Thinkpads Forum

I have recently been give a IBM Thinkpad 365XD, but with no operating system on it. I have spent the last day or so, going through posts which have mentioned this model, and how to install Win 98 on it, but most mention having a floppy drive, which mine does not have, nor at the moment a PCMCIA, which i will buy if i can at least get win98 on it. Here are a few quesions, i apologise if they have been answered before, but i could not find them. What type of External floppy drive can i add to the thinkpad? Since i believe that with one i can get the cd to boot from the hard drive, (At least i think i could) Could someone name some models or types, so i can look out for one of them on E-Bay Another thing which would help me alot is, i have searched on the various links mentioned in the FAQ and on posts for userhandbooks, The 365XD is not mentioned anywere, i think a lot of my future questions could be answered if i could download the handbook for this model from somewere. I suspect that i will be spending quiet a bit of time on this board in the next few weeks I apologise once again if these questions have been answered before

[moved original post from 770, 600/570 Series & Transnote forum to the Legacy Hardware forum]

As suggested in the ThinkPads.com Forum FAQ, the first place to start on getting info for your ThinkPad is the IBM site. If you type in your model number on their site you should get a list of support pages, though some of the information about legacy machines has been pulled off their site.

For detailed info about your model, you might try the Hardware Maintenance Manual Volume 3 (March 1997) - ThinkPad 365, SelectaDock I, II. If that link doesn't work, then try this link.

I'm not familiar with the 365 series, but my impression is that for all these legacy devices, the proprietary IBM floppy drives are the only ones that are compatible. I don't know anything about PCMCIA floppy drives.

Maybe the 365 can boot from a CD?

One other method of installing Win 98 is to stick the drive in another machine (via, for e.g., an external USB hard drive enclosure), and then format it there and copy the necessary Win98 install files and/or boot files onto the drive, then stick it back in your 365. You have to be careful in such situations not to put XP/2000 versions of the sys files onto the hard drive by accident.

Phil.

Welcome to the Forum krillmeed.

Start here for information on your 365XD. Use the toolbar on the right to access the various files and documents available for your system.

No, there's no way that unit can BOOT from a CD, it's 10 years old and that function wasn't supported back then. The floppy drive connects to a proprietary connector on the back of the unit, I suggest searching eBay.DE for a drive.

Regards,

James

Thanks guys, as suggested, the thinkpad will not boot up from the cd The hankbook for the Thinkpad does seem to have been pulled off IBM the link to the page works but not the download I was hoping that someone does have an external floppy drive with this model and could tell me what kind it is, on initial inspection, unlike desktop computers, which i like to think i know my way around them, the floppy drives are different for these older models and i would hate to bid on the wrong type and not even get it

Here's another idea...

I have a TP365X (floppy, but no CD). On the back of mine, I do have that special connector for the external floppy (even though I have an internal floppy).

That leads me to believe that the "X" and the "XD" models are the same... except one has a floppy installed, and the other has the CD installed. Maybe you can remove your CD drive, get an "internal" floppy drive, and install that (at least temporarily).

The IBM part number on my "internal" floppy is 04H7406. Maybe this same "interal" floppy drive is used on a few different models...??

Good luck!

Neither the internal floppy nor the internal CD in the 365X/XD models are removable.

The link for the HMM works for me, here's the direct link. 7MB file, give it time to download.

Regards,

James

Most of the links here have gone to that great hard drive in the sky But pkiff your second one has got me the manual, 630 pages is quiet a lot so give me a few days to read through it, i have learned more just with a glance, if of course anyone here has this model with an external floppy i would be interested which model it is. Thanks again to you all, one good thing about the interest is, there are always nice people who help those of us who are computer challenged

Bit of confusion here I have someone telling me that the floppy for this and cable will only fit on that one type of thinkpad http://cgi.ebay.de/IBM-Thinkpad-365X-36 ... dZViewItem and another here, tells me that the 600 and 600E will also fit on the 365XD Model. http://www.alles4pc.de/product_info.php ... cts_id=156 Can anyone here tell me which is right

ADMIN EDIT: Sorry, images are not alloowed in sigs.

The floppy drive, and more importantly the connector, for the 365 series is the same as the one for the 560 and 600 series machines.

Regards,

James

Thanks for the quick response admin I am going to try for this one http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie ... Track=true Looks to me like the same kind of connection