Thinkpad 600 BIOS update

[theshabz]

Hi everyone.

In my search for old laptops i can save and put to use, i came across an old Thinkpad 600. Seeing as how this has not been used in roughly 10 years, it needs lots of work. First of which being a BIOS update. The battery is now nothing more than a paperweight and buying a new battery is my last ditch option. Is there a way I can bypass the battery check? I am using a CD-R to run this (doubt that matters). Going back a couple pages, i saw one method that involved getting into DOS and forcing the update through there. However, this has RedHat with KDE on it. Unless GRUB has a way around it (which i doubt), is there file hack that i can use?

Also, has anyone been successful at getting ubuntu 8.1 installed on a 600? If so, was there much trouble and was it worth it? I have a 95 disc i can use but would rather have ubuntu.

Let me know if i left out any relevant info and i will happily provide.

Please and Thanks.

[hjanzen]

I have succesfully used the "1Byte Hack" method.

It is described on a German Thinkpad Forum and is based on the replacement of one Byte in the updtflsh.exe file using a Hexeditor , thus avoiding the checking of the battery by the Flashprogram.
This is an easy and safe method.

On the update floppy disk you find a.o. the file updtflsh.exe
Open that file in a hexeditor, scroll down about 7/8 of the text till you see at the far right column the following 3 lines:

pdtrom /np /prep
2 updtrom upd
trom updtrom /np

On the left you have 16 colomns of figures.
The far most left figure in the line "2 updtrom upd" is 32.
That figure represents the figure 2 in the above text.
Now select that figure 2, and replace it by a 1.
On the far left, 32 has become 31 now.
That is all!!
Safe the changes and you are ready to use the hacked floppy to flash the BIOS without a working battery.

This procedure is OK for Thinkpads 770 and 600 series.
I have used it for 770X 770Z, 600E and 600X.
Regards, Hans

[pkiff]

Hans, thanks for posting this explanation in English. I've heard of this method, but never attempted it myself because I've always had a usable battery handy. But I know that this is a common problem for some, and those who run into it will be pleased to find a clear explanation in English.

Note to theshabz: keep in mind that updating your BIOS without a battery should only be done when absolutely necessary, and only when you are confident that you will not experience a sudden power failure. If the power disappears in the midst of your battery-less BIOS update, it is possible to wreck your motherboard.

Phil.

[Roberteyewhy]

Hello to everyone! Just found and joined this board.

My friend just purchased a 600e and needed help. I needed to update the BIOS to install Win XP but it did not come with a floppy drive but had a DVD drive instead. I made a CD to with the latest BIOS file but could not update because of a dead battery.

Thank you hjanzen for a concise and simple way to do it!

Robert

[hjanzen]

My pleasure!

Hans

[theshabz]

Thank you Hans, I will give that a try.

Hans, thanks for posting this explanation in English. I've heard of this method, but never attempted it myself because I've always had a usable battery handy. But I know that this is a common problem for some, and those who run into it will be pleased to find a clear explanation in English.

Note to theshabz: keep in mind that updating your BIOS without a battery should only be done when absolutely necessary, and only when you are confident that you will not experience a sudden power failure. If the power disappears in the midst of your battery-less BIOS update, it is possible to wreck your motherboard.

Phil.

Phil, its not that much of a risk really as I will have a variable power source that I will use to make sure there is power to it. From tinkering, I just havn't been able to fool the software into thinking its a fully charged battery. seems like its not just checking for current coming in but exactly how much charge there is on the pack.

Assuming i get this working, has anyone successfully installed ubuntu on a 600?

[hjanzen]

theshabz,

-As soon as you have modded the contents of the floppy disk as explained above, the program will bypass the check of the battery charge level.
-Ubuntu can be installed but getting sound working might be a problem.

Hans.

[tom lightbody]

> ubuntu on a 600

we have installed the "server edition" on several
300MHz 600s--note that neither "desktop environment"
KDE/gnome is present. In ordinary text mode, very
satisfactory even emacs runs OK.

as for X if you insist my suggestion is a window
manager such as "fvwm" with a few xterms for emacs,
firefox, etc. You will find the "desktop environments"
unbearably slow.

[ingber]

To update the bios on an A31p Thinkpad running under Ubuntu 9.10, I followed the simple procedure on http://www.bergek.com/2007/06/06/upgrad ... om-ubuntu/

> wget ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pccbbs/mo ... suiv69.exe
> cabextract spsuiv69.exe
> mkisofs -b IVUJ11US.IMG -o biosboot.iso IVUJ11US.IMG
Then just burn the file biosboot.iso using your favourite ISO burner. Boot from the CD and follow the on-screen instructions.

I of course downloaded the bios files appropriate for my machine, instead of spsuiv69.exe.

Lester