TP A31P systemboards and securitychips

[friedrich-eugen]

Hello Bill,
Dear friends,

a happy(ier) New Year, a happy(ier) New President, new hope to You all... and another new start for thinkpads.com into phpBB ver.3 ...

my problem:
One of my spare systemboards (~~8430) says: system has been tampered with (systemchip). Is there a means of clearing the memory of that board, so I can make use of it (with or wirthout the correct chip)?

Is there a chance to reactivate a systemboard that went into suspend/Sleep/? when starting and/or updating bios or embedded controller?

Any advice, any hints ?

[ajkula66]

I'm fairly certain that the issue that you're dealing with can't be resolved without playing with EEPROM, which can be a hit or miss.

And, as an old-time user, I'm sure that you understand that we can't go further in discussing this path.

I've owned an A31p that has never awoken from the sleep after a BIOS flash and ended up as a parts machine. There was no rhyme or reason for its untimely demise...it just happened.

From one A31p buff to another, the best of luck.

[friedrich-eugen]

Thanks ajkula66,

I do not not need or seek judicial advice. And as You have noted, I am a user of IBM hardware for quite some time now.

I bought several used/refurbished boards (from the US as well from over here) to rebuild some A31P for my childrens school needs. And it was myself, that, storing these boards before use, "tampered" with them, rather naive, as to store these parts securely.

The behavior of those security chips seems to be different, depending on the type of board, they come with. I happened to "trodd" on those, that obviously - once installed - have to accompany the board their lifetime and do not forget beeing mistakenly lifted or exchanged.

Now, two of them seem comletely dead, one did show signs of life ("been tampered with"). All I seek is a means or an instance (may be IBM or a service institution) that might test/revive those boards.

And before hand, I looked for similar experience, other more skilled users than myself had had. So, if their is further and helpful experience, that hints at the amount of chance to revieve the boards or of getting help from IBM/Service) I should be grateful.

Sincerely Yours