Thinkpads Forum

Hi,

I'm trying to fix one for a friend, a IBM Thinkpad 600E. Its old, I know -- they got it for 50$. It came with Windows 2000, SQL
> Server, Novell and a bunch of other crap, which is WAY too much for
> this poor old computer (I think its around 400Mhz with 196MB of RAM).
> I told them it would be much easier on the computer and get rid of the
> constant lad, considering that Win2k is a resource hog alone to rollback to Win98.
>
> I formatted, put 98 on. Everything worked, no errors. First few times
> I booted up, I downloaded from IBMs site and installed drivers for the
> thing. Every driver I downloaded was for the 600E and installed
> without a complaint. However, the graphics driver is giving me a hissy
> fit. It will only like 640x480 at 16 colors. Anything higher, and
> after I am forced to reboot, it complains saying something like its
> not compatible with it. I KNOW the graphics card works because I saw
> it on Win2k @
> 1024x768 at 256 or 16 bit colors.
>
> I also installed the monitor and color profile, after a few failed
> attempts, but it did nothing. Besides, what does Windows care about
> the monitor anyway?
>
> I uninstalled and reinstalled the drivers a few times. I even got a
> different copy, off of driverguide.com or some place like that, and it
> STILL doesn't work.
>
> I was wondering, do you know what I'm doing wrong here, or do you know
> of any known issues with the 600E with a clean copy of WIn98 installed?
>
> Thanks,
> Bob Collins

I just did a 570 and I had the same problem.
Make sure the display is set to use the LCD, not set to TV out or external display in the thinkpad configuration utility.
That was where my problem was. YMMV.

BobC wrote:I told them it would be much easier on the computer and get rid of the constant lad, considering that Win2k is a resource hog alone to rollback to Win98.

Very, very bad idea in my opinion to go back to Win98. Windows 9x is such a terrible operating system, so unstable and prone to failure. Actually Windows 2000 is even much more responsive (regardless of the CPU, as long as it's at least a P2). That's also the case on systems that only have around 128MB, considerably less then the machine you're currently fiddling about with. If I were you, I'd really think it over again. W2K works very well also on this computer, especially when it is rid of all the unnecessary stuff you mentioned above. Just browse the web and relevant newsgroups and read some reports of users that have switched to W2K (or even XP) on a machine like yours, you'll surely come to the following conclusion:

http://groups.google.de/groups?hl=de&lr ... .net#link2

BobC wrote:I was wondering, do you know what I'm doing wrong here, or do you know of any known issues with the 600E with a clean copy of WIn98 installed?"

Btw, I really doubt that this is the source of your problems, but when installing a clean copy of Windows 98SE (i.e., not by using the Recovery CD), IBM recommends to manually set it up with APM (opposed to ACPI, which is the standard on all machines that support it, like the 600E).

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... IGR-48VPPW

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... IGR-4E5JF3

Are you installing 98 or 98SE? I used 98 on a 600E for 4 years and it worked like a charm. Personally, I like 98/98SE but tempus fugit and I agree with Monty that 2k is probably the "sweetspot" for the 600E. Nevertheless, unless you have some kind of hardware problem, 98 DOES work on the 600E.

To Bob C.
You have probably installed everything the correct way but here's something to consider. I'm not sure about the 600E but on the 600, you have to install a Video Features Diskette and then a Monitor File and in that order. I would suggest going back to the IBM driver download site for the 600E and read, if not print out the instructions on installing the drivers. Some of them have to be installed exactly as they say in order for them to work correctly.

I also agree with you on using 98. From the dealings I've had with the older laptops, 98SE works the best with the least amount of problems.

Good Luck

Hi,

Sorry I didn't respond for a while. I was away.

Yeah, I've read the readme.txt and various documents on the 600E. Its driving me freakin' nuts.

As responce to the person w/ 2000, I'm also reconsidering going back to 2000. It *will* be a resource hog, but at least the bloody thing will work. 2000 is just overkill, these people that I'm fixing it for don't need this thing for anymore than word processing and the internet, they're by no means power users that need the beefed up security. But stability will be nice. And yes, I agree with you that Win9x is possibly the worst series of Operating systems ever written, but it should work. I mean the 600E had 98 on it to begin with!

I am using Windows 98 SE, FYI.

IBM has a "supplemental files diskette" that you need to use. You will have to reinstall '98. See the instructions for the supplemental files, http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... IGR-4FJ3SC

You might be able to patch it together without reinstalling, I would not recommend it though. It's almost guaranteed SOMEthing won't work quite right. And you might not find out until later.

let win98 die... it sucked.

win2k and xp both run fine on a 600e. you can bump the ram a bit if it needs more, but in my opinion these are the ONLY two microsoft OS's that should be considered.... especially since your friend will eventually need help and trying to fix a mucked up win98 installed is a PITA.