IBM Thinkpad 600E bios mod for processor update

Don't ask how to hack password. (BIOS Passwords)
Sharedoc
Notebook Genius
Posts: 679
Joined: Mon Aug 18, 2003 8:46 pm
Location: Finland

Cjmarti,

Hi,

I remember I have seen someone reporting about 108MHz mod working for 770Z, but I cannot find the link anymore. Basically you can do the mod by finding the frequency selecting pins on the clock generator and adding a resistor. It is like for 600E but the printed circuit is different.
cmarti
BIOS Newbie
Posts: 18
Joined: Thu Oct 05, 2006 1:55 pm
Location: Orlando, Florida
Contact:

Thanks!! :)

Sharedoc,

So the picture is not from a 770Z? I am grateful for your responce.
Basically you can do the mod by finding the frequency selecting pins on the clock generator and adding a resistor
But how can i find it? Any advice.

And sorry for the trouble.
T43p/1600x1200 w/flexview/2.13GHZ/2GB/ENGENIUS EMP-8602+S 600mw mini pci
X60/1.83GHZ/2GB/Atheros
A31p/2GHZ/2GB/Atheros
600X/850MHZ/576MB/Atheros W/External antenna ALL with 100GB 7K100
Sharedoc
Notebook Genius
Posts: 679
Joined: Mon Aug 18, 2003 8:46 pm
Location: Finland

I can't recognise if the picture is from 770Z. But the clock generator IMI SG577 is the one used in 600E

http://www.standardics.nxp.com/products ... ck2000.pdf

The mod appears genuine, since it it pulls up pin 27 SEL0 to enable 108MHz FSB bus (as far as I can remember).
cmarti
BIOS Newbie
Posts: 18
Joined: Thu Oct 05, 2006 1:55 pm
Location: Orlando, Florida
Contact:

Sharedoc wrote:I can't recognise if the picture is from 770Z. But the clock generator IMI SG577 is the one used in 600E

http://www.standardics.nxp.com/products ... ck2000.pdf

The mod appears genuine, since it it pulls up pin 27 SEL0 to enable 108MHz FSB bus (as far as I can remember).
If i take a picture of mine will you be able to identify which pins i have to solder?

Is there anything i can do?

Thanks Sharedoc. :)
T43p/1600x1200 w/flexview/2.13GHZ/2GB/ENGENIUS EMP-8602+S 600mw mini pci
X60/1.83GHZ/2GB/Atheros
A31p/2GHZ/2GB/Atheros
600X/850MHZ/576MB/Atheros W/External antenna ALL with 100GB 7K100
cmarti
BIOS Newbie
Posts: 18
Joined: Thu Oct 05, 2006 1:55 pm
Location: Orlando, Florida
Contact:

Sharedoc,

This picture helps on identifiying the clock generator?

Image

Thanks.

Carlos.
T43p/1600x1200 w/flexview/2.13GHZ/2GB/ENGENIUS EMP-8602+S 600mw mini pci
X60/1.83GHZ/2GB/Atheros
A31p/2GHZ/2GB/Atheros
600X/850MHZ/576MB/Atheros W/External antenna ALL with 100GB 7K100
Sharedoc
Notebook Genius
Posts: 679
Joined: Mon Aug 18, 2003 8:46 pm
Location: Finland

Cjmarti,

Sorry, I cannot see any details such as chip type ids from the photo. Can you make a better photo with a scanner?

Try locate IMI SG557 or SG577 chip so it is in the photo. It may be on the reverse side of the motherboard.
pkiff
BIOS Newbie
Posts: 16
Joined: Mon Jun 28, 2004 7:29 am

Added later:
Even better, than the notes I've written below, I'd recommend consulting "burmygreens" page describing Overclocking a TP770X. He has great closeups of the 770X board and I think for overclocking purposes, the 770X and 770Z can be treated as identical. Maybe this is the page you tried to link to above, but I couldn't access that one.

Original info:
I've got a disassembled (defective) 770Z board here: FRU 10L1259

I haven't tried any of the mods that require soldering, so can't offer advice on any of this. But the 770Z board I've got looks almost identical to the one in the photo cjmarti links to above http://img223.imageshack.us/my.php?image=770xfsbmodot1.png [488KB]. The chips where the yellow wire connects look the same and the placement and layout of the chips is the same.

Clock Generator chip markings (same chip, different date):
IMI
SG577DYB
9906 F5627

Other Tiny chip (beside the one that yellow wire is connected to) markings:
7W74
. 9C

The steel-covered chip above them has a different number on it than the one in the photo (29L318...), but it is probably just a revision (?):
C33.868
KDS 9B

I don't have an easy way of getting a photo posted at the moment, but I'll try to remember to take a photo once I have my camera set up again.

Phil.
jamiphar
New visitors - please read the rules.
Posts: 9
Joined: Tue Nov 28, 2006 12:38 am

Hey everyone. I recently bought a 500mhz PIII for my 600E (2645-55U) and am awaiting its arrival in the mail. So I just updated the bios to what I believe is the latest version (IHET47WW) to get it ready for the upgrade and possible mods.

Apparently I'm supposed to change byte 20 from 02 to 0A in the CMOS editor, but byte 20 shows only 00 right now. Any thoughts on this? I'm also not quite clear on which byte controls the onboard RAM.
pkiff
BIOS Newbie
Posts: 16
Joined: Mon Jun 28, 2004 7:29 am

Some 600E and 770X machines apparently shipped with a BIOS setting of "00" at byte 20 instead of "02". This means that for some reason there are 600/770 machines that have a particular bit turned on by default and other 600/770 machines don't. I don't know what that particular bit controls or why some machines might have it on by default and others off.

From what I've seen, there have been no reported problems from people who have changed byte 20 to from "00" to "0A" instead of from "02" to "0A". Having said that, I personally would try to retain the original BIOS settings as much as possible if it were my machine. So I would recommend changing "00" to "08" -- this will turn on the bit that controls the L2 cache without making any other changes. If you change "00" to "0A" you are actually turning on TWO bits: one controls the L2 cache and the other serves some unknown function.

Phil.
jamiphar
New visitors - please read the rules.
Posts: 9
Joined: Tue Nov 28, 2006 12:38 am

Ok, so I should change 00 to 08 instead of changing 00 to 0A, right? I understand that Powerleap has been used to enable L2 cache once the computer has booted, does this seem like the best method to use?
Also, I'm confused as to which byte enables/disables the onboard RAM. I'd like to know in case it gets unstable running at 100mhz with the PIII added.

Thanks!
pkiff
BIOS Newbie
Posts: 16
Joined: Mon Jun 28, 2004 7:29 am

jamiphar wrote:Ok, so I should change 00 to 08 instead of changing 00 to 0A, right?
That's my recommendation, yes. You are then changing the value from 0000000 (binary) to 0001000 (binary), and you are only changing the single, specific bit that affects the L2 cache.
jamiphar wrote:I understand that Powerleap has been used to enable L2 cache once the computer has booted, does this seem like the best method to use?
Yes. My earlier wording may have been slightly unclear because when you turn the bit "ON" (so its value=1) the effect is to DISABLE the L2 cache. You need a software utility to enable it again when your OS boots up. You may also need to re-enable it after returning from hibernation/suspend.
jamiphar wrote:Also, I'm confused as to which byte enables/disables the onboard RAM. I'd like to know in case it gets unstable running at 100mhz with the PIII added.
Another BIOS edit can do this, though I have not personally tried it on any of my machines. The following information is from Katch's "Mod the Pad" site:
http://www.katch.dsl.pipex.com/mtb/mods.htm
Katch wrote:Note: Some people have experienced instability after upgrading to PIII CPUs caused by the onboard RAM. When you install a PIII CPU you automatically increase the FSB to 100MHz which can be too high for the 66MHz specification memory. You can disable it in the same manner as the Level II cache by setting byte 2B from its original value of 80 to 81.
Phil.
jamiphar
New visitors - please read the rules.
Posts: 9
Joined: Tue Nov 28, 2006 12:38 am

Thanks for clearing that up!
pkiff wrote:
Katch wrote:Note: Some people have experienced instability after upgrading to PIII CPUs caused by the onboard RAM. When you install a PIII CPU you automatically increase the FSB to 100MHz which can be too high for the 66MHz specification memory. You can disable it in the same manner as the Level II cache by setting byte 2B from its original value of 80 to 81.
Phil.
I read the same thing before, but I'm not sure what he means by byte 2B. I see the 12345, etc. and letters at the top, and 0, 10, 20, 30, etc. on the left. Hopefully I won't even have to disable it, but I think I'd better know how to just in case.
Ripa Rapa
New visitors - please read the rules.
Posts: 14
Joined: Thu Dec 29, 2005 9:29 pm
Location: Finland

Trillium wrote: http://www.wimsbios.com/phpBB2/topic7639-15.html

that he had been able to write 390X bios into a 390E (after a mod)
Do we know how much difference there is between 600E and 600X?
Maybe someone with an extra 600E motherbord could try the 600X BIOS?

I don't know - just hoping :?
Thinkpadder
pkiff
BIOS Newbie
Posts: 16
Joined: Mon Jun 28, 2004 7:29 am

Ripa Rapa wrote:Trillium wrote: [...] that he had been able to write 390X bios into a 390E (after a mod)
Wait a second, from what I can tell reading the thread, Trillium is unable to boot into Windows 98SE with the 390X BIOS installed on a 390E.
Ripa Ripa wrote:Do we know how much difference there is between 600E and 600X?
Lots! The 600X has a MiniPCI modem, a different video card, a newer PCMCIA interface, built-in PIII, built-in FSB of 100MHz, a TV-out card on the motherboard, and probably a number of other significant differences, despite being part of the same model line.
Ripa Ripa wrote:Maybe someone with an extra 600E motherbord could try the 600X BIOS?
I would not recommend this and cannot imagine that it would work, but if you have a motherboard to spare, then go ahead and try it.

Phil.
Last edited by pkiff on Wed Nov 29, 2006 7:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.
pkiff
BIOS Newbie
Posts: 16
Joined: Mon Jun 28, 2004 7:29 am

jamiphar wrote:[...]but I'm not sure what he means by byte 2B. I see the 12345, etc. and letters at the top, and 0, 10, 20, 30, etc. on the left. Hopefully I won't even have to disable it, but I think I'd better know how to just in case.
For reference purposes, and for future readers of this thread, Byte 20 is located here (marked by **):

Code: Select all

    0  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  A  B  C  D  E  F 
00 XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX
10 XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX
20 ** XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX 
30 XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX
40 XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX
50 XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX
60 XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX
70 XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX


I am not sure which byte in the CMOS controls onboard memory, however, according to some sources, it is a bit within Byte 2B. See, for example, the "Mod" section of Katch's "Mod the Pad" site.

I cannot recommend disabling your memory this way as I personally have never done it, and I am not about to play with my CMOS to test it, but I am sure other folks on this forum can confirm if this is correct or not.

For reference purposes, Byte 2B is located here (marked by **):

Code: Select all

    0  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  A  B  C  D  E  F 
00 XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX
10 XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX
20 XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX ** XX XX XX XX 
30 XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX
40 XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX
50 XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX
60 XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX
70 XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX


Phil.
Post Reply