Thinkpads Forum

Posted: **Tue Dec 20, 2005 11:47 am**

hey hey everyone...

man i am so sadd so sad

my ibm will not boot up.. it turns on.. goes to the ibm thinkpad screen.. then real quik an error message appears, but it doesnt stay long enough to read..then the computer restarts itself.. i have tried to reinstall my harddrive.. but it didnt work.. we took it apart to see if anythin was chiped..everythin works fine. i ran test on my mother board ect ect everythin is ok.. the onli error i get when i press f11 is a 301 error which i think is my keybored, so i ran the keybored test and every button works fine..

what else could it be?

Posted: **Tue Dec 20, 2005 8:32 pm**

Can you boot up from a bootable CD or bootable floppy disk?

Try booting into Windows Safe Mode by pressing F8 at the beginning of the boot sequence. Go to Start > Control Panel > System > Advanced > under Startup and Recovery, choose Settings > under System failure, uncheck box to Automatically restart. Now when you reboot, the computer will stop on the error so that you can read the error message to do more troubleshooting.

For the 301 keyboard error, the Hardware Maintenance Manual says to check the following:

ThinkPad 600/600E (2645) Hardware Maintenance Manual wrote:Keyboard or Auxiliary Input Device
Checkout
Remove the external keyboard if the internal keyboard is to
be tested.
If the internal keyboard does not work or an unexpected
character appears, make sure that the flexible cable
extending from the keyboard is correctly seated in the
connector. If the keyboard cable connection is correct, run
the keyboard test. See “Running the Diagnostics” on
page 39 for details.
Note: When the Fn key is pressed, a black square briefly
appears.
If the tests detect a keyboard problem, do the following
one at a time to correct the problem. Do not replace a
nondefective FRU:
1. Reseat the keyboard cable.
2. Replace the keyboard.
3. Replace the card that the keyboard is connected to.
4. Replace the system board.
The following auxiliary input devices are supported for this
computer:
* Numeric keypad
* Mouse (PS/2 compatible)
* External keyboard (with keyboard/mouse cable)
If any of these devices do not work, reseat the cable
connector and repeat the failing operation.
If the problem does not recur, recheck the connector. If
the problem is not corrected, replace the device and then
the card that the devices are directly connected to.

Posted: **Tue Dec 20, 2005 9:01 pm**

it doesnt boot up period.. just the ibm screen and then it restarts.. i tried the f8 on bootup.. all i get it my kb size and another error message... 0a 301

then i get that error again 301... so i guess mayb i need to take my laptop apart

to fix it or somethin.. grr this is so frustrating cuz it worked liek a week ago...

Posted: **Tue Dec 20, 2005 9:08 pm**

when i test my keyboard it doesnt find an error whut the heckkk is wrong with this caca

Posted: **Tue Dec 20, 2005 9:47 pm**

If you can get a hold of, or borrow a PS/2 keyboard with a PS/2 keyboard mouse splitter cable (Y-cable), then plug that into the PS/2 port and try booting up then. I believe I've read that you need to use the Y cable to plug in the PS/2 keyboard. The signal is not read properly if you plug the PS/2 keyboard directly into the PS/2 port on the back of the ThinkPad.

If you do the above and the computer boots normally, then you know you need to replace the keyboard. The only other option I can think of is to start buying parts, starting with the keyboard, and hope that you get the offending piece before you spend too much money. E-bay is a good place to look for used IBM ThinkPad parts. You can also Google for the parts. Just use the applicable IBM part number, which you can find in the Hardware Maintenance Manual.

Posted: **Wed Dec 21, 2005 2:52 am**

Well did you try to reformat you computer? It might that problem, what about ur CMOS battery? Did you check if it worked or not?

Posted: **Wed Dec 21, 2005 9:18 am**

If you were getting the 301 error after trying to get into the BIOS, and the keyboard test ran fine, then the 301 error could have been triggered by holding the F1 button down too long. If you hold the button down too long, the system will think that the key is stuck, even though you were using it to get into the BIOS. You shoulf be using quick taps of the F1 key, and not just holding it down continuously.

As for the error that splashes on the screen after the IBM logo, you should try restarting your Thinkpad several times, with another pair of eyes if needed, because the problem might be determined if you are able to get the error code.

Posted: **Wed Dec 21, 2005 12:27 pm**

if i press f1 no 301 error.......but now when i enter the bios it dont let me enter the startup.. grr im so sad..

i had a computer person look at the computer and they had no idea whats wrong with it... i would just give up but for some reason i cant give up

mayb im to stubborn blahhh..

its says.. innodetect failed thats the error message i get.. i prob added to many letters or somethin but thats what flashes real quik

Posted: **Wed Dec 21, 2005 12:28 pm**

oh and it beeps on the start up.. normal?

Posted: **Wed Dec 21, 2005 8:41 pm**

Try checking out the Beep Symptoms section (page 57) of your Hardware Maintenance Manual:

ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pccbbs/mo ... 9n1033.pdf

This manual will help you with a lot of other issues that you might have with the laptop.

Posted: **Thu Dec 22, 2005 10:12 pm**

alrighty... i tried takin apart the computer.. and i botted it up with everythin all in the open.. i think it has somethin to do with my harddrive.. i held it down in place.. and it didnt restart.. but it didnt boot either

the message i get when it boots is ntdetect failed.

so when i held down the harddrive i got teh error 174... ect ect so i ono couldnt it be the connection with my harddrive?

Posted: **Fri Dec 23, 2005 11:09 am**

I had a similar problem with my business Thinkpad 600E a few years ago. The problem was that Windows was corrupt and wasn't starting. All the symptoms were the same as yours. The error message also did not appear long enough to read. Using a different hard drive, the computer started properly. Reinstalled Windows, and it worked after that.

Posted: **Sun Dec 25, 2005 2:37 pm**

yeh after all the run around i found out that was my problem.. a corrupt windows... its fixable if u can boot from a windows cd and a cdrom.. but when i enter my bios i cant even change my start up anymore so blah.. i guess ill just sell it for parts and thats it...

Posted: **Sun Dec 25, 2005 11:43 pm**

If you're going to sell it for parts let me know i have a few here that need parts.

Posted: **Wed Dec 28, 2005 12:48 pm**

yeh get at me email....

nayyork87@yahoo.com

Thinkpads Forum

IBM THINKPAD 600E WONT BOOT

IBM THINKPAD 600E WONT BOOT