Thinkpads Forum

I have a Thinkpad 380ED. According to the model comparison table, the 380ED does NOT support USB, whilst the model 380XD does.
Is this simply a BIOS issue, or is there additional harware on the motherboard of the 380XD.
I would like to have my 380ED with USB compatibility. Will the 380ED accept a PCMCIA USB adapter? Will I need to upgrade the BIOS?

Thanks,
Dave Skye

There is no way to "upgrade" your 380ED to enable a USB device.

In order to use a PC card for USB, the laptop must have Cardbus (32BIT) slots. The 380ED has PCMCIA (16BIT) slots.

There's no such thing as a 16BIT USB card.

Regards,

James

Thank you, James.
Does the same argument apply to the Thinkpad 760EL. I also have one of these. About three years ago I actually purchaesd a USB/PCMCIA adapter from Belkin - called "USB busport mobile", and it certainly fitted physically into the slots and was recognised by the Win98SE OS, but it came up with a message along the lines of 'not supported'.
I wondered if there might be a BIOS upgrade for this model (though I think it is about a year older).
Thank you very much for your advice.
Best wishes,
Dave Skye

Dave,

Yes, the EL has Cardbus slots. In order to use them under W95/W98 you must enable Cardbus in the Configuration Utility.

Regards,

James

Hi James,
Thank you for your reply; I was really excited to learn that USB might be possible on the 760EL. I called up the configuration utility from Windows (98SE), and found the box to "enable cardbus" - BUT it would not let me tick the box. There was no change.
If it is of use here is the system information.
Machine type: 9547WL4 ser no. 550V29Z
BIOS version 01/11/96 HYET53WW

I don't know whether the Thinkpad Utilities have the same degree of control as the BIOS control - but, also, I don't know the key combinations to enter the BIOS, if it is possible.

Thanks again,
Dave

Dave,

Do you have IBM's PC Card Director running? Kill it.

Have you installed the driver for the card? Checked the manufacturer's website for updates?

Otherwise, I hate to say it, you'll have to have a look at the User guide (starting on Page 45) to figure this out.

Regards,

James

Hi James,
Thanks for all you help on this.
What happened next was that in fiddling about with various settings in control panel, I ended up with the dreaded "Windows Protection Fault" - which no amount of un-fiddling would solve, one problem being that I don't really understand whay it means!
Anyway, in the end I re-formatted the C drive and re-loaded Win98SE, as before. At least the computer is 'clean'.
I left the modem card and the USB card in place during the installation process, and they were recognised and various drivers loaded (one of which informed me of 32 bit suppoort).
However all is still not well.
When I look in device manager, my USB adapter shows up, but with the yellow exclamation mark. The message which appears when I call up 'properties' reads:-
"This device is diabled because the BIOS for the device did not give it an IRQ (Interrupt Request) (Code 29).
You must enable the device in BIOS. See your hardware documentation for details."

The device is reported as "OPTi82C861 PCI to USB Open Host Controller"

There does not seem to be a 'way in' to the BIOS, and the controls within Windows don't seem to be able to do anything (presumably the basic problem is not directly related to the operating system and is at a lower level).
Can you shed any light on the problem or its remedy?

Thanks,
Dave

I've had similar problems setting up USB on my 760XL. First, I ran a SIIG USB 1.1 card/dongle for a while without any installation issues (sounds like that OPTI device you mention) but it had problems with USB devices that needed power -- it blew up a couple of times and had it replaced under warranty. The 2nd time the USB card came back my 760XL wouldn't even recognize it (Win98SE) but it worked on other laptops...

Then I bought a NEC based USB 2.0 card, the kind with two built-in ports and external PS2 power cable. The 760XL recognized the card, drivers loaded, but I also got the yellow exclamation points and couldn't recognized USB devices. I wrestled with it for **a while** and finally found some useful info after Googling (I tried looking just now but couldn't find the link tho I know I have it save somewhere). Anyway, the trick was to force the Cardbus Controller IRQ to 4 or 5 (I think the default is 11) in the IBM Config Utility. You might get a conflict with Audio or COM initially but disable them then re-enable after the CardBus/USB are working and they'll re-enumerate to another IRQ. This USB 2.0 setup has been EXTREMELY reliable and I can even burn CDs at 20x+ with an external burner. The external PS2 power is also a must as I haven't had any problems with any powered devices. Some cards come with external power supplies for this but the PS2 power pass-thru is great since everything remians portable. I have the power cable tie-wrapped short since the PS2 port is right next to the card slots. I liked this card so much that I got the same combo to upgrade my 600x USB. Sorry for the long-winded reply and I hope this helps.

Also -- you may get a prompt to "Enable IRQ Steering" to get the card work but the settings won't "stick" on a 760 (-XL, I'm assuming this applies to all 760s) and not necessary to have USB work.

Sorry -- this DID start out as a 380ED thread... If the 380ED doesn't support CardBus then one alternative for adding USB is to get that optional Dock (don't have the P/N handy) that has a couple of CardBus sockets. I've done this with my 380D -- the SIIG USB 1.1 was kind of dodgy (recognized as a "VGA Device"!!!) but the NEC 2.0 card seemed to work OK. I have also have like new Dock with manual for sale, so PM me if interested.

Hi Paul,
As you will see from a previous note from me, I've had some problems. I thought that the issue might be resolved by upgrading my BIOS. IBM no longer support the TP760 (I don't know why they chose that one to abandon!), but , thanks to James, I found a back way in. I found a list of all the BIOS updates and chose the most recent (V.2.13, HZET73WW). I followed the installation instructions to the letter and it seemed to work. I received confirmation messages etc. However, since then I've had all manner of niggly problems. I tried to change the BIOS back, but was politely informed by the software that "no change was necessary"!
The main problem, relating to the USB issue is that the Thinkpad Utilities no longer work. When I call up the utilities I get a click, but nothing else!
Until your posting today, I was about to give up and go for a more up-to-date machine off eBay!
My question is really SHOULD the Thinkpad Utilities work under ALL BIOS issues, or is there a version that I need to acquire?
Also how did you "force" the IRQ selection? I have not seen a control to do this.
Cheers,
Dave

Dave,

It's entirely possible that a previously good installation of the ThinkPad Utilities was hosed by the BIOS update -- have you tried uninstalling it? I think you flashed up from 01/11/96 HYET53WW to 12/09/99 HZET73WW (I'm running the same on my 760XL) and there may have been sufficent BIOS changes in addressing, resource assignments, etc. to mess things up. I've also had Control Panel applets rendered useless for video card features and wireless LAN adapters that were a bear to correct short of starting with a clean installation of Windoze. If you try reinstalling and it still doesn't work from the Control Panel or Program group then try launching the ThinkPAd Utilities directly from the directory where it's installed. If that fails then it's a toss up between troubleshooting (read registry editing, etc.) and a clean installation of Windoze. btw -- I bought my machine in 2000, it came without and OS, and the first thing I did was upgrade to the HZET73WW BIOS (after buying a good battery...) so I can't comment on how the earlier version worked.

I'm currently running the uttpfw95.exe (designated for 95/98, drop into a search window in IBM.com to find) ThinkPad Utilities with 98SE and know there is a newer version uttpfw98.exe (designated for 95/98/Me/2000) that should also work just fine. The IRQ setting is done with a drop-box in the PC Card tab just below the Enable CardBus checkbox. It's basically a window to Device Manager settings only it's more convenient as it helps resolve IRQ conflicts and automatically disables conflicting devices. You can also try making the manual resource assignments in Device Manager instead of fixing the ThinkPad Utilities problem. More trouble, however, since the TI-1130 CardBus Controllers and any installed PCMCIA card will have the same IRQ (which one(s) do I change?) in addition the Device Manager resource assignment feature being a general PITA to work with. I'd install the USB card and target the yellow exclamation point for a manual assignment to IRQ 4 (assuming your system behaves the way mine did). Hope this helps.

Chris

IBM with LENOVO still gives some support. in driver matrix

MUST have tp config for 760 765s, for 98 i used for ME.
then enable PCMCIA slots shows irq 10,, all cards work
ok

note other configs install but do not enable IRQs


update bios is also there #73 and #80 same

I have 380z, 390x, 770z, 600s, 600es, 600xs, T23s but for
some reason 760XL one favor.

IF still need info LUCK,