TP Geniuses! How to manually set HDD parameters on TP600?

[jmlowe]

I am 'converting' several TP600s to digital picture frames. Am using DSL in 'frugal' mode to drive the machines & image viewer, and to periodically poll for (& load) any new images that appear on any usb drive that is plugged in.
My image works fine---now I'm replacing the IDE hard drives with IDE/
Compact Flash adapters & 256MB Lexar CF chips.

TP600 #1 works flawlessly. Removed the HDD, installed adapter & CF card, booted, partitioned, formatted, loaded DSL, loaded my code on top--piece of cake.

TP390 (OK, one is not a TP600) thought the CF card was a 3GB drive, and although I was able to partition/format & load DSL & my image---it wouldn't boot. So after lots of web searching I changed the HDD parameters in BIOS to 'user' mode, 16 heads/32 sectors/978 cyls (=256MB), turned off UDMA----then reloaded and it works fine.

TP600 #3, 2645-41U: if the IDE/CF adapters isn't seated perfectly, the machine won't boot at all---I mean, the laptop won't even POWER UP. After some fiddling, I can get the machine to power up, but the BIOS can't see a hard drive of any kind (and of course, neither can linux).
So obviously I want to modify the BIOS on this TP600 to manually enter the disk parameters---and I have searched for almost three days and cannot figure out how to do it, nor have I found anyone else who has even posted an interest in doing this.
> I cannot find any other programs that I can use instead of IBM's goofy 'Easy Setup'
> I have installed the 'IBM ThinkPad Configuration Utility for DOS' (w/ bootable CD)---but this has no options for what I need (although I did depend on it to put the machines in 'presentation' mode so that the screens wouldn't turn off after an hour)---apparently the ONLY way to do that is the PS2.EXE program
> I know how to get into the 'System Configuration Edit Utility" in Easy Setup---but can't find the info I need to know what to alter.
> Possible to load an OLDER version of BIOS on the machine? I think the TP600s always had the Easy Setup utility, I'm worried that if I try to load BIOS for a completely different machine I'm going to introduce a host of OTHER issues...?
> I have run the IBM HDD firmware update---but it doesn't see a hard drive, so...no way to update the firmware (and there's no firmware in the CF card ANYWAY, but I was desperate)

I have done due diligence in reading everything I can find, and still no answer. Surely I'm not the only one to have needed to do this...?

Any help would be appreciated,
Regards

[nitro2k01]

The 600's, which models are they? (600 plain, 600E or 600X?) I guess the 600 one that doesn't work is a 600E, correct?
Have you upgraded the BIOS? There are instructions for doing this somewhere on the forum.
Have you whether there's some problem with the converter by inserting it to the first 600, and see if it works there?
I also dislike the "easy setup". The closest thing you can get to a regukar BIOS is a builtin hex editor, which you can summon by going into system setup and press Ctrl+D. But beware, it isn't failsafe, so make sure you know what you're doing.

[jmlowe]

it's a 2645-41U (just says '600', no 'E' or 'X')
Yes, have put current BIOS on
Yes, have used multiple IDE/CF adaptors and CF cards (that work in other machines)

Happy to use the hex editor---but I can find nothing that explains BIOS layout, so I don't know what to edit...

[pkiff]

Surely I'm not the only one to have needed to do this...?

Quite possibly, yes. I've never seen the kind of detailed BIOS hex breakdown that you need to do what you are trying to do. If no one here pipes up with an answer, you might try to post your question over at the "Notebook BIOS problems" section of Wim's BIOS.

Phil.