Thinkpad 755CX: cannot update BIOS without charged battery.
Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2017 1:17 am
I need to update the BIOS on an old IBM Thinkpad 755CX. Without a BIOS update it won't recognize its Mwave modem/sound card under Windows98 (I'm making this into a retro gaming machine and need sound).
The latest revision of the BIOS is 1.44 and it's found in a file stype144.exe (can currently be found at http://ftp.lanet.lv/ftp/windows/lanet/t ... tpe144.exe ) - it's a self-extracting disk image that writes a raw image directly to a floppy disk. Here's the contents of the floppy disk after extraction:
11/07/1996 02:33 PM 524,288 $0017000.FL1
11/14/1996 01:44 AM 7,408 COMMAND.COM
11/14/1996 01:44 AM 25 CONFIG.SYS
02/28/1992 12:00 PM 33,446 IBMBIO.COM
02/28/1992 12:00 PM 37,378 IBMDOS.COM
11/14/1996 01:44 AM 43,903 UPDTFLSH.EXE
11/14/1996 01:44 AM 12,501 USERINT.EXE
11/14/1996 01:44 AM 20,883 UTILINFO.EXE
The main flash program is updtflsh.exe; it however requires that the laptop is both plugged into a power supply, and have a fully charged battery - otherwise it refuses to work.
I don't have a working battery for this laptop (I have a few dead ones), and any attempts that I've made over the past few weeks to find one anywhere were unsuccessful. Considering that the laptop is 20+ years old, not surprising.
I have found on the internet methods for flashing the BIOS without a battery on Thinkpad laptops from a newer generation (770 and 600) but that required the creative use of a utility flash2.exe which is found on the BIOS update disks for those laptops. However the disk for the 755CX does not use flash2.exe.
At this point I have given up trying to find a battery. It seems that it's easier to find an unicorn than a working battery for Thinkpad 755CX. I need to find a method for flashing the BIOS without a battery.
Any ideas? If needed I can post a zipped file with the contents of the BIOS update disk. Actually I' going to try and attach it to this post.
The latest revision of the BIOS is 1.44 and it's found in a file stype144.exe (can currently be found at http://ftp.lanet.lv/ftp/windows/lanet/t ... tpe144.exe ) - it's a self-extracting disk image that writes a raw image directly to a floppy disk. Here's the contents of the floppy disk after extraction:
11/07/1996 02:33 PM 524,288 $0017000.FL1
11/14/1996 01:44 AM 7,408 COMMAND.COM
11/14/1996 01:44 AM 25 CONFIG.SYS
02/28/1992 12:00 PM 33,446 IBMBIO.COM
02/28/1992 12:00 PM 37,378 IBMDOS.COM
11/14/1996 01:44 AM 43,903 UPDTFLSH.EXE
11/14/1996 01:44 AM 12,501 USERINT.EXE
11/14/1996 01:44 AM 20,883 UTILINFO.EXE
The main flash program is updtflsh.exe; it however requires that the laptop is both plugged into a power supply, and have a fully charged battery - otherwise it refuses to work.
I don't have a working battery for this laptop (I have a few dead ones), and any attempts that I've made over the past few weeks to find one anywhere were unsuccessful. Considering that the laptop is 20+ years old, not surprising.
I have found on the internet methods for flashing the BIOS without a battery on Thinkpad laptops from a newer generation (770 and 600) but that required the creative use of a utility flash2.exe which is found on the BIOS update disks for those laptops. However the disk for the 755CX does not use flash2.exe.
At this point I have given up trying to find a battery. It seems that it's easier to find an unicorn than a working battery for Thinkpad 755CX. I need to find a method for flashing the BIOS without a battery.
Any ideas? If needed I can post a zipped file with the contents of the BIOS update disk. Actually I' going to try and attach it to this post.