Thinkpads Forum

Got today a Thinkpad 240!

Product: ThinkPad 240 2609-41G [change]
Original description: Celeron 400MHz (128KB) 64MB RAM, 12.0GB HDD, 10.4 TFT 800x600, Modem, FDD, Li-Ion Battery, Win98

This is a really sweet machine, with additional 64MB RAM, the battery seems dead (as expected for such an old machine) and it's really dirty.

What surprises me is that when I start the machine the screen flashes in several colours, as it were defective. But once that Win98 boots everything is back to normal. So far... It has been just around 30 minutes that I have her. To be honest I don't know exactly what to do with this 240. I was thinking in using it as a kind of retro game platform and maybe downgrade her to a DOS version or even Win3.1, I think I have somewhere the installation disks. Or use a light Linux distro, let's see.

If you have any hints what can I do just post it here!

And last but not least if you have any hints about pimping this machine up! Or things I have to consider for this series please let me know too...

@edit: correction about RAM

Tasurinchi wrote:RAM is maxed out to 128MB

The max RAM for the 240 is 320MB, i.e. 64MB onboard + 256MB (low-density PC100) in the upgrade slot. Look for part # 33L3070.

pianowizard wrote:The max RAM for the 240 is 320MB, i.e. 64MB onboard + 256MB (low-density PC100) in the upgrade slot. Look for part # 33L3070

Doh

Post corrected... Thanks for the hint!

I was reading some posts in this board and got some new questions:

Seems that 240's support 192MB RAM, or 320MB using a BIOS update, which I suppose I can get from the Lenovo site? Is this right or is there any other custom or modded BIOS needed for that?

Can I use any 2.5" PATA drives or is there any limitation? I have an old Hitachi 40GB, 4200 RPM drive from my ex X31 lying around and collecting dust and was thinking to put it in the 240.

Cheers!

Tasurinchi wrote:320MB using a BIOS update, which I suppose I can get from the Lenovo site?

Correct. However, you will need a floppy drive to update the BIOS. What's the current BIOS version? Perhaps you don't need to update it?

Tasurinchi wrote:Can I use any 2.5" PATA drives or is there any limitation? I have an old Hitachi 40GB, 4200 RPM drive from my ex X31 lying around

It will work just fine.

> Can I use any 2.5" PATA drives

Yes, but...

> or is there any limitation?

Yes. the boot partition can only be 128 gig, and if you use Windows 98 or ME, it will only recognize the first two partitions, and nothing over 128 gig. Windows 2000 or XP will work with any size or number of partitions. Of course, if you're happy with the 40 gig, there won't be any problems.

If you upgrade the RAM to 320 Mb, XP will work fine. Almost everyone on the internet claims XP should have "at least a 1 Ghz CPU and 1 Gb of RAM". Would those of you who are spreading this fertilizer please come spread some in my garden? I have used XP with only 256 Mb, and I did not like it. 320 appears to be the minimum for XP to run fast. Whatever OS you choose should be based on personal preference not propaganda.

Bookworm wrote:Whatever OS you choose should be based on personal preference not propaganda

Well, as posted in OP, I'm planning a retro platform. So in best case I will keep Win98, or even retrofit to something older. Alternatively I could use one of the newest smaller Linux distros like DSL or Puppy. I'm still not sure.

The size of the HD is enough for the moment, my only complaint so far is noise. It's worst than the 1.8 HDs of my X4's

That's why I'm thinking in reusing the old 40GB drive...

Tasurinchi wrote:So in best case I will keep Win98, or even retrofit to something older...

I would strongly advise against trying to retrofit to Windows 95B (if that's what you are suggesting by "something older"). As far as I know, you will not actually get any performance gains, and you will likely get some unneeded driver/performance headaches.

For Win98SE, I can strongly recommend 98Lite and also the unofficial Win98SE "Service Pack" from Exuberant:
http://exuberant.ms11.net/98sesp.html

And apparently some folks are also using other update packages that improve further on the Exuberant service pack, including on that claims to enable "ClearType" in Win98SE, but I haven't tried them. For more info see for e.g.:
http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/131040- ... s-pack-97/

Those can help make a 98SE install significantly more stable and faster than it used to be a decade ago...

Phil.

A 256mb low density memory chip might be hard to find and quite expensive, but if you are able to get one then that's as far as you can go, 64mb + 256mb =320mb.
Win XP will work but Windows 2000 will work faster. If you plan on wireless internet they are
the easiest to use. You'll need to remove the keyboard, remove the modem on the left and replace it with a mini pci wireless card along with antennas.

If you really plan on doing any upgrades you'll need a PCMCIA CD and the correct floppy drive.
Or, if you can't get the PCMCIA CD then you'll have to copy the CD's directly onto the hard drive while it is attached to another computer. You can't use the USB because it isn't recognized by the BIOS as a boot device.

All in all the 240 and the 240X are a pain to mess with unless you have all the external drives that go with them. The X40 and X60 series are way better in that regard and only very slightly larger.

Good luck

Tim S

Thanks guys for all the hints!

pkiff wrote:I would strongly advise against trying to retrofit to Windows 95B (if that's what you are suggesting by "something older"). As far as I know, you will not actually get any performance gains

Well, I'm not planning to work or do any "serious tasks" with this machine. For "real" work I have enough more powerful Thinkpads lying around (see me sig). Would be fine to get the old Win3.1 running. Anyway I don't think I will make it this year, I still have the to fix some issues with the Z61m and re-install Linux on my X41T. So the 240 will have to wait.

pkiff wrote:For Win98SE, I can strongly recommend 98Lite and also the unofficial Win98SE "Service Pack" from Exuberant:
http://exuberant.ms11.net/98sesp.html

And apparently some folks are also using other update packages that improve further on the Exuberant service pack, including on that claims to enable "ClearType" in Win98SE, but I haven't tried them. For more info see for e.g.:
http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/131040- ... s-pack-97/

Oh, those links are sure interesting. Thanks for sharing!

tim S wrote:If you really plan on doing any upgrades you'll need a PCMCIA CD and the correct floppy drive.

I have the original IBM floppy, but was not aware of the existence of PCMCIA CD drives! I'll see what I can get. I recall having once a diskette set of some windows version. (I'll really have to check my cellar one of these days)

tim S wrote:The X40 and X60 series are way better in that regard and only very slightly larger.

I find the 240 to have a gorgeous size! It feels much smaller actually when put side to side to the Xs, I've made some pictures in my thread here

tim S wrote:A 256mb low density memory chip might be hard to find and quite expensive

Lucky me it was not hard to find a seller here, but it costs more than what I paid for the 240

> Well, as posted in OP, I'm planning a retro platform.

vetusware.com has some retro software for free download. The site is full of ads by google including some for Microsoft, so either it's legal, or if it's not, then no one who matters cares.

> Win XP will work but Windows 2000 will work faster.

I haven't noticed any difference. I've had NT 4.0, 98SE, and 2000 Pro on my 240, and XP is at least as fast as any of them. Sometimes it seems faster. Some XP software will be slower though.

For a retro system, I'd dual boot 98SE and 2000.