T42 Recovery CD on T40, will this work?

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ThaDon · #1 Post by **ThaDon** » Sat Mar 01, 2008 4:11 pm

Hi all, I briefly remembered that someone on this forum has used T42 recovery CDs on a T40. Though some driver specific hardware may not function, for the OS install, anyone know if this is okay?

rbena · #2 Post by **rbena** » Sat Mar 01, 2008 5:50 pm

As JHEM had posted previously:

"The T4X series of recovery CDs are usable across the entire range of models. The only differences you'll encounter will be how many updates you'll need to download and install from IBM/Lenovo.

I've used T43 CDs on a T40 and vice versa with no problems after updating via the Software Installer."

ThinkPad · #3 Post by **ThinkPad** » Sat Mar 01, 2008 7:56 pm

ThaDon · #4 Post by **ThaDon** » Sun Mar 02, 2008 5:56 pm

Brilliant news gents!

#5 Post by **underclocker** » Sun Mar 02, 2008 6:24 pm

It works just fine. You can also go the other way and use T40 disks on a T42.

I recently used T60 disks on a T43, it worked fine, with many less updates needed from Microsoft and Lenovo.

sktn77a · #6 Post by **sktn77a** » Sun Mar 02, 2008 10:33 pm

The discs are backwards compatible (T42 works on T40). They may or may not be forwards compatible as the drivers for newer hardware in the later computers may not be on the older discs.

.

ulrich.von.lich · #7 Post by **ulrich.von.lich** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 5:42 am

Nice to hear they would work. But would I be running into some problems with the hidden partition or some software later? (For example, some ThinkVantage software included in T60 CDs are never brought to the T43)

#8 Post by **carbon_unit** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 7:09 am

Also if you use the restore partition to restore later you will need to re-download the drivers possibly including the ethernet and wireless drivers. This could present it's own problem.

ThaDon · #9 Post by **ThaDon** » Tue Mar 04, 2008 6:04 pm

Hi all, experiencing another problem after poping in the first CD for recovery. I've chosen "Restore Factory Contents" and being presented with an error "The IBM Product Recovery function has been removed from this system"... any pointers?

#10 Post by **carbon_unit** » Tue Mar 04, 2008 10:11 pm

Which discs are you using on what machine?

ThaDon · #11 Post by **ThaDon** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 8:58 am

Im using the T42 recovery CDs (1 + 7) on T40, as my original post was questioning?

#12 Post by **carbon_unit** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 9:13 am

I'm sorry. I should have known that.
I did some research and so far I don't have an answer for you. I'll post if I find the answer. I have seen that message before but I don't remember how I got around it.

ThaDon · #13 Post by **ThaDon** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 6:13 pm

No probs, anyone else who may be able to guide/help on this problem??

#14 Post by **underclocker** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 6:44 pm

You definitely need to start with a partitionless hard disk and the predesktop BIOS setting on NORMAL.

I would do the following;

-change the predesktop BIOS setting to DISABLE
-boot from floppy or CD with partition utility and delete all utilities (you can even use an XP or Vista CD to do this)
-use a disk wiping utility like active killdisk - http://www.killdisk.com/ - to wipe the disk completely
-change the predesktop BIOS setting back to NORMAL
-boot the computer from the first recovery CD from a power off state and proceed with recovery

If that doesn't work, find another set of recovery disks!

SteveS · #15 Post by **SteveS** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 11:38 pm

I would not say that ALL T4x recovery disks are interchangeable. I tried (out of laziness) to build a T43 I bought without a HDD using a T41 recovery CD set. Yes the OS installed, and enough of the drivers to breath life into it. However, the Windows did not install with the correct HAL for “APCI Uniprocessor PC”, and when I attempted to install the TPM driver, the machine blue screened. This is a well known problem, reported elsewhere in the forum. There is no after install method to switch the HAL.

I ended up cloning the drive from another T43, and then restoring the working partition from the hidden partition – something I should have done to start with.

There are actually many hardware differences between T43 and other T4x series, and it is probably best to only restore it with the correct disc set.

On a related note, I rebuilt a T40 using the restore CDs, only to find that the Windows version is SR-1, not SR-2. Looking at a recently updated HMM, I don’t see the FRU# for the recovery disk sets every changing. Anyone else experience this? A bigger problem is that after updating to SR-2 from the Microsoft site, the hidden partition disappeared from the drive! I am sure it was there to start with, as I checked the drive on a generic desk PC. (you can see the hidden partition when plug the drive into a PC with a non-IBM specified BIOS). The upside is that the PC now has 5.5 GB additional usable disk space.

#16 Post by **underclocker** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 7:03 am

SteveS wrote:I would not say that ALL T4x recovery disks are interchangeable.

Absolutely true. Sometimes recovery sets from different machines are interchangeable, when they are, it could save you time.

I do know that any T40, T41, T42, R50, R51 set is interchangeable with any other. You may need a video, sound or Ethernet driver, but you'll be doing plenty of updates anyway!

#17 Post by **underclocker** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 8:45 pm

Futhermore, and only slightly related to some T4x's, the OP's name is an anagram for Dothan - ThaDon.

#18 Post by **richk** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 9:05 pm

There are actually 4 different sets. T40 and T41 are the same. T42 uses a different recovery mechanism that T40/41. T40 and 41 use a hidden protected area, while T42 goes back to the fat32 partition used by earlier (and later) models. The T43 has 2 different sets. One for Intel graphics. (models 187x) and another for ATi graphics. (models 28xx). All the T43 machines use a different Hardware Extraction Layer (HALAACPI.DLL) instead of HALACPI.DLL used on earlier ones. All will work after driver updates on all the machines, but I have seen subtle problems when using earlier disks on a T43, which I assume is related to the HAL.

T42 Recovery CD on T40, will this work?

T42 Recovery CD on T40, will this work?

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