New used laptop, need some help. Please

streaker · Post by **streaker** » Fri Feb 22, 2002 7:14 pm

Glad to see the site back up. I picked up a used IBM Thinkpad 380D 150 MHz Pentium. I really don't see any reason I should not be able to run most of the later software, but for some reason I can't. It appears when I boot into DOS I get some flaky Com port activity. Sometimes I get Com OK after I got an error first. Never able to read though.

I figure someone must be able to help me here. I have tried most of the suggestions off the site, but some of the suggestions I do not have the right stuff to do the job. I know there were some others on the forum. If someone has to time to help me pick throught this one, drop me an email at the address below.

Thanks,

Eric
[email protected]

Astro_Saber · Post by **Astro_Saber** » Fri Feb 22, 2002 7:27 pm

check the bios to se if its enabled

April · Post by **April** » Fri Feb 22, 2002 7:28 pm

Have you checked the settings on the serial port in the BIOS setup?
You probally have to boot to DOS 6.xx to get a REAL commport. Also some software will not work well with the faster comm ports with the later FIFO buffers.
Win 9x and later operating sysetms (what a joke) do not run the comm port(s) the same as DOS 6.xx does. Some Motorols RSS will NOT work .

streaker · Post by **streaker** » Thu Mar 14, 2002 2:17 pm

It's been a while and I have done some playing, but, still haven't gotten anywhere. I have spent several hours trying to convince tech support to help me today, but couldn't even speak to a tech, never even got by the middle man.

I can run the windows based software, but can not run even recent DOS based. When I go to MSD.exe Com1 shows active. My problem is that I can not find the bios. My computer skills used to be good before I wasn't around them for a while. I realize I may not have changeable bios in this machine, but would like to know where to find it. Otherwise any suggestions for a laptop that runs Windows 95 and can handle DOS based software? I was hoping to use a machine for both, and not have to drag around the dinosaur all the time as well. Right about now I am open to any suggestions.

Chris · Post by **Chris** » Thu Mar 14, 2002 3:48 pm

Hold down F1 as soon as you boot the computer and the IBM Bios screen should come up.

Chris

Post by **wavetar** » Thu Mar 14, 2002 5:25 pm

Streaker, give us some details. How exactly are you getting into DOS mode? Have you tried making a boot disk off your older DOS computer & booting the IBM with it? There are many different ways of creating a boot disk, some are more effective than others. Perhaps we can suggest alternatives if you tell us what you've tried.

Todd

mike38015 · Post by **mike38015** » Thu Mar 14, 2002 5:56 pm

I use software that allows me to set my laptop up with multiple operating systems, when I turn on the computer I get a menu and select either dos 6.22 or win 3.11.

If I remember correctly the program is called System Commander.

streaker · Post by **streaker** » Thu Mar 14, 2002 6:12 pm

To answer the question. I am booting into DOS either through the F8 button at the startup screen. I am also trying to reboot in MS-DOS mode from the Start menu. I have also tried the MS-DOS bootdisk with MS-DOS version 4.0 For example with GM300 RSS I get "Serial Bus Error: #7 - Invalid Opcode"

I believe that my problem is the BIOS not for certain though. Chris seems to know how to get into it, but I have no options that I can see to change it. Any ideas how to change the options in the BIOS?

Thanks for trying to help, I love this board for that, everyone that knows about this stuff is always willing.

Thanks,

Eric

Post by **xmo** » Thu Mar 14, 2002 6:40 pm

If the windows operating system on your computer is the one supplied by IBM, it will have a program icon called "Thinkpad Features". This is where you check your com port settings. The computer may be set to assign the com port to the infrared port.

If your operating system was installed from 'generic' disks, you will need to get the right version of "Thinkpad Features" from the IBM support website.

Post by **wavetar** » Fri Mar 15, 2002 4:42 am

I believe he stated the Windows RSS worked, so his COM port must be enabled properly. The "F8-command prompt only" and "reboot into MS-DOS mode" from the shut down menu both have the Windows shell in effect and will cause read/write problems.

The easiest way to create a basic boot disk for your Win95 computer is to open a DOS window and type "sys a:" with a blank floppy in the a: drive. Another option is to right click your a: drive, choose format, then choose "copy system files only". These methods create basic boot disks with the minimum files needed to boot your computer.

Since you seem to have DOS 4.0 on your older computer, try going to this address if you wish to have a DOS 6.22 boot disk:

http://dos.li5.org/

Scroll down to the bottom, and there are many different boot disks to choose from, including DOS 6.22

Hopefully one of these will work for you. If not, a couple of other options to consider, although much more time consuming:

System Commander is a good program that will allow you to create partitions & boot several different OS platforms. I know of several sites you can download the latest full working version from if you need it. You can create a new partition & load pure DOS onto it and then just choose that partition upon bootup. If you still cannot read/write the radios with that method, I'm afraid you must some sort of processor/ hardware issue to overcome. Good luck,

Todd

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: wavetar on 2002-03-15 11:31 ]</font>

streaker · Post by **streaker** » Fri Mar 15, 2002 9:23 am

Wavtar, thanks for the link to the dos 6.22, unfortunately I think the problem is in the BIOS configuration. XMO seems to know something about the IBM Thinkpads. I have managed to completely disable the Infared device and assign my serial port as Com1 as well. I also have found the Clock speed and got it set to slow in AC and Battery mode. I can not find anything that completely disables power management. I still get the same error, but I think I may be missing something obvious.

Post by **wavetar** » Fri Mar 15, 2002 12:21 pm

Well, a couple more things. In the BIOS, you can normally set the IRQ & address for the ports. Try setting the serial port to address 3F8, IRQ4. If it's already set like that, try the other available combinations. This is normally also the spot to disable the infra-red completely (disabling in Windows doesn't really do it). If there is an option to enable/disable FIFO buffers, disable them. There should also be a spot to disable power management (again, Windows can't completely disable it). You may or may not be given the option of turning external cache on/off, if so, turn it off. I can't suggest too much more without the computer right in front of me...since you were looking for opinions on a good laptop for both DOS & Windows applications, we use several Pentium 120MHz Compaq LTE5280 laptops that work perfectly for us, right down to MCX1000's, P200's & I20r's. Never had the opportunity to try any P100's though, they don't seem to exist in our little corner of the world. Again, good luck.

Todd

streaker · Post by **streaker** » Fri Mar 15, 2002 3:03 pm

Thanks for all the help guys! I know it is a challenge trying to fix something you can't even see. I don't know what I did, but it seems to be working now. I played around with the PCI control settings and just selected a couple of the IRQ's, didn't really adjust anything that I know of. It is even reading and writing codeplugs at Maximum speed, that's what surprised me.

Post by **wavetar** » Fri Mar 15, 2002 6:41 pm

Way to go Streaker! Glad to hear it worked out for you.

Todd

PCSAR 4x4 652 · Post by **PCSAR 4x4 652** » Sat Mar 16, 2002 3:53 pm

FYI
I own several thinkpads from the 755cse to a 600X PIII 650.
I run a Thinkpad 755cse 486/100 with DOS 6.22 only and it works perfectly.

IBM thinkpad bios is not like normal computer bios. It's features are basic and controls are few. you cannot disable the memory cache, power management and other things noramally disabled for Mot RSS. You do need to install the proper "Thinkpad features" program for that model and O/S to properly configure your ports and other features. I doubt that talking to the $pendy IBM Tech Support will do any good as the 380 series have been discontinued. There is however, a discussion board similar to this one on IBM's website that is mostly "user to user" and a device driver matrix tht will give you the LATEST software and BIOS revisions for free at IBM.com.
If you need any help with it, Email me. Like I said I own about 7 Thinkpads.