Can't use external floppy drive to update BIOS

[lutami]

Have found an update for BIOS on this 600 E...followed instructions on downloading etc.

Trying to self extract it i get 'insert disk in drive A...now drive A shows in 'My computer but i don't have an internal one...i use an external floppy drive B...that shows in My computer as well...use it at other times no problems.

It says i can optionally redirect file to drive B by specifying the drive letter after the filename...tried this just get 'syntex error'

file is spsdin36.exe how to i get it to the external drive B please...anyone...been on this for ages and getting nowhere.

[rkawakami]

I have not tried extracting the file onto a floppy other than the A: drive, but if the program follows normal OS convention, you may have to specify "B:" (i.e. B-colon) to get the files onto your external floppy.

[drwho]

hi, not sure if this will help, i loaded the bios fills from another computer and inserted the swapable cdrom to floppy and booted from there...just updated it last night...hope it helps

[lutami]

Tried specifying b: rkawakami, just get 'insert disk into A drive' still.

Will have to see if i can borrow another lappy to extract the files to disk.

Don't have a swappable drive for thhis one DR.

Only thing is will it boot from B drive to update the BIOS.

Would changeing the drive letter assignment work, don't know how to do this on this one though.

Was given some old machines to use for a community group, fell to me to sort them out, i'm trying, really i am but what a headache

Two more to go after this one *sob*

[BillD]

Tried specifying b: rkawakami, just get 'insert disk into A drive' still.

Will have to see if i can borrow another lappy to extract the files to disk.

Don't have a swappable drive for thhis one DR.

Only thing is will it boot from B drive to update the BIOS.

Would changeing the drive letter assignment work, don't know how to do this on this one though.

Was given some old machines to use for a community group, fell to me to sort them out, i'm trying, really i am but what a headache

Two more to go after this one *sob*

I also use an external floppy. I couldn't figure out ow to change to B: either. What I did was copied the BIOS update to a floppy on my son's desktop then put it in my external floppy drive and booted from the ex floppy to update the BIOS.

[lutami]

[/quote]

I also use an external floppy. I couldn't figure out ow to change to B: either. What I did was copied the BIOS update to a floppy on my son's desktop then put it in my external floppy drive and booted from the ex floppy to update the BIOS.[/quote]

Hi Bill, right , just done it, typed in spsdin36 b: without the .exe bit.
Extracted fine.

Now iv'e inserted the disk in external floppy but it boots into Windows.

How do i get it to boot feom external floppy.

[rkawakami]

How do i get it to boot feom external floppy.

That should be possible on a 600E by changing the boot device order in Easy Setup (BIOS). Power up the system and press the F1 key to access the BIOS. The rest of this is from memory so I may not have some of the names/icons exactly correct. You should see a Startup button (right side I think). Click it. That should open up another screen where you should see a Power Up (On?) icon. Click that one. That should present a screen with a bunch of strange looking icons. Each one is a device (hard drive, floppy, CDROM) which the system will look for during the boot sequence. At the top of the screen should be a maximum of four icons which represent the order of boot devices. The first one probably looks like a cylinder. That's a hard drive. That's the reason why the laptop is booting from the HD first. If there is a floppy drive it will look like a rectangle with a line in the middle. There is probably a title associated with it as well (FD or FDD or Floppy). That one might be 2 or 3 in the list which means the system will never see it as long as you have a HD installed. To the right of that top line should be a Reset button. Click that and devices 1-4 will disappear. Then click on the Floppy drive icon which should place it in position #1. Then click on the HD-1 icon. That should place your hard drive in the second position. Click the OK or Exit button(s) until you get back to the main menu, then click the Restart button. That should take care of your boot order.

[440roadrunner]

I don't understand you having this problem

DO I UNDERSTAND that you are using the proper IBM external floppy bay?

My two 600x's will boot from "A:" when the floppy is in EITHER the internal or external bay

[lutami]

I don't understand you having this problem

DO I UNDERSTAND that you are using the proper IBM external floppy bay?

My two 600x's will boot from "A:" when the floppy is in EITHER the internal or external bay

IBM Portable Diskette Drive, never had problems with it, never had to boot from it before RR.

Had found that rkawakami, had CD, Floppy, Cylynder with 1 on it and what looks like the Network icon.

I've changed it to Floppy, CD then HD 1, okayed it, exit and restarted, boots into Windows.. I'm using XP on this so have no drivers seperately installed for the external drive, just detects it when i pop a floppy in to use for transferring or saving files, same as when i use a USB Flash drive, would that make a difference?

Also tried it with the A drive disabled in Device Manager, so all that shows as enabled is the external floppy, still boots in to Windows.

With both floppy drives enabled in Device Manager and showing in My Computer, only one floppy drive shows up in the BIOS.

EDIT: I've come to the conclusion that the BIOS can't detect
the IBM USB Portable Diskette Drive i'm using, floppy seems to initialise only when windows is booting, same as the external mouse and wireless card i'm using on it, there must be another way to update, or is there

[pkiff]

IBM Portable Diskette Drive, never had problems with it, never had to boot from it before RR.
[...]
EDIT: I've come to the conclusion that the BIOS can't detect
the IBM USB Portable Diskette Drive i'm using[...]

That sounds right. The 600E barely had functional USB support, and I don't think you can boot a 600E from a USB device. You didn't mention before that your floppy was a USB device. You should be able to use a USB floppy for other purposes without troubles, it's just booting from a USB floppy that I think you can't do.

Best solution: Borrow someone's regular 600 floppy drive.

Alternative solution: If you are daring, you can try to get a BIOS update to work using a CD-R instead, but you venture into that at your own risk. See for e.g.: Thinkpad 600 / update BIOS without a floppy drive?. And note also that some 600 series CD drives may have problems reading CD-RWs and even some CD-Rs.

Phil.

[lutami]

All done, borrowed a regular floppy, friend dropped it round this morning and it took a few mins only, something else i've learned so those hours i spent trying and asking questions weren't wasted.

Cheers guys, appreciated.

Two more to go, will start on the next one tonight, already know the test icon is missing from the screen when i press F1 on start up, all the others are there, will start searching later see what info comes up.

Thanks

[pkiff]

All done, borrowed a regular floppy, friend dropped it round this morning and it took a few mins only, something else i've learned so those hours i spent trying and asking questions weren't wasted.

Great news!

Two more to go, will start on the next one tonight, already know the test icon is missing from the screen when i press F1 on start up, all the others are there, will start searching later see what info comes up.

This is normal for the 600X - the built-in Test functions were moved to a floppy disk program for the 600X: PC Doctor diagnostic II diskette. One of our moderators here (rkawakami) has created a version of this which can be burned onto and run from a CD: ISO file for bootable PC Doctor CD for 600X. -- Might be handy if you do in fact have a 600X and you let your friend take that floppy away.

Phil.

[lutami]

Didn't realise it was an X, they all look the same, four are up and running, just for net use and there haven't been any problems with them since, taken MONTHS of searching and i've learned a lot.

Wouldn't have been able to sort them if it hadn't been for this site, you guys have been great even when i've asked real silly questions so i can't thank you enough.

There's an HP one that i'm passing to someone else to sort, tried sorting it for weeks and i think it's just had it, six out of seven aint bad providing i can get these others sorted, thinking about it there's not been that much wrong with them it's just been finding out what and how to sort it.

The satisfaction that they are up and running without problems is fantastic, especially as i'd never had to do anything like that before.

I've still got the borrowed floppy so i'm going to download and run the PC Doctor mentioned above.

Really really thanks

[lutami]

PC Doctor running perfectly, waiting for it to finish, also from that link i clicked the support link and there's a 'non diskette' Bios update for the X

Well i never!!!! the things one learns!!!! this site in my grandsons words is '''well fit'''