Re: [Thinkpad] Blast from the past - 701 troubles

hmm..

i always KNEW that, along with my confederate money, my
stash of thinkpad 701's and parts and so forth would, one
day, become valuable enough to push my retirement fund over
the top and into the valley (silicon though i prefer napa or
livermore) and reach $10k..

:-)

and YES, virginia, there IS a 64meg part..

and, wondering about OS's, win95b is the best for this
beast..

*******************
Cordially,
Bill Morrow
(from NetFinity Server)
web page: http://www.thinkpads.com
bill@thinkpads.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Mark S Penrice" <bsu83e@bangor.ac.uk>
To: <thinkpad@stderr.org>
Sent: Saturday, April 19, 2003 7:33 PM
Subject: [Thinkpad] Blast from the past - 701 troubles

> Well I'm about to go off and search the archives after
discovering and
> subscribing to this list, but being a believer in not
getting if you don't
> ask (and time being precious) I may as well be cheeky and
pick some
> brains... :)
>
> Being a student I was on the lookout for a cheap,
moderately capable and
> not too bulky laptop (modern ones are just too huge, apart
from the dinky
> widescreen.. and expensive/discontinued Vaios). Found
quite a prize on
> Ebay, a 701CS, not quite powerful enough to play mp3s or
full screen
> video, and maybe borderline for putting win98 on, but
otherwise great in
> every other way (and I'm working on the multimedia/32bit
stuff).
>
> It came with an ethernet setup, but this was lacking
drivers and the
> machine didn't have a floppy drive.. connnecting the hard
disc with a 3.5
> inch converter to a desktop is where my troubles started.
First a small
> knock broke some solder traces in the video hardware and
disabled the LCD
> (now ham-fistedly resoldered, but how long will it last?
:), the battery
> has quickly died from holding about a half hour to five
minutes (oh
> well)... and all the tiny little soldered pins connecting
the PCMCIA-style
> plug to the ribbon cable in the hard disk caddy quickly
fatiugued and
> sproinged apart, so now the disc will spin, briefly, but
not work at all
> inside the 'pad.
>
> My questions for the learned ones therefore are:
> * Where are good, inexpensive sources (in the UK or nearby
euro places if
> at all possible) for replacement battery/battery bits or
reconditioning?
> Details of self build or refresh on the battery would be
nice (yes, you
> can disclaimer/waiver it), it's only NiCad plus maybe some
low level
> electronics (thermistor etc) after all. Made a replacement
for another
> laptop before but this one is a little less obvious and a
little harder to
> dissect than that one - which was little more than six
C-size cells and a
> charging thermistor in a not-quite-opaque,
not-fully-enclosed shrinkwrap.
> The IBM one is a mysterious black stick..

this is reputed to be a smart battery, so there might be a
bit more than you expect (pandora like) when you open it..
i have some NOS batteries and one charger/conditioner (not
for sale)..

>
> * Similarly, and more pressing, sources for a hard disc
caddy.. or just
> the cable for it.. or something even remotely compatible.
Even just tools
> to repair it better than my soldering iron - suddenly it's
"fine" tip that
> was OK for putting the video intermediate socket back on
the board seems
> so huge.

i have these but the cost would be prohibitive..
that cable was not easy or cheap..

> Would a PCMCIA hard disc be bootable without much faffing?

not likely..

>
> * Any cross compatibilities between the 701 and other
models for these
> (even non-IBM) would be nice to know, as looking on eBay,
etc, has shown
> 701 bits from anywhere but fairly expensive (over the
price of the laptop
> :) resellers are like droppings from a rubber chicken..
whereas you can
> hardly move for parts from 300s, 500s, 600s, 700s, and
Toshibas/Dells/Compaqs
> etc from the same era.

little that is cross-pollinatable (is that a word?)..
surprised to hear an h/p floppy will plug up and operate..
(see other reply)

>
> * Ditto that with floppy drives (or even CDROM). Have a
feeling that a
> large number of externals from 300 thru 700 have potential
to work with
> that mini-centronics socket, or even Toshiba etc drives
that have the same
> shape connection, but not really any way to check for
certain without
> splashing the precious green. This isn't really so much of
a problem what
> with the ethernet, hard disc converter, or even the port
expander if I can
> reconstruct the old parallel zip drive, but would make
life a whole lot
> easier.
>
> * What's the largest disc that can be put in the 701? Even
if it has to be
> locked down to 16/63/1024 and an overlay used. Currently
it has a 540,
> which seemed to be just about the right size if i was
conservative, but
> not much room for extra stuff in the future or a new OS. I
know 340 and
> 740mb can be used, but looking enviously in the direction
of a 2gb (as my
> dad has a spare) or larger... I wonder if it can be
convinced to run XP
> just for the hell of it.

6gig, more or less, given the variations on this theme..

>
> * Similarly what's the largest RAM it can be convinced to
use, replacement
> old RAM chips aren't too expensive so it'd be the limit
rather than cash
> deciding what OS I might choose. Currently it has 24mb
(8+16), which is
> ample for the 3.1 install it has, pretty good for 95, and
a potential
> bottleneck in 98.. 40mb (8+32) would be more comfortable,
72mb (8+64)
> fantastic. (yeah.. this is the laziest question :)

the 64 will yeily 64..
yup..
or so i have been told..

>
> * Oh yeah.. any way to clock the board up to 33mhz rather
than 25 for a
> bit of sweet 100mhz lovin'? Short of changing the actual
clock crystal and
> some ICs :/

dunno..
you got the earlier 701..
486/50..

>
>
> Um.. nearly forgot, one more question - is the soundsystem
on the 701
> generally a bit messed up and fragile? The noise level is
quite dire even
> though I can't see it being a system with a large amount
of RF to throw
> around, and only mono sound works properly... stereo only
plays the left
> channel, in a somewhat scratchy style, no matter what
output is used -
> which is just -strange-. Maybe it's supposed to be like
that (designed for
> mono), maybe a wideranging IRQ or driver conflict.. maybe
it's damaged.
> Any clues?

the original sound and mic were excellent for the day..
you have a problem-sound-system...

>
> So far I've invested in torx drivers, done a full
investigative stripdown,
> almost totally destroyed a borrowed crochetting hook and
jewellers
> screwdriver retrieving and re-attaching the ludicrously
strong spring for
> the folding keyboard, relearnt how to solder for the
video, done some
> quite wierd things involving wood dowelling and masking
tape (amongst
> others) trying to solderlessly repair the disc cable,
scoured ebay and
> the rest of the net, deconstructed a desktop PC just to
transfer files,
> and even learnt the dirty, twisted details of win3.1
networking in order
> to get this thing working as much as it currently is - so
I'm psyched to
> go the rest of the way if only the info can be found (and
the cash...!)
>
> Thanks for any help you can fling my way...
>

yourwelcome..
lookout for falling rocks.. :-)

> -mp
>
>
> right, now to go browse the archives!
>
>
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Received on Sun Apr 20 04:59:26 2003