New Member 600E Question

[Ronny Floyd]

Hello Everyone,

First off I'd like to say that I am happy to have found this forum and a big thankyou to the folks that make it happen.

I recently lucked into a 600E ( 2645-4AU) that is in like new condition and I really like this little underdog. I recently added another 128mb's of Ram and saw quite an improvement in performance. With some much needed help from one of the moderators here, I determined that I have a BIOS version that WILL allow me to max out the RAM using 2x256mb sticks.
I know exactly which ones to purchase and where to find them at a good price.

My question is, has anyone NOT been successful in achieving this much RAM ?
I would like to know for sure that this is going to work before laying out the cash, in other words.......are there ever any unforeseen "GOTCHA'S" ??????

Thanks,
Ronny - 600E P2 20Gig 2645-4au OS:W2K

[Harryc]

Welcome to the forum. When you say that you know exactly which ones to purchase, what are they exactly?

[Ronny Floyd]

PC100/ SO-DIMM/ 144 PIN/ low density/ 8 chips per side

Did I pass the test ?

Ronny

[rkawakami]

Here's some of the information that I promised:

http://www.kawakami-ca.com/images/2645-4AU_BIOS.jpg (INET28WW)
http://www.kawakami-ca.com/images/2645- ... isplay.jpg (BIOS indicates 544MB; ignore the 161/163 errors - dead CMOS battery)
http://www.kawakami-ca.com/images/2645- ... test86.jpg (memtest86+ indicates 544MB of memory installed)

As long as you have BIOS INET26WW or newer and are using "low density" PC100 or PC133 modules, then you should be fine.

[Ronny Floyd]

Ray,

Thankyou for links !

My BIOS is inet35ww which is next to last from the latest.

Looking forward to the improvement !

Ronny

[phaxmohdem]

n00b question, but my 600E has BIOS version INET24WW (05/24/99)

Is it possible to flash to a later bios, or am I SOL for going above 288MB?

*edit* found this: http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... 6HLKQ.html My model number is in the supported list.

[rkawakami]

The main Thinkpad BIOS matrix page is here: BIOS file matrix - ThinkPad

The 600E is a special case; normally you'll need to know your full TYPE number to be able to pick the correct version. 600E (2645-55x,A5x) has one BIOS (IHETxxWW) and all of the other 600E systems uses a different one (INETxxWW). If you're sure you have an INET version, then follow that link. You then basically download a program to a computer, which when executed, creates a bootable diskette. Follow the instructions that are in the spsdin36.txt file (ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pccbbs/mo ... sdin36.txt). You also need a fully charged battery to perform the BIOS update. I think that there's a way to get around this requirement but I wouldn't do it because if you lose power during the BIOS flash, you can "brick" the system. The actual amount of time that the system is vulnerable is about one minute, but if you're familiar with Murphy's Law then you'll know what can happen.

[phaxmohdem]

Looks like I need to find myself a floppy drive now. I'm guessing my USB external won't be bootable.

Is it possible to create a bootable CD-ROM to perform the BIOS update? Or does the system backup the old file to the diskette during the process?

[rkawakami]

Not sure if the 600E can boot from a USB floppy. I always use the Ultrabay floppy or an external one using the port on the right side of the system.

[u.mac]

The TP 600 /e/x can't boot from USB - they are only boot from hdd-port, ultrabaydevice and some very rare PCMCIA-cards with internal BIOS (IBM USB2.0- or Firewire-card or Portable Drive Bay (37L1511) are not bootable).