Thinkpad 600E with "error 8611"

[hexeta]

Sure enough the trackpoint is away with the fairies!
Result is, it won't boot.
I understand that it is possible to disable the trackpoint,in BIOS, but without any means of navigation, you can't achieve this and therefore the machine will never boot!...................
Well, that's the theory!
I did have one, and only one successful boot out of many yesterday! so I know that the machine is basically OK.
Looking on the net, I found this:- http://stderr.org/pipermail/thinkpad/20 ... 04712.html
but I don't understand the instructions, can anyone help?
Will it "brick" my machine, and is it reversible?
I do have a USB mouse that I could use for the moment, but I will remove the KB eventually.
Since I have just been "gifted" this machine when advertising for a new HDD for my own Thinkpad which you guys have helped me revive already I don't want to kill it just yet!!

On one occasion, it went into a selftest routine, and the system board showed the following faults:-
"DEV 086, ERR 22, and FRU 0010", no idea what that signifies....trackpoint again?
Also, like my own machine, it just sort of siezes up when half way through the Memory test.
I don't know what this signifies, but my own machine seems to work OK so I'm assuming it's not terminal!
EDIT
Since found this, http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... w=previous which seems to say that this (the system board reported faults) is just underlining the "error 8611"that appears upon boot.
Regarding the concluding post, I'm not sure what "worked great", so it's still a bit of an enigma

[RealBlackStuff]

He obviously replaced the keyboard...

[hexeta]

He obviously replaced the keyboard...

But was it the new KB that did it, or just the shiny new contacts?
Being a devout skinflint, I'm hoping it was just the latter.
That said, I'd be most grateful for any assistance with the instructions I linked to regarding the disabling of the trackpoint in the BIOS.
Thanks H

[pkiff]

If you want to use an external mouse inside the BIOS on a 600 series machine, I think it has to be a PS/2 mouse. If you want to use an external keyboard, I think it also has to be a PS/2 keyboard, and you'll need one of those Y-splitters to get your PS/2 port to recognize the keyboard properly.

I've never disabled my TrackPoint using the method described in the mailing list post you link to, but I understand that it works just as described. Lots of folks have reported success with this specific CMOS edit. You won't be able to understand the instructions until you can actually get into your BIOS/CMOS screen and press CTRL-D on the right screen in order to get to the built-in CMOS editor. Editing your CMOS incorrectly has the potential to brick your machine. However, generally, if you want to return your CMOS to its default, factory state, you should be able to use the "reset" button that I think we discussed in an earlier thread (?). The reset button should undo any manual CMOS edits. You can also achieve this by removing both the main battery and the CMOS battery and then plugging them in again I think.

If you are having trouble getting past the error screen in order to get into the actual BIOS/CMOS screens, you might try pressing Esc and/or F1, once, twice, or several times in succession, on whatever screen you get stuck on.

Phil.

[hexeta]

pkiff, thanks for that
On my original machine, with which you helped me get back into the BIOS, I was running Mint 9 Lxde and it was quite happy with my USB Optical Mouse, although there was nothing wrong with the track point, and it was still active in spite of the presence of the Mouse.

I thought that if I could disable the trackpoint on this second machine, then I could at least "boot" it, and install Mint or some such with which I could then use the mouse.
The only flaw in that as far as I can see is the method of navigation for the installation!
Maybe just using the cursor keys?
That currently doesn't work in the BIOS, since although I can highlight a particular item, I cannot activate the radio buttons to make a choice (between "this" and "that") as pressing "enter" just returns me to the previous screen and the track point buttons have no effect!

You won't be able to understand the instructions until you can actually get into your BIOS/CMOS screen and press CTRL-D on the right screen

Which begs the question, "Which is the right screen?"

I seem to be able to enter "Easy setup", but can't find any screen that relates to the trackpoint.

[pkiff]

You won't be able to understand the instructions until you can actually get into your BIOS/CMOS screen and press CTRL-D on the right screen

Which begs the question, "Which is the right screen?"
I seem to be able to enter "Easy setup", but can't find any screen that relates to the trackpoint.

There is no screen specifically related to the Trackpoint in the instructions you linked to. Are you following those directions?:

Disabling the trackpoint mouse via CMOS on a Thinkpad 600e:
*use at your own risk*

- go into the system config utility (which you get forced into when your
enabled trackpoint is dead)
- get back to the main menu and goto "config"
- press control-d
- make sure you are on the "base 128 cmos" page:
-at ofset 20h (1st column, 3rd row)
change value to "01"

- press f2 then f3
- exit out and restart

The machine should boot sans trackpoint.

Craig Giffen
Portland, Oregon

Which step are you stuck at?

Phil.

[hexeta]

- make sure you are on the "base 128 cmos" page:
-at ofset 20h (1st column, 3rd row)

That's the bit where I get lost, but I've a strange feeling that you are going to say that I won't see that screen until I've pressed "Control+D" on the Config page.
Think it's just sunk in!!

[hexeta]

Just another probably silly question:
As you know, I have now got two Thinkpads, albeit that one is poorly at the moment!
My original machine (circa 1999) came with a 24x CD ROM in the "Ultraslim bay", the latest machine, (circa 1998) has a DVD ROM fitted.
Do I need to download any drivers or other software to be able to use the DVD in my original machine and vice versa??

[pkiff]

You should be able to swap the CD-ROM-only and the DVD/CD-ROM devices back and forth between machines without requiring any additional drivers in Windows.

However, if you want to use the DVD player to actually play DVDs, you may end up needing to install some software. I recall that with certain drives, DVDs would not actually be recognized in the drive until I actually had the software necessary to play them -- possibly this has something to do with the drive checking for correct region codes, I'm not sure. Regardless, you may be interested in my post in this thread, which lists a couple software options for playing DVDs on 600 series machines:
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... 84#p617784

Phil.

[hexeta]

Phil You are a mine of useful information!
Thanks for that I'm glad to have it.
I will be installing Linux Mint 9 Lxde for the moment, so since this comes with both VLC and Gnome players, they will take care of the "player" function.
I'm just a bit confused as to where the hardware drivers will come from.
Last time I installed Mint 9, I just had a CD ROM, and that had to be operational in order to decode the live CD...ergo the driver must have existed in the machine prior to me installing Mint.
Would that also be true for the DVD Hardware driver...especially since this particular Laptop was only kitted out with a CD ROM?

[rkawakami]

In case anyone needs a guided tour to disabling the Trackpoint, I put this up some time ago:

http://www.kawakami-ca.com/ibm_600x/disable_trackpoint/

[hexeta]

Ray, thank you for that.
A most impressive and absolutely crystal clear tutorial.
I never cease to be amazed by the breadth of knowledge you guys have on these Thinkpads!
I will now be able to disable the trackpad on my poorly machine with confidence and hopefully be able to boot it!

On my original machine (from which I'm posting), I have now fitted a 12GB drive in place of the old 3GB one, and re-installed Linux Mint 9 Lxde.
Hopefully this will banish the attacks of dementia which have forced me to re-install with monotonous regularity!

Regarding the interchangeability of the DVD and CD ROM drive units in the Ultraslim bay, I haven't yet managed to entice the sound to work on this Mint installation, but I've swapped the CD for the newly acquired DVD, just to try and see if it will work "plug n' play"style.
However, though it can "see" the track info on CD's it tells me there was a problem opening the media if I click play (maybe because the sound's not working yet!).
It also can "see" data CD's, but not DVD-RW discs.
Disk utility reports "no media detected" when a DVD is in the drive.
Since I don't have any commercial DVD's, I can't establish if the DVD function works at all.
It may just object to "RW" disks, ....or perhaps it is picky about "- or +" disks, (I only have the "minus" variety!)
Upshot is, I'm not sure that there exists in this machine anywhere, a driver that can make use of the additional ability of this player to handle "DVD media".
Is that possible??

[ieee488]

I doubt you are going to be able to get sound going on your 600E with Linux Mint 9 Lxde. The kernel is too new.

As wrote in your other thread, I tried Puppy Linux 4.3.1 based on the newer 2.6.25 kernel, and the sound would not work whereas it would work with the older 2.6.21 kernel.

Linux Mint 9 Lxde has 2.6.32 kernel.

I am also able to play commercial DVDs using Puppy Linux. It isn't glamorous, but it works.

[hexeta]

Hi ieee488,
I intend to play with Puppy, Tiny Core, and also Zorin 4 Lite!
just to get some experience and to better understand what's out there and what/which works with my kit!

I did actually get good quality sound on this 600E using Mint 9 Lxde, it was quite a battle of wills, but sad to say, since I've discovered how to make it survive a re-boot, have not been able to activate it again!

Knowing that it is possible, I'll keep trying and with luck, I'll remember how I did it!