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

[Alex Deucher]

On 1/15/07, Richard Neill <rn214@hermes.cam.ac.uk> wrote:
> 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.

If the bios eeprom is socketed, you could replace it or with the
proper tools/hardware, write a new image to it.

Alex

>
> 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