[ltp] False alarm: Dead T22 (probably corrupted BIOS)

[Richard Neill]

Oops. I'd assumed that even without a DIMM installed, there was 1MB of 
RAM on the motherboard which would make the BIOS work. Reseating it 
works - I'm now back to a working machine (except that I don't know the 
power-on password).

I am still curious if there is a way to recover from a mis-flashed BIOS, 
but don't worry about it.

Thanks - Richard




Richard Neill wrote:
> Dear All,
> 
> I just bought a "spares or repair" T22, intending to turn it into a 
> digital photo frame for my mother. The seller described it as "Having a 
> BIOS security lock" following a failed BIOS update. I assumed it was a 
> password needing reset (for which there are published instructions 
> involving an EEPROM, solder and a serial port). However, it looks in 
> fact like the machine has a corrupt BIOS.
> 
> On power-on:
>   The HDD and CD spin up
>   It beeps like this:   *    * * *     * * *     *
>   The LCD doesn't come on (not even the backlight)
>   It doesn't sound like the machine is booting.
> 
> So I got as far as this:
> http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-46018
> which tells me it could be either a faulty DIMM or system board.
> 
> Already tried removing the installed DIMM and the CMOS battery, with no 
> luck. So:
> 
>  Do I in fact have a trashed BIOS? [Would that account for a beep code 
> normally used for a system-board error?]
> 
>  If so, does anyone have any pointers on what next?
> 
> Thanks for your help,
> 
> Richard