IBM Thinkpad T43 Harddrive Issue

[morganlefay]

I find IBM hardware some of the best.

I personally have I a used IBM Personal computer-tower(5 years old...weighs a ton) and previously had an old monitor 13 inch....colour...that was from my first IBM in the late eighties....

I lent the monitor to someone as an replacement for a fried one....and then it was lost in a flood...3 weeks later ( they got a replacement and put the ibm on the floor)

that thing was 15 years old...and it still worked (

The couple of laptops I have seen are solid units.

I put used IBMs desktops in sites on budgets.....no problems with them......except finding the right drivers.

Friend of mine got a leveno with his new job.....nice....totally locked down from BIOs up.

IBM=Proprietary

yes they want you to use thier hardware only.....

MLF

[FanacooL]

Yes,

Please make sure that your BIOS is up to date and that the HDD is recognised correctly...............in that respect, what drive letter is it assigned? sometimes that matters, and you have to correct things.

What BIOS and release?
What model of T43? (detailed numbers please)
What Hitachi HDD?
Is this a replacement or a second drive?

Machine is Thinkpad T43 Type: 2668-6CU

Harddisk is 100 GB HITACHI Model HTS541010G9AT00 Made in Thiland.

The original Harddisk was exactly the same one only that was 80 GB same model......

The reason i am changing this drive is the first one got screwed up and i have to get other one and this one i purchased from Local market as the machine i purchased from US.

Soon after memory check when i boot the machine IBM harddisk protection diagnostic starts and it gives an error message "The hard drive you installed has not been qualified for use in the computer or doesnot have latest firmware"


When i try to upgrade the firmware i get the message its already updated, and the hard drive is getting recognized by the Machine i can see that in BIOS.

The thing surprising for me is that the previous one is same model then how come the new one is not working on the machine.....

[nihil]

Ah! "IBM hard disc protection diagnostic"................

Did you have to enter a hard disk password with the old one?

I don't know that particular machine, but I suspect that there is an EEPROM chip with some hardcoded data on it.................this kicks in before loading the OS, and checks the system integrity.

You will need to check the user manual to see if there is some sort of jumper switch to clear it. Otherwise I would disconnect from the power, remove the rechargeable battery and remove the CMOS battery (it should be a little button cell) and leave it for 24 hours.

If that doesn't work then it would be reasonable that there is an EEPROM chip, which has a non-volatile memory.

Please let me know how you get on, and I will do a bit of research if required

[FanacooL]

Yes Nihil..... Since i purchased it from States and my cousin installed all the things in it including a password protection sort of thing.

In that old hard drive i used to enter username and password in order to activate the harddrive i mean aftr entering that the OS boot otherwise one can get into it.

The old hard drive got screwed due to that password thing....... anyhow that harddrive no more in use for me.....

Well i have to check IBM website for the manual since i havenot received it with machine.

[FanacooL]

Nihil i need to know where i can find that CMOS cell in this machine...... can you guide me?