Thinkpads Forum

I've searched the forum, but can't find a post addressing my problem, so here goes.

I have a TP600X model 2645-5FU that I've been trying to upgrade. I added 256MB RAM and installed Win XP and everything was going fine, then all of a sudden I began getting a POST error message when I tried to power up. The screen displays:

327104 KB OK
09 301
then two beeps

This is followed by an error splash screen with "Cancel" and "Restart" buttons. I select "Restart" and the 09 301 comes back on with the two beeps followed by a graphic that, according to the manual, indicates to use the PC Doctor. I can press F1 at that point and the machine proceeds to boot into Windows and everything works.

I don't have a diskette drive (I have ordered one from ebay) so I can't run PC Doctor yet. However, the last time I WAS able to run Easy Setup, ONLY the HDD was selected as a boot device, and now I can't get into Easy Setup to change that, so don't know if the diskette drive will be accessed to run PC Doctor. Holding down F1 when powering on has no effect; the 09 301 error occurs anyway. I've held down the F1 all the way through all that stuff, right up to the Windows splash screen, but to no avail.

According to the maintenance manual, the 301 indicates a keyboard error (I can't find what the 09 means), but; 1) the KB OK displays immediately before it, and after I force it to boot into Windows, all of the keys work correctly, with one exception. At the password window, sometimes typing the password has no effect until I first attempt to login without one and get the "Forgot your password ...?" message, and then I can type it. After that, everything works correctly.

I checked the voltage on the CMOS battery (IAW instructions in the maintenance manual) and it was very low, so I've ordered a new one from ebay. I don't know, however, if that will correct this problem.

I don't know if this is a system board, keyboard, BIOS or some other problem, nor how to correct it. Can anyone help me with this?

Are you trying the F1 during a reboot or from a cold boot? Doing it during the reboot process won't work. Make sure that the system is completely off, then press the F1 button repeatedly while pressing the power on switch.

I got that error when a bios battery on one of these 600's i've been playing around with was getting low, you can go to kmart and get a 2025 panasonic watch battery and tape the leads on and it works great.

Thanks guys for the responses. Replies as follows:

1. From a cold boot. I've even left the computer off for awhile, and then tried to get into the Easy Setup, but the 09 301 (and double beep) error occurs before the machine can go into Easy Setup.

2. I bought a brand new cmos battery from ebay, and installed it today, but the problem is still there.

Another question. From reading the other posts I'm a little confused whether the Easy Setup is the only entry, into the BIOS, or if there's another one that I'm missing. Something I read in one of the posts about pressing something when a message appears in the lower right (or was it left) corner of the screen. I've never seen anything like that on this machine, but I had to ask.

RobT wrote:From reading the other posts I'm a little confused whether the Easy Setup is the only entry, into the BIOS...

If I read your question correctly, then the answer is: Easy Setup IS the BIOS. Once you have accessed the Easy Setup menus, then there is also a low-level, hexidecimal byte editor available in which you can alter bits within the BIOS (but you better know what you are doing).

RobT wrote:Something I read in one of the posts about pressing something when a message appears in the lower right (or was it left) corner of the screen.

Some newer systems than the 600X (T2x for example) will display a couple of lines at the bottom left-hard corner during POST informing you to press F1, F11 and/or F12. Perhaps this is what you are referring to.

(Edit: Something that just occured to me... Check to see if any of the keys appear to be stuck down. I believe that this will generate that particular error code and prevent the system from "seeing" the F1 keypress.)

Ray brings up a very good point, you may have a stuck key that will not allow the system to see the F1 key being pressed. I saw a list some time back that broke down which keys were designated by each number code.

tfflivemb2 wrote:I saw a list some time back that broke down which keys were designated by each number code.

I searched for this list ('cause I vaguely remember something like that too), but all I found was this note:

301 Keyboard did not respond to software reset correctly, or a stuck key failure was detected. If a stuck key was detected, the scan code for the key is dis- played in hexadecimal. For example, the error code 49 301 indicates that key 73, the PgUp key, has failed (49 hex = 73 decimal).

So since, "09" appears before the "301" error code, I loaded PC Doctor into one of my 600X systems and ran the keyboard diag looking for "09". The only key I found that generated an "09" in the scan code sequence was the "8" key.

Edit: Changed key from "9" to "8" after simulating stuck key

Edit2: Well, that wasn't the key either! I held down the 8 key while powering up and got a "3E" error. Looking at a table I found, the 3E was equated to the 8 key for certain keyboards. Looking down other columns for a "09", I found that the "F10" key was listed. Sure enough, when I hold down the "F10" key while powering up the 600X, the "09 301" error appears. Here's the table I'm talking about:

http://www.win.tue.nl/~aeb/linux/kbd/scancodes-10.html

Edit3: Opened new thread describing problem and providing a link to my site.

OOPS!!! I guess I answered on the new thread, but I'll repeat it here.

Thanks a million for the information and the link and website are golden.

I'll check the keyboard for a stuck F10. I thought I'd pounded (delicately) on all the keys, but now that we have it isolated, I'll check deeper.

Will get back when I've either fixed the problem, or get in worse trouble.

YEEEEEEEHHAAAAAWWWWW!!!

It's fixed, It's fixed, It's fixed. Did I mention that it's fixed?

It was the F10 key after all. I took the cap off and pulled up on the little plastic doobie under it, and VOILA! problem solved. I was expecting to have to live with it the way it was, or start buying system boards (as IBM had indicated was necessary) or keyboards, as intuition led me to believe, and with a simple clickity, pullity, clackity, the whold problem is solved.

I was able to get into the Easy Setup and resed the BIOS ( I had previously installed the latest update), and establish a correct boot device sequence.

You guys are really great; I can't thank you enough. I've been a computer engineer, programmer and systems analyst/designer for 47 years (retired now, and yes, they had vacuum tubes in them when I started), and this is without a doubt the best forum I've been with.

So Rob, did that fix your problem ?

PM sent as well.

Yup. I shore did, and thanks a million.