IBM Thinkpad 600 series

[Paperlantern]

Ok, I am admittedly pulling my hair out on this. IBM 600 series, Type 2645-51U, gets 161 and 163 errors on boot, no big deal, jumps to the next screen which is a little picture of a lock, there is not password, you just hit enter and the word OK comes up and then it goes to a screen green in color with a duck cursor and the buttons OK and Cancel. It says ERROR, and has the numbers 161 and 163 under it. i looked up those errors, 161 is dead battery, that is true the battery in this system is toasty, no charge at all. No problem there, 163 says theres is a clock error, the date and time arent set. I click ok, the buttons go away and it says this

161
----> (picture of book)
163

assuming it means refer to manual or something similar, i rebooted, same routine, clicked cancel, and got same results, nothing else responds, no other keys work. Ok so i get that i need to update the time settings, i figured the battery died, lost the settings, so i replaced the CMOS battery, but now i cant figure out for the life of me how to get into a screen to actually CONFIGURE the time, the computer tells me it needs set, but WONT let me set it, unless i just havnt stumbled accross the keyboard command that allows me into the config screen.

HELP

TIA

 

[spherrod]

Here's a list which may help you get into the BIOS configuration - I don't know if it will help

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/bios_manufacturer.htm

 

[Paperlantern]

no dice on that, any other ideas?

 

[spherrod]

For ThinkPad ThinkPad 600, 600E, 770, 770E/ED, 770X, and 770Z systems

1. Press and hold the F1 key, then turn on the computer. Hold the F1 key until the Easy-Setup menu appears. If a password prompt appears, type the correct password.
2. Select Config

Any good?

 

[Paperlantern]

nope, i tried that, hold f1, power on machine, password prompt appears, release f1, hit enter (to enter a blank passowrd), same error screen appears, ok or cancel are optioons, clicking either makes them go away with the list of errors pointing to a book. Same also happens if i continue to hold f1 while hitting enter to get by the password prompt

 

[spherrod]

IBM's website implies you should get to a screen with Config to choose from - is the password definitely blank?

 

[Paperlantern]

well now i'm not so sure. When you said that i went over to it and typed something in, i jsut typed ibm, and hit enter, it gave me an X, cleared out the space for a second attempt. i was gonna turn it off but then just typed a few random letters and hit enter, and get this, got an OK, and went to a screen to input the time and date, problem is, when this miraculous event occured, i was still in troubleshotting process, and the OLD battery happened to be in it, so it lost everything again anyway, and i cant for the life of me think of what random keys i pressed.... i'm still at a loss, theres supposed to be a way to clear the password by shorting two pads on the bottom in the memory compartment, i'm trying that now, since it appears we need a correct password to access the time/date config screen

what are the odds i randomly typed the password?

 

[spherrod]

dunno - but it looks like you're almost there hopefully

 

[montag451]

Some lappies, when the system password is set, will let you type in anything, and look as if it is happy with you, then, if you have typed the wrong password, will just not allow you to save the settings.

 

[Paperlantern]

Originally posted by: montag451
Some lappies, when the system password is set, will let you type in anything, and look as if it is happy with you, then, if you have typed the wrong password, will just not allow you to save the settings.

ive come to the conclusion thats sort of what its doing, absolutley fine until you hit enter, says OK, but wont do anything after, because it worked ok the ONE time i nailed the password by hitting random keys, let me right in, changed date and time, but as soon as i rebooted, and i couldnt put the password in, same crap... i give up, the pads on the bottom by the memory arent working either =(

 

[montag451]

If you are happy to reset the BIOS password then there is a site that tells you how to do it -
Means you got to open the laptop up to short out a couple of pins whilst rebooting.

FIRST - Try this http://www.uktsupport.co.uk/reference/biosp.htm
SECOND - http://labmice.techtarget.com/articles/BIOS_hack.htm
THIRD - I can't find the bloody site - it was how to open up the laptop and what pins you need to short to reset the password. - dammit - excellent site. If i find it, i'll post