IBM Thinkpad 600E bios mod for processor update

[SqueakyPC]

After the Speedstep mod and re-assembly, (thanks to Gilf for the reminders:) the 600E booted first try to 127 stop code. Did the bios hex edit, reboot, and it went right into W2Kpro. CPUZ shows my 700 Mhz CPU at 756.2 Mhz, the fsb at 108Mhz and the level 2 cache at 0 bytes. I tried to install PL but it did not load on the first two tries. On the third try it loaded so i did a restart. In Advanced Settings i unchecked everything except Force L2 to enable. In Options i unchecked everything except Run PL at start up. Did another restart and everything is running perfectly. My next steps will be to reinstall the OS (Puppy and W2K) Grub boot loader, WMarcusm's DeepSleep, and MobileMeter. All of the parts for this mod including the extra 10Kohm resistor needed for the motherboard repair came from an old P3 PSU that was in the scrap pile. I will add more pics to the bucket link.

[gilf]

Thanks for the clarification (twice), Gilf.

There are drawings 2 posts later by Pkiff [...]

Minor note here: the drawings are by Sharedoc, I just posted/hosted them for him.

Phil.

Sorry, and also, we are deeply indebted to Sharedoc for this amazing thread.

btw Phil,I have a jpg photo of the board with a clear drawing of the mod superimposed on it if you don't mind hosting that I could send it to you. Sometimes a pic is worth a thousand words.

Also one of the other mod.

Too bad the forum doesn't accept photos. Particularly when links go dead.

[gilf]

After the Speedstep mod and re-assembly, (thanks to Gilf for the reminders:) ... My next steps will be to reinstall the OS (Puppy and W2K) .

Hey a fellow Puppy enthusiast! I'm running 4.1.2 retro now on the TP600e, have moved away from Ubuntu lately in general. Puppy runs really fast. I'm also running Win98SE under Puppy in a VMWare Player Virtual Machine. I'm sure you could do the same w/win2k if you want.

I'm having a little problem getting deepsleep to work with Puppy for some reason -- I think I can sort it out -- I think it's only that the speedstep Grub mods got overwritten when puppy was installed. I'll let you know.

[SqueakyPC]

Although i have not had to install Puppy for a while, it was easy. My CPU boots to full speed in Window$ without DeepSleep. In Puppy it boots to non speed step mode. The L2 cache is disabled in both. I hope to read through the post again so as to install a cache and speed step enabler in the Grub bootloader. If the bootloader is configured in this way do i have to re enable L2 and speedstep again after booting into Puppy? I am seeding the newest version of Puppy but i am still using 2.14 and 2.17.

[gilf]

All is well with Puppy after a Bios upgrade.

I forgot that this was a recently purchased TP600E motherboard from Ebay, and it didn't have the latest IBM Bios already installed.

In this case the board required Bios update INET36WW -- don't assume that is right for your board -- they vary, depending on the Tpad serial number. Just go to the Lenovo site and look up your own System serial number for a BIOS upgrade.

Anyway I'm running again at 810 mhz, with a full complement of RAM and Puppy Linux, Ubuntu and Win98SE available all in multiboot, and all running at top speed.

The GRUB deepsleep method is the best one in my opinion as it applies to any OS that GRUB can boot. GRUB initiates the speedup before any OS is booted. You don't have to run anything in the OS itself to get full speed. Adding new OS's is just a matter of adding an entry to GRUB's boot list. The speedup is handled automatically.

[beatoem]

I am pondering about the 600e/x ability to run good speed with generic compact flash/udma spec notebook drive adapters.

even at 33mbps ata host,theres ample enough speeds,with the potential for superfast random reads.

anyone tried sd flash hdd on a 600e as yet!


if anyone has issues with pleap ,ditch it and run cpumsr ,its superior in every respect, but in xp you must copy the saved msr file to desktop/all users/start menu/startup folder for it to kick in silently,as you could with deepsleep too,provided there are no conflicts with bloatware or viruses on start up.

[gilf]

Hi Beatoem,

always enjoyed your posts.

I haven't tried it yet.

I have tried D-Link's DUB-C2 USB 2.0 Cardbus adapter with a variety of flash memory/sticks, as well as an IOMagic's portable 80GB conventional HD (very small package).The USB 2.0 adapter gives you 2 USB 2.0 ports, and can fit with the wireless Cards in place, of the ones I've tried.

USB 2.0 makes quite a difference to a 600E. I use Linux, and it recognizes the card out of the box with no drivers needed. Not sure about Win XP.

As a report, the memory sticks work great out of the box at USB 2.0 speeds.

The external HD did not work with the 2.0 adapter at first, but did work slowly (as expected) with the TP600e's USB 1 port.

I eventually figured out that the new USB 2 slots are not full powered , since they have to work with the cardbus. However, The HD did come with a Y cable that allows you to pull power from a second USB port. There was no explanation of this cable in the instructions -- so I hadn't realized the problem (and solution)

The drive works well at USB 2 speeds when using the Y cable and pulling power from the old USB 1 port.

I actually like the external HD better than Memory sticks because it has a flexible cable (as well as its greater capacity). I'm always afraid that a memory stick will get hit and break the USB connector. They ought to make very short cables for these. That, and a spot of velcro on the computer to attach the stick on flat, would make USB memory less damage prone.

Anyway, let us know how you do with the solid drive if you try it. Nice to have everything buttoned up inside.

[SqueakyPC]

I have searched all over the net for a way to enter the bios or the Easy Setup menu on a newly acquired 600X 9FU. I have tried all combinations of F1/ESC/F12 but the notebook keeps looping back to Error 191FE.

Using the information provided by Gilf, i have dual booted W2k/Puppy 4.12 using the Grub boot loader on various hard drives to use on my 600Es. With any one of these hard drives installed in the 600X i can get into grub and even start to load Windows and/or Puppy but neither OS will load completely.
Windows stops with a message saying:

"Windows 2000 could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: <windows 2000 root>\system32\ ntoskrnl.exe. Please install a copy of the above file.
Pressing F8 just before W2K starts loading brings up the boot choices like safe mode or last know good config but selecting any of these does not help. I have a hard dive with a fresh install of W2K only but it stops at the same warning. I think the <windows 2000 root> part of the message holds a clue because the ntoskrnl.exe file is in the System 32 folder on all of my other machines, not in a folder caled "windows 2000 root/system32.
Puppy starts to load but stops with a message saying:

Code: Bad EIP value.
EIP: (<c425e891>) 0xc425e891 SS:ESP 0068:c109bf60
<0>Kernal panic - not syncing: Attempted to kill init!

The 600x manual says 191xx is PM initialization error. I am not sure if that refers to Processor Module or Power Management.
When i tried to update the bios DOS loads fine but then the update stops with the message: The system power management is disabled. The process has been canceled.
I found an old thread where Sharedoc suggests 191 is a power management issue so i am searching that angle. So far i have been coming up empty. Does anyone know how to re enable the Power Management feature or get into the bios/Easy Setup?

[gilf]

I'd try flashing the BIOS with the latest version for your laptop's model number. Obtainable from the Lenovo site.

After that is accomplished. Hold down the F1 key while turning on the computer to boot into "EasySetup mode. From there, do an Initialize.

Also, get a copy of the IBM PS2.exe utility. This allows you to set bios preferences from a floppy. But update your BIOS first before trying anything else -- at least that's my suggestion.

Other additional problems can be due to a flaky harddrive. If you update BIOS and can get into EasySetup, then if floppy stuff (like loading and running DOS) works well and Puppy with the puppy pfix=ram option booted from CD works, yet you still have HD OS problems, I'd suspect the hard drive.

Other possible problems for flaky or confusing intermittent problems are RAM connectors (see my earlier post on these). Generally the ram bank nearest the front edge of the computer goes first -- try a single ram bank in first one connector, then the other.

[SqueakyPC]

Also, get a copy of the IBM PS2.exe utility. This allows you to set bios preferences from a floppy.

Thanks Gilf i will try this right away. I have tried to flash the bios to the latest version but it hangs. I have tried multiple hard drives but they all stop with the <windows 2000 root>\system32\ ntoskrnl.exe. Please install a copy of the above file. It starts to load W2K or Puppy, it halts part way into the load.
Perhaps i can image the bios file onto a floppy and boot from there?

[gilf]

I don't think I understand you----
Are you trying to flash the BIOS from a HD?
If so, you can't! Or shouldn't.

You must follow IBM's instructions. Please read the website instructions carefully.

Basically you create a boot floppy that contains the BIOS flashing program and the image.

What you download from the Lenovo/IBM site is a program that creates that boot/flash floppy with everything needed to flash your bios.

You should be able to create that floppy from any computer with a floppy drive. The download from IBM is not the flash program, but a disk creation program that creates the flash floppy.

You then take that floppy and put it into your ailing Thinkpad 600e and boot from that floppy and follow the instructions of the flashing program that autostarts. It then automatically flashes your BIOS. Your computer needs to have a charged battery and powercord attached, or the program aborts.

Also BE ABSOLUTELY SURE that the version of the BIOS you will be flashing is the appropriate one for your particular TP600e. For that you need the type number on the bottom of your computer. It looks like this (but probably isn't exactly):

Type 2645-4AA

Use the latest BIOS for the Type number on your sticker. There is a lookup table for the Type number on the Lenovo Download site.

And, finally, I wouldn't try running PS2.exe until AFTER I'd flashed the BIOS. As I mentioned earlier. It is used ONLY for changing settings in a good BIOS. It doesn't fix a broken one. You probably don't even need PS2.exe if you flash your BIOS. After the flash all ports, IRQ assignments etc. will be restored to factory defaults.

Unless you need some custom device settings, you won't need PS2.exe.

[SqueakyPC]

I don't think I understand you----
Are you trying to flash the BIOS from a HD?

No. Quite simply the notebook does not post correctly. It stops at Error code 191FE. I guess 191FE is power management related. Not windows power management but system power management that is stored on the bios chip.
I cannot get to the setup screen. I cannot flash the bios because it stops with the error warning mentioned in the above post. I have a stack of IBM Think pads and spend a lot of time on the Lenovo website. I understand how to flash the bios.
IBM calls the information stored on the bios chip the system program. I have to make a change within the system program relating to power management. Can i ghost the (bios-/system program) files onto a floppy disk and bypass the (bios-/system program)that is on the motherboard eprom.

And, finally, I wouldn't try running PS2.exe until AFTER I'd flashed the BIOS.

Whats the risk?

Unless you need some custom device settings,

I think this is exactly what i need.

[gilf]

Sorry to have tried to help. Communication is obviously imperfect. Do what you want.

[SqueakyPC]

Please, don't be sorry.

I think this is exactly what i need.

Also: (Gilf)

1.) I downloaded the binaries (Boot.zip) and unzipped them. They contain the folder boot/grub containing the deepsleep modified files.
2.) I navigated to my own /boot folder and renamed the /boot/grub folder to /boot/grub-old (this saves the old contents in case we need to revert to them)
3.) I copied the new grub folder to the /boot folder. I did this as super-user (root) and made sure the permissions for all the files matched the old permisions.
4.) I deleted the new /boot/grub/menu.lst document and replaced it with a copy of the one in my /boot/grub-old folder.
5.) I edited this menu.lst by adding the line tpad here:
Code:

This worked perfectly for me, not just on the think pads but on all my computers. I appreciate your work.

[gilf]

You're welcome!