600E NOT BOOTING.

[jacko460c]

Hi folks, newb here. I've learnt a lot from browsing this site, but cannot find anything that exactly covers my problem.
Its a 2645 600e, pentium 2 366mhz 128+64 RAM XP.
Upon startup the blue/black screen shows with 097728 KB OK in white letters in top left corner. IBM logo in top right, THINKPAD in bottom left. Then a single beep. the nothing, just the blue/black screen.
Sometimes I get a white horizontal dash in the top left corner for a few seconds.
I have tried it with and without the main battery, fitted a new cmos battery, shone a torch at the screen, nothing.
The laptop has worked well for years, it doesn't do much, just sits on my bench at work and is used for storing photos of my work and a few EXEL charts.
About a month ago i dropped something on the keyboard which damaged the U and I keys, but everything still worked OK.
I have run easy setup a few times. All the tests come up as OK.
Can I start in safe mode as on a "normal" computer? I havent been able to do so yet.
Any ideas folks?

[Wingnut]

IIRC, mine did something similar when one of my ram cards fried. I pulled it and it booted fine. Might be worth a try to pull the Ram out and try it. Also, try the RAM in the other slot. You say it has 128 & 64mb, but the screen only shows 97mb (the 64 + the 32 on board?)

It probably won't fix the problem, but can't hurt to try.

[pkiff]

Its a 2645 600e, pentium 2 366mhz 128+64 RAM XP.
Upon startup the blue/black screen shows with 097728 KB OK in white letters in top left corner. IBM logo in top right, THINKPAD in bottom left. Then a single beep. the nothing, just the blue/black screen.
Sometimes I get a white horizontal dash in the top left corner for a few seconds.

That's a difficult one to diagnose, but here are a few things to try.

1. Try Wingnut's suggestion about pulling out your memory and trying the different slot.

2. Check your Startup sequence in Easy-Setup and remove everything except your hard drive #1 from the startup list of devices.

3. Change your Startup sequence back to the default: Floppy, CD, hard drive. Then try to boot up again. Remove the hard drive and try again.

4. Try "resetting" your BIOS and then reboot. There is a "reset" button behind the power switch (towards the rear of the laptop) that you can stick a straightened paper clip into when the laptop is off, and that sometimes fixes some issues.

5. Can you test with a blank hard drive? Do you have an external floppy drive cable so you can test booting through that (first with the hard drive in, then without it)?

Phil.

[jacko460c]

Ok this is what I have found so far.
Now I know what the white numbers in the top left mean, (thanks Wingnut), i can tell the second memory slot (nearest to CMOS battery) is not working. The other slot is OK and so are all my memory sticks.
Changing my startup sequence makes no difference.
Tried the reset, no difference.
On one startup during my many swapping of memory etc the screen with the logos did not go off, and on one other there was a rapid ticking from deep in the bowels!!! for a few seconds.
I,m wondering if the accident that damaged the U and I keys has done more than that and is only now showing up.
I haven't got a blank hard drive but I have got an external floppy drive. So now I need to know have you got a link to an idiots guide to getting the hard drive out? I assume the bottom of the case comes off, in fact I will do a search now.
Thanks for everything so far, learning all the time.

[jacko460c]

What does the orange light at the left hand end of the 5 light row signify? On sliding the start switch all the light come on, then the orange goes out, then the 3 green lights in the centre go out, then the 3 centre ones flash on once, then the orange light flickers whilst the "logo" screen is on. When the logo screen goes out the orasnge light comes on solid for a second or two, then flickers and goes off.

[pkiff]

What does the orange light at the left hand end of the 5 light row signify?

Hard drive activity. From your description, it could be a hard drive problem.

Here is one more suggestion, before addressing the hard drive removal.

6. Is it possible that the switch that detects whether your lid is closed or not is stuck or malfunctioning? I'm not sure that this would produce the symptoms you describe, but you should be able to simply check to make sure that the switch presses in and out okay. The switch is a tiny indented knob located in the top left of your keyboard -- just above the F2 switch, beside the "IBM" logo.

I haven't got a blank hard drive but I have got an external floppy drive. So now I need to know have you got a link to an idiots guide to getting the hard drive out? I assume the bottom of the case comes off, in fact I will do a search now.

It is easier than you are thinking, I expect. When you have your laptop open, the hard drive is located behind a small cover on the left side of the front panel of your laptop. To get it out, turn over your laptop so the bottom is facing up. There will be a large screw close to the front (now on the right side) that does not look like any of the other screws you can see. You don't need a screwdriver for it: you can just use a nickel or some other wide coin. After you unscrew that, the hard drive cover is just kept on by an internal "clip" and it can be pried off with the same coin, by putting the coin in the tiny slot and pulling towards you. Then you'll see a blue tab attached to a metal object inside. Pull gently, but firmly, on the blue tab and that should pull the hard drive out of the laptop. It will be screwed into a "caddy" and if you want to try a different drive, then you will need to remove the four side screws and swap the caddy over to your other drive before reinserting it. When reinserting the drive, it is best to do so with the laptop turned facing upwards in order to ensure that the pins line up correctly.

Diagrams are available from IBM/Lenovo:
Hardware Maintenance Manual (June 1999) - ThinkPad 600

Phil.

[jacko460c]

OK so here'e an update.
The lid switch works OK.
Removed and refitted the HD.
Went to the IBM website and found the page for advanced testing. HD, systemboard all Ok. Doing the memory as I type.
Also found threads on booting from a floppy. MS seems to be 6 discs needed!! Aint got 6 floppies! Found www.bootdisk.com and downloaded an XP quickboot diskette. When using this I sometimes get I9990305 on screen. Searched for this and some threads say it is HD fault or bad connection others say OS fault or lost altogether. Now the tests are saying the HD is OK, so could the OS have gone? If so can I use my XP disc to reinstall the OS. Am i right in thinking if I do this I will lose all my data on the HD?
I also found I can get a cable to connnect the laptop HD to my desktop. If renewing XP does empty my HD i could get the data off it onto my desktop first.
So it seems my OS may have done a runner> What do you think?
Thanks again folks, if nothing else this is teaching me a hell of a lot about computers!

[jacko460c]

PS Display passes advanced test OK.

[jacko460c]

PPS Found PC doctor on the IBM site. Dunno if that will help. Only problem is my numbers on the sticker on the base of the laptop are so faded I can only make out 2645. I need the 3 after that. Anyone with a 600e I can use your numbers to get in the ballpark.

[trent9008]

Anyone with a 600e I can use your numbers to get in the ballpark.

Mine is a 2645-4AU.

If I were you, I would try removing the HDD altogether and booting from a floppy or CD -- it's possible that there's a problem with the hard drive that's preventing it from correctly executing the boot sequence.

[bobgarty]

PPS Found PC doctor on the IBM site. Dunno if that will help.

PCDoctor is for the 600X, not the 600E - 600E diagnostics are onboard. I have some 600E systemboards I want to shift if it turns out to be a systemboard problem ....