New T42 w/problem - Need Help

[1885]

I just received a new 2378xxg and ran the setup. It booted just fine but there were a few items (modem, network cards, etc.) that had the yellow asterisk in Device Manager. I tried installing drivers for them but only the modem was corrected.

The next evening when I got home, I started the laptop and began having boot problems. When it tried to go through the Boot Agent part of the startup, it said there was an error (E61) and to check the cable. It would then exit Boot Agent and try to load Windows (XP Pro). The screen goes black and then it brings up the safe mode, run recovery part of startup. After trying to run recovery a couple of times, it finally loads Windows. What a drag. Maybe something didn't load right in the initial setup?

Is there a way to wipe the current installation off the hard drive and then run the setup clean again? Might that be the needed solution? Sure appreciate the help.

[jdhurst]

If the machine was truly new from IBM out of the box, then I would send it back. No modern ThinkPad (from A22e in 2002 forward) has come to me with defective drivers and devices. It all should work without having to reinstall it. If you want to change the install, that's one thing, but you should have to do this to make it work. ... JD Hurst

[1885]

JD, it was sold to me by an eBay dealer as new...came in an IBM sealed box with nothing on the hard drive. Setup began to load at power on so I assume it's new. It certainly looks new cosmetically.

Do you know how I can remove the current programs, clean the drive and run the initial setup again? I'd like to test it before contacting IBM about it.

[Leon]

didn't think any recent IBM Thinkpads were sold with nothing on the hard drive???

[aamsel]

Are you absolutely sure it was "new" and not a refurbished (recertified) notebook?? Virtually every Thinkpad sold on EBAY that has the word "new" in the title of the listing says refurbished somewhere in the body of the listing.
Just wondering.

Andrew
Austin, TX

JD, it was sold to me by an eBay dealer as new...came in an IBM sealed box with nothing on the hard drive. Setup began to load at power on so I assume it's new. It certainly looks new cosmetically.

Do you know how I can remove the current programs, clean the drive and run the initial setup again? I'd like to test it before contacting IBM about it.

[gazingwa]

That is going to be the IBM Power managment driver. Download it from support.ibm.com

[syhead]

some ebay dealers sell "IBM RECERTIFIED" machines. Most recertified computers did not even left the warehouse before the order was cancelled. I got mine from a ebay dealer. It comes in an IBM factory sealed box, and has a standard 1-year warranty. The difference between my laptop and a "brand new" is that mine got an additional series of tests before being repackaged by IBM... . So, less change of getting a bad one and more strict quality control! Can't get any better than that!!!!

[1885]

Yes, since this one has a 1 year warranty, it is probably a recertified machine. More than likely never used before.

I downloaded the new Power Management driver and the machine booted first time. I'll test it some more because it seems to be an intermittent boot problem. I see the PXE-initialization remark is still there "check cable connection".

The two network adapters still show the yellow exclamation mark in Device Manager. I've tried reinstalling drivers but it seems to have no effect. Must I also download new drivers from IBM to install the two devices?