IBM 600e error code 188

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Jessica12

Hi guys I have a few questions,

1.)
I just got an IBM 600E from eBay to play around with that I want to put my PIII 750Mhz processor in but I need to correct a problem first.

I just replaced the CMOS battery because when I first bought it the machine wouldn't POST. Now that I have a new battery in it it will POST but it gives me IBM error code 188 which is a bad EEPROM checksum. Does anyone know how to correct this without replacing the mainboard?

2.)
Once I have the POST error 188 resolved I will most likely need to flash a new BIOS to the chip. I don't have a 1.44 Floppy drive, I only have a CDR/RW drive. I know how I can extract the .img file from the floppy and how to convert it to an ISO to burn to a CD but has anyone tried this? I haven't looked into the BIOS update file so I don't know if there is any A:\ specific references in the file that would cause a problem during flashing.

The sooner I can get this stuff resolved the sooner I can get to the fun part of my project which is fitting in the heatsink and fan that i made with copper contact pad, high speed 4500 rpm fan and copper cooling fins for a stable 810 Mhz and 900+ experimenting with the PCMCIA FSB booster card.

Thanks guys!
Sharedoc
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Location: Finland

Does 188 error allow you to get to bios setup by pressing F1 or selecting "test"?

WIth google I found the following
* (Fix) POST error 188 system board errors can occur if a suspend then resume occurs during boot load of the UMS application.
* (Fix) The system does not resume from standby mode when a PCI video card is installed in a SelectaDock.

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... IGR-4F82LT
Maybe your laptop got the propblem with a docking station?
Jessica12

Hey there Sharedoc :D !

I have been unsuccessful in trying to enter bios setup so far. When I press F1 at the POST repeated pressing makes the system bell sound, after I stop pressing it the machine goes to the error screen and reports error 188.

There seems not to be any test button available, it just has a OK button...when it is pushed then error screen changes to an arrow pointing from the error code to a book (look up the code I would think).

I had seen that page that you put in your post, it does apply to my model to because this one is the 5BU with the 400Mhz stock processor.

Any Ideas how to fix it?
Sharedoc
Notebook Genius
Posts: 679
Joined: Mon Aug 18, 2003 8:46 pm
Location: Finland

Try resetting the machine properly, so take out bios battery and battery and charger for 5 minutes and reinstall batteries and try again.

If it does not help, well looks like your bios flash memory content is somehow corrupted and it does not boot properly. Therefore it is difficult to reflash the bios because the machine cannot do itself and the bios chip is soldered.

So next logical step is to go eBay and buy a new motherboard.
Poju
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Location: Finland

Hi just found this for TP770 I hope it works with 600E too

188
(EEPROM CRC #2 error.)

Set the system identification using the ThinkPad Hardware Maintenance Diskette. Version 1.40



http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... JON-3LXQX8
Poju
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I found link to ver 1.60from japanese site, but i'm not sure does it work(can't download from work)

I'll test it when i get home and post it if you want
Jessica12

My question right now.. does the Hardware maintance disk bypass error checking in the bios POST allowing it to boot from the floppy?

GO POJU!! :D

I found the Hardware maintance disk version 1.60 and I made a floppy disk with the IBM image extractor.
After that I made a bootable cd out of the floppy so it should work the same as the floppy. I tried to use it in the 600e but it will not boot from the CD, I then used it in my desktop and it sucessfully boots and the CD works as it should(like the floppy that was created). Problem is I don't think the Thinkpad is set to boot from the CD right now :(

Question is...with this program on the floppy made from the HMD is it supposed to bypass the POST and error checking?

Can someone create a floppy with the HMD v1.60 and test this for me, I don't have a floppy drive to use right now?

I also found this relating to a Linux problem that LM sensors ( a Gnome applet that gets sensor information) causes. After running LM-sensors detect it causes the 188 error on 770 series and 600 series thinkpads.
http://mailman.linux-thinkpad.org/piper ... 08684.html
From reading this it says that the Hardware maintance disk v1.60 fixes the 188 error caused by the Linux bug after setting the system id like Poju said earlier.
Poju
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Hi again

Sorry i can't help u with floppy thingy (don't have FD for 600e eighter)

But here is couple links.
About cause of corruption with LM sensors
http://archives.andrew.net.au/lm-sensors/msg20054.html

And little more intresting link to old jaxx site. I have that impression that crc error is in 24rf08 eeprom not in 28F004 flash chip.
Jaxx crc-repair from web archive
http://web.archive.org/web/200310030211 ... repair.htm

If i did understand everything right chip can be reprogram with this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/PIC-16F84-24CXX-Sim ... dZViewItem
Strega
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Hello Sharedoc !

I also had trouble getting into the Bios so I took out the batteries (incl the Cmos) for a few minutes - and it worked :D
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