Thinkpad T60 - Machine type + Serial No unknown?

[wilo]

Good day to all,

appreciate if someone can help me on this.

bought my t60 two months ago model 20074JA,
everything's working OK until 2 weeks later when the LCD started to "harvest" dots.
return it for repair and when i got it back. the dots were gone and new problems occured, the built-in software (eg. command prompt, thinkvantage access help) seems to crash so often and missing its links etc, so i did a restore to factory setting.

restore succeed with a bit of errors (could not remember wat error anymore). but things are working, software etc are ok.
the only prob now is my notebook cannot determine which machine type and serial no it is anymore.

is there any settings i must set?

fyi, i did not check if the notebook can detect its type & serial when i got it back from the dealer , only notice it after the restore and wanted to update the thinkvantage software using system update.

thks for any input on this.

brgds,
Wilo

[NS]

Your T60 should still have warranty. Who is that dealer? IBM/Lenovo?

Welcome to thinkpads.com and enjoy your stay here

[wilo]

Hi,

NS:
- yes, it is still under warranty, but i did not buy direct from IBM/Lenovo, it's from an authorised dealer instead.

any idea how on the machine type + serial can be detected?

thks.

[zzyss]

Is it not written on the stick at the base of your ThinkPad? If so, and it is the software itself that is missing the information, then that is stored in BIOS. There is a utility that comes with the BIOS upgrade tool which allows you to change the model/serial number (copy it from the sticker).

It is not particularly difficult, but if you don't feel comfortable doing it, then don't. Take it back to your dealer and ask them for help, especially considering that it's still under warranty.

[NS]

fyi, i did not check if the notebook can detect its type & serial when i got it back from the dealer , only notice it after the restore and wanted to update the thinkvantage software using system update.

Sorry, i misunderstood your question. I though you say got it back from the dealer means you got your TP to your repair shop for repair. That is why i asked you is it IBM/Lenovo service centre.

Sorry.

If you don't know how to edit it in your bios, then don't do it as anyhow tweaking it will corrupt your whole TP and this is terrible

Edit: i will check it out on mine first then i will PM you with the correct procedure.

[NS]

I had restarted another of my TP and i had gone into the bios to try to edit the serial number.

Umm... No. Cannot edit or add it at all. It is called the system board serial number.

Go to IBM/Lenovo service centre and tell them to add the serial number for you in the bios. I am sure the dealer only knows how to sell but not edit your bios for you.

I bought my TP and also got some bios issue and i got back to my dealer and he said his job is to sell and he does not know how to tweak the bios. He recommended me to go back to the IBM service centre.

[wilo]

thks for the input guys,

i tried to restore the factory settings once again
and this time noted flwg errors while it ran.

****
cli.exe - Common Language Runtime Debugging Services

Application has generated an exception that could not be handled.

Process id=0x7dc (2012), Thread id=0x7d0 (2000),

Click OK to terminate the application
Click CANCEL to debug the application
****

i click ok and then there was this pop up message saying
"MACHINE TYPE ERROR".

afterwards got several error lines in the automated command prompt saying:
"the system could not locate the file .."

then at the end of the installation, there was this conversion from filesystem FAT32 to NTFS, pretty wierd i think....

after login into windows, check the machine type & serial again...
returns the same : UNKNOWN

-----

anyone hving the same problem as mine?

Ns:
- i was hoping i do not need to go to the IBM/LENOVO service center to fix this ....
(honestly .... i don't trust them, my previous service/repair -- "the harvesting dot one", was fixed by them [my dealer sent it to them for repair] but when they returned the machine to me, it was like "fingerprints all over the screen, scratches and a dented part near the power button"... though they later fixed this again for me)

but refer my first posting, they fixed the physical appearance but the softwares were installed incompletely/corrupted.

zzyss:
- u reckon the bios upgrade will solve this problem?
how can i perform the upgrade? is it possible through software installer?

thks

[NS]

Let me see: umm.. you are from Indonesia, my neighbouring country.

Ok, i will help you phone IBM/Lenovo in singapore and ask them about this and i will report back here if i got the answer.

Today is friday and now is 6:59pm and they closed at 6:30pm, so we must to wait till monday, because tomorrow is their weekend holiday and they are not working on sat and sun.

[wilo]

hehe thanks a lot NS

[NS]

@wilo, can you PM me with your T60 computer serial number.

I mean the serial number on your sticker underneath the thinkpad. I have the model number and machine type but i need your computer serial number. Because when i phone in, they need these 3 to file in a report number so that if they ask me questions and if i do not know how to answer, i will pass the report number to you and you will just continue from there instead of starting the enquiry all over again.

Don't worry, i will help you to get your T60 back up and working like a normal thinkpad again with its serial number and all the things it should have. Since, your TP still got warranty, i will try to make them explain about the scratches by calling the indonesia service centre hotline.

Ok, enough of lengthy post. This is getting way off topic. Let's continue discussing about this in our PM now.

EDIT: Read my PM, mate