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ndoggfromhell
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The official 770 Upgrade and general information Topic

#1 Post by ndoggfromhell » Sun May 16, 2004 2:50 pm

I created this Topic for everyone to post there successes with upgrades to the various Thinkpad 770 series models. Please submit whatever you feel will contribute to this topic.

Here's my contribution:

I started with a 770 Pentium MMX 233mhz!

I upgraded it to a PentiumII 300mhz processor with the following flaws. When I restart the computer it gives me a 192 error on boot, but only when restarting. If I shutdown the computer or Hibernate the computer, it's ok when it powers back on.

I have 288 meg memory installed, and I upgraded the Video memory to 4 meg (which causes the system to boot into windows with a blue screen.... but that will go away when i reinstall the OS).

I also put in a DC/DC card from a 770ED and that seems to have helped with keeping the temperature down. I can offer no explanation why.

**UPDATE!!** Because the PII300 I used had external L2 cache, it was causing the above problem. The PII400 I installed with "on die" L2 cache is working perfectly. The bootup display problem is gone too.

What I know about the Various 770's
The early models were P200's, 233's, and pII 266's.
They were 770, 770E, and 770 ED's
They used MMC1 processor cards
They used 66 mhz memory and maxed out at 256 meg (but others will tell you they can take more)
They came with 2 and 4 meg video cards.

The later models were pII 300's and 366's
They were the 770x and 770 z
They used MMC2 processor cards
They used 100 mhz memory and maxed out in the 512 meg range (others have installed more)
They came with 4 meg Video ram if you have a 14.1 inch display, 8 meg for the 13.7 display


**UPDATE!!** I acquired a 770Z from eBay and Have upgraded it twice. I started by upgrading from the stock PII 366mhz to a PII 400mhz. At that time I swapped out the stock memory module for a 128 meg Low Density PC100 on the difficult to reach under processor memory module. CPU-Z reported it as a 400 mhz, but since the processor was still 66mhz (bus speed) the ram stayed at the slower 66mhz. I bought a Celeron 500 mhz and installed it. Worked beautifully, but I also bought a PIII 500mhz that I installed at this time. (i wanted to see the difference between the celeron and the PIII) Far as i can tell. The Celeron has half the cache of the PIII. That's the only difference, and they both worked flawlessly. Both incorperate "on die" L2 cache at full speed. I forgot to see if the Celeron has SSE extensions, but that would be the only difference. I suspect the voltages are the same, but i'm going to try to find out for sure without swapping out processors again. Memory is now at 100mhz (bus speed at 100mhz too) A noticable improvement!!! I used the bios mod mentioned on page 3 of this post.

This is just a beginning list. I know that the two different generations had different DEVA cards (DVD video accelerators) and that the newer ones are backwards compatible. Both generations peek at 400 mhz processors. Other have had success with upgrades, however they do have issues (the reason for this topic).

I welcome everyone to submit there successes and other information in this topic. Also feel free to correct anything that I might have stated incorrectly above


Nathan McKeever
Last edited by ndoggfromhell on Sun Oct 10, 2004 1:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.

mdbrown
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#2 Post by mdbrown » Sun May 16, 2004 10:24 pm

Well, I have my 770x that now has a 400Mhz PII. I'm only running 256Mb of Ram. I have heard of people putting 100Mhz ram in the machine, running a PIII 500 and 576Mb of Ram. Not sure I am willing to try all that out without knowing if it's feasible.

shined
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#3 Post by shined » Mon May 17, 2004 1:59 am

OK, I also have an interesting peice of information for this topic.

The FSB clock of TP770 can be tuned by using softFSB up to 80MHz.
If you are lucky enough, your TP770 may run with a PII at 80x4.5=360MHz
or 80x5.0=400MHz with no investment.

If you can read Japanese, here is the success story for this 770 tuning.
Go to the following URL and see the article #519-#520
http://bbs.infoseek.co.jp/Board01?user=monkung&pn=13

Guest

#4 Post by Guest » Mon May 17, 2004 2:36 am

My next post is about TP770X. I hope this is helpful for other 770X users.

My TP770X actually works with PIII-500.
However, this CPU upgrade caused a lot of minor problems. Here is the list of
the problems and the solution for each I came up with.

1: After upgrading the CPU to PIII-500, the FSB is changed to 100MHz, which kills
the PC66-64MB DIMM installed in default. So I removed it and installed two of
PC100-256MB DIMMs.

2: After doing this upgrade, memory check in Easy-setup issues an error.
I just ignore it.

3: After doing this upgrade, my TP770X can no longer boot from CDROM.
So I needed to first install MSDOS, make it recognize the CDROM and launch
the OS installer from MSDOS prompt.

4: After doing this upgrade, the boot up process is trapped with 127 error twice.
In order to boot the OS, I first need to push ESC in the first error, then push F1
in the next error and finally the OS boots up. (This is the famous 'keys on boot'.)

5: After doing this upgrade, the L2-cache is not enabled by the bios. So I enable
the L2 cache in after booting up Windows by using either,
'Powerleap CPU Control Panel'
http://www.powerleap.ca/Products/CPU%20 ... 0Panel.htm
or 'Cache Utility'
http://powerleap.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/p ... 1049321145

6: These Powerleap utilities cannot be used for DOS/Linux environment. So when I
want to boot up Linux, I first boot up freedos (or any other DOS), enable the L2 cache
by using 'cache-enabler 1.20'
http://dennemoso.homeip.net/
and load the Linux kernel using 'loadlin'

7: After doing this upgrade, the initialization of the video card sometimes fails and the
display is messed up. In this case, I need to reboot the OS until the initialization
is successfully completed. Once the system boots up successfully, I usually don't
turn off the system, but just go to Stand-by mode which does not require
re-initialization of the video chip. Then the system wakes up just fine.

8: Although I was successful in this CPU upgrade, I have seen many people saying
that TP770X system board cannot take PIII. So this CPU upgrade on a TP770X is
not guaranteed to succeed. TP770Z should have no problem in this upgrade.

shined
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#5 Post by shined » Mon May 17, 2004 2:41 am

Oops, I forgot to log in when I posted the previous article.
I posted the previous ariticle of 'Guest' so please ask me questions
if you have any.

mdbrown
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#6 Post by mdbrown » Mon May 17, 2004 1:55 pm

Near as I can tell the 770z and 770x are identical save one came from the factory with a 300Mhz PII and the other a 366Mhz PII. Seems to me if the 770z can take a PIII 500Mhz with no problem then the 770x should too, what am I missing? Bios difference maybe??

shined
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#7 Post by shined » Mon May 17, 2004 8:34 pm

I don't know the answer for your question, but judging from the fact that
some TP770Xs work with PIII and some don't, and all TP770Z work with PIII,
I guess IBM might have changed something in the systemboard during the
period of TP770X shipment, which had no effect on PII operation but had
a vital effect on PIII, which IBM didn't care.

Or another interesting fact is that, all the people who complains that TP770X
doesn't work with PIII are Japanese. So another possibility may be that there
is some kind of differece between US and Japan version of TP770X.

This is just a guess. I also want to know the real answer. Someone?

cmeilahn
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770ED Upgrade & Mods

#8 Post by cmeilahn » Tue May 18, 2004 9:09 am

I started with a Stock 770ED 9549-5AU with maxed memory:

In case you don't know:
P2-266
2 x 128 MB Ram + Base = 288 MB
8 GB IBM DYLA28100 HDD (4900 rpm)
Internal DVD Encoder & DVD Drive
Cyber 9397 (not 9397DVD) video

Updgrades:
HDD upgraded to Hitachi 7K60 (7200 RPM, 60 GB, 8 MB cache)
P2-400 (no, not a celeron)

First problem - System overheats easily... the HD runs a bit hotter than the stock IBM and the CPU runs significantly hotter. Idle CPU temps are around 75 C with WinXP and 70 C with Win2000 and light loads jump to 80-90 C on WinXP / 75-85 on Win2000. When running AV System Scan (Norton) both systems shut down due to overheating when temp reaches 98-102 deg C (all pre-heatsink/fan mods).

Modifications:
Heatsink/fan - removed the Intel heatsink & grease, replaced with ArcticSilver thermal grease. Removed thermal pad from between IBM Aluminum block heatsink and steel Intel heatsink, modified screw-holes on the IBM aluminum block to fit over the screw mount points on the Intel steel plate and to provide a flush-fit between the two. Placed ArcticSilver grease between them to improve thermal conductivity. Also placed ArcticSilver between fan/heatsink block mounting points.

Result of these mods:
WinXP idle temp is around 65 C, Win2000 around 58 C
AV Scan WinXP temp steady at 93C, Win2000 around 85 C, but jumped up to 102 C and shut off - Win2000 fluctuates more.
WinXP under normal operation works fairly reliably, but a rapid increase in Proc. utilization will increase the temp significantly and almost 100% of the time will cause an overheat/shutoff.

After the Heatsink/fan mods, I suspect it is actually harder to get the system back in check because there is more metal at the high temperature, so when the temp jumps, you're SOL.

It seems that now I can't cool the whole thing fast enough.

There are rumors that the 770X/Z's DC/DC card has a lower threshold for turning on the Fan, so I've ordered one and am awaiting it, as well as the 770X/Z's fan providing more airflow (therefore better cooling), so I've ordered one of those as well.

My next step if that doesn't work is to either try another fan (probably a TennMax Lasagna) or to go back to the 266. I might also try the Nexus Heat-Pipe laptop cooling pad.

Any thoughts and/or recommendations to cool the laptop any better?

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#9 Post by sickofit » Tue May 18, 2004 9:34 am

Just want to jump in here and post my findings...

First off 2 sticks of 128Mb memory is not the max...I have 416Mb in my 770ED a 16 chip 256Mb Pc100,and a 8 chip 128Mb pc66...

Second,i'm not sure what is causing the overheating,as I stated before,mine also has a P2-400(NOT CELERON),416Mb Ram,and a 10Gb Fujitsu HD.....Does it still overheat with the factory drive???.....And as I also stated before,i've left mine on overnight doing high CPU tasks like converting video files,that took hours....and i've NEVER had the machine shut off from heat....

As for the issue with the 770X's...Let me just speak up and say mine has a PIII 500Mhz and 516Mb Ram...and also runs MUCH cooler than my 770ED !!!

One more thing....HAT'S OFF to Shined for the post for the Cache Utilities,as it works great enabling the L2 Cache(that the system board doesn't see)....I see a HUGE difference in enabling it!!!....I just used the Cache Utility one,and set it to run on startup....BUT if you're like me and just go into stanby so you don;t have to bypass the 2 errors,you will have to re-enable it after coming out of standby....BUT IT"S DEFINATELY WORTH IT!!!!

Later All!!!

Greg ST.L

cmeilahn
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770ED Memory clarification & Overheating problem

#10 Post by cmeilahn » Tue May 18, 2004 1:54 pm

I should clarify, by "maxed memory," I was meaning by "stock" 770ED standards. IBM's documentation says that 2 x 128 is the "max" that the 770ED can handle in its 2 open slots.

Technically, the built-in is supposed to be able to handle either 32 or 64. It comes stock with 32. I don't have the spare memory laying around, so I haven't experimented with anything more... just stuck with the "stock max."

A quick search on CDW - SimpleTech has non-ECC, unbuffered pc100 256mb SODIMMs for about $165, 128mb for $80 and 64mb for $45; $170, $95 and $80 for pc66's of the same respective sizes.

The 440BX chipset should be able to handle pc66 & pc100, with a max addressable of 1 gb RAM, according to Intel's data. It would be interesting to know what would happen upgrading the "built in" memory to 64mb pc100 and putting in 256mb pc100 sticks for the two main. Or even trying bigger sticks (128) in the built-in... both the 770X and Z are supposed to be able to handle 128mb sticks "built in".

-----------------------------------------

I'm not sure what's causing the overheating either, hence my problem. I feel like I've been banging my head against a wall on this one! The obvious culprit is the cpu. Looking at all the tech specs, it shouldn't be that much hotter.

Adding the Arctic Silver made a significant (10+ C) reduction. The system overheats regardless of drive. In fact, when running AV scan in win2k on the ibm drive, it overheats and shuts down. The AV scan on winxp on the hitachi it stabilizes at 93C. Roughly the same result with XP on an IBM drive, although I didn't monitor temps.

In general, the system runs cooler with Win2k vs. WinXP.

cmeilahn
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770ED Memory Capabilities

#11 Post by cmeilahn » Wed May 19, 2004 4:58 am

After further research last night, it appears that the 770ED might be able ot handle a maximum of 3 x 256mb PC100 unbuffered, non-ECC SODIMM's. I also found some (new) for about $55 each using pricewatch.com

sickofit
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#12 Post by sickofit » Wed May 19, 2004 9:38 am

Just in case you didn't know....the 770ED has soldered on 32MB chip under the system board,that can not be replaced....it doesn't even look like a normal DIMM....ONLY the 770X and 770Z you can remove the factory 64MB chip underneath......As for the 770ED ....I tried 2 matching sticks of 256MB and it only sees half of the second chip!!!...I found that if I used 2 PC100 chips in the 770ED it would only see half of the one chip....when I used a 256Mb pc100 and a pc66 128Mb it saw all the memory.......As for the underneath spot....I installed a 256Mb underneath,and 2 128Mb chips in the compartment slots....so it will handle 256MB "Built-in"....The X and Z may be able to see 3 256's,but from all my experience with mine you will only see 416MB in a 770ED....425 at startup...

Greg St.L

ndoggfromhell
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#13 Post by ndoggfromhell » Sun May 23, 2004 11:35 am

Recent Success:

770Z (ebay, a little more than $100.00 USD)
PII400mhz MMC2 processor (about $30.00 USD)
(2)128 meg pc100 SODIMM (almost $60.00 USD)

I stripped the thinkpad down to the systemboard, removed the 66meg memory that came stock and installed 1 of the 128's. Swapped the 400 for the 366, and put everything back together. System boots fine, runs tremendous, and seems to be a success. I did use the 8 chip 128 meg modules.

Next I'm going to attempt to find an 8 meg Video card for this machine. Will the 8 meg work with the larger display?

Also, Does anyone know offhand if you can fit the 770Z's systemboard in a 770ED's case? I have an ED with a bad systemboard (fried the Ultrabay) and I was considering building another Z out of it. I have the DC/DC card already, and some of the other parts I need.


Thanks
Nate

sickofit
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#14 Post by sickofit » Sun May 23, 2004 12:08 pm

Another good finding!!!!......BATTERIES.......I have 2 770ED's and a 770X. The Battery in the one 770ED would only last about 10 minutes(no activity),and always shut off at 17% left.... and the others would last about an hour,at about 50% they would drop to 5%.....(no activity)....so I turned off all the alarms in the power management on the 10 min battery one,and let it sit(no activity)...got down to 0% in about 15 min,but sat there for at least 2 hours!!!!!....after the comp finally shut off,I left it off and plugged it back in and let it recharge fully....took about 3-4 hours compared to the old 20 min time....turning it back on after it was fully charged,the battery lasted 3 hours 20 min !!!! (just sitting,no activity)...So I did the same to my others and it made them last a little longer and also got rid of the sudden drop!!!!

Before unplugging the comp,I would unplug it long enough to hit 94% so it would charge back to the full 100% on the icon window...go into power settings,click on power meter,double click on the battery icon,you'll see a window pop up with refresh....unplug the comp and click refresh...close everything out and let the comp sit till shuts off....See if ya get any extra juice!!!!

This was with XP Pro....

Later.....

Greg St.L :D

Bruce Guttman
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Fit 770Z Board in 770ED Case

#15 Post by Bruce Guttman » Mon May 24, 2004 9:44 am

You should have no problem. I had a 770E (14" display) which I put in the case from a 13" 770. I used all the 770E boards, but the display and keyboard from the 770. All seems to work fine. I call it my "Frankenpad".

Hope this helps.
Bruce Guttman

Current stable: 770Z, 600X, T23, R40, R52, T43p, X41, R60, T60, T61, X61, X61T, X201T, T420; T400 (2768-EK9); W510 (4391-CTO), X220T (4296-2W5), T440 (20B6-00AUS), plus an Intellistation M 6219.
New Project: Making X220 work with WWAN.

rxero
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#16 Post by rxero » Thu Jun 03, 2004 4:42 pm

just bought a 770x off ebay. it's got the specs listed in my signature. i would like to add a bigger HD. on pricewatch it says like 40GB for IBM. does that mean it will work in my ThinkPad? Also I assume when you guys say TP770x you just mean a think pad 770x correct? just got it a few hours ago actualy. it has winxp on it and i have had trouble installing a 10base t usb ethernet adapter in it. the first time i put it in it said usb ethernet detected then just pegged the CPU. in repeated attempts it would not say anything detected but woudl peg the CPU.. i have a feeling the HD the previous owner put in here is rather slow perhaps. also what kind of memory do I need to buy and what is the max. I would like to run like upwards of 256. I will be donig some development and testing on it of software i develop so it will be somewhat memory hungry. other than that it seems to run great
IBM Thinkpad 770x
400MHz Pentium 2
192MB RAM
5.1GB HD
Win XP Pro
BIOS 1.09

ndoggfromhell
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#17 Post by ndoggfromhell » Thu Jun 03, 2004 7:27 pm

WOW... :shock: It already came with a 400 mhz processor!
:o Someone's already been into it. As far as memory goes... I can only speculate. Depending on if it's been upgraded at the time of the CPU swap, or not. If so, it could be a 100 mhz chip. Stock for the X and Z was 64 meg in a rather difficult to change spot. It clocked at 66mhz. The Z is actually a rather easy model to work on. If you've ever built a model car, you'll find it simple.

As far as what's in the laptop memory wise... and speed wise, i'm not sure of any programs that can tell you that. I tried using SandraSoft on my Z (modified, 400mhz and 256 - 100mhz memory) and it still reports 66mhz. The system runs faster, and there aren't any problems. If anyone knows a good program to report these things, please post it!

sickofit
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#18 Post by sickofit » Thu Jun 03, 2004 9:38 pm

Well using the program cpu-z it indeed tells me its running a 100mhz fsb...and it won't let me pick each individual stick,but it says the memory is 100mhz as well......my 770X has a PIII 450Mhz,a 256MB PC100 memory chip in the factory 64 spot underneath,and 2 PC100 128MB sticks in the other slots....516MB recognized....

Here's the printout from my 770X using cpu-z(google-cpu-z)

CPU-Z Report

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CPU-Z version 1.22.


CPU(s)
Number of CPUs 1

Name Intel Pentium III E
Code Name Coppermine
Specification Intel Pentium III E 450MHz
Family / Model / Stepping 6 8 3
Extended Family / Model 0 0
Brand ID 2
Package MMC-1/MMC-2
Core Stepping cB0
Technology 0.18 µ
Supported Instructions Sets MMX, SSE
CPU Clock Speed 448.6 MHz
Clock multiplier x 4.5
Front Side Bus Frequency 99.7 MHz
Bus Speed 99.7 MHz
L1 Data Cache 16 KBytes, 4-way set associative, 32 Bytes line size
L1 Instruction Cache 16 KBytes, 4-way set associative, 32 Bytes line size
L2 Cache 256 KBytes, 8-way set associative, 32 Bytes line size
L2 Latency 0
L2 Speed 448.6 MHz (Full)
L2 Location On Chip
L2 ECC Check enabled
L2 Data Prefetch Logic no
L2 Bus Width 256 bits



Mainboard and chipset
Motherboard manufacturer IBM
Motherboard model 954971U, Not Available
BIOS vendor IBM
BIOS revision IIET42WW
BIOS release date 09/10/99
Chipset Intel i440BX/ZX rev. C1

AGP Status enabled, rev. 1.0
AGP Data Transfert Rate 1x
AGP Side Band Addressing supported, enabled
AGP Aperture Size 64 MBytes



Memory
DRAM Type SDRAM
DRAM Size 512 MBytes
DRAM Frequency 99.7 MHz
FSB:DRAM 1:1
CAS# Latency 2.0 clocks
RAS# to CAS# 3 clocks
RAS# Precharge 3 clocks



Software
Windows version Microsoft Windows XP Workstation Service Pack 1 (Build 2600)


Later....

Greg St.L

rxero
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#19 Post by rxero » Thu Jun 03, 2004 10:45 pm

opened it up at work earlier. it's got a 66mhz 128MB stick. found some info at IBM's site earlier. I think i can drop anoter 128MB stick and it'd be max. but wow.. during trouble shooting the network problem earlier i looked at the HD.. first off it's in XP w/ fat32 so i converted it to NTFS but secondly its a PIO HD!! I definately need to throw a new drive in there. What HD can I use?? I'd like 20GB or so. Also where can I get the dvd software?? I can't play dvd's! GRR!! hehe. I went out and bought an 802.11 setup as my girlfriend will be moving in with me shortly. She has a lappy also and will have to drop an 802.11 card in hers as well. with the PCMCIA 802.11 card and router everythign is working great. only problem now is HD access is ungodly slow. Well thanks for the help. seeya
IBM Thinkpad 770x
400MHz Pentium 2
192MB RAM
5.1GB HD
Win XP Pro
BIOS 1.09

shined
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#20 Post by shined » Thu Jun 03, 2004 11:27 pm

Following is the answer to my best knowledge.

1: The maximum memory TP770X can take is 256MBx2=512MB. You can
actually insert two sticks of 256MB SODIMMs.

2: TP770X can take any size of 2.5" HDD currently available. I once read
a post saying that he installed as large as 80GB HDD into his TP770X
and it worked just fine. (One caution: BIOS must be the latest version.)

3: You can download DVDExpress from the very this site!. Check out this URL.
(Thanks, Bill)
http://www.thinkpads.com/ftp_resource.htm

4: If your TP770X is currently equipped with a 5.1GB HDD, it should be
Travelstar 5GS (DPLA-25120). This HDD is compatible with UltraDMA2 mode.
So you should be able to change the HDD interface setup from PIO mode
to DMA mode which should lead to some performance improvement.

I also suggest you read through all the posts in this thread as it contains
some really valuable information for taking full advantage of TP770X.

Enjoy with your new machine!

rxero
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#21 Post by rxero » Fri Jun 04, 2004 12:12 pm

What is the current BIOS version for the TP770X the ad on ebay said it was current but I'd like to double check it. installed NAV Corp 9 on it last night. Seems to really deteriorate the bootup on these guys. Also you said it takes 2x256MB stick for 512MB.. What about the 64MB stick currently installed? Do I need to remove this ?
IBM Thinkpad 770x
400MHz Pentium 2
192MB RAM
5.1GB HD
Win XP Pro
BIOS 1.09

shined
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#22 Post by shined » Fri Jun 04, 2004 8:33 pm

>What is the current BIOS version for the TP770X
Check the following IBM web site.
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... SHY-42QLVU

>What about the 64MB stick currently installed? Do I need to remove this ?
Yes, you do if you want to go up to 512MB.

Guest

#23 Post by Guest » Sat Jun 05, 2004 11:40 am

It turns out I have 1.09 not 1.10. Will 1.09 still support 512 MB?? It seemed like IBM added "XP Support" even though my 1.09 runs xp fine... Any clue?

rxero
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#24 Post by rxero » Wed Jun 09, 2004 12:58 pm

by the way taht's me above
IBM Thinkpad 770x
400MHz Pentium 2
192MB RAM
5.1GB HD
Win XP Pro
BIOS 1.09

mdbrown
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#25 Post by mdbrown » Sun Jun 13, 2004 1:43 am

ndoggfromhell wrote:WOW... :shock: It already came with a 400 mhz processor!
:o Someone's already been into it. As far as memory goes... I can only speculate. Depending on if it's been upgraded at the time of the CPU swap, or not. If so, it could be a 100 mhz chip. Stock for the X and Z was 64 meg in a rather difficult to change spot. It clocked at 66mhz. The Z is actually a rather easy model to work on. If you've ever built a model car, you'll find it simple.

As far as what's in the laptop memory wise... and speed wise, i'm not sure of any programs that can tell you that. I tried using SandraSoft on my Z (modified, 400mhz and 256 - 100mhz memory) and it still reports 66mhz. The system runs faster, and there aren't any problems. If anyone knows a good program to report these things, please post it!
Don't know why I didn't catch this before. Sandra is reporting 66mhz for your memory because that's what it is running at. Since you replaced the CPU with a 400Mhz PII the system bus did not change speed. If you change the CPU to a PIII 450 or 500 then the bus speed would go up to 100Mhz.

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#26 Post by mdbrown » Sun Jun 13, 2004 3:43 pm

sickofit wrote:Just want to jump in here and post my findings...

As for the issue with the 770X's...Let me just speak up and say mine has a PIII 500Mhz and 516Mb Ram...and also runs MUCH cooler than my 770ED !!!

Greg ST.L
Greg, was wondering if your 770x was having the same initialization problems that shined mentioned his having at bootup? I plan on doing this with my 770x and was curious. Thanks.

sickofit
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Location: Canada

#27 Post by sickofit » Sun Jun 13, 2004 6:19 pm

Hello mdbrown...

1: After upgrading the CPU to PIII-500, the FSB is changed to 100MHz, which kills
the PC66-64MB DIMM installed in default. So I removed it and installed two of
PC100-256MB DIMMs.

Never tried,I just stuck a 256MB chip underneath,while I was putting in the CPU...

2: After doing this upgrade, memory check in Easy-setup issues an error.
I just ignore it.

Same...I just ignore...

3: After doing this upgrade, my TP770X can no longer boot from CDROM.
So I needed to first install MSDOS, make it recognize the CDROM and launch
the OS installer from MSDOS prompt.

Same...but what I did was,I had another 770 kickin around,so I just started the XP install on it,and just shut the comp off at the repair\install prompt,stuck the drive back in my upgraded one,put the CD in and all went fine....

4: After doing this upgrade, the boot up process is trapped with 127 error twice.
In order to boot the OS, I first need to push ESC in the first error, then push F1
in the next error and finally the OS boots up. (This is the famous 'keys on boot'.)

5: After doing this upgrade, the L2-cache is not enabled by the bios. So I enable
the L2 cache in after booting up Windows by using either,
'Powerleap CPU Control Panel'
http://www.powerleap.ca/Products/CPU%20 ... 0Panel.htm
or 'Cache Utility'
http://powerleap.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/p ... 1049321145

6: These Powerleap utilities cannot be used for DOS/Linux environment. So when I
want to boot up Linux, I first boot up freedos (or any other DOS), enable the L2 cache
by using 'cache-enabler 1.20'
http://dennemoso.homeip.net/
and load the Linux kernel using 'loadlin'

All the same...don't know about linux....But like he mentioned,i just set the comp to go into standby when i close the lid...then i don't have to boot up and go through the errors...you'll have to restart the cache utility mentioned above after stanby,but thats no big deal....

7: After doing this upgrade, the initialization of the video card sometimes fails and the
display is messed up. In this case, I need to reboot the OS until the initialization
is successfully completed. Once the system boots up successfully, I usually don't
turn off the system, but just go to Stand-by mode which does not require
re-initialization of the video chip. Then the system wakes up just fine.

I've NEVER had this video problem happen.....Benn perfect so far....Knock on Wood !!!

I think it's worth it myself.....I just use the one cache utility he provided the link to...its in the second link....

Later.....

Greg St.L

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#28 Post by JHEM » Sun Jun 13, 2004 10:39 pm

FWIW, I've had better luck upgrading memory on 770Z's to 512 by removing the onboard 64MB PC66 stick, then adding two 128MB PC100 sticks and a single 256MB PC100 stick.

I didn't get much of a chance to play with the 770Z I stuck the PIII 500MHz MMC-2 in yesterday, but it BOOTed without complaint or errors. I plan on loading W2K on it from 600X recovery CDs when I get back at the end of the week and I'll run SISoft Sandra on it and report the results.

Regards,

James
5.5K+ posts and all I've got to show for it are some feathers.... AND a Bird wearing a Crown

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#29 Post by pkiff » Tue Jun 22, 2004 1:55 pm

I seem to get similar results as mdbrown and sickofit with my upgrade to a PIII-500 in a 770Z.
1: After upgrading the CPU to PIII-500, the FSB is changed to 100MHz, which kills the PC66-64MB DIMM installed in default. So I removed it and installed two of PC100-256MB DIMMs.
Never tried,I just stuck a 256MB chip underneath,while I was putting in the CPU...
I stuck in an IBM branded 100MHz 128MB module into the hard-to-reach slot in the motherboard. CPU-Z reports that it is running at 99.7MHz.
2: After doing this upgrade, memory check in Easy-setup issues an error. I just ignore it.
Same...I just ignore...
I get the POST 127 error referred to below, but I don't get any additional error with the memory check in Easy-setup. I can use the built-in BIOS memory test and it comes back "OK".
4: After doing this upgrade, the boot up process is trapped with 127 error twice. In order to boot the OS, I first need to push ESC in the first error, then push F1 in the next error and finally the OS boots up. (This is the famous 'keys on boot'.)
Yes, same here.
5: After doing this upgrade, the L2-cache is not enabled by the bios. So I enable the L2 cache in after booting up Windows by using either,
'Powerleap CPU Control Panel'
http://www.powerleap.ca/Products/CPU%20 ... 0Panel.htm
or 'Cache Utility'
http://powerleap.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/p ... 1049321145
Thanks for pointing these out. Using the first one, I can enable my L2 cache now just as you describe.
7: After doing this upgrade, the initialization of the video card sometimes fails and the display is messed up. In this case, I need to reboot the OS until the initialization is successfully completed. Once the system boots up successfully, I usually don't turn off the system, but just go to Stand-by mode which does not require re-initialization of the video chip. Then the system wakes up just fine.
I've NEVER had this video problem happen.....Benn perfect so far....Knock on Wood !!!
I was getting this problem once in a while, but it seemed to be connected to how long I paused before hitting the second ESC then F1 keys during Boot. When the first error screen [apologies to trimdale for borrowing their image link] shows up after the memory is displayed, only the battery power icon and percentage are showing in the little LED panel above the keyboard. Then I press <ESC>. But on the second error screen, both the sound icon is flashing and the floppy disk icon displays at first. If I wait a couple seconds, the floppy disk icon will disappear, and THEN I press <ESC>, and then I press <F1>. When I boot this way, I never get the video initialization problem. By contrast, if I press the second <ESC> while the floppy disk icon is still showing, then I often end up with the screwy looking video. [Edit: This is not right. Read the next couple posts for a description of the best method of booting with the ESC/F1 key sequence]
I just use the one cache utility he provided the link to...its in the second link.... Later..... Greg St.L
Greg, I'm not sure exactly how to get the second cache utility to work. Where am I supposed to put the .sys file and .vxd file? It doesn't seem to work if you just dump them into the Windows/System directory.

Phil.
Last edited by pkiff on Tue Jun 22, 2004 4:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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#30 Post by sickofit » Tue Jun 22, 2004 3:40 pm

I just made a folder in my program files folder and called it CPU Cache Utility..unzipped all the files there...made a shortcut to the desktop,and all was fine.....

P.S... You only need to push F1 at the second error....ESC at the first,F1 at the second....and I don't even wait for the second error to appear,after pushing ESC,when the screen comes back on,you can then push F1,then the error pops up quick, and then starts booting....

Later...Greg St.L

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