F1 isn't getting me into BIOS

[WildThink]

This is a 600X that I picked up without a hard drive and cdrom. I am new to thinkpads and laptops in general. I installed a refurbished 40 gig hard drive and a used cdrom. Before I did this, it was booting all the way to a screen with a picture of a floppy disk drive and moving arrow pointing at it. (I need to set the bios to first look at the cdrom.) However, now-

I press the off/on slider switch on the side.....and I immediately begin holding down F1 continuously.

It shows me "130496 KB OK" in the upper left hand corner of the screen, then I see the pretty blue IBM in the upper right corner and the ThinkPad with a red dot over the "i" at the bottom, and that is where everything stays.

The square Battery light goes solid green.

The little Hard Disk In Use led is a solid Orange. (Of course, the hard drive I put in it doesn't have anything on it.) Also, at the point this light comes on, the speakers make a solid popping-buzzing sound for a couple of seconds.

The little Power On led is a solid green.

All other leds are not not lit.

And that is how it sets. I am thinking maybe to pull the hard drive and see if I can get it back to booting to the screen with the arrow pointing tothe floppy drive, next. But I am a bit taken aback that the F1 didn't take me into bios before it tried to access the hard drive. So, I though I would first ask on this forum before I mess something up simply trying things blindly. Shouldn't F1 be letting me into the bios?

Thanks!

[rkawakami]

Welcome to thinkpads.com!

Try holding the F1 key down BEFORE sliding the power switch and keep it held down until the Easy-Setup screen is displayed. It should work as you have described, but try this.

If that doesn't work, then by all means, pull the hard drive AND the CDROM and try to access the BIOS again. There may be a problem with the drive or the IDE interface on the motherboard.

Normally, the only LEDs that should be on when the BIOS is accessed is the power light (far right of the five). If the hard drive LED is on, then I would say something is wrong.

[WildThink]

Thanks rkawakami! I started removing stuff I had put into the machine and when I got to a 64 MB card (the last thing) it worked! I then put everything back into the laptop (except the 64 MB or RAM) and it still worked!

That 64 MB was suppose to have been out of a 600X, but I guess not!

Hey! Hey! I am installing Mandriva 2007 OS!

Thanks rkawankami! You got me on my way!

[rkawakami]

The 600X has 64MB on-board so you can boot the system without any memory modules installed. It will accept "low-density", 256MB PC100 or PC133 modules. Those are the ones with 16 chips on them (8 per side). As you can see in my .sig, I've currently got all my 600X systems running with 576MB which works fine for Windows XP, even though they are mostly 500Mhz systems. You can download a copy of PC Doctor for DOS for the 600X laptop from here:

IBM 600X Software and Device Drivers (be sure to select 600X components)

Scroll down to the Diagnostics section and you will see the link for PC Doctor. This original version will create a bootable diskette (still got a floppy drive?). I have put those files into an .ISO image suitable for burning a bootable CDROM. That file is hosted on my site here:

http://www.kawakami-ca.com/ibm_600x/dgpcdoc.iso

[WildThink]

Thanks! I'll check it out....although, you must realize, Mandriva 2007 is Linux. I don't run any Microsoft operating system at all on any of my computers....haven't since win95.

If you were me, would you buy the RAM new from someone like MemoryTen (http://www.memoryx.net/) at their higher prices or would you try picking it up on ebay cheaper? (eBay is where I picked up the extra 64 MB card that was messing me up in the boot...maybe that was a fluke...).

In otherwords, where do you yourself generally perfer to purchase your own 256 MB modules for your Thinkpad 600X's?

[rkawakami]

Yes, I know about that Linux stuff . Just saying that the laptop runs good with a full complement of memory given the drag on resources that MS inflicts upon the user.

I buy all of my memory off of eBay. It bugs me to no end that I have to do that, especially with the older PC100 and PC133 modules. I am a *memory* test engineer and the company I work for used to be in the DRAM business. As such, I had a pretty good source of modules . Many years ago the decision was made to exit the cut-throat main memory market. Old inventory was basically thrown out. I didn't think about doing any "dumpster diving" until it was too late . Besides, I didn't own any laptops at the time which took the PC100/133 memories. Given the current market on eBay, I'd say that I would spend about $30 to $35 (shipped) for low-density 256MB PC100 modules. But that's just me. I'm cheap .

No matter where you decide to buy your memory, just be sure to fully check it out with something like PC Doctor or memtest86+.

edit: Just checked memoryx.net... OUCH! $70 for a 256MB module! This is my latest purchase off of eBay for the same thing (FRU 33L3070):

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0068904913

Don't let the shipping price fool you if it says "$24.76". That's for UPS 3 day shipping. I elected to take the $6.05 USPS Priority rate, so the total cost was $62.05 for three modules. And it took the same 3 days .

[WildThink]

Thanks rkawakami! I'm cheap too! But I've noticed that cheap only works when what you buy actually works. So I just wanted to be sure that is what you'd recommend.

And yes, I use Memtest 86+ also-------so we are both on the same page.

That's really a shame about that dumpster diving opprotunity. Have you found a way to capitalize on the side on your skills as a Memory Test Engineer?

My 600X is only 450 Mhz. Is it very hard and is it worth it to try to take it up to 600 Mhz?

[rkawakami]

But I've noticed that cheap only works when what you buy actually works.

Amen to that! I haven't been burned too many times with eBay-sourced memory. In fact, I think just last week has been the only time that I got a module that didn't pass my incoming QA procedure (512MB PC133). And I've probably have purchased about 20-25 modules in the last couple of years.

Have you found a way to capitalize on the side on your skills as a Memory Test Engineer?

Besides hanging out here? No, not really. There's only been a couple of times when I had the opportunity to do some "contractor" type in the recent past. The business is not what it used to be years ago.

My 600X is only 450 Mhz. Is it very hard and is it worth it to try to take it up to 600 Mhz?

Not sure about the processor upgrades. The only time I've done something like that is going from a 366Mhz CPU in a 600E, to a 400Mhz (just so it matches another system I have). Or a 1.2Ghz upgrade to a 1.13Ghz T23 (since I blew up a motherboard). The 450 to 600Mhz jump I think requires a SpeedStep enabled system, but I could be wrong on that point. There's plenty of resources here that can be found by using the Search link at the top of the page. All of the 600X systems currently in inventory are 500Mhz machines except for a lone 650Mhz. But in the last several months I've been busy (understatement) with the T23s.

(edit: Oh, I forgot to mention that you can also find some good deals here in the Marketplace forum.)

[WildThink]

I'll check out the Marketplace forum. Sounds interesting!

So, if I am using Memtest 86+, how many full passes do you recommend I let it run through before figuring the memory is good?

[rkawakami]

I generally let it go a minimum of two complete passes through the standard tests. On occasion, I've forgotten that it's running and by the time I get back to it, maybe 4 or 5 passes have elapsed. So far, I haven't found any problems with my installed memory modules but not all of the functional systems are in active use. The 600Xs see very little activity. There's one being used by my daugther (it's on almost 24/7) and two others are on standby for visitor's use. However, I'm trying to transition her over to a T23 as soon as I can pry it from her fingers .

At work we had run some correlation studies using memtest86+ against our ATE (automated test equipment) systems and found that most errors (I'd say 90%) found by the multi-million dollar ATE was duplicated with memtest86+. Quite a good result.

[WildThink]

I have been thinking about this 64 MB module that would mess up the boot.

The Thinkpad read "130496 KB OK". Surely if I had inserted it in the wrong slot, of the two slots possible, it would not have read it all....you think?

[rkawakami]

My understanding is that the laptop should only run a real quick check to see how big a module(s) has been installed. Once it knows how large memory is, it then checks the validity of the memory. Depending upon a BIOS setting, it's either a simple (quick) check or a little bit more extensive test. However, I have seen reports of BIOS reporting the correct amount of memory but the system would not boot. Sorta depends upon the nature of the error in the memory module.

What brand of module is it and are there any part numbers/markings on it that might help identify what you have?

[WildThink]

It has a paper sticky that says:

HYM7V65801 HYUNDAI
BTQG-10S BA-A KOREA
PC100-322-620 0024

I guess I am just starting to worry that there could be something wrong on the laptop side.....that would be bad....as then the 256 MB RAM might not work either....


It sounds like your daughter is really in love with her 600X! I can understand that, not even having got to use it, I already love its look and feel! Ha Ha Ha

[rkawakami]

It has a paper sticky that says:

HYM7V65801 HYUNDAI
BTQG-10S BA-A KOREA
PC100-322-620 0024

Like this one?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0053510015

Does it also have the IBM FRU label on it? Should be 20L0264 and from looking at the pics on the eBay page, are there eight chips on the module?

[WildThink]

There wasn't anything about 20L0264 I don't think. Here is the one I bought:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... T&viewitem

As you can see, there are 4 chips on each side though....

[WildThink]

Sorry, I cut it off. Here it is again:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... &rd=1&rd=1

[pkiff]

I have been thinking about this 64 MB module that would mess up the boot.

The Thinkpad read "130496 KB OK". Surely if I had inserted it in the wrong slot, of the two slots possible, it would not have read it all....you think?

Not sure if I've missed something in this thread or not, but WildThink, have you tried the 64MB module in the other slot? -- The 600X has two user-replaceable memory slots and then there is a third one that you can't see, a 64MB module soldered to the motherboard. As I think you are suggesting, it is possible that your memory/boot problem is caused by one of your slots and not with the memory module. I don't think you can hurt your Thinkpad by simply sticking the questionable module in the other slot (if you haven't already).

Phil.

[WildThink]

I was thinking I had originally gotten a no read situation one I tried to use the slot directly over the inboard ram, but I just now retried it to confirm, and it gives me the same results I am having with the second slot. So, that is a good sign, I'd say, that the laptop side is probably just fine, and it is just his 64 MB module that is bad or the wrong type or something.

I am having difficulties with Memtest86+ v1.65. It works great booting it up on it on my desktops, but in the Thinkpad 600X (and in a friend's Thinkpad 600e that I managed to test it in) it comes up with a black screen and begins printing "8000" to the screen like this:

8000
8000
8000
8000
etc.

However, I am going to open a new thread on this problem.