Thinkpads Forum

A few years ago, I bought a laptop off eBay - I had NO IDEA what I was getting into. I knew NOTHING about computers -internally. I can read and type thought!!! Now I have another laptop and a desktop that I have re-built ... and am curious to re-do my first. That's my IBM Thinkpad 380D - 2635 -2AU. Has a COA for windows 95 sticker on the bottom, but I guess it belonged to a University and they wiped the HDD clean before they got rid of it. No big problem!!! I tried throwing 'Linux' into the machine, but I can't get into the BIOS!!! The machine refuses to read from the CD, it must have the floppy as default. I tried f1 with machine powered off - then powered up laptop while tapping key - but display shows 'error screen' with a few codes below it (00161,00163) I can press enterand get into the clock and date, but that's as far as it'll go. I am asking "iss there ANOTHER trick?".

I can remember I had a few resource addresses for the operator manual and error codes and stuff, but like I said - that was a while ago...

Welcome to the forum!

Your CMOS (BIOS) battery needs to be replaced, hence 161/163 errors. These can be found on eBay for $10 shipped or so...

Good luck.

Once you have the CMOS battery issue resolved, I'd suggest you give Puppy Linux 4.1.2retro a try. Burn the CD at 8x. I have Puppy Linux 4.1.1retro on my Thinkpad600E. I briefly tried D**n Small Linux, but it wasn't as user-friendly as Puppy Linux.

ieee<<<thanks!!!! I got a Linux CD a while ago (2007)< I was gonna try that. Get the puppy edition off bootdisk?

I got the CMOS battery installed ($4.95 to-the-door), but the dinosaur won't boot from the CD-ROM!!! I got into the BIOS set -up and told it to, but the machine won't listen!!! http://forum.thinkpads.com/posting.php? ... =6&t=72422# So NOW what?

I'm gonna look for that Linux puppy now ...

Does the BIOS support booting from the battery? If so have you tested your boot disc on another computer? If not you will need to create a boot floppy with CD-ROM drivers on them to access the CD from DOS.

I also recommend putting a copy of himem.sys, emm386.exe and smartdrv.exe on the boot floppy.

I usually create a DOS directory on the floppy and put my CD files, emm386, himem, smartdrv and others such as attrib, fdisk, format, sys.com, xcopy and edit in there as well. This way I have a few tools handy should they be required.

Edit config.sys (on the floppy) so it reads something like this:

DEVICE=A:\DOS\HIMEM.SYS
DEVICEHIGH=A:\DOS\EMM386.EXE
DEVICEHIGH=A:\DOS\OEMCD001.sys /D:001 <-- Where oemcd001.sys is the name of the CD driver and /D is the drive letter

Edit Autoexec.bat to look like this;

@ECHO OFF
LH A:\DOS\SMARTDRV.EXE 4096 4096 <-- Creates a 4MB buffer for DOS and WIN. Greatly improves speed of Windows 95 install process.
LH A:\DOS\MSCDEX.EXE /D:OEMCD001

You should be good to go. If config.sys isn't happy with OEMCD001.SYS, remove the /D stuff from the line so it reads DEVICEHIGH=A:\DOS\OEMCD001.SYS

You should be able to boot off the floppy, switch to D:\ and run SETUP.EXE /IS where the /IS switch will skip the disk check stuff.

Good luck.

Okay, NOW I get codes 199990302 and 199990305 when I power on the machine ... do those codes relate to not having an OS installed? I can't seem to get an OS installed, b/c the appaerent default is to boot from floppy. I got into the BIOS and changed that - it reads FDD 1, HDD, PCMCIA, Network, and FDD2. I set it to FDD1 ,FDD2, HDD, and network (as there are only four available empty boxes).

Temetka< That all looks pretty involved, and with your advice via post I hope I can pull it off!!! One little problem - HOW DO I GET TO DOS? Is that something that might have been wiped clean by the former owner of the hard disc?

Temetka< I tried to see if I can do ANYTHING without the power cord attached, but NOW the battery won't charge. I was checking, and I'd pay more for a battery NEW than I paid for the laptop. This lapttp will never have the capabilities that my other laptop has, so I can't see spending the money on it right now. Thanks for you help, amyhow!!!

You get to DOS by booting from a DOS floppy.

Of course your machine will need a floppy drive. You will also have to create the floppy on another machine. You can create a DOS bootable floppy in Windows.

Go here for some info:

http://www.computerhope.com/boot.htm

Also. Pull the battery out and let it set for 24 hours. Then try plugging it back in and see if it works for you.