Thinkpads Forum

I have an IBM Thinkpad 600E. Lately, it started giving me blue screens and restarting. On the occasion that it didn't restart, it said the BIOS had detected a hardware problem or failure and shut Windows down. So, I booted into the hardware diagnostics and ran tests on the various components (systemboard, memory, hard disk, etc.). The systemboard showed the following error code:

dev 001
err 91
fru 3610

Looking that up on Google, it seems it's either the CMOS battery needing to be replaced or the motherboard has gone bad.

However, for whatever reason, it will boot into Safe Mode and not flip out. I would think if it were truly a systemboard or CMOS battery that is the problem, Safe Mode wouldn't fix the issue, would it?

At any rate, I went and bought a CR 2025 lithium battery and connected the terminals on the wires to it with electrical tape. That didn't solve the issue.

So I guess my questions are:

1. Would it make any difference to buy an actual OEM CMOS battery with the terminals soldered on or should my much cheaper solution have worked if the battery was the issue?

2. If it will boot into Safe Mode without any problem and not have the hardware failure blue screen, would that mean that it's not actually a hardware issue and might be a Windows issue? And thus, would blowing away the install and reinstalling fix it? I'd rather not do this unless absolutely necessary because there are some programs I would lose that I don't have the CDs for anymore.

Any advice and insight would be much appreciated.

titantiger wrote:dev 001
err 91
fru 3610

dev 001 = systemboard
err 91 = ? unknown
fru 3610 = 36 (battery pack) or 10 (systemboard)

The details of which number match which FRU are in the Hardware Maintenance Manual. I don't think "battery pack" specifies which battery it is, so your problem could also be your main battery or your back up battery as well as your CMOS battery. I've never heard of anyone having errors crop up due to a bad backup battery, so I would check the main battery before doing anything more drastic. For e.g, try pulling the main battery out and running the diagnostics again. Also, I would try cleaning the contacts for your main battery and ensuring that it is locked in place securely.

titantiger wrote:1. Would it make any difference to buy an actual OEM CMOS battery with the terminals soldered on or should my much cheaper solution have worked if the battery was the issue?

Hard to say. Normally, when the CMOS battery is involved, there is an initial error when you boot (without requiring going through the system tests), and it refers to the fan (which isn't running properly because of the CMOS problem). That is normally the giveaway that your CMOS is the culprit. Without that error, it's hard to pinpoint.

titantiger wrote:2. If it will boot into Safe Mode without any problem and not have the hardware failure blue screen, would that mean that it's not actually a hardware issue and might be a Windows issue?

I don't think so. If the system diagnostics indicate a problem, then you've got a hardware problem. Maybe it is just luck that the hardware problem does not crop up in Safe Mode right away. Not sure why that would be, but battery problems can be tricky: random and intermittent.

Phil.

Now that's interesting. No one has mentioned the main battery before, but that battery has been essentially dead for a while now. I run it off of AC power all the time because it won't hold a charge for even a minute.

I'm testing it now. We'll see how it does without the battery pack attached.

Here is a similar case
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... highlight=
It is a known fact that a dead main battery will cause the diagnostics program to report the error codes mentioned.

Well, from my keyboard to God's ears, it looks like the main battery suggestion may have done it. It's been running for over 4 hours now and hasn't blue screened or restarted. And the diagnostic tested ok too. It had done that right after I initially changed the CMOS battery but then it ended up messing up after booting again, so this is real progress.

Thanks so much.

I do have a follow up question...or two. I've read that the 600E or perhaps the whole 600 series had a problem with the main battery in general...like perhaps it didn't seem to do a good job of detecting when the battery was fully charged and thus continued to try and charge it, resulting in short battery life for these models. Is there anything to that?

If I wanted to replace this with a slightly newer model, when did they stop using this rubbery material in the wrist rest area? The stuff is peeling off and I'd like my next one to just have hard plastic.

titantiger wrote:I've read that the 600E or perhaps the whole 600 series had a problem with the main battery in general [....] Is there anything to that?

Yes, some truth to it, though details are a bit hazy and it is not clear if these problems were partially resolved in later batteries shipped for the 600X machines. More info is available on the IBM ThinkPad 600 Battery Page. Many people now use IBM-clone batteries purchased through eBay or wherever with great success. I personally now use "refilled" batteries that use the original IBM circuitry but have had their cells replaced and the battery repacked. I get 1.5-2 hours per recharge on batteries up till they are about 2 years old. Eventually when the batteries start to go dead, I end up with similar sudden drops in estimated remaining power, and I now take that as a sign that one or more cells have gone bad inside my battery pack. I'm not sure that the generic/clone batteries do any better in that respect.

titantiger wrote:If I wanted to replace this with a slightly newer model, when did they stop using this rubbery material in the wrist rest area?

Don't know. You might try posting your question in the Thinkpad - General HARDWARE/SOFTWARE questions forum.

Phil.

The 770 and 600 series must have been the last ones to have the rubbery material on the palm rest.
The i-series and the T2x, A2x series have hard plastic palm rests.

Hi

So what you are saying is that a dead battery even though the laptop is plugged into the wall could through errors?

Alan

That appears to be the case. I closed the lid and put it to sleep last night after it ran for 5 hours without incident. Woke it up this morning, ran a couple of Windows security updates and rebooted. Not problems at all. Before, rebooting or doing anything was an adventure. And it never stayed up more than a few minutes before the BSOD. It's been up since 8am this morning, so almost 6 hours without trouble.

And all after I simply removed the dead/freaking-out battery.

I've seen dead main batteries cause problems with these 600's. The 600x I'm using now if I put one battery I have in it the machine shuts down and re-boots all by itself.. The battery must be so bad, or maybe even has a short that the machine re-boots when the battery is in.

W/O the battery the computer runs fine...

kingman99 (and responders): I've split your discussion of your 600X battery problems off into a separate thread: 600X Battery and Boot Problems.

This message will self-destruct in 2 or 3 days.

Phil.