Thinkpads Forum

I have a 600X 2645 3EU, I just bought it from a friend and everything works great except these "Fn" keys. A few of them work such as F7; F12; F4 but all of the rest of them do not work when pressed with the Fn key. Also, I have Windows XP with service pack 2 installed. Thanks.

I could be wrong, but I think you can only use all the function keys with Windows 98. I had a 600E, and that is what I remember with that model.

I suggest you make sure you have the BIOS at the latest version. Make sure the Windows Supplement files are installed. Verify that you have Configuration Utility, Intel SpeedStep applet, and the Power Management features installed.

Software and Device Drivers - ThinkPad 600
HINT: Click on the 600X link in the above page (under Download individual drivers) for more downloads.

I think the Hardware Maintenance Diskette has a diagnostic program for testing the keyboard. That should allow you to determine if it's a limitation of your OS or a bad keyboard/connections.

LtTPfan wrote:I think the Hardware Maintenance Diskette has a diagnostic program for testing the keyboard. That should allow you to determine if it's a limitation of your OS or a bad keyboard/connections.

AFAIK, The Hardware Maintenance Diskette is used for restoring serial numbers in the BIOS. If you'll look at the link I provided above, the 600X has: PC Doctor for DOS, Windows available for download.

Thanks a lot for the info, It probably is because I have windows XP running on the laptop instead on 98 or NT which is what it was meant for.

GomJabbar wrote:

LtTPfan wrote:I think the Hardware Maintenance Diskette has a diagnostic program for testing the keyboard. That should allow you to determine if it's a limitation of your OS or a bad keyboard/connections.

AFAIK, The Hardware Maintenance Diskette is used for restoring serial numbers in the BIOS. If you'll look at the link I provided above, the 600X has: PC Doctor for DOS, Windows available for download.

You are correct, it was PC Doctor for DOS where I saw those utilities.

My 770s have such a utility built into the BIOS setup.

You do not need PC doctor.

Boot up by tapping F1 and enter the "Easy Setup"
Click on "Diagnostics" then hit control "A" then the keyboard test will show up, then from there you can verify that all the keys work correctly.
If they don't and you really need those keys, replace the keyboard for about $60.00 on ebay.
Hope That helps.

Laptop_wizard wrote:You do not need PC doctor.

Boot up by tapping F1 and enter the "Easy Setup"
Click on "Diagnostics" then hit control "A" then the keyboard test will show up, then from there you can verify that all the keys work correctly.

While I haven't used a 600X, I beg to differ. From what I remember reading, what you say is true with the 600 and 600E, but diagnostics is not included in the BIOS of the 600X. If you look at the driver matrix page for the 600, 600E and 600X, PC Doctor is available for use only on the 600X. Anyway, it's a free download from IBM, so not much pain involved - you just have to burn a disk.