New X40 owner - bios update needed? [ SOLVED }

[natgab]

New thinkpad owner / long-time Mac user,

I bought a used Thinkpad X40 off ebay, seller installed Windows Pro XP from COA, but did not install any of the IBM software. Hardware & software seem to work fine, EXCEPT I can't boot off a USB stick. I bought it to dual-boot with Ubuntu. (I posted in the Ubuntu forum, but now think its a hardware problem)

I Quad-boot my Main PC, so I am familiar with Linux a bit and the USB boot sticks work on my main PC. I also tried two different sticks/brands to make sure, USB 2.0 plugs otherwise work fine. I believe my problem is that the BIOS needs updating but wanted to get information from long time owners so as not to proceed without precautions first. I found this site at the IBM/Lenovo site: http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-54078, is this the correct one? Tech info in signature.

TIA

[natgab]

OK, I read the instructions carefully at the IBM site I listed. So I decided to try and update the BIOS and hoped I would not brick it.

I updated the BIOS to ver. 2.08 first and then I updated the Embedded Controller Program to ver. 1.62. Computer otherwise works fine. So far, I still cannot boot on a USB stick. If I try using USB FDD first, it gets ignored and goes to HD, and if I use USB HDD, it gives me boot error and I have to reboot to HD.

NOTE: In the boot list, USB HD is listed as " -USB HDD ", but USB FDD is listed as " USB FDD ". Does that minus sign mean something is wrong?

[jdrou]

How exactly is the flash drive prepared? I just bought an X40 myself and I can boot from USB stick fine with BIOS 1.22. I multi-boot DOS and several other things using syslinux; until recently there were some bugs with syslinux, memdisk, and Thinkpad BIOS.

In the F12 boot list under the -USB HDD there should be a description of your flash drive (mine shows Cruzer Titanium). In the BIOS boot list it will show +USB HDD if it detects a flash drive attached and -USB HDD if it does not.

[natgab]

How exactly is the flash drive prepared? I just bought an X40 myself and I can boot from USB stick fine with BIOS 1.22. I multi-boot DOS and several other things using syslinux; until recently there were some bugs with syslinux, memdisk, and Thinkpad BIOS.

In the F12 boot list under the -USB HDD there should be a description of your flash drive (mine shows Cruzer Titanium). In the BIOS boot list it will show +USB HDD if it detects a flash drive attached and -USB HDD if it does not.

---I boot my main PC into Windows to format into FAT32. I had some trouble when I formatted them when booted to OS X. I have used both the untetbooin & pendrive installers to install Ubuntu 10.04:
http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/
http://www.pendrivelinux.com/universal- ... -as-1-2-3/

On boot, if I press F12, I will get the boot menu and it will show my flash drive w/ the Corsair name and -USB HDD. But inside BIOS, it is at +USB HDD.

confused

[jdrou]

On boot, if I press F12, I will get the boot menu and it will show my flash drive w/ the Corsair name and -USB HDD. But inside BIOS, it is at +USB HDD.

That is exactly what I see so the drive itself is being recognized properly. Either the Thinkpad BIOS doesn't like your drive's format or it could be a problem with using a large drive; some systems seem to have problems when booting from flash drives larger than 512MB for example. I've been experimenting with installing Windows from a flash drive (using WinSetupFromUSB package) and I'll be trying that on the X40 in the next few days so I'll let you know how it goes.

[tom lightbody]

do your USB ports work at all? Reading from flash drive, for example.
Have seen two x40's with bad USB ports.

[natgab]

do your USB ports work at all? Reading from flash drive, for example.
Have seen two x40's with bad USB ports.

---Good news, problem solved, third time is the charm.

I used my 256MB Corsair flash drive with Puppy Linux Lucid 5 and it started immediately. For some odd reason it is picky about reading flash drives, especially since it would not take my 32GB Corsair but was fine with my 256MB Corsair. And my SanDisk 8GB I have used to boot Linux, OS X & Haiku in my main computer!!

I guess I will be going to the store tomorrow to purchase a new flash drive from a different company, better check the ads.

Update: I was able to load Ubuntu with a new 8GB Flash drive. Though I loaded 9.04 (upgraded to 9.10) since 10.04 gives me a black screen and the alternate install discs don't seem to work as a USB Flash drive.

BTW: Puppy Linux is very fast on the X40 from the 256MB flash drive. It booted fast & found all hardware.