Thinkpads Forum

Hi guys, This is my first post. I have done a lot of reading here and this looks like a great community. I tried to search on this problem before posting, but couldn't find an exact match to my problem.

I bought a TP 600 2645 5NU on Ebay. The first few times I turned it on, it booted fine. But now it just gives me an ERROR 00192. When I run the test, it shows a system board error like this:

DEV 001
ERR 96
FRU 3810

If anybody can help, I would be very appreciative.

Also, maybe one of you 600 experts can help me on tis one. But if it is the system board, can I put one in from a 600E? I looked up the FRU part number from IBM and got 10L1711 for my TP600. When I plugged that into E-bay, I found a system board from a 600E: http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie ... Track=true

Although my specific computer is not listed, the FRU compatibility seems to match? Can I indeed upgrade? If I could put a system board from a 600e in my 600, then maybe i can increse the processor speed too?

Thanks for any info you can provide.

Welcome to thinkpads.com!

The error codes can be decoded from the Hardware Maintenance Manual, available from here:

600/600E HMM

Starting from page 43, there's a table of error codes. FRU 3810 refers to the fan (38 ) or the system board (10). What may be happening is that the fan is not spinning up when the system is first powered on, thus the error.

As far as replacing the 600 motherboard with one from a 600E, I have no personal experience in doing that. If you search around the archives, I'm sure somebody has confirmed if rhis does or does not work. I have a couple of 600Es but have never owned a 600.

Thanks for the quick response. Hopefully it is something as simple as the fan. I will try digging to see if I can find anything out about upgrading the system board. The E-bay auction says its compatable, but thought it would be better to ask an expert

isn't 192 a cmos error? i think a dead cmos battery will throw a 192 and that a fan error comes with that. I seem to recall seeing this on a couple TPs and correcting the problem by replacing the battery and resetting cmos.

If memory serves, the first time the CMOS battery in my 600 went dead, it threw a 192 for the fan.

Pop the memory cover off, and pull out the CMOS cell (follow the two little wires). If it's reading significantly below 3.0v, replace it.

That may just cure your issue. Even the HMM says that a dying/dead CMOs battery can cause oddball errors.

As to a 600E system board swap? I suspect that you can't, but am not 100% sure. The answer's in here somewhere though - either in the "official 600 repair/upgrade thread" at the top of the forum, or in an old post somewhere.

Oh, and welcome to Thinkpads.com, fellow TDIClubber. Hang around long enough and you should see Bthoofer pop up eventually (saw him lurking in the Gen. Discussion or Off-Topic boards recently) also.

Rob

Agree, CMOS most likely.
It is my understanding thst if the CMOS battery is weak or dead the fan won't blow cooling the CPU - hence shut down and error message. I once got the same result from the Easy Setup test, but it wasn't the MB, just the battery causing the error.
As to 600 vs. 600E MB swap - I think they're physically the same and each will fit into the bottom structure. The keyboard is the same for all 600's. It should work, but verify with an expert, like JHEM.

Thanks very much for the tips. If it is the CMOS battery, then that is good news. A lot cheaper & easier to fix that replacing the system board. I did read through the upgrades thread stickeyed at the top of this forum, but there was no mention of the upgrade. Maybe once I get the error fixed and get the computer up & running, I will start a new thread about the possibility to upgrade the system board.

As a moderator on TDIClub.com, I know how forums work and the veterans don't like answering questions that have been asked a dozen times already. So I did try to search, but couldn't find much info on the error. But I will dig into the threads to see about upgrading the system board.

Thanks again everyone

Well, that ought to teach me to quickly skim the post...

I either didn't see the 00192 mentioned in the initial message or it just did not "click" with me. Just zeroed in on the DEV/ERR/FRU stuff. It's been forever since I've brought out the 600X systems but I do remember once getting a 192 error by itself. Most of the problems I've seen relating to a bad CMOS battery is getting 161, 163 AND 192 errors all at the same time.

Sorry if I misled you Wingnut. Definitely pull the battery and check it with a voltmeter.

Well, I pulled the CMOS battery and tested it with a DMM. It read 2.83v. Its not quite the 3v its supposed to be, but would that still cause problems? I would have thought a bad battery would have been much lower?

I've had the 00192 error on a 380XD before, I think it was because of the onboard memory going out. Could that be what's happening with the 600? On the 600E I had, I'd get 161, 163 errors when the CMOS battery was removed, but not the 192 error.

Well, just for kicks, I removed the CMOS battery and tried to boot it up. I now have 3 error codes:

00173
00192
00163

So I guess the battery might have been fine and the 00192 error for the fan could be a bad fan or something in the system board?

I am going to try to put the leads from the CMOS battery onto a new 2025 cell and see if it does the same thing.

EDIT: After setting the time & date, it rebooted and gave just the one error code again: 00192. So maybe it is just the battery.

Stay tuned.............

I would disconnect and then reconnect the fan. As stated before, the 192 error when accompanied with the other CMOS error codes, is the result of the CMOS battery...HOWEVER, when the code is freestanding of the other codes, it is generally the fan. It could be that the connector for the fan came loose.

Nope, I don't think its the CMOS battery.

After pulling the leads off the CMOS battery and holding them on a new CR2025 3V lithium cell with my fingers while booting up the laptop, it still didn't boot up and showed the same error.



Thanks for your input on the fan. I will try that next

On my thinkpad 600, the 192 error can either mean a fan issue or a cmos issue. Just replaced my cmos because i was getting the 161 163 192 erros. Works like a charm, it could be either one but my guess would still to check the fan first. can u fell air coming out of the side?

I opened her up and removed the fan. I checked the pins & bent them a bit to make sure that when I reinserted the plug that the pins would make contact with he plug. Put her all back together and still the same error code.

I don't think I can hear the fan working. I hear a noise, but its probably the HD since there is no air coming from the vent holes. Should I bother to buy a new fan? I have seen some on E-bay for pretty chep. I just don't want to throw parts at it. On top of the $100 I paid for this thing, I am already down $40 for a new battery, $25 for an A/C adapter, $6 for a new CMOS battery and now another $20 or so for a replacement fan.

Have you tried running it without the battery?

Yes, I tried it without the CMOS battery. That is when I got the 3 codes instead of just the one. The main power battery is NFG, so it has been removed and was never part of the equasion.

I have purchased a new fan online for $10, so I will wait till it comes in and swap it in. If that doesn't work, I will look at upgrade options for the system board. If I have to chage it, I might as well upgrade. It is currently a PII 266. I 'm pretty sure I can change it to at least a 300 mhz, but if I can go higher than that, I am going to look into my options.

Having just been inside my 600 last weekend, there's definitely no magic to the fan (and it almost looks as if you could replace the fan itself without changing the heatsink/duct assembly.

When you get the new fan installed, keep your hand near the exhaust port as you switch the computer on. These machines use the CMOS battery to turn the fan on for a couple of seconds just as you power up.

If nothing else, you can use that tidbit as an aliveness check when you get the new module in.

Rob

Just for kicks, I thought I would try to power up the beast this morning. And what do you know, the fan started blowing and the thing booted up???

I already bought a new fan, so i am going to replace it anyway, but do you think a fan can be flakey like that or could it be something else, like a system board problem causing the fan to work sporadically?

Also, I want to update the Bios. Can anyone tell me how to find out what version I am currently running? The latest for my TP600 as per the IBM site is 1.22.

Thanks.

The fan can began to be flaky, as a sign of it going bad. I would definately replace it.

As for the BIOS, you can boot into the BIOS, by pressing F1 at boot. When you are on the main screen, it will list the BIOS version. The latest will not read as 1.22, but rather IBET54WW. If the number in the middle is less than 54, you have an older version.

For the record, I WOULD NOT update the BIOS until AFTER you have the fan installed and you are able to boot the system consistently.

Also, make sure that you have a working battery, that charges to 100%.

Thanks for the info. I did boot up to the set-up screen to try to find it earlier, but did not know how to decode the number given. I will try it again later now that I have your info .

As for the bios update, I have read the info on the IBM website, so no worries there. I have a new (repacked) battery on its way since the one that came with the laptop is DOA. Once I get the new batt & can confirm everything is running as it should, I will update the BIOS if necessary. I am also coonsidering upgrading the CPU to a 400mhz, Should I do that before the BIOS update too?

Thanks.

Actually, I would perform the BIOS update BEFORE installing the 400MHz CPU...not that it should make a difference, but since you are adding something to the machine, that it wasn't originally spec'd with, it wouldn't hurt to place it safe.

I rebooted it in set-up mode and there is no number that looks like the one you posted.

It has a BIOS part number & date, but no version number?

It came with XP preinstalled, so I woul dhave to assume it has the latest version on it as that was required for XP was it not?

Well, can you post what it says?

It should read something similar to:

IBM BIOS Version, Date IBET54WW (10-12-2001)

I think you have version 1.05:

IBM BIOS File Matrix wrote:1.05 ibet35ww 25 Sep 1998 sytpt105

The date is the same...

EDIT: I just did a quick google search and found a thread on our own forum.

In case anyone is interested, the problem was not the fan. I replaced it with a used one and the problem was still there. It turns out the CMOS battery was the problem. It was strong enough to keep time, but not to start the fan on boot-up, thus causing the fan error 192.

Wow, I am really suprised by that...but atleast you have it fixed now.

tfflivemb2 wrote:Wow, I am really suprised by that...but atleast you have it fixed now.

Yeah, me too. I bought a fan and a CMOS battery from the same place and changed both at the same time. Stiil the error occured. So I put my homemade CMOS battery in (cut the leads off my old one and heat shrinked them to a 2025 cell) and everything is working now

I also upgraded my CPU to a PII 400 that I bougt off E-bay. Now I just need some more RAM.

Thanks to everyone who helped

Wingnut wrote:I also upgraded my CPU to a PII 400 that I bougt off E-bay. Now I just need some more RAM.

I'm interested in knowing how this went. I have a 380XD with a PII in it as well and am planning on using it for my son's machine.