IBM thinkpad 760EL doesn't boot

[Rob Mayoff]

| Somewhere in the test or boot process (at a very initial state of
| booting process), the TP access the hard disk and then freezes: it
| doesn't arrive at the point where it must boot from floppy. This
| doesn't happen if I remove the hard disk (then, it boots correctly
| from floppy, but I can't do a hot plug of the HD at that point).

Given the symptoms you've described in this and other messages, there
are two possible problems: either your BIOS is corrupt, or your hard
drive is broken.  It can't be a software problem.  Perhaps you should
try installing the latest BIOS.