701c: need some help

[Ereinion]

Got this machine, but with some troubles. (see photo - http://s57.radikal.ru/i156/1104/de/0e4606509b1a.jpg - 850k, 1920x1080)
First - error 201 (as I know - memory error), but what means next message 201 00800000 FFFFFF00? with second number situation is clear - probably it means that error with memory higher than 8M (24M installed). I didn't try to remove additional RAM, because machine isn't yet in my hands - it will arrive in satturday.
Second - on photo screen is unstable - what do you think - video chip or cable from mobo to matrix?
Thanks!

[ozzymud]

Could really be either... but in the case of bad video chip... http://cgi.ebay.com/Thinkpad-701-701C-7 ... 45f986f6bd ... $25 factory new and 75MHz

[Ereinion]

The machine arrived!!! It's great! Very small and beautiful!
MTM is 2630-TF4.
And I started to testing it!
Trouble with display was simple and I have easily fixed it- just bad contact on LCD internal cable - i've cleaned it!
But ERROR 201 annoying me...
I don't have Torx T1 screwdriver, so now I can't access to mobo...but I removed CMOS battery - error 201 appears not every time I boot, but very often.
Diagnostics say dev01 err04 fru0014 (bottom motherboard), but I think root of troubles is in batteries...what do you think?
Next trouble is often hangs...so I think with is troubles is connected with previous...

And what is very difficult, IMHO, is how to make exterior look better - many scratches, soft-touch coating is mainly lost, naking plastic case...I think, soft-touch must be removed - case will look better, but is there way to restore soft-touch coating?

This all at this moment, but more questions (mainly stupid ) will follow!

P.S. One of this questions - cmos setup program is in german, how to make this english???

[sarbin]

^^^
here's the 701c driver matrix: http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... 60440.html
can you tell what your bios version is right now? flashing may work, but be careful doing it. i've got no experience with your model and can't offer any help if it bricks. sorry...

[ozzymud]

Bios for 701C, 701CS: http://download.lenovo.com/ibmdl/pub/pc ... s7013o.exe

I ran this then booted the floppy it created on a virtual machine, this is the 1st screen:

Code: Select all

ThinkPad 701 FLASH update utility.
Version 5.00
(C) Copywright IBM Corporation 1995
Number     Country/Language    BIOS Version    Diagnostics Version
------     ----------------    ------------    -------------------
   1       U.S. ENGLISH             30                 1G
   2       BRAZIL                   30                 1G
   3       DANISH                   30                 1G
   4       FINNISH                  30                 1G
   5       FRENCH                   30                 1G
   6       GERMAN                   30                 1G
   7       ITALIAN                  30                 1G
   8       JAPAN                    30                 1G
   9       NETHERLANDS              30                 1G
  10       NORWEGIAN                30                 1G
  11       PORTUGAL                 30                 1G
  12       SPANISH                  30                 1G
  13       SWEDISH                  30                 1G
  14       U.K. ENGLISH             30                 1G

Enter the number of the country/language you want to flash.

Pretty darn sure this is what you need to do

[sarbin]

nice find!

[Ereinion]

Thanks a lot for BIOS, but I very afraid to flash BIOS now, because of unstable work of machine...

[ozzymud]

Is it correct that no tools are needed to remove the extra ram? I don't have a 701, but from the image (http://img696.imageshack.us/img696/2346 ... 620415.jpg), it's looks like there are no screws to the memory door. Bad memory can cause those lockups you talked about for sure.

So take out the extra memory... then using the manual and google translate, make your way to the tests to check the memory and system board...

from the manual on memory:

Memory errors might stop system operations, show error messages on the screen, or hang the system.

Memory testing:

Use the following procedure to isolate memory problems.
Note: Make sure that the memory card is fully
installed into the connector. Loose
connections can cause errors.
1. Power-off the computer and remove the IC DRAM
card from its slot (if installed).
2. Press and hold the F1 key; then power-on the
computer. Hold the F1 key down until the
Easy-Setup screen appears.
3. Select Test and press enter.
4. Select Memory and press enter to run the memory
test on base memory. If an error appears, replace
the system board.
5. Power-off the computer and reinstall the IC DRAM
card; then power-on the computer. Verify the
memory size; then test the memory. If an error
appears, replace the IC DRAM card.
If memory problems occur intermittently, use the loop
option to repeat the test. When the test detects an error,
an error log is printed on the printer connected to the
parallel port. See “Error Log” on page 45 for more
information.

"Test" should show up as test, prüfen, or some word that looks like analyze or probe (there is like 13 noun and 7 verb words for test in google translate). Memory is harder, none close to english translate memory

Should be pretty easy to test while still in German.

P.S. that image came from here at techrepublic, nice set of 29 images

[Ereinion]

Is it correct that no tools are needed to remove the extra ram? I don't have a 701, but from the image (http://img696.imageshack.us/img696/2346 ... 620415.jpg), it's looks like there are no screws to the memory door. Bad memory can cause those lockups you talked about for sure.

Yes, this is correct. It was first that I tried to do )) And I tested memory (in both variants - 8 and 24MB) and found no errors, the one error I got is SystemBoard test error, other test shows no error or machine hangs. As variant may this be bad connection between bottom and top system board parts? Or may be error (other than 161 and 163) and hangs caused by absent CMOS battery - then I removed it error 201 have appear more rarely?

Thanks for disassembling images - in HMM this monent described very poorly!

[ozzymud]

yea, definatly worth getting the T1 and disassembling/reassembling the machine, especially since you already found one bad connection as an issue.

[RealBlackStuff]

If I were you, I would buy a spare motherboard here: http://cgi.ebay.com/Thinkpad-701-701C-7 ... 0539115197
Guy ships worldwide, and is cheap!

[ozzymud]

If I were you, I would buy a spare motherboard here: http://cgi.ebay.com/Thinkpad-701-701C-7 ... 0539115197
Guy ships worldwide, and is cheap!

... yea.. saw someone else say that in this thread...

Could really be either... but in the case of bad video chip... http://cgi.ebay.com/Thinkpad-701-701C-7 ... 45f986f6bd ... $25 factory new and 75MHz

heh

[Ereinion]

There are the news!
No need for new mobo! Just disassembled machine and removed battery, soldered to system board. Error 201 and 161 gone away!
System started and succesfully passed SysBoard and Memory test, HDD also works OK - Win98 booted correctly.
Flashed BIOS 3O with English interface.

So battery question appears: will system work correctly without soldered battery? For what this battery used,
As I think, battery, that connected, not soldered is CMOS battery?

[ozzymud]

3 batteries in the system...

1. Battery Pack | works without if AC adaptor is plugged in
2. Backup Battery | time date/configuration data, SHOULD work when dead, just gotta enter bios each time to set config | doesn't recharge
3. Standby Battery | will work, just won't... standby (will basically power off) | 30 minutes of uptime will recharge when battery is good

The only thing i can figure on the 201 error is the system was reverting back to thinking only the base amount of memory was installed and was erroring because it was seeing a different amount installed? I say this cause I saw one forsale that the user states that the backup battery is DEAD but it boots and runs fine anyway.

Im aquiring a 701c hopefully in a few days, what im wondering, is there enough room inside to use a tiny wired connector for the backup battery, i been using these cables with one end soldered to motherboards and the other connected to this battery from a 600e to relocate it to a more convienent place.

[Ereinion]

Mobo quest completed!
I installed CR2032 battery - soldered cable (used cable with 4-pin connector from Armada M700's trackpoint buttons) to it and connector on other perfectly fits to residual part of battery "caddy".
Machine works fine, but next trouble is LCD - it is almost dead, because of faulty connection inside - I need a spare...

[ozzymud]

Looks like the hunt is on for a broken doner machine... good luck

[Ereinion]

Thanks for wishes