sun Dec 11, 2005 8:57 pm

Ok thanks road runner lets just see what the BIOS version is, hope it is good to go Ill check back tomorrow and post what Ive got , well see thanks for the info

LtTPfan · #7 Post by **LtTPfan** » Sun Dec 11, 2005 10:24 pm

pcnoob wrote:Hi, I have a question about flashing the bois. Can I create a cd to flash it or do I have to use a floppy?

That depends on your system. I noticed some systems (T20, for instance) have a non-diskette version that can be run from a directory on a hard disk, etc. The 600 for example only has BIOS setup programs for diskette and LAN clients. The problem with the the diskette version is it runs on its own operating system, possibly DR DOS, I can't remember. The program will not run under MS DOS, at least that's what I found true for my 770s way back when. It might be possible to make a boot CD, using the BIOS diskette for the donor operating system. Of course if you could do that it seems you could just use the BIOS diskette.

Edit:

Now I seem to remember it being Caldera (sic) DOS

Website · #8 Post by **tfflivemb2** » Sun Dec 11, 2005 10:45 pm

I would flash the BIOS BEFORE you do anything else, as it will make things easier, such as:

1. Installing the hard drive: Large hard drives (say 40GB) require the latest BIOS.
2. Installing Windows XP: Requires latest BIOS.

Besides, if you run into a problem updating the BIOS, such as hanging during the update, you won't have wasted your time with everything else. BIOS upgrading if not done correctly, as I am sure you are aware, can cause problems with the system board.

Crash_Maniac · #9 Post by **Crash_Maniac** » Mon Dec 12, 2005 3:52 am

Yes I know a bad Bios flash kills the MOBo , that si why its so scary,what I really was trying to glean from you guys is , if I created a diskette for the Bios as per the instructions offered in the driver matrix was that all I needed except for printing the instructions? just wanted to make sure , I have the disc made ,I just inserted a floppy that I did a regular format on, that should be it right

Website · #10 Post by **tfflivemb2** » Mon Dec 12, 2005 9:55 am

Yes, infact I think I saw your other post asking about special sintructions on formatting the disk or needing a boot disk first. No special formatting needed.

All you have to do it create the BIOS diskette, as per the instructions. Insert the floppy into your floppy drive with the laptop off. Turn on the laptop and it will automatically boot from the BIOS diskette. Follow the onscreen instructions (make sure that your main battery holds a charge). Once it is complete, follow the instructions that you printed to initialize the BIOS.

Flashing the BIOS on a THinkpad is MUCH easier that on some systems. IBM will spell things out better than other laptop/PC makers.

Crash_Maniac · #11 Post by **Crash_Maniac** » Mon Dec 12, 2005 11:49 am

good I was pretty sure I had it right just wanted to make sure I have to brand new batterries, I will charge one for 12 hours before I start , sound good , I plan on changing the CMOS batt, then putting in a Knoppix disc OS to test it, hows that sound and then flash the bios. I have fedora core 4 t00 but I sceptical about using it cause Im so new to Linux, plan on using WIN xp when all is said and done

whizkid · #12 Post by **whizkid** » Mon Dec 12, 2005 12:12 pm

To clarify the BIOS procedure...

Replace your CMOS battery and charge your batteries. You don't even have to power it on for that. (Testing Knoppix would be fine at this point, as you don't even need a hard disk for that.)

Download the file (which you have done). Run it on a DOS or Windows machine. It will make a bootable floppy for you.

Put that diskette in the 600 and power up. It will boot and reprogram your BIOS.

Be sure to "Initialize" after the upgrade. Read the BIOS update instructions carefully.

Crash_Maniac · #13 Post by **Crash_Maniac** » Mon Dec 12, 2005 5:26 pm

Ok I got it today have everything in it , cmos is changed and its plugged in, bios is 1999 so it is old , no more error messages after cmos bat change, powers up good, ran straight to set up and test all with diagnostics all is well could nt get knoppix to start completely, no big ,It is currently sitting here charging anyone know how to decipher the battery light, it is solid amber right now cant find anything on it in the tech ref manual,
thanx

whizkid · #14 Post by **whizkid** » Mon Dec 12, 2005 5:32 pm

Solid amber means charging. Solid green means not charging or draining.
Flashing amber means critically low, IIRC. You might try to download the user guide.

All the BIOSes have a date of 1999, even if made after that, so an OS can decide whether or not to use ACPI instead of APM. You have to go by the version number (like ITEW55W) instead of the date.

Crash_Maniac · #15 Post by **Crash_Maniac** » Mon Dec 12, 2005 5:41 pm

it is itew43 so it is outta date light just changed to solid green so is it charged?

whizkid · #16 Post by **whizkid** » Mon Dec 12, 2005 5:51 pm

Something is wrong. Your model (2645-85U from above) should have an IBETxxWW BIOS version. IBET54WW is the latest for a 600 and is needed for XP. (ITET is for 600X and INET is for 600E.)

I don't know what ITEW43 is for.

Please be sure to use the right BIOS for your machine, or you could end up with a doorstop. Double check your machine type in EZSetup, and if that differs from the one on the case, use the one in EZSetup.

Solid green means charged up!

Crash_Maniac · #17 Post by **Crash_Maniac** » Mon Dec 12, 2005 6:32 pm

your right Ibet43ww is correct I am a horrible typist

Crash_Maniac · #18 Post by **Crash_Maniac** » Mon Dec 12, 2005 6:33 pm

your right Ibet43ww is correct I am a horrible typist

Crash_Maniac · #19 Post by **Crash_Maniac** » Mon Dec 12, 2005 6:55 pm

Ok whoa that was scary BIOS is flashed, is now Ibet54ww, should be ready for O/S now

Crash_Maniac · #20 Post by **Crash_Maniac** » Thu Dec 15, 2005 6:48 pm

Ok Im all done Im typing on my 600 now ,thankyou for all the help I couldnt have done it without the help, I was right about ERROR 192 it was the CMOS Battery.I installed WinXP( tried Linux FEDcr4 first didnt like my options) I am the cableman so a wireless PCMCIA card and a 10/100 card where easy to come buy and Im up and running, wasnt very hard I thought it would be worse, I will be using this rig in my work truck, to email in completed work,and to verify thatSubscribers high speed internet services are working in spite of thier , PC probs, we get blamed for alot of problems that arent ours to fix. I think this thing is a square peg in a square hole, I lucked out too, I ordered a 2O gig toshiba hard drive off Ebay for it, and the guy sent me a 30 gig Travelstar brand new ...WOOps!

#21 Post by **GomJabbar** » Thu Dec 15, 2005 8:03 pm

If all user experiences were so fruitful.

Congrats on successful conclusion!

Crash_Maniac · #22 Post by **Crash_Maniac** » Thu Dec 15, 2005 8:18 pm

Ok but know Ive done myself in, My bud from work has a 2645-4au, It randomly powers down ,I have now been recruited to fix it

, shoulda kept my mouth shut,the rig is in poor shape ,he has never upgraded, it does boot ,up I bought two batteries for mine One Im gonna trash using it at work the other Im saving, I have been running it for an hour now right next to mine, on my trash battery,This battery is brand new just been using a couple days.and havent been able to replicate the problem It did shut off at work in front of me with his old battery and Power supply, next Im gonna try removing battery and going DC maybe I can Isolate it, also it smells faintly of ozone when running, witch screws do I remove to take off key board to blow out heatsink, the FRU parts list picture on lenovo isnt very helpful, Id like to know how to do this for mine also, Im gonna try it on his first HEHEHEHEHE

,any help would be appreciated

#23 Post by **GomJabbar** » Thu Dec 15, 2005 8:53 pm

The Hardware Maintenance Manual is pretty helpful. It has diagrams and shows how the laptop is assembled.

Link: Hardware Maintenance Manual (June 1999) - ThinkPad 600

Be careful with the main battery. I've seen a bad battery damage a model 600E. If you see the charging light flashing orange with the AC adapter plugged in, turn off the ThinkPad and remove the battery. Steady green means the battery is charged, steady orange that the battery is charging, and flashing orange that the battery needs charging.

Crash_Maniac · #24 Post by **Crash_Maniac** » Thu Dec 15, 2005 9:18 pm

Huh, shows you how observant I am, I used the Manual to diagnose the error 192, but didnt even notice it had these pretty pictures

I already had his TP apart though ,I figer'd it out LOL .I cleaned out the CPU fan but, suprisingly, it was pretty clean anyway,didnt see any thing shorted out singed or any thing, got it back together, running on Battery still no shut down, hmmm, well time to switch to Adapter then, both ,and see what happens, dont worry if the Bat light flashes orange when I pug it in out the battery comes thanks for the info

LtTPfan · #25 Post by **LtTPfan** » Thu Dec 15, 2005 10:18 pm

If you are smelling ozone from that machine you might look or feel around the display as that could be a sign of leaking high voltage in the inverter/ccfl circuitry. There was a recent thread about someone with a hot spot on his display which turned out to be a bad connection/arcing at one of the backlight connections.

Crash_Maniac · #26 Post by **Crash_Maniac** » Thu Dec 15, 2005 10:56 pm

Is the Inverter board under the keyBoard Bezel (HDD LED etc.) or the TFT itself?

skygodtj · #27 Post by **skygodtj** » Sun Dec 18, 2005 9:42 pm

Inverter is under the LCD bezel at the bottom. Remove the screw covers(disks), remove the screws, fold the LCD down flat. Gently, (but with a little force)pull the LCD frame down(towards the KB) until it pops off. Inverters been running $5-$14 on eBay.

TJ

AN Attempt to rebuild 600 ;help welcome

AN Attempt to rebuild 600 ;help welcome

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