CD-Rom Not Reading... And Floppy Drive Not Reading....

[The_Storm79]

Sorry if this isn't the right place for this post but I wasn't 100% were to post this. 1st time on this site.

Hi all the past 3 months I have come across 4 IBM Thinkpads but theres one I’m having big problems with. It’s the “IBM Thinkpad 365XD Type:2625” and what I want to do is Install Windows 98 (Windows 95 Ver 4.00.950 B is installed on it now) I can’t upgrade it because I don’t have a Windows 98 UpGrade Disk I only have Windows 98 SE and I can’t Format the Hard Drive coz I can’t get in to the Bois to get the Boot Type set to Boot from the CD-Rom then A:\ then C:\ the Bois is looked with a Password. I can boot from the A:\ but it will only read floppy disk what have all ready been formatted with that Drive and I can use the floppy disk in any other PC or Laptop if I do it ask to format the floppy disk and the same thing when I use a floppy on the Thinkpad what hasn’t been formatted by the laptop.

What I have done.
The CD-ROM
1. When I put a copyed CD in the CD-Rom it makes a lot of noise and cant read the CD-R or –RW. I have a Real Copy of Windows 95, 98ES and 98 ver 4.00.950B and reads them no problems. No Error message comes up just keeps reading and reading when using a CD-R\RW

Note: I have looked around on the net and I have read that the CD-Rom is to old to read to days copyed CD-R/RW.

THE BIG PROBLEM
The Floppy Disk Drive and Bois Password.
2. I have Downloaded a program what tells you the Password for the Bois (So that’s not really a problem any more) but I can’t get the Thinkpad to read any Floppy Disk whats not formatted on the thinkpad 1st and if I format it on the Thinkpad 1st I can’t use the floppy in any other pc or thinkpad or Laptop only the Thinkpad it was formatted on. Because of this I can’t get anything on to the laptop and when I use a floppy what hasn’t been formatted by this thinkpad I get a message saying
“A:\ is not accessible – The system cannot read from the specified device” and I have 2 buttons “Retry” or “Cancel”

And if I use a floppy in Dos whats not been formatted with the Thinkpad I get “Sector not found reading drive A – Abort, Retry, Fail?” and I have to use a floppy what has been formatted before I select 1 of the 3 (Abort Retry or Fail) or you will keep getting the same thing.

Note: I have looked all over and I don’t know what to do about this problem I have been told theres a Reset button on the laptop to reset the bois but I can’t see it in or out side of the case.

If anyone can help or know anything about the problems I having Please let me know.
I more need to fix the Floppy Drive not Reading Floppy disks.

Thank you for your time to read my post.

[BruisedQuasar]

I think you mean the Bios correct? The Bios reset is not a special recessed button. It is an 'F' key on the keyboard. Usually, F12.

I have never come across a situation with pre-Windows 2000 Windows version CDs that required boot up in order to install. You are talking about a pre-Win 2000 or a non-Windows NT OS Windows version, so my guess is that there is either a problem with the CDROM drive or your CD & floppy drive.
Have you tried reading other CDs or Floppies to see if the drives can read anything?

If the drives are not reading media, my guess is the problem is software, not hardware. Can you reload the CDROM driver? Do you have an emergency boot floppy? If so, it will cut in before the current Windows can load and I suspect you will find the system can read the boot floppy. Any MSDOS boot floppy will work if you do not have one for that specific PC.

Boot from a boot floppy, reformat the drive AFTER you make sure you can get a clean copy of the CDROM driver or if you have Windows on floppies. I'm betting you do.

I still have Windows 95 on 32 floppies.

[The_Storm79]

My main problem is I need to get in to the Bois but the Bois has a password and I dont know what the password is but I have a program what will tell me what the password is for the Bois. But the program is on a floppy disk and the floppy disk drive wont read Any floppy disk whats been formatted on other PCs or laptops

So I formatted a Floppy disk on the laptop (IBM Thinkpad 365XD Type:2625)
when formatted the laptop could read and wight to the floppy disk no problem in Windows or Dos. I used the floppy disk I formatted on the laptop in my PC (With Windows XP Pro installed) and I get the message to format the floppy Disk and I got the same thing with 3 PCs 2 with Windows XP Pro and 1 with Windows 2000 installed. The Laptop has Windows 95 installed.

If I get another Floppy Drive would that fix my problem ?

[Rob Mayercik]

It does sound like there's something odd with your floppy drive.

I'm not really familiar with the 365XD model - is this one of the models that has a swappable CDROM/floppy bay? If so, are you running the floppy externally or internally? Perhaps try the other option, if it exists.

It doesn't hurt to try another floppy drive, but if the drive's ok and the interface is acting up, it may not have an effect.

Here's another option: do you have any way of networking the laptop to a desktop machine? If so, you could try transferring this little utility for the BIOS to the hard drive.

Hope some of this helps.

[The_Storm79]

Q. A. 1 No It doesn't have a swappable CDROM/floppy bay

Q. A. 2 It has a externall floppy drive and a internall CD-Rom Drive what doesn't come out that easy.

Q. A. 3 I dont have another floppy drive what I can use with the laptop

Q. A. 4 No I can't plug it up to my network theres no Ethernet or Phone line. There is 1 COM thro but I dont have a 24 pin cable.

More InFo
I called IBM Microsoft and they told me that the CD-ROM wont read CD-R\RW what are 700mb. It will only read CD-R what are 650mb so I got a 650mb 74min CD-RW and I copy the programs I needed from my PC but it still didn't read the CD-RW I have some PS1 games what are on a CD-R 650mb 74min disks and it reads them no problem (I can see all the files on the disk). So I dont know........

With the floppy Drive Microsoft told me that the laser in old floppy drive aren't the same in today floppy drive and thats why it can't read floppy disks whats not formatted with the old floppy drive.

Again if anyone can help Please let me know. At this time I'm ready to put it in the Bin thats all its good for. I dont know anyone who has the same laptop to get another floppy drive.

BIG Thanks to everyone who has read and Replyed back.
Again thanks for your time.

[madmax]

Another possibility is to format your harddrive using your desktop
and a windows 98 boot disk, make HD bootable (i.e. sys C: )
copy installation files into a directory on your newly formated HD, .
Replace HD in laptop and boot new HD. ( Some systems need to
be formatted in laptop... don't know about yours) Also to increase
read and access time it good to load smartdrv.exe before running
setup.

As far as the bios is concerned if it is JUST a bios password
for the computer itself there is a workaround listed in some
hardware maintenance manuals involving removing the CMOS
battery and waiting for the ROM chips to fully discharge, also
some systems have dip switches others have pins that need to
be shorted. You'll need to get your specific manual.

Good luck

[Rob Mayercik]

With the floppy Drive Microsoft told me that the laser in old floppy drive aren't the same in today floppy drive and thats why it can't read floppy disks whats not formatted with the old floppy drive.

Last time I checked, floppy drives don't have lasers. If you're sure the Microsoft guy was talking about the floppy when he told you about the lasers, he was feeding you a line.

Floppy disks are magnetic media - they don't use lasers. I also don't think 3.5-inch floppy drive technology has changed since the introduction of the 2.0/1.44MB diskette. If disks formatted on the TP's drive don't work in other machines (and vice-versa), the TP's floppy drive proabably has a mechanical problem such as a head misalignment or more serious failure. A properly functioning floppy drive should have no problems reading disks formatted on any computer.

There's a "legacy hardware" forum here for the older models, which I think probably your 365XD falls into - the folks there might be able to provide more help. If you post in there, I'd suggest proving a hyperlink to this post so folks can see what's already been tried/suggested.

It might be worth taking a stroll through eBay to see if anyone's looking to unload a floppy drive for your computer. Also check the For Sale/WTB forum here too.

In the mean time, Madmax is probably on the right track by suggesting you pull out the drive and hook it up to another machine to get stuff onto it.

Best of luck,

Rob

[440roadrunner]

On Windows 98:

There are THREE basic "versions", each of those being split into "first" and "SE"

Upgrade, ---not bootable

RETAIL "full edition"---not bootable

OEM "full edition" says "for PC's without Windows" on front of CD THESE ARE THE ONLY kind of Windows98 CD's that are bootable to my knowledge.

ONLY the OEM version cannot be easily used for an upgrade, says "for distribution only with a new PC...." on front of the CD


I'm told there is a way around this by renaming "win.com" I have never used this, because I've got copies of all versions.


However, if you can't get the CDROM to boot, I'm not sure what good it will do to have a bootable CD

Copyed (burned) CD's are a problem in many older drives. My old 380XD, which worked fine in other ways would not read a copyed, or burned CD reliably.

Your BIG PROBLEM is that the floppy drive is screwed up--the head is probably out of alignment. I assume you've tried blowing it out with some air to clean it. You MUST replace the drive


There might be a workaround, but it's kind of a pain. Either get a "null modem" cable, known commonly as a "Laplink, PCanywhere, Direct Connection, Data Transfer" cable, and then find and download laplink3 (ll3.exe)

THIS PROGRAM is a file transfer program that can be installed REMOTELY over the cable itself. This means that you can get your desktop up and running with laplink, and then install it to the laptop OVER THE CABLE. This will allow you to transfer stuff like CDROM drivers over to the laptop hard drive, and then since you can make and use floppies in the laptop, you should be able to "build" a boot floppy in the laptop and configure it to load CDROM drivers from the floppy.

Another way is these:

http://www.cablestogo.com/product.asp?c ... adapter%29

which are an accessory that I just would NOT be without. In your case, these are a pain, I think you have a hard drive caddy which would need to be dissassembled.

Bottom line---MINIMUM you need to fix, is REPLACE THE FLOPPY

This should not be all that difficult. Find and download the hardware maintenance manual. If you can't find it, Post back and one of us'll post the link.

[madmax]

Followup:

440roadrunner's right about the different flavors of Win 98...
the one you want is the OEM or retail... The Upgrade
looks for a preinstalled windows version.

What I suggested earlier with the hard drive and loading
all install files in a directory(folder) has worked
for me in past for laptops with bad or missing CD drives.

You'll need a little tech knowhow ... removing HD...
a 3.5" to 2.5" IDE plug converter to be able to use
your desktop IDE cable... a WIN 98 boot disk.
You may be able to format drive on one of your
XP desktops using an external USB case but unless
you boot off a win 98 floppy you won't be able
to make the HD boot with Win 98.

The HD you'll be installing on should also have enough
room... 6 gig

Once you get HD setup ... fdisked, formated, made
bootable, and files loaded into a folder (i.e. options)
You just need to run setup.exe.

The Hardware Maintenance manual your looking for is:

tpvol3.pdf 7235531 09-10-99 HMM Volume 3 ThinkPad 365, 380, 385, 560, 760
and SelectaDock III (March 1999)
found at this site:

http://greyghost.dyndns.org/pccbbs/mobiles/