Thinkpads Forum

Anyone know how to disable the On-Board Ram on an Ibm 600 Please? Windows 2000 Pro Starts, then keeps Re-Booting just as it gets to the end of the Startup Bars.
Have searched this site & found how to do it on the 600E. Could it be the Same?
Many Thanks.

Ibm Thinkpad 600 (2645-510) off eBay
Bios was 97H4069 (Try Googling that)!!!
Bios Now IBET54WW (Latest Release)
6gb Travelstar (9mm)
Originally came up with 225 Error, (Bad Ram)? but Removed the 100mhz 128mb Chips & I've not seen this Error since.

Laptop will Boot from an MsDos Floppy & a DrDos Cd Okay with or without Ram Installed.

Problem : Windows 2000 Pro will not Start. As soon as Startup Bars have Finished, Laptop Re-Boots & does the Same again & again in a continuous Loop..............!!!!!!

I have several Ibm's & the Hdd + 2 x 32mb, Pc66, Brand New Ram Chips work perfectly in the 2645-850 okay (with the Latest IBET54WW bios)

The 6gb Hdd also Boots up a 600E & a 600X Fine.

Easy Setup accessed okay but Password & Boot Order Options are Greyed Out!!! Never seen this Before, but I think it May be a Corporate Laptop from an Unknown Company.

There are NO Passwords Set

ALL tests Pass (Blue Ok under each Installed Part) in Easy Setup

All Bits Removed (Pcmcia, Cd Rom, Modem, Battery) & Tried again to no avail.

New Cmos Battery Fitted.......Still the Same.

Swapped the Whole Keyboard assembly over......Still the Same.

Trackpoint works Fine on Both.

I don't know how to Disable the On-Board Ram on a 600, but this Might Help, (I can always change it Back if anyone knows).

I have had Dozens of Ibm's over the Years, & I still keep Buying them (as a Retirement Hobby) if I see them Cheap Enough. I'm Not a Dealer, I Just enjoy working on & Collecting Them.

I Currently Have in my 'Museum' 4 x 600E - 2 x 600X - 2 x 600's Plus Several others (T22 - T23 - 570E - 765L)

Does anyone have any Suggestions?

Thanks in Anticipation.

Hopefully the disabling of the memory will work as you have pretty much tried all. You would change the 600 the same way as 600e/x, via the hex editor.

http://www.techsupportforum.com/hardwar ... oblem.html

Post nbr 18..P.S. do not initiaize the bios once you are done..it will re-set the 32MB on board ram to be active

Thanks to ms5133 & vanaya for the suggestions, but none of them work. I've 'shelved' this 600 for the time being & may break / use it for parts, unless a cheap Mobo comes up on eBay.

I don't think the original 225 error has anything to do with Windows 2000 keep 'Looping' when trying to start.

If anyone has any other suggestions though, I'm willing to try them while the Laptop is still in 1 piece.

Is it possible that your Windows 2000 install and/or registry got corrupted somehow? If you can boot with a DOS disk, then it points to a software problem.

Can you safe boot? (pressing F8 while the bars are still showing)?

I seem to recall that I had a problem like this with my 770E running Win2000 SP4 that I "solved" by using some DOS commands to revert my registry files to earlier backup versions. But if I recall correctly, I think I eventually ended up wiping that entire drive and reinstalling from scratch...

Phil.

Out of the list of things you tried, i did not see a mention of the main battery. I had a 600 that would continuously loop like that when trying to load the OS. It was because the battery was dead and causing issues with the MB.

After several loops, I tried removing the battery and it booted no problems. I have no idea why one would affect the other, but it worked for me.

Just an update......I was testing some batteries I bought on E-bay tonight. One of the batteries was bad and it caused the same symptoms as you have described. This was tested in a 600E with W2K Pro. It would start loading, then at the end of the progress bar, I got a blue screen with some messages, but it rebooted too fast to be able to read them. It looped back to the post screen and started loading the OS all over again in a loop. It did this 3 times before I pulled the battery. With just the AC, it booted fine.

Hope that helps.