Thinkpads Forum

Hello all,

My first time posting in the TP forums. I have come here for help. My 2645-55U started giving me problems last week. At first it would not boot into windows, giving me the "himem.sys missing" in DOS. I attempted to boot into windows via the Win 98 boot disk but to no avail. I rebooted (with CTRL depressed) into Bios and ran a full system test. Everything checked ok with the exception of Memory. I recieved the following errors, DEV 002, ERR 83 and FRU 2010. I am not sure of the issues on these errors. Any and all help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. Larry Wichita, KS.

welcome to the forum:-)

your 288megs of RAM is 32megs on the planar plus 256megs expansion:
probably 2 128 PC66 chips. Have you tried removing the expansion ram,
running the test again? Then replacing the expansion ram one chip at
a time, trying both sockets. This should show wherein lies the
problem.

Tom,

Thank you for the reply. I did some more checking and ran the Bios test one more time. This time I did not get any errors. I rebooted the machine, it came up to the Windows 98 screen, stayed on it for almost a minute, then scandisk started, but then flashed and immediately came up in DOS again. I got the error, HIMEM.SYS is missing, and followed by a C:\>

Not sure whats next. Like I mentioned in my first post, I have attempted the Windows98 startup disk and still can't seem to get out of DOS. Thanks. Larry.

tom lightbody wrote:welcome to the forum:-)

your 288megs of RAM is 32megs on the planar plus 256megs expansion:
probably 2 128 PC66 chips. Have you tried removing the expansion ram,
running the test again? Then replacing the expansion ram one chip at
a time, trying both sockets. This should show wherein lies the
problem.

Hi all,

Here is where I am currently with my TP600. I went to do a scandisk from the C:/, and I got this message.

Scandisk is unable to check a drive because there is no extended memory driver loaded on your computer.
To check this drive, make sure that you have a HIMEM.SYS file on the disk from which you are starting you computer, and then restart using the 'Command Prompt only' option (not 'Safe mode, command prompt only') Depending on the location of the HIMEM.SYS file, you may need to add a line such as DEVICE=A:\HIMEM.SYS or DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\HIMEM.SYS in the CONFIG.SYS on your boot drive.

I guess I am in over my head on this. Can someone point me the right direction to get this file reloaded on my HD from DOS? Thanks, Larry.

Hi,

I restarted the cpu again and got back to my C:\ prompt. I did the cd windows and got to C:/WINDOWS. Then did the C:\WINDOWS>dir himem.sys. The HIMEM.SYS file is on the HD and shows up as 1 file @ 33,191 bytes. Also did the same on the emm386 file and it shows up as 125,495 bytes. I have done some more reading about this particular issue and from what I have read it says it is either a memory or a motherboard issue. If anyone has any input about this, please let me know. Thank you. Larry.

Uh, it's been a long time since I did troubleshooting on Win95/Win98.

As I recall, the last line in your autoexec.bat starts up Windows. I would recommend commenting that out (with "rem") for testing. Also comment out all lines from your config.sys except the himem.sys and emm386.sys. (You might make copies of autoexec.bat and config.sys first as that will make it easier getting back to the original config.)

Now restart your ThinkPad and watch the screen closely, and see whether emm386 or himem report any errors. Do they?

And did you do what Tom L suggested, removing one stick of memory at a time?

Tom,

I did pull the 2 sticks of memory out and try to reboot. Both times I came back with the same result. In my C:\autoexec.bat here is how it reads..........
@ECHO OFF
PATH c:\windows;c:\windows\COMMAND;C\THINKPAD;C:\IBMtools
SET PS2MSG=C:\THINKPAD\PS2.MSG

REM The following line is for hibernation
C:\ThinkPad\PS2 HFILE C

REM The following is no longer required. It maybe deleted.
if exist C:\MFGBOOTI.REG C:\WINDOWS\REGEDIT C:\MFGBOOTI.REG

I checked the CONFIG.SYS and found the whole page to be blank. I don't think this page is supposed to be blank. Someone please let me know on this. Thank you. Larry.

well, this is getting interesting: is it an electro-mechanical
problem, or is it a problem with the OS?

leaving the hardware alone, how about trying another OS: for example,
one of the "live" versions of linux that runs from the CD-ROM and/or
memory, leaving entirely alone the hard drive. "knoppix" is a good
one: also "puppy linux"--I have run both on this 600e, they give it a
good workout, and do not involve the hd: you can pull it out.

if it/they work, the OS is the problem. Else...0-(

Tom L: The OS isn't the problem, something happened to his config.sys file. Judging by what I've quoted below, I think fiddling around with even a LiveCD of Linux is only going to confuse him more.

Larry: It sounds like you're fighting two issues at the same time - not an effective way to troubleshoot. Let's fix your windows problem first. Take out the two memory sticks for now (just to simplify things), and read on...

supercomp923 wrote:I checked the CONFIG.SYS and found the whole page to be blank. I don't think this page is supposed to be blank. Someone please let me know on this. Thank you. Larry.

That blank config.sys file is the reason scandisk gave you the error message you posted earlier:

supercomp923 wrote:Scandisk is unable to check a drive because there is no extended memory driver loaded on your computer.
To check this drive, make sure that you have a HIMEM.SYS file on the disk from which you are starting you computer, and then restart using the 'Command Prompt only' option (not 'Safe mode, command prompt only') Depending on the location of the HIMEM.SYS file, you may need to add a line such as DEVICE=A:\HIMEM.SYS or DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\HIMEM.SYS in the CONFIG.SYS on your boot drive.

Windows needs the himem.sys driver loaded in order to run scandisk, but for some reason your CONFIG.SYS file has been emptied. Windows98 still uses a DOS-like environment at boot time (it's a direct descendant of the old Windows 3.x series that ran on top of DOS.

The above error message is telling you exactly how to fix not having the himem driver loaded, so let's do start with that. Here's the steps:

1. Boot machine to C: prompt.
2. Type "edit config.sys" and press enter. The file (it's only ascii text) will be loaded into the DOS text editor.
3. Type "device=c:\windows\himem.sys" onto the first line of the file, and then save and exit. Note that I didn't capitalize anything - DOS doesn't care about that, so it's not necessary.
4. On the next line, type "device=c:\windows\emm386.exe"
5. Save the file and exit the editor.
5. Once back to DOS, type "copy config.sys config.rmm" (replacing the 'rmm' with your initials) to make a backup copy of config.sys. This way, you can just copy that backup over config.sys instead of doing all the other typing again.
5. Reboot.

This should fix scandisk's problem and allow you to scan the hard drive. Once you've done that and are back at a prompt, type "win" and hit enter. You should see Windows come up.

If it does, we can move on to working on your memory issue.

Rob

Rob:

Thank you for your input. I removed the memory sticks from my unit. I then rebooted and got to the c:\. Got into the config.sys in DOS then input the himem.sys line. When I ALT+F and went to save it I get and EDIT box that appeared and it says "General error while accessing file.
'C:\CONFIG.SYS'

Appreciate all of the assistance you all are providing me. Thanks. Larry.

supercomp923 wrote:Rob:

Thank you for your input. I removed the memory sticks from my unit. I then rebooted and got to the c:\. Got into the config.sys in DOS then input the himem.sys line. When I ALT+F and went to save it I get and EDIT box that appeared and it says "General error while accessing file.
'C:\CONFIG.SYS'

Appreciate all of the assistance you all are providing me. Thanks. Larry.

Okay, that's not what I expected. CONFIG.sys may have the read-only bit tripped, which would prevent you from saving changes.

Boot back to the C:> prompt, and type the following: "attrib -r config.sys" and hit enter. Then go back and try again to edit the file. Put in both the himem.sys and emm386.exe lines, just to be safe.

Rob

Rob:

Hi, I rebooted back the the c:> attrib -r config.sys. Got this, General failure writing drive C
Abort, Retry, Fail?
I double checked everything and attempted this 3 times with the same result. Thank you. Larry.

Rob Mayercik wrote:

supercomp923 wrote:Rob:

Thank you for your input. I removed the memory sticks from my unit. I then rebooted and got to the c:\. Got into the config.sys in DOS then input the himem.sys line. When I ALT+F and went to save it I get and EDIT box that appeared and it says "General error while accessing file.
'C:\CONFIG.SYS'

Appreciate all of the assistance you all are providing me. Thanks. Larry.

Okay, that's not what I expected. CONFIG.sys may have the read-only bit tripped, which would prevent you from saving changes.

Boot back to the C:> prompt, and type the following: "attrib -r config.sys" and hit enter. Then go back and try again to edit the file. Put in both the himem.sys and emm386.exe lines, just to be safe.

Rob

supercomp923 wrote:Rob:

Hi, I rebooted back the the c:> attrib -r config.sys. Got this, General failure writing drive C
Abort, Retry, Fail?
I double checked everything and attempted this 3 times with the same result. Thank you. Larry.

At the risk of worrying you, that error message doesn't sound very promising. I'd suggest backing this thing up before we go any further, just to be safe.

You have a couple of options for this -

1. You can pick up a USB external enclosure (for 2.5-inch drive) and use it to connect the drive to another machine and copy off everything you can.

2. Look for disk imaging software that can be booted off of CDROM or floppy and use it to image direct to CDR (assuming you have a CDRW drive, as well as both the IBM floppy drive and its external enclosure.

There are probably other backup methods too - use whatever works best for you.

How long have you been using this hard drive?

If any of the other forum members have any thoughts on this, now would be a good time to toss your 2 cents in...

Rob

Rob,

Thank you for all of your help. This particular computer may be too far gone to retrieve. I will go ahead and try to get all that I can off of the HD. Thank you again. Larry. Wichita. KS.

Rob Mayercik wrote:

supercomp923 wrote:Rob:

Hi, I rebooted back the the c:> attrib -r config.sys. Got this, General failure writing drive C
Abort, Retry, Fail?
I double checked everything and attempted this 3 times with the same result. Thank you. Larry.

At the risk of worrying you, that error message doesn't sound very promising. I'd suggest backing this thing up before we go any further, just to be safe.

You have a couple of options for this -

1. You can pick up a USB external enclosure (for 2.5-inch drive) and use it to connect the drive to another machine and copy off everything you can.

2. Look for disk imaging software that can be booted off of CDROM or floppy and use it to image direct to CDR (assuming you have a CDRW drive, as well as both the IBM floppy drive and its external enclosure.

There are probably other backup methods too - use whatever works best for you.

How long have you been using this hard drive?

If any of the other forum members have any thoughts on this, now would be a good time to toss your 2 cents in...

Rob

supercomp923 wrote:Rob,

Thank you for all of your help. This particular computer may be too far gone to retrieve. I will go ahead and try to get all that I can off of the HD. Thank you again. Larry. Wichita. KS.

Let's not panic just yet - there may be a couple of things we can try still.

Do you have access to another hard drive that you could use in this computer? If so, try building up the system from scratch and see if everything comes up okay.

Also, many folks on here have seen a vide variety of error codes come up when the CMOS battery goes dead (I've had mine tell me my CPU fan was dying, for example). Check to see if the CMOS battery (found in by the RAM slots) is reading under three volts. If it is, replace it (only a few bucks) and see if the diagnostics still show those errors in your original post.

Rob,

Thank you for taking the time to help me with my problem 600. Problem no more. I have a USB hard drive dock coming on Ebay and just need to put a HD in it and I will attempt to retrieve my HD, if possible. If I can't, so be it. Mostly, all of what I need to get off of it is in wordpad, mostly racing notes. (I campaign dragbikes locally).

I purchased a T23 last night on Ebay, 1.2 gb HD and 128 mg of ram, so it looks as if I will be purchasing more ram, as this unit will max out at 1.0 gb ram. (2-512 mb sticks). Another improvement will be XP-I hope. Thanks again. Larry, Wichita, KS.

Rob Mayercik wrote:

supercomp923 wrote:Rob,

Thank you for all of your help. This particular computer may be too far gone to retrieve. I will go ahead and try to get all that I can off of the HD. Thank you again. Larry. Wichita. KS.

Let's not panic just yet - there may be a couple of things we can try still.

Do you have access to another hard drive that you could use in this computer? If so, try building up the system from scratch and see if everything comes up okay.

Also, many folks on here have seen a vide variety of error codes come up when the CMOS battery goes dead (I've had mine tell me my CPU fan was dying, for example). Check to see if the CMOS battery (found in by the RAM slots) is reading under three volts. If it is, replace it (only a few bucks) and see if the diagnostics still show those errors in your original post.