Thinkpads Forum

I sold my aunt my old IBM 600 and 2 months later the system board died. I feel a little guilty and am trying to help her out..
Does anyone know how much that part will average?
I Don't need anything fancy. It has a pentium II
I would also not be against selling it if someone wanted to salvage it... I don't want to spend more than 150 dollars to fix it.. If it would cost more than that, I'd probably look to sell it.
Everything else on it works just fine and tested ok in the system test. I got errors on the systemboard.

Thanks!!

First I would try the reset button on the side near the power switch, use a pen. Reset and then test again.
Also I have seen the CMOS battery cause system board errors. Get one from radio shack and use your wires from the old battery.
If that didn't work I would check on ebay, there are TP600/e/x system boards on there all the time.

I've also had a systemboard error 192 caused by the main battery, but I'd sure try the CMOS first.

Sadie,

As I said in your other post on this matter, what are the symptoms you're seeing that lead you to believe the MB is dead?

Regards,

James

thanks everyone for your suggestions.. I will try them all.
In response to James:

The symptoms:

The machine will not boot up. Originally, it would boot to a screen that looked like a diskette and and drive bay.. with arrows pointing to a picture of the F1 key.. wierd i know

Now, it won't even do that. I can get into the BIOS and run tests on components. Everything checks okay accept for the system board. It gives me "err 91 fru 001" i think.. also says div something. I'll have to check again.

Thanks!!

I'll post back later with more info

Sadie,

Change the CMOS battery and report back.

Regards,

James

Will do!!!
FYI It's Dev 001 Fru 3610 Err 91

I found some information that suggests the samething. I tried the reset button which got me a little further but not fixed.

I will try the CMOS.. Is it difficult to replace?

Thanks

Very easy to replace, open the memory compartment on the bottom of the unit and you'll see it wrapped in yellow shrinkwrap and plugged into the MB with a very small lead.

There are several sellers of new ones on eBay, or they're available from IBM but they're expensive.

A dead CMOS battery is the leading cause of an unresponsive 600.

Regards,

James

Well, I've discovered some things this evening while playing around.
I tried the reset button but to no avail.
I have not yet replaced the cmos battery, however I removed it and reconnected it. I then booted back to the BIOS where I was successfully able to reset the clock.
I then attempted to boot up with a WinXP cd in the drive. Believe it or not, it actually started the WinXP setup process!! It was not able to complete though. Then, I attempted to boot with a Win98 old diskette. Sure enough, I was able to get the windows 98 boot menu. I attempted to change drive from a to c, however it kept saying: invalid drive specification, but I was able to change drive to B. It's like it won't recognize C. So then I got brave, removed the HDD and reseated it. I hit the reset button again and attempted to reboot. Same issue. I'm starting to wonder if maybe it's the actual HDD. What do you all think? Am I on to something or just wrong in my hypothesis.. I don't know much about hardware so correct me if my theory makes no sense

Sadie,

Quit screwing around with it and change the CMOS battery!!!

The HD settings in the BIOS are being scrambled due to the battery being dead and your continued attempts to install software could damage the BOOT sector on the HD.

Install the new battery, set the Date/Time, initialize the system.

Regards,

James

Yes Sir
I'll pick one up tomorrow and let you know..
Thanks for the help!!

Well, I bought a battery at Radio Shack. It doesn't have the casing however, is it possible to use the existing casing? I'm going to do some internet searches to see if I can find out in the meantime.
If not, does anyone know where I can get the part with the casing?

i appreciate everyone's help!!

Hi !

I can't answer your problem but I may have the same.
My TP600X suddenly stopped to recognize my hard disk, so no way to have a c: prompt under DOS. I tried with another hard disk which works on another laptop but no more luck.
I posted a topic asking if my primary IDE controller was dead but maybe it is another problem.
If you have some tricks, I'll be glad to listen to them...

Best regards

Sadie,

If you've got a 1800Batteries or Batteries Plus store around, I'd suggest taking the original battery to them, casing & all, and tell them "I want one of these". Usually they'll solder the connections on & whatever you need.

All..

Hello, I did finally replace the CMOS battery but to no avail
The system board is now passing the bios test and no longer giving me an error but it still will not boot. When i am in the test module of the bios I'm noticing that the hard drive is not available for test. It is grayed out. I'm wondering if maybe there is a problem with the hard drive.. or possibly something else

evo:
I read your statement about how you tried a different hard drive but it did not work so maybe the problem is somewhere else?
I will keep researching and let you know if I'm able to resolve it.. Also, if you're able to find a resolution please let me know!!
thanks

OK Sadie !
Hope these f...ing TP will work one day !!

Regards

Sadie, did you initialize the system as James suggested?

Sadie and exovii,

Are you sure the HD is correctly inserted and fully seated?

Did you initialize the system?

Can you hear the HD spin up?

Do you have the ability to test the HD on another system? Either another laptop or on a desktop with an adaptor?

Have either of you run the Drive Fitness Test from a floppy?

Regards,

James

Hi,

Are you sure the HD is correctly inserted and fully seated?

No one can be sure, but I really tried a couple of times.

Did you initialize the system?

Do you mean, the 'Initialize' button in the BIOS setup? In the case, yes. The TP600X was running Windows 2000 Pro since a few monthes without any problem. I really like this computer.

Can you hear the HD spin up?

Yep !

Do you have the ability to test the HD on another system? Either another laptop or on a desktop with an adaptor?

Yes, that's why I though it is a motherboard problem. I tested 2 disks on a T23 and on my desktop (with adaptor) without any problem.

Have either of you run the Drive Fitness Test from a floppy?

No, but if I am right, this utility starts from Windows, no ?

Thanks for your answer

Regards

I'm sorry I forgot to give my name one more time...

Hello All,

Just an update for everyone.
I was finally able to fix the d*mn laptop!!!

I took it to work and was able to test the hard drive in another system with the same problem. I ordered a new hard drive, installed it, and I was good to go!!

Thanks to everyone for all your help and suggestions

Good job Sadie !

Mine is definitively dead... No matter what hard drive I use....

Sadie,

I resolved the problem I had, I don't know it can help you, but take a look a that: http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?p=34834#34834

Regards