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IBM ThinkCentre M50 motherboard problem

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ThinkPad560X
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IBM ThinkCentre M50 motherboard problem

#1 Post by ThinkPad560X » Sat Nov 25, 2017 2:57 am

I have a ThinkCentre M50 that the motherboard or CPU is bad. It was booting but locking up at a screen and the pressing F1 wouldn't do anything, so couldn't enter bios. Error 0662: Configuration change has occured press <F1> to setup <F2> to resume error boot sequence will be taken if no selection is made.

I removed the CMOS battery and the 2 jumpers and let sit for a while and then reinstalled them. And now got this.

1. Error 0662: Configuration change has occured

2. ERROR 0162: Configuration Error - Default Configuration used

3. ERROR 0162: Configuration Error - Default Configuration used

Still no F1 access to bios.

I then removed the CPU and cleaned it and the heat sink and put on new thermal paste.

Now the computer powers on but no beeps, even when I removed the ram. No display or anything. The only beep I can get out of the board is if I put the bios jumper on the reset and it will do a beep code until I put it back on the normal pin. I used another PSU of the same ThinkCentre and still same.

I went and bought a same replacement of the Pentium 4 3.0GHz HT Prescott and now have to wait to find out if its the CPU witch I hope it is. It was only $5.00 used from working machine. Any chance that this is the CPU while I am waiting for around a week?
IBM: 760XD,770Z,600X,240,560X,560Z,570,380Z,390X,i1200,i1400,
A22m,A22e,A30,G40,R31,R40,R50,R60,R61,R400,R500,
T20,T23,T30,T40,T43,T60,T61,T400,T400s,T500,W500,W700,
X21,X30,X41,X41T,X60,X60T,X200,X200T,X300,X120e,Z60m,Z61tT410T410sT510T420T420sT520
T430T430sT430UT530T470T470sT470pT570SL500L470L570

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Re: IBM ThinkCentre M50 motherboard problem

#2 Post by theterminator93 » Sat Nov 25, 2017 7:11 am

If the M50 is in any way prone to the same motherboard faults as the S50, then the capacitors are probably leaky and shot. We had hundreds of S50s deployed at one of our clients and they started dying off due to bad caps. Lots of strange issues ranging from video card artifacting, sound cards dying, and the system locking up randomly at any phase - POST, boot, login, or any time during use.

In short, take a close look at the system board for any bulging or leaky capacitors to rule that out before wrecking your brain on other possibilities.
T480 with T25 keyboard | T25 | W520 i7-2860QM·Quadro 2000m·IPS FHD | T601F T9900·NVS 140m·LED AFFS UXGA
T420 IPS FHD | X220 IPS FHD | T61p·T61·43·42p|X13 Yoga G3·220T·301·41T·24·23·22|G41|A31p·22m|i1200|TransNote
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Re: IBM ThinkCentre M50 motherboard problem

#3 Post by ThinkPad560X » Sat Nov 25, 2017 4:49 pm

I didn't see any puffed caps anywhere on the board. I'll just to wait till the CPU comes in and see. Their was some thermal paste that got in the hole on the CPU but a lot of threads online said it shouldn't hurt it. I just went and bought another same model board from working unit. it is complete with CPU and RAM so I can do test if need.

The seller of CPU contacted my and said it sounds like a board problem, so to be on the safe side I canceled it and bought a pulled working, same FRU board.

I also noticed that the green power light next to the HDD light isn't coming on, it only flicks on as soon as I turn it off.
IBM: 760XD,770Z,600X,240,560X,560Z,570,380Z,390X,i1200,i1400,
A22m,A22e,A30,G40,R31,R40,R50,R60,R61,R400,R500,
T20,T23,T30,T40,T43,T60,T61,T400,T400s,T500,W500,W700,
X21,X30,X41,X41T,X60,X60T,X200,X200T,X300,X120e,Z60m,Z61tT410T410sT510T420T420sT520
T430T430sT430UT530T470T470sT470pT570SL500L470L570

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Re: IBM ThinkCentre M50 motherboard problem

#4 Post by ThinkPad560X » Sat Nov 25, 2017 6:41 pm

The motherboard comes with a Intel Pentium 4 HT 2.80GHz SL7E3. Will the Intel Pentium 4 HT 3.0GHz SL7PM processor work from the other board?
IBM: 760XD,770Z,600X,240,560X,560Z,570,380Z,390X,i1200,i1400,
A22m,A22e,A30,G40,R31,R40,R50,R60,R61,R400,R500,
T20,T23,T30,T40,T43,T60,T61,T400,T400s,T500,W500,W700,
X21,X30,X41,X41T,X60,X60T,X200,X200T,X300,X120e,Z60m,Z61tT410T410sT510T420T420sT520
T430T430sT430UT530T470T470sT470pT570SL500L470L570

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Re: IBM ThinkCentre M50 motherboard problem

#5 Post by thinkpadcollection » Sat Nov 25, 2017 7:55 pm

I checked P4 processor list wiki and yes both are same Prescott HT 1MB, use 3.0GHz.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_I ... processors

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Re: IBM ThinkCentre M50 motherboard problem

#6 Post by ThinkPad560X » Sat Nov 25, 2017 9:26 pm

Well I removed the plastic "Tan color" lever & latch to see if something was wrong under it and it snapped in 3pcs. It apparently slides off from the front, opposite side where the leaver is. but thought it snapped off on all 4 sides kind of like putting back together a ThinkPad LCD bezel. https://d3nevzfk7ii3be.cloudfront.net/i ... dgc.medium

Under the Tan plastic, it looks very similar to the Core / 2 Duo and up metal CPU latch style https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ ... 28T%29.JPG

I inserted the CPU to check if it would power on, but it completely doesn't turn on at all. (What a PC does if no CPU is in its socket) So I am guessing the pins may not be touching as the lever would slightly push the CPU forward with that CPU design. I found a replacement of the tan lever and is $2.00 but not worth it since I have a replacement board coming in.

Now I was reading about motherboard repairs and some forum sites would all say just buy a replacement board. But what if this desktop board I easily got on ebay was 30 years old or was a rare made PC and needed the board fixed. Would this board been easy to fix? The oldest PC I have is a 1988 IBM Personal System 50Z and still powers on and imagine boards for it is hard to find or very $$ if found one. Other Thing I worry about is my old desktops PSU. it said that old PSU when they die they take the board with them most of the time.
IBM: 760XD,770Z,600X,240,560X,560Z,570,380Z,390X,i1200,i1400,
A22m,A22e,A30,G40,R31,R40,R50,R60,R61,R400,R500,
T20,T23,T30,T40,T43,T60,T61,T400,T400s,T500,W500,W700,
X21,X30,X41,X41T,X60,X60T,X200,X200T,X300,X120e,Z60m,Z61tT410T410sT510T420T420sT520
T430T430sT430UT530T470T470sT470pT570SL500L470L570

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Re: IBM ThinkCentre M50 motherboard problem

#7 Post by ThinkPad560X » Sat Dec 02, 2017 12:54 pm

I got the motherboard in today and plugged everything in and powered it on and get the same results. Fans turn on and no display and no keyboard with caps auto light on. The keyboard lights do flash on when the PC first turns on. I removed the ram and it will beep. I even tested with the 2nd same M50 PSU and still nothing. I do not have any IDE cables plugged in if that's what it needs.
IBM: 760XD,770Z,600X,240,560X,560Z,570,380Z,390X,i1200,i1400,
A22m,A22e,A30,G40,R31,R40,R50,R60,R61,R400,R500,
T20,T23,T30,T40,T43,T60,T61,T400,T400s,T500,W500,W700,
X21,X30,X41,X41T,X60,X60T,X200,X200T,X300,X120e,Z60m,Z61tT410T410sT510T420T420sT520
T430T430sT430UT530T470T470sT470pT570SL500L470L570

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Re: IBM ThinkCentre M50 motherboard problem

#8 Post by theterminator93 » Sat Dec 02, 2017 1:48 pm

There isn't anything in the case that could be shorting out the motherboard when it's installed, is there?
T480 with T25 keyboard | T25 | W520 i7-2860QM·Quadro 2000m·IPS FHD | T601F T9900·NVS 140m·LED AFFS UXGA
T420 IPS FHD | X220 IPS FHD | T61p·T61·43·42p|X13 Yoga G3·220T·301·41T·24·23·22|G41|A31p·22m|i1200|TransNote
600|770Z|770|760XD|760EL|701C|755C

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Re: IBM ThinkCentre M50 motherboard problem

#9 Post by ThinkPad560X » Sat Dec 02, 2017 1:52 pm

Not that I see, the board does sit on the stock metal raised cups that the motherboard rest on


I took the motherboard out and powered it on and still nothing.
IBM: 760XD,770Z,600X,240,560X,560Z,570,380Z,390X,i1200,i1400,
A22m,A22e,A30,G40,R31,R40,R50,R60,R61,R400,R500,
T20,T23,T30,T40,T43,T60,T61,T400,T400s,T500,W500,W700,
X21,X30,X41,X41T,X60,X60T,X200,X200T,X300,X120e,Z60m,Z61tT410T410sT510T420T420sT520
T430T430sT430UT530T470T470sT470pT570SL500L470L570

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Re: IBM ThinkCentre M50 motherboard problem

#10 Post by thinkpadcollection » Sat Dec 02, 2017 8:15 pm

Using P4 3.0GHz?

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Re: IBM ThinkCentre M50 motherboard problem

#11 Post by kfzhu1229 » Sat Dec 02, 2017 8:55 pm

Can you assure your RAM is fully compatible and isn't defective?
Dell Lat CP MMX-233 64mb 40gb W2k
600 PII-266 416mb 40gb WXP
T23 PIII 1.13ghz 1gb W7
Precision M4300 X9000 8gb 160gb WUXGA Ultrasharp fp W10
T530i 15.6" i7 16gb fp W10
UXGA:
A30p PIII 1.2 1gb W7 (IDTech)
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Lat C840 P4-2.5 2gb 60gb W7 (Ultrasharp)

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Re: IBM ThinkCentre M50 motherboard problem

#12 Post by ThinkPad560X » Sat Dec 02, 2017 11:49 pm

Yes and I got 3 sticks and the 2 that came with the board.
IBM: 760XD,770Z,600X,240,560X,560Z,570,380Z,390X,i1200,i1400,
A22m,A22e,A30,G40,R31,R40,R50,R60,R61,R400,R500,
T20,T23,T30,T40,T43,T60,T61,T400,T400s,T500,W500,W700,
X21,X30,X41,X41T,X60,X60T,X200,X200T,X300,X120e,Z60m,Z61tT410T410sT510T420T420sT520
T430T430sT430UT530T470T470sT470pT570SL500L470L570

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Re: IBM ThinkCentre M50 motherboard problem

#13 Post by ThinkPad560X » Sun Dec 03, 2017 12:43 am

Well I took off the CPU and seen the there was drips of thermal paste on the pins and on the CPU pin tray. If the seller did this then they are bad at PCs. I don't know if the thermal paste inside the small holes for the CPU pins is causing the problem or not. I tried to clean it off and installed my 3.0GHz CPU. I still get the same results. As of now I just removed the main power and the CMOS battery and going to let it side for a few hours. The system still detects if their is no ram installed or not and will do beeps if I have them taken out.
IBM: 760XD,770Z,600X,240,560X,560Z,570,380Z,390X,i1200,i1400,
A22m,A22e,A30,G40,R31,R40,R50,R60,R61,R400,R500,
T20,T23,T30,T40,T43,T60,T61,T400,T400s,T500,W500,W700,
X21,X30,X41,X41T,X60,X60T,X200,X200T,X300,X120e,Z60m,Z61tT410T410sT510T420T420sT520
T430T430sT430UT530T470T470sT470pT570SL500L470L570

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Re: IBM ThinkCentre M50 motherboard problem

#14 Post by ThinkPad560X » Sun Dec 03, 2017 1:42 am

Well I went and just bought a shown working IBM board. (Good price to me and a pic of the bios) I looked it up and shows it does have Pentium 4 HT as this board looks similary to my ThinkCentre A50p's tower board witch is just a non HT Pentium 4. I'm not sure if this will support the Prescott or not now. I contacted the seller of the board I got that's not working and told them about the CPU with thermal paste on the pins and hope to get a refund.
Board I got: https://www.ebay.com/itm/IBM-ThinkCentr ... 2749.l2649

Board that came in and old one I had replaced: https://www.ebay.com/itm/IBM-19R0703-Mo ... 2749.l2649

I maybe stuck with 2 broken motherboards now. I hate to throw them away as theirs always good solder ports someone may need. I even kept my ThinkPad T40,41,42 and T43 boards witch I think I gave them away to someone on here that would refix them. Speaking of that my T40 or really T43 it last time I used it the HDD light touch on palmrest would freeze the system again.
IBM: 760XD,770Z,600X,240,560X,560Z,570,380Z,390X,i1200,i1400,
A22m,A22e,A30,G40,R31,R40,R50,R60,R61,R400,R500,
T20,T23,T30,T40,T43,T60,T61,T400,T400s,T500,W500,W700,
X21,X30,X41,X41T,X60,X60T,X200,X200T,X300,X120e,Z60m,Z61tT410T410sT510T420T420sT520
T430T430sT430UT530T470T470sT470pT570SL500L470L570

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Re: IBM ThinkCentre M50 motherboard problem

#15 Post by ThinkPad560X » Sun Dec 03, 2017 1:51 am

I was looking at the two boards and the one I just bought a few minutes ago maybe the real board that goes with the desktop. I can tell by the front 2 USB cable port. The cable was stretched on the board the desktop currently had and the bad board and the one I just got you can see how it sits above the HDD and IDE CD Drive plugs witch is closer to the cable length. So I am guessing the desktop I bought from a company must of replaced there board and got a updated REV board and everything still was the same but in different locations. The real ID on the desktop case is 8187-34U
My desktop looks like this: https://www.usedcomp.de/infos/IBM_ThinkCentre_8187.jpg
IBM: 760XD,770Z,600X,240,560X,560Z,570,380Z,390X,i1200,i1400,
A22m,A22e,A30,G40,R31,R40,R50,R60,R61,R400,R500,
T20,T23,T30,T40,T43,T60,T61,T400,T400s,T500,W500,W700,
X21,X30,X41,X41T,X60,X60T,X200,X200T,X300,X120e,Z60m,Z61tT410T410sT510T420T420sT520
T430T430sT430UT530T470T470sT470pT570SL500L470L570

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Re: IBM ThinkCentre M50 motherboard problem

#16 Post by ThinkPad560X » Sun Dec 10, 2017 5:27 am

I got the board installed a few days ago and put everything back together and installed the new 1TB SATA2 HDD in it. I attempt to install Windows XP Pro on it and get to the screen to press F8 to agree and then where it would show the partition it says cannot access disk. So I attempt to install Windows 7 Pro and get to the same style format screen and get this. windows cannot be installed to this disk. This computer's hardware may not support booting to this disk. Ensure that the disk's controller is enabled in the computer's BIOS menu. The board does have 2 SATA ports and when I go into the bios there isn't much of changing the drive type like in other company bios. All I can see is go under Devices - IDE Drive Setup - and have options of Parallel ATA: set at Both, Serial ATA: Enabled, Native Mode Operation: set at Automatic. that is all I can see for IDE/SATA no AHCI. It does read the HDD as IDE Drive 2 1000GB SATA2
IBM: 760XD,770Z,600X,240,560X,560Z,570,380Z,390X,i1200,i1400,
A22m,A22e,A30,G40,R31,R40,R50,R60,R61,R400,R500,
T20,T23,T30,T40,T43,T60,T61,T400,T400s,T500,W500,W700,
X21,X30,X41,X41T,X60,X60T,X200,X200T,X300,X120e,Z60m,Z61tT410T410sT510T420T420sT520
T430T430sT430UT530T470T470sT470pT570SL500L470L570

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Re: IBM ThinkCentre M50 motherboard problem

#17 Post by axur-delmeria » Sun Dec 10, 2017 7:15 am

Maybe the new HDD came with a GPT boot record rather than MBR. Boot from a Linux live CD/USB and use its partitioning tool to check.
Planned Purchase: T480s i5-8350 FHD Touch
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Re: IBM ThinkCentre M50 motherboard problem

#18 Post by thinkpadcollection » Sun Dec 10, 2017 10:26 am

Turn off IDE mode. The SATA mode as automatic, tried that to change manually to see what says. You do need AHCI mode. Remember to save configuration as default. I ran into this once with thinkcentre computer while back.

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Re: IBM ThinkCentre M50 motherboard problem

#19 Post by ThinkPad560X » Sun Dec 10, 2017 4:27 pm

I know I changed everything and even disabled IDE and left SATA as Enabled. I'll try again today if it doesn't work I'll have to hook up my A50p tower and check its bios settings as I think its the same era board.
IBM: 760XD,770Z,600X,240,560X,560Z,570,380Z,390X,i1200,i1400,
A22m,A22e,A30,G40,R31,R40,R50,R60,R61,R400,R500,
T20,T23,T30,T40,T43,T60,T61,T400,T400s,T500,W500,W700,
X21,X30,X41,X41T,X60,X60T,X200,X200T,X300,X120e,Z60m,Z61tT410T410sT510T420T420sT520
T430T430sT430UT530T470T470sT470pT570SL500L470L570

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Re: IBM ThinkCentre M50 motherboard problem

#20 Post by ThinkPad560X » Sun Dec 10, 2017 4:47 pm

Well I tried setting everything to SATA but then when did that the IDE disc drive will not read and will just get the No Operating System Found. So I went and set IDE to both and then it will read the CD. Used the XP install disc this time again and when get to the partition screen, still get the 953868 MB Disk 0 at Id 0 on bus 0 on atapi <Setup cannot access this disk.>

When I get time I may get one of my IBM desktops out and check their bios configs since I mostly upgraded all their old 40GB IDE drives to SATA 1TB drives and never had any problems.

I'm trying to find drivers for the M50 such as check the latest bios witch is 08/09/04 and wanted to see if it is the latest. I checked the A50p and everything is setup the same as the M50 only that its bios is 2005. The problem is Lenovo got rid of all IBM drivers for there desktops and ThinkPads. You can find the thinkPad drivers on here thanks to this site but can't find drivers for IBM desktops but only simple third party sites for random sound Ethernet drivers. I don't know if there is a forum made like ThinkPads for IBM desktops.
IBM: 760XD,770Z,600X,240,560X,560Z,570,380Z,390X,i1200,i1400,
A22m,A22e,A30,G40,R31,R40,R50,R60,R61,R400,R500,
T20,T23,T30,T40,T43,T60,T61,T400,T400s,T500,W500,W700,
X21,X30,X41,X41T,X60,X60T,X200,X200T,X300,X120e,Z60m,Z61tT410T410sT510T420T420sT520
T430T430sT430UT530T470T470sT470pT570SL500L470L570

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Re: IBM ThinkCentre M50 motherboard problem

#21 Post by ThinkPad560X » Sun Dec 10, 2017 7:42 pm

Well it looks like it maybe not the desktop that causing the problem. I went to try to install Windows on the A50p with the same HDD and then remove it and put back in the M50. When going through getting to the partition screen it will bring up the same saying for XP <Setup cannot access this disk.> And 7 windows cannot be installed to this disk. This computer's hardware may not support booting to this disk. Ensure that the disk's controller is enabled in the computer's BIOS menu.

I did a test on a newer desktop ThinkCentre M82 and got the same when trying to install 7. So the HDD is the problem. This is a brand new HDD bought from BestBuy. The format disk on the Windows 7 is greyed out so I cannot format it. It does read the drive and says Disk 0 Unallocated Space 931.5GB
IBM: 760XD,770Z,600X,240,560X,560Z,570,380Z,390X,i1200,i1400,
A22m,A22e,A30,G40,R31,R40,R50,R60,R61,R400,R500,
T20,T23,T30,T40,T43,T60,T61,T400,T400s,T500,W500,W700,
X21,X30,X41,X41T,X60,X60T,X200,X200T,X300,X120e,Z60m,Z61tT410T410sT510T420T420sT520
T430T430sT430UT530T470T470sT470pT570SL500L470L570

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Re: IBM ThinkCentre M50 motherboard problem

#22 Post by thinkpadcollection » Mon Dec 11, 2017 1:42 pm

Please state what kind of hard drive too. Don't be shy.

Unallocated means in use, delete the partitiion and start over by manually creating the partitions before installing, windows 7 do this automatically to create 100MB boot and rest of second partition for OS. I do this all the time with reinstallations. And this also solves the booting issues. Sometime a computer is a funny thing especially with Lenovo thinkcentres than anything else.

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Re: IBM ThinkCentre M50 motherboard problem

#23 Post by ThinkPad560X » Tue Dec 12, 2017 12:28 am

It is a Western Digital Blue 1TB SATA2. I ran a format software tool and it reads the drive and it is MBR. The drive in the desktop with Windows on it reads Healthy and the one I'm trying to format reads bad drive. and cannot format or anything but still reads the size of the drive.
IBM: 760XD,770Z,600X,240,560X,560Z,570,380Z,390X,i1200,i1400,
A22m,A22e,A30,G40,R31,R40,R50,R60,R61,R400,R500,
T20,T23,T30,T40,T43,T60,T61,T400,T400s,T500,W500,W700,
X21,X30,X41,X41T,X60,X60T,X200,X200T,X300,X120e,Z60m,Z61tT410T410sT510T420T420sT520
T430T430sT430UT530T470T470sT470pT570SL500L470L570

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Re: IBM ThinkCentre M50 motherboard problem

#24 Post by thinkpadcollection » Tue Dec 12, 2017 1:02 pm

Format utlity is not what I use. I use windows' partition utility to do it before installing to create partitions and standard format next while still in same window after creating partition. I did not mean the diskpart in command line.

I may suggest trying another hard drive to test just in case, next time preferably 7200 from ebay plenty of new Toshiba based on HGST technology and knowhow, WD black or gold or HGST. Anything up to 2TB, anything over 2TB is truncated to 2TB with no issues, I have done that before with 3TB HD and still boots. WD blue 1TB is really old model and runs on 5400rpm and best buy is overpriced.

Cheers, thinkpadcollection

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Re: IBM ThinkCentre M50 motherboard problem

#25 Post by ThinkPad560X » Sun Dec 17, 2017 8:39 pm

I went and returned the HDD yesterday and got a 1TB WD Black HDD. (Not a big selection of Drives at bestbuy) and only had 1 Black mixed with the Blue Drives. I installed the HDD and didn't notice the desktop only has a CD/RW Drive, so will need to find/get a DVD drive for it. I just installed Windows XP Pro on it and used its COA key on the side and activated it and surprisingly it still activates. So the machine is at its normal new condition. I checked the CPU-Z and this board is not a Prescott but a Northwood 2.80GHz and only has MMX,SSE,SSE2. No NX or HT but it is still a socket 478 mPGA. I'm not sure a Prescott or a Northwood with HT and NX bit Processor upgrade will work. I am guessing there is Northwood with these specs as this machine has the P4 Inside HT sticker on it and the sticker on the case is 8187-34U. The board is 8187-E1U

Other then that I have Windows XP Pro fully updated and typing this on firefox. The machine is really fast and snappy and only has 3 sticks of 512MB. Will probably max it at 4GB later on. I want to see if I can get the CPU upgraded so this machine can run Windows 10 sometime in the future, figure Windows 7 only has 3 more years 2020 until it meets XP status but it may last long as XP does.
IBM: 760XD,770Z,600X,240,560X,560Z,570,380Z,390X,i1200,i1400,
A22m,A22e,A30,G40,R31,R40,R50,R60,R61,R400,R500,
T20,T23,T30,T40,T43,T60,T61,T400,T400s,T500,W500,W700,
X21,X30,X41,X41T,X60,X60T,X200,X200T,X300,X120e,Z60m,Z61tT410T410sT510T420T420sT520
T430T430sT430UT530T470T470sT470pT570SL500L470L570

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Re: IBM ThinkCentre M50 motherboard problem

#26 Post by theterminator93 » Sun Dec 17, 2017 9:01 pm

The fastest chip for 478 is the 3.4 HT, available in either Prescott or Northwood. The 3.4 is also the fastest Northwood. Prescott comes in higher clocked variants (up to 3.8) but faster than 3.4 is LGA 775 only.
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Re: IBM ThinkCentre M50 motherboard problem

#27 Post by thinkpadcollection » Sun Dec 17, 2017 9:03 pm

Can get northwood 3.4 which is socket 478 with HT for your computer. Had 2.8C HT with great results on dimension 8300 (oops! threw that out by mistake as this is one of rarest models released with high end chipset.)

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Re: IBM ThinkCentre M50 motherboard problem

#28 Post by ThinkPad560X » Sun Dec 17, 2017 10:38 pm

I'm fine with 2.80GHz if I get a 3.0GHz that is fine but need to know what P4 Northwood or Prescott that has the HT but also has NX bit. Windows 8 - 10 will not install without a NX bit. I read that the Northwood is the best. faster and cooler and the last gen of P4, Prescott runs hotter and somewhat slower. I have a Prescott ThinkCentre M52 desktop and tall tower and they are both BTX cases with large coolers on them. So I'm guessing staying with a Northwood with the HT and NX bit would be the best. Just will have to look to see what Northwood CPU has the HT and NX, already has the SSE2. http://www.zdnet.com/article/windows-10 ... pc-run-it/

It even says on Microsoft the basic specs but doesn't tell you the other requirements. Use to here if it can run Windows 7 it can run 8 witch is not true. I remember installing Windows 7 on my ThinkPad T20 but it will be the last OS from Microsoft that it can run unless there is some way to bypass it. If I remember I did try installing Windows 8.1 on a early Pentium 4 and would get the no NX bit and installed the HDD into another PC and installed 8.1. Then reinstall the HDD back into the other PC and it would boot and get past the load screen but then come up with a error and bring to the windows repair screen.
IBM: 760XD,770Z,600X,240,560X,560Z,570,380Z,390X,i1200,i1400,
A22m,A22e,A30,G40,R31,R40,R50,R60,R61,R400,R500,
T20,T23,T30,T40,T43,T60,T61,T400,T400s,T500,W500,W700,
X21,X30,X41,X41T,X60,X60T,X200,X200T,X300,X120e,Z60m,Z61tT410T410sT510T420T420sT520
T430T430sT430UT530T470T470sT470pT570SL500L470L570

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Re: IBM ThinkCentre M50 motherboard problem

#29 Post by theterminator93 » Mon Dec 18, 2017 6:24 am

Prescott was the last gen, it came after Northwood. Prescott has a different pipeline (34 stage IIRC vs. Northwood's 31) so it's a little less efficient.
T480 with T25 keyboard | T25 | W520 i7-2860QM·Quadro 2000m·IPS FHD | T601F T9900·NVS 140m·LED AFFS UXGA
T420 IPS FHD | X220 IPS FHD | T61p·T61·43·42p|X13 Yoga G3·220T·301·41T·24·23·22|G41|A31p·22m|i1200|TransNote
600|770Z|770|760XD|760EL|701C|755C

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Re: IBM ThinkCentre M50 motherboard problem

#30 Post by kfzhu1229 » Mon Dec 18, 2017 1:23 pm

ThinkPad560X wrote:
Sun Dec 17, 2017 8:39 pm
I went and returned the HDD yesterday and got a 1TB WD Black HDD. (Not a big selection of Drives at bestbuy) and only had 1 Black mixed with the Blue Drives. I installed the HDD and didn't notice the desktop only has a CD/RW Drive, so will need to find/get a DVD drive for it. I just installed Windows XP Pro on it and used its COA key on the side and activated it and surprisingly it still activates. So the machine is at its normal new condition. I checked the CPU-Z and this board is not a Prescott but a Northwood 2.80GHz and only has MMX,SSE,SSE2. No NX or HT but it is still a socket 478 mPGA. I'm not sure a Prescott or a Northwood with HT and NX bit Processor upgrade will work. I am guessing there is Northwood with these specs as this machine has the P4 Inside HT sticker on it and the sticker on the case is 8187-34U. The board is 8187-E1U

Other then that I have Windows XP Pro fully updated and typing this on firefox. The machine is really fast and snappy and only has 3 sticks of 512MB. Will probably max it at 4GB later on. I want to see if I can get the CPU upgraded so this machine can run Windows 10 sometime in the future, figure Windows 7 only has 3 more years 2020 until it meets XP status but it may last long as XP does.
No Northwood processor comes with NX. Not even all Prescott processors come with NX. Also I don't know if there even exists any PGA Pentium 4 with NX support because I don't think those motherboards are NX capable to begin with. But I know for sure even if you throw a NX capable Pentium M (750, 760, 770, 780, etc.) into a T42 which motherboard does not have NX, Windows 8 - 10 still gives that same BSOD for PAE and NX. Yes it will still function at a lowered clock speed.
Just do the no NX patch if you wanna install newer version of Windows. It is a pain in the butt though.
Dell Lat CP MMX-233 64mb 40gb W2k
600 PII-266 416mb 40gb WXP
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