ThinkWiki - User contributions [en]

Problem with ThinkPad 600 batteries

2005-05-05T14:19:00Z

66.0.13.202: /* Solutions */

Information about the problem of early dying batteries on Thinkpads of the 600 series.

==Problem description==

The charge indicator falls from some still quite high (between 50% and 95%) charge state to 5%.
This happens only on batteries which have gone through some recharging cycles already.

==Affected Models==

*Thinkpad [[:Category:600|600]], [[:Category:600E|600E]], [[:Category:600X|600X]]

==Affected Operating Systems==

*all

==Status==
*Raph Levien has collected comprehensive information about this phenomena and possible solutions in 2002 on this page: http://www.levien.com/tp600-battery.html

==Solutions==

*See this page: http://www.levien.com/tp600-battery.html

*That page notes that a BIOS update marked as "optimizing battery recharging" might help avoid the problem in the first place, theorizing that that update disables charging when the battery is fully charged and the laptop is using mains power. With any luck that BIOS update is on most Thinkpads by now.

*According to a [http://ask.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=03/01/30/1744214 front page Slashdot.org article], if one discharges their [[:Category:600X|600X]] battery nearly fully at least once a week, the batteries will be fine.

*[[User:Samiam|Samiam]]: I did not have problems with the battery until it was plugged in all of the time; both of my batteries went from being able to hold a charge from one hour to being able to only hold a charge for about five minutes.

*It has been the experience of some users, that the batteries perform far better if you never charge the battery while the computer is on. The area around the battery gets quite hot while using the laptop. Charging the battery at that temperature seems to be a bad idea.

*More a way of circumvention than an actual solution is to buy an external battery pack.

*I have had excellent success with a refurbished battery from batteryrefill.com (which I only recharge while the laptop is off).

==Related Links==
*[http://ask.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=03/01/30/1744214 Slashdot.org article]
*http://www.levien.com/tp600-battery.html

[[Category:600]] [[Category:600E]] [[Category:600X]]

Category talk:600X

2005-04-14T18:28:26Z

66.0.13.202:

===Pentium III Hardware Random Number Generator===

Certain Intel Pentium III CPU chipsets provided a hardware random number generator, along with a CPU ID. So I naturally wonder whether my Thinkpad 600x (Pentium III 500 Mhz) has this feature. I was not able to find any discussion of it on the IBM site.

In the BIOS configuration tool (hold down F1 during power on) I see an option to turn on/off the CPU id. So I'm wondering...

<ul>
<li>Does the 600X have the Intel random number generator? </li>
<li>Does disabling the CPU ID also disable the RNG?</li>
<li>Do current Linux distributions (Debian, Xandros, Ubuntu, Mepis etc) use the RNG to seed /dev/random? </li>
<li>How can I tell if this is working on my (Xandros OCE 2.0.1) Thinkpad 600x? </li>
</ul>

Thanks for any assistance!

Category talk:600X

2005-04-14T18:27:21Z

66.0.13.202:

Pentium III Hardware Random Number Generator

Certain Intel Pentium III CPU chipsets provided a hardware random number generator, along with a CPU ID. So I naturally wonder whether my Thinkpad 600x (Pentium III 500 Mhz) has this feature. I was not able to find any discussion of it on the IBM site.

In the BIOS configuration tool (hold down F1 during power on) I see an option to turn on/off the CPU id. So I'm wondering...

<ul>
<li>Does the 600X have the Intel random number generator? </li>
<li>Does disabling the CPU ID also disable the RNG?</li>
<li>Do current Linux distributions (Debian, Xandros, Ubuntu, Mepis etc) use the RNG to seed /dev/random? </li>
<li>How can I tell if this is working on my (Xandros OCE 2.0.1) Thinkpad 600x? </li>
</ul>

Thanks for any assistance!

Category talk:600X

2005-04-14T18:25:33Z

66.0.13.202:

[edit]
Pentium III Hardware Random Number Generator

Certain Intel Pentium III CPU chipsets provided a hardware random number generator, along with a CPU ID. So I naturally wonder whether my Thinkpad 600x (Pentium III 500 Mhz) has this feature. I was not able to find any discussion of it on the IBM site.

In the BIOS configuration tool (hold down F1 during power on) I see an option to turn on/off the CPU id. So I'm wondering...

<ul>
<li>Does the 600X have the Intel random number generator? </li>
<li>Does disabling the CPU ID also disable the RNG?</li>
<li>Do current Linux distributions (Debian, Xandros, Ubuntu, Mepis etc) use the RNG to seed /dev/random? </li>
<li>How can I tell if this is working on my (Xandros OCE 2.0.1) Thinkpad 600x? </li>
</ul>

Thanks for any assistance!

Category talk:600X

2005-04-14T18:21:16Z

66.0.13.202:

Talk: Thinkpad 600x
From ThinkWiki
[edit]
Pentium III Hardware Random Number Generator

Certain Intel Pentium III CPU chipsets provided a hardware random number generator, along with a CPU ID. So I naturally wonder whether my Thinkpad 600x (Pentium III 500 Mhz) has this feature. I was not able to find any discussion of it on the IBM site.

In the BIOS configuration tool (hold down F1 during power on) I see an option to turn on/off the CPU id. So I'm wondering...

<ul>
<li>Does the 600X have the Intel random number generator? </li>
<li>Does disabling the CPU ID also disable the RNG?</li>
<li>Do current Linux distributions (Debian, Xandros, Ubuntu, Mepis etc) use the RNG to seed /dev/random? </li>
<li>How can I tell if this is working on my (Xandros OCE 2.0.1) Thinkpad 600x? </li>
</ul>

Thanks for any assistance!

Installing Xandros on a ThinkPad 600X

2005-03-23T15:49:23Z

66.0.13.202:

One of the primary goals of the Xandros distribution is to provide an installation process of world-class simplicity. Just boot from the Xandros installation CD and click four times, and the O/S magically installs. Unfortunately, there is a small issue with that process on the Thinkpad 600X. Upon booting, the LILO loader goes into convulsions, doing nothing except spraying L80...80 all over your console. (This is confirmed to be the case with the Open Circulation Edition (OCE) versions 2.0.1 and 3.0.1).

Fortunately, there is a solution. (Actually, two). If you have a 3.5" diskette drive, you get to use the easiest of the two. Simply find a Windows PC and start the installer from the CD-ROM. When the wizard opens, choose the option to start the installation from diskette. On the next page, you will find a button for creating a boot diskette. Create the diskette and exit the installer. Take your CD and the diskette to your laptop, proceed to boot from the diskette and you are on your way.

Note, for OCE 3.0.1, two diskettes are required to launch the installer from diskette. The diskettes made by the 2.0.1 and 3.0.1 installers are not interchangeable. Just make the diskette(s) fresh from the particular version of the OCE installation diskette you will be using for the install.

If you do not have a diskette drive for your 600X, you will have to create a bootable CD-ROM based on the bootable diskette created as above, using floppy emulation and loadlin.exe to launch the linux installer. For detailed instructions, see http://forums.xandros.com/viewtopic.php?t=3580

[[Category:Xandros]]
[[Category:600X]]

Category:600X

2005-03-11T20:35:01Z

66.0.13.202: /* Features */

{| width="100%"
|style="vertical-align:top" |
[[image:ThinkPad600.jpg|ThinkPad 600X]]
|style="vertical-align:top" |
<div style="margin: 0; margin-right:10px; border: 1px solid #dfdfdf; padding: 0em 1em 1em 1em; background-color:#F8F8FF; align:right;">
=== ThinkPad 600X ===
This pages gives an overview of all ThinkPad 600X related topics. 
=== Features ===
<UL>
<LI>Pentium III processor, 450-500 MHz</LI>
<LI>256 KB on-board cache</LI>
<LI>64 MB SDRAM on main board, expandable to 576 MB via two expansion slots</LI>
<LI>100 MHz front-side system bus</LI>
<LI>13.3 inch TFT display with 1024 x 768 resolution</LI>
<LI>12.0 GB standard hard disk drive, larger sizes available</LI>
<LI>Integrated 56K V.90 modem</LI>
<LI>Video out port (TV out) on all 5Fx and 9Fx models</LI>
<LI>UltraslimBay with warm swap capability</LI>
<LI>CD-ROM, DVD, or CD-R/W available</LI>
<LI>PC Card (PCMCIA): two Type 1, two Type II, or one Type III card</LI>
<LI>USB port</LI>
<LI>inputs for headphone, line in, mirophone</LI>
</UL>
[[Category:Models]]

Category:600X

2005-03-11T19:09:18Z

66.0.13.202: /* Features */

Category:600X

2005-03-11T19:09:03Z

66.0.13.202: /* Features */

{| width="100%"
|style="vertical-align:top" |
[[image:ThinkPad600.jpg|ThinkPad 600X]]
|style="vertical-align:top" |
<div style="margin: 0; margin-right:10px; border: 1px solid #dfdfdf; padding: 0em 1em 1em 1em; background-color:#F8F8FF; align:right;">
=== ThinkPad 600X ===
This pages gives an overview of all ThinkPad 600X related topics. 
=== Features ===
<UL>
<LI>Pentium III processor, 450-500 MHz</LI>
<LI>256 KB on-board cache</LI>
<LI>64 MB SDRAM on main board, expandable to 576 MB via two expansion slots</LI>
<LI>100 MHz front-side system bus</LI>
<LI>13.3 inch TFT display with 1024 x 768 resolution</LI>
<LI>12.0 GB standard hard disk drive, larger sizes available</LI>
<LI>Integrated 56K V.90 modem</LI>
<LI>Video out port (TV out) on all 5Fx and 9Fx models</LI>
<LI>UltraslimBay with warm swap capability</LI>
<LI>CD-ROM, DVD, or CD-R/W available</LI>
<LI>PC Card (PCMCIA): two Type 1,two Type II, or one Type III card</LI>
</UL>
[[Category:Models]]

Category:600X

2005-03-11T19:03:08Z

66.0.13.202: /* Features */

Category:600X

2005-03-11T18:46:52Z

66.0.13.202: /* Features */

{| width="100%"
|style="vertical-align:top" |
[[image:ThinkPad600.jpg|ThinkPad 600X]]
|style="vertical-align:top" |
<div style="margin: 0; margin-right:10px; border: 1px solid #dfdfdf; padding: 0em 1em 1em 1em; background-color:#F8F8FF; align:right;">
=== ThinkPad 600X ===
This pages gives an overview of all ThinkPad 600X related topics. 
=== Features ===
<UL>
<LI>500 Mhz Pentium III processor</LI>
<LI>256 KB on-board cache</LI>
<LI>64 MB SDRAM on main board, expandable to 576 MB via two expansion slots</LI>
<LI>100 MHz front-side system bus</LI>
<LI>12.0 GB Standard hard disk drive, larger sizes available</LI>
<LI>Integrated 56K V.90 modem</LI>
<LI>Video out port (TV out) on all 5Fx and 9Fx models</LI>
<LI>CD-ROM, DVD, or CD-R/W available</LI>
</UL>
[[Category:Models]]

Category:600X

2005-03-11T18:46:04Z

66.0.13.202: /* ThinkPad 600X */

{| width="100%"
|style="vertical-align:top" |
[[image:ThinkPad600.jpg|ThinkPad 600X]]
|style="vertical-align:top" |
<div style="margin: 0; margin-right:10px; border: 1px solid #dfdfdf; padding: 0em 1em 1em 1em; background-color:#F8F8FF; align:right;">
=== ThinkPad 600X ===
This pages gives an overview of all ThinkPad 600X related topics. 
=== Features ===
<UL>
<LI>500 Mhz Pentium III processor</LI>
<LI>256 KB on-board cache</LI>
<LI>64 MB SDRAM on main board, expandable to 576 MB via two expansion slots</LI>
<LI>100 MHz front-side system bus</LI>
<LI>12.0 GB Standard hard disk drive, larger sizes available</LI>
<LI>Integrated 56K V.90 modem(6)</LI>
<LI>Video out port (TV out) on all 5Fx and 9Fx models</LI>
<LI>CD-ROM, DVD, or CD-R/W available</LI>
</UL>
[[Category:Models]]

Installing Xandros on a ThinkPad 600X

2005-03-10T16:14:47Z

66.0.13.202:

One of the primary goals of the Xandros distribution is to provide an installation process of world-class simplicity. Just boot from the Xandros installation CD and click four times, and the O/S magically installs. Unfortunately, there is a small issue with that process on the Thinkpad 600X. Upon booting, the LILO loader goes into convulsions, doing nothing except spraying L80...80 all over your console. (This is confirmed to be the case with the Open Circulation Edition (OCE) version 2.0.1. Soon to be confirmed with 3.0.1.

Fortunately, there is a solution. (Actually, two). If you have a 3.5" diskette drive, you get to use the easiest of the two. Simply find a Windows PC and start the installer from the CD-ROM. When the wizard opens, choose the option to start the installation from diskette. On the next page, you will find a button for creating a boot diskette. Create the diskette and exit the installer. Take your CD and the diskette to your laptop, proceed to boot from the diskette and you are on your way.

If you do not have a diskette drive for your 600X, you will have to create a bootable CD-ROM based on the bootable diskette created as above, using floppy emulation and loadlin.exe to launch the linux installer. For detailed instructions, see http://forums.xandros.com/viewtopic.php?t=3580

[[Category:Xandros]]
[[Category:600X]]

Installing Xandros on a ThinkPad 600X

2005-03-10T16:12:30Z

66.0.13.202:

One of the primary goals of the Xandros distribution is to provide an installation process of world-class simplicity. Just boot from the Xandros installation CD and click four times, and the O/S magically installs. Unfortunately, there is a small issue with that process on the Thinkpad 600X. Upon booting, the LILO loader goes into convulsions, doing nothing except spraying L80...80 all over your console. (This is confirmed to be the case with the Open Circulation Edition (OCE) version 2.0.1. Soon to be confirmed with 3.0.1.

Fortunately, there is a solution. (Actually, two). If you have a 3.5" diskette drive, you get to use the easiest of the two. Simply find a Windows PC and start the installer from the CD-ROM. When the wizard opens, choose the option to start the installation from diskette. On the next page, you will find a button for creating a boot diskette. Create the diskette and exit the installer. Take your CD and the diskette to your laptop, proceed to boot from the diskette and you are on your way.

If you do not have a diskette drive for your 600X, you will have to create a bootable CD-ROM based on the bootable diskette created as above, using floppy emulation and loadlin.exe to launch the linux installer. For detailed instructions, see http://forums.xandros.com/viewtopic.php?t=3580

[[Category:Xandros]]
[[Category:600X]]
[[Category:Installation_instructions_for_the_Thinkpad_600X]]

Installing Xandros on a ThinkPad 600X

2005-03-10T16:10:52Z

66.0.13.202:

One of the primary goals of the Xandros distribution is to provide an installation process of world-class simplicity. Just boot from the Xandros installation CD and click four times, and the O/S magically installs. Unfortunately, there is a small issue with that process on the Thinkpad 600X. Upon booting, the LILO loader goes into convulsions, doing nothing except spraying L80...80 all over your console. (This is confirmed to be the case with the Open Circulation Edition (OCE) version 2.0.1. Soon to be confirmed with 3.0.1.

Fortunately, there is a solution. (Actually, two). If you have a 3.5" diskette drive, you get to use the easiest of the two. Simply find a Windows PC and start the installer from the CD-ROM. When the wizard opens, choose the option to start the installation from diskette. On the next page, you will find a button for creating a boot diskette. Create the diskette and exit the installer. Take your CD and the diskette to your laptop, proceed to boot from the diskette and you are on your way.

If you do not have a diskette drive for your 600X, you will have to create a bootable CD-ROM based on the bootable diskette created as above, using floppy emulation and loadlin.exe to launch the linux installer. For detailed instructions, see http://forums.xandros.com/viewtopic.php?t=3580

[[Category:Xandros]]
[[Category:600X]]

Problem with ThinkPad 600 batteries

2005-03-09T21:09:22Z

66.0.13.202: /* Solutions */