[ltp] TkPad600E BIOS INET26WW (99/11/19) incompatible with Linux

Kelvin KAN linux-thinkpad@www.bm-soft.com
Wed, 9 Feb 2000 09:58:27 +0000


Hi everyone in TkPad-Linux,

Thanks for all your response!

The problem is solved by downgrading to INET25WW as David suggested below,
though the reason I upgraded was in the hope to solve MODEM and VCD playing
problems.  This is in contrary to the advice of IBM's support not to downgrade
BIOS.  I dare not to try the latest INET28WW (99/11/20).

Here's the detailed report (in case it is useful for you):

1.  The HD model: Hitachi DK239065
	Geometry:	cyl	13328
			hd	15
			sctr	63

2.  Therefore, I also tried Wayne Scott's solution by inserting the RedHat Boot
CD:

boot: linux hda=13364,15,63
(notice that the separators are comma instead of slash, and hda instead of hd).

3.  The HD got recognized.  Some problems in fdisk in that it insisted to ask
for a /boot partn of 16Mb.

4.  Apparently, all the packages got installed successfuly.

5.  But at reboot, the system stuck at "LI" (not the complete word "LILO").

6.  Then I had to resort to downgrade.
	The spsdin25.exe is avaiable both from David's suggested site
	and on request to local IBM support by email.

Happy Year of the Dragon (2000/2/4)!


Cheers,
-
Kelvin.


--- Forwarded mail from linux-thinkpad@www.bm-soft.com

From: "David Newman" <dnewman@networktest.com>
To: <linux-thinkpad@www.bm-soft.com>
Cc: <mailto:will@willz.demon.co.uk>
Subject: RE: [ltp] TkPad600E BIOS INET26WW (99/11/19) incompatible with Linux
Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2000 21:40:24 -0500
Reply-To: linux-thinkpad@www.bm-soft.com


>
> I made the same mistake of using IBM's BIOS upgrade.  Now LINUX can't seem
> to recognize my /hda!!!
>
> If someone has a solution for this problem, I would very much appreciate
> your help.
>

yes -- roll back to the previous BIOS version, INET25WW, which is still
available here:

ftp://ftp.pc.ibm.com/pub/pccbbs/mobiles/spsdin25.exe

Allegedly INET26WW can be made to work by entering your hard disk's
cylinder, head, and sector info at boot time (this info is printed on your
hard drive). I tried this without success.

dn



> Jon
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: William van Zwanenberg [mailto:will@willz.demon.co.uk]
> > Sent: Monday, February 07, 2000 4:33 AM
> > To: linux-thinkpad@www.bm-soft.com
> > Subject: Re: [ltp] TkPad600E BIOS INET26WW (99/11/19) incompatible with
> > Linux
> >
> >
> > At 11:36 AM 2/7/00 +0800, you wrote:
> > >Hi there,
> > >
> > >Has anyone upgraded Thinkpad 600E BIOS (or "System Software" as
> > IBM calls it)
> > >to INET26WW (99/11/19), then Linux cannot recognize the drive
> (and hence
> > >looses it root filesystem) with the msgs at LILO:
> > >	PIIX4: not 100% native mode
> > >		will probe irqs later
> > >	hda:	no response
> > >	hda:	non-ide drive
> > >
> > >I am sure the problem is with the BIOS because it occured right after
> > >the upgrade.  And I have tried at least 2 newly partitioned drives.
> > >
> > >I tried RedHat 6.0, 6.1 & Slackware 7.0
> > >
> > >The IBM support replied me that BIOS is not downgradable and
> the version
> > >is already the latest.
> > >
> > >Would anybody kindly advise me if there is any workaround?
> > >
> > >Thanks,
> > >-
> > >Kelvin Kan.
> >
> > I personally haven't bothered to upgrade the BIOS on my 600E. From the
> > sounds of things, I'm glad I haven't.
> >
> >
> > --------------------------
> > William van Zwanenberg
> > 362c Old Ford Road
> > Bow
> > London E3 5TA
> >
> > Telephone:     +44 (0)20 8980 4537
> > Mobile:        +44 (0)7961 130 235
> > Fax:           +44 (0)870 056 8583
> > e-mail:        will@willz.demon.co.uk or: willz@hole-in-the.net
> > e-mail-mobile: 07961130235@one-2-one.net
> > hotmail:       willz@hotmail.com
> > WWW:           http://black.hole-in-the.net/mates/willz/
> >
> > "If we don't succeed, then we run the risk of failure." - Vice President
> > Dan Quayle
> >
> > ----- The Linux ThinkPad mailing list -----
> > The linux-thinkpad mailing list home page is at:
> > http://www.bm-soft.com/~bm/tp_mailing.html
> >
>
> ----- The Linux ThinkPad mailing list -----
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>

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