I need to upgrade the bios on my Thinkpad 600, but I don't have a floppy drive.
I really hate to buy a floppy just to upgrade the bios. Is there a workaround using a CD drive (which I do have)?
Thanks.
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Bios upgrade without a floppy?
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Re: Bios upgrade without a floppy?
I don't believe that there is a non-floppy alternative for BIOS updates that's supported by the factory. Some of the newer systems can be updated by downloading the package to the system's hard drive and performing the update from there. There is a way to create a CD-R boot disk containing the BIOS update but it requires that you have a floppy disk and drive to begin with (basically you copy the disk image the floppy onto a CD). However, if for some reason, the BIOS update utility needs to be run from a writable medium, this won't work.
Ultraslimbay floppy drives for the 600 series are quite plentiful on eBay (last I checked) and should be easily had for $10 or less. You can also get the external floppy drives (in a housing with an attached cable) since the 600 system has a port on the right side (it's that real thin connector). You can also remove those floppy drives from the housing and install them directly inside the Ultrabay. Besides the very occasional BIOS update, floppy drives are still good for booting various diagnostic programs (hard drive, PC Doctor, memtest86+, etc.).
ref: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0372230792 (External drive for $7)
ref: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0378097897 (Ultrabay drive for $9)
ref: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0134692969 (Two external drives for $10)
P.S. Welcome to thinkpads.com!
Ultraslimbay floppy drives for the 600 series are quite plentiful on eBay (last I checked) and should be easily had for $10 or less. You can also get the external floppy drives (in a housing with an attached cable) since the 600 system has a port on the right side (it's that real thin connector). You can also remove those floppy drives from the housing and install them directly inside the Ultrabay. Besides the very occasional BIOS update, floppy drives are still good for booting various diagnostic programs (hard drive, PC Doctor, memtest86+, etc.).
ref: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0372230792 (External drive for $7)
ref: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0378097897 (Ultrabay drive for $9)
ref: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0134692969 (Two external drives for $10)
P.S. Welcome to thinkpads.com!
Ray Kawakami
X22 X24 X31 X41 X41T X60 X60s X61 X61s X200 X200s X300 X301 Z60m Z61t Z61p 560 560Z 600 600E 600X T21 T22 T23 T41 T60p T410 T420 T520 W500 W520 R50 A21p A22p A31 A31p
NOTE: All links to PC-Doctor software hosted by me are dead. Files removed 8/28/12 by manufacturer's demand.
X22 X24 X31 X41 X41T X60 X60s X61 X61s X200 X200s X300 X301 Z60m Z61t Z61p 560 560Z 600 600E 600X T21 T22 T23 T41 T60p T410 T420 T520 W500 W520 R50 A21p A22p A31 A31p
NOTE: All links to PC-Doctor software hosted by me are dead. Files removed 8/28/12 by manufacturer's demand.
Re: Bios upgrade without a floppy?
For some reason I couldn't find those on ebay this morning...
Got one coming. Got the 600 last week on the bay for $39! Got about $100 in it now with upgraded memory, new battery, and ultraslimbays. I had a 20, 40, and 80 gig drives from some other broken machines.
This is a very cool little laptop, especially for the money. Great keyboard.
Thanks.
Got one coming. Got the 600 last week on the bay for $39! Got about $100 in it now with upgraded memory, new battery, and ultraslimbays. I had a 20, 40, and 80 gig drives from some other broken machines.
This is a very cool little laptop, especially for the money. Great keyboard.
Thanks.
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