Replacing motherboard - security chip issue

[phillip]

Hi,

I need to replace the motherboard on my T40 and have been looking at offers on eBay but have seen a lot of comments about security chips. I'm not sure what the situation is with this in the respect of swapping boards and if I should be aware of problems with my existing hardware.

I would be grateful for any information on this or a pointer to where I can look up any technical data that I may need. I just want to be sure that if I buy a system pull which is said to be working that I'm going to be able to fit it and it will work in mine. I need to get my system back up and running asap.

Thanks in advance
Kind regards and best wishes
Phillip

[EOMtp]

You don't say what security chip issue concerns you. In general plan on the following:

1) Plan to set the security settings from your existing board onto the new board manually, i.e., not to paln to "transport" them somehow from the old board to the new board.

2) Make certain the new board is not "locked" somehow:
-- if it has ANY passwords, then know ALL the passwords, or
-- make sure it has NONE of the passwords set.

The mechanical swapping of the boards is straight forward. Use the Hardware Maintenance Manual for instructions:
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-58837
All T4x boards fit all T4x machines. However, the CPU, memory, and PC card cage may differ between T4x units where x is different. Not knowing precisely what you are planning, I cannot give you further details. Good luck!

[phillip]

Hi,

Thanks for your information. My concern is that I don't understand the function or integration of the security chip at all. I have only had my out of warranty machine for two months before the GPU developed a problem causing the system to freeze and there hasn't been much time to look at things like this.

I have just bought a replacement board off eBay and have no problems with regard to the physical installation of it but I want to make sure that I know what I'm doing when it comes to getting it to work with my current HDD and other things. As I don't understand how this feature of the board works yet then I'm not sure of the correct questions to ask.

I checked the link that you kindly posted for me but the .pdf link on the page produces an error when I try to retrieve it. I'll look to see if I can get it from anywhere else.

Thanks again
Kind regards and best wishes
Phillip

[EOMtp]

Perhaps a temporary glitch with the link shown above, since it works when I try it. Still, here is a different link directly to the .pdf file:
ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pccbbs/mo ... 9t6193.pdf

Re: the hard disk and security, etc.
There are detailed and expansive writeups of the security chip and the features of the "Trusted Platform" standard that the chip helps enforce. Thinkpads can also have fingerprint readers which can be integrated into the BIOS passwords (see the BIOS for the several passwords which exist.)

The "short version" in the context of what you say you are doing is this: IF you know whatever password(s) may have been set for your old motherboard (including hard drive password, if one was set), THEN you will be able to access the hard drive once connected to the new motherboard and you will be able to access the operating system on that drive based on the passwords you had set up.

Nothing special has to be "carried over" from the old motherboard to the new except your knowledge of the hard disk password (if one existed) and your knowledge of the Windows password (if one existed and assuming you are running Windows).

[phillip]

Hi,

Thanks for all your help. I have successfully repaired my T40/41 (not quite sure which it is) and have the replacement motherboard installed and am using it now.

I checked on the IBM site to ask it to determine the model of the board and when it does it comes up with -M27-YH, as shown in the CMOS setup, which is just as strange as the number on my previous board which was something like ADHKYBF. I have no idea what these codes are and why they don't correspond to the normal 2373-XXX type IBM codes. Does this indicate that something has happened to these boards which makes them unrecognisable by the manufacturer. This system board is supposed to be a straight pull from a working machine.

As the board isn't recognised then there are no recommendations for downloads and so I have to guess at what's needed. I bought this machine as advertised as a T41 but its badge says T40 even though it has a 1.6GHz CPU. I appreciate that there isn't much difference in the device drivers but it would be nice to know what I have in my laptop for future reference.

When I was removing the old board, and installing the replacement one, I examined each of them to check for any differences. The defective board that I removed had a plug in chip on the underside near to the printer port but the replacement board didn't have this feature. I guessed that this was the security chip. I figured that the replacement board didn't have one but when I went to set things in the CMOS setup it reported that it did have this feature so maybe I made the wrong assumption.

Any pointers would be most welcomed

Kind regards and best wishes
Phillip

[RealBlackStuff]

I had a similar problem when I swapped my 'old' T30 mobo with security chip for a replacement without that chip. I initially transferred the security chip (on its own little circuit-board, just like you indicated) from old to new, but it would not 'take' the chip, so I left it out.
Works perfectly without it. There were no passwords on the 'old' board anyway.
The BIOS on the 'new' board said the chip was disabled, so I left it like that. I could not find any physical difference between my old and new boards, other than the presence (or not) of that security chip and a different P/N or FRU.

Look up the exact P/N or FRU from both old and new mobo, then compare with the part numbers as listed in your Hardware Maintenance Manual. If they are differen from the list, do a Google with those numbers, the equivalents will most likely show up in a post from one of the many IBM part floggers.

You may need to re-enter the exact model of your TP using the Hardware Maintenance Diskette, you can find it here:
ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pccbbs/bp ... tm22us.exe

[phillip]

Thanks for your help and the link. I will have to get myself an FDD before I can use the hardware disk unless there is something which will run from within my system.

I am looking to get another machine and I like the widescreen formats but I also want to get a system with a keyboard mouse. I really don't get on at all well with mouse pads after using so many Thinkpads for so long now.

I have been looking at the Z6** range but in the UK the Z61m is pretty expensive and only comes with one year warranty which really surprised me and it's not even an on-site warranty at that. I have to buy two further years which makes the price almost comparable to a Mac.

I want to be able to have a dedicated graphics processor instead of having the shared memory system which uses the gpu in the on-board chipset as I want to use the laptop for video editing. I've read a lot about the Z series but nothing that makes me want to rush out and buy one and so I'm wondering if anyone has any comments or suggestions.

I've looked at a Dell Precision M65 and what that offers, for less money and 3 years on site warranty, is making me think whether or not it's time to change from my dedication to using Thinkpads. I'm reluctant to do this but .......

Thanks again
Best wishes and kind regards to you
Phillip