Service Forum

gotaplay · Nou Venit Joined: 23 Oct 2005 Posts: 3

Hi
I just received a Think Pad 770 that has a superviosrs password lock
Before I take this machine apart I thought I would see if the same methods talked about here will work for the 770 as well
any help would be appereciated

thanks in advance

Paul N

victor · S.F. Boss Joined: 07 Mar 2004 Posts: 2546 Location: Staff

Yes, it works.
I also advice you to use patcher.exe before reading, otherwise 0x300-0x370 block cannot be read (it is protected on read/write).

gotaplay · Nou Venit Joined: 23 Oct 2005 Posts: 3

Thanks Victor
I took this machine apart last night to study it and now if i can locate the eprom I should be all set
As soon as I am able I will be purchasing a license for your software which is the least I can do for the assistance you have givin me

Thanks Again

Paul

victor · S.F. Boss Joined: 07 Mar 2004 Posts: 2546 Location: Staff

Your TP is 770Z I presume. This one uses 24RF08.
770 (without "Z") has 24C01, a "classic" 128 bytes eeprom that can be read with anything you want but not with R24RF08, obviously.
Usually, 24C01 starting adress is set to 0xAE on Thinkpads, A0-A1-A2 pins tied to Vcc.

Koolly · Nou Venit Joined: 01 Aug 2010 Posts: 2

I cured several ThinkPads, but now have troubles with this very old 770z. Patcher and r24rf08 say: "Error: Eeprom not available".
It has 24RF08BT 14 pin, previously I read only 8 pin. Si-Prog that I use was checked on other notebooks, but tomorrow I will check it again with another TP just in case.
The question is if Si-Prog can read 24RF08BT. Some sources say that more complicated programmer is needed.
It's almost morning and I'm depressed as procedure is rather simple and I did it several times with success. And now this unexpected error...

victor · S.F. Boss Joined: 07 Mar 2004 Posts: 2546 Location: Staff

Hi,

24RF08, no matter how is packaged, is the same thing.
A driven interface would be better, of course.
_________________
Victor Voinea
ALLservice HQ, Romania.

Koolly · Nou Venit Joined: 01 Aug 2010 Posts: 2

Thank you, Victor.
But what direction shall I go than?
Programmer works, I checked it today with R50e (24RF08CN 8 pin).

May it be that there is another EEPROM? I found 24C01A just near CMOS battery in memory slot.

Other variants:

1. Wrong pinouts? I was not able to find datasheet for 24RF08BT, only for 24RF08C. Hardly believe that pinouts are different, but not having datasheet I am still not sure.
2. EEPROM is defective. Notebook shows lock icon, reacts on wrong passwords. Is it enough to be confident that EEPROM is OK? I measured voltage, it's 3.36 V on 5, 8, 9, 10, 12 pins.
3. I do something wrong. But what can it be? I wait until lock icon appears, then connect ground, SDA, SCL, then launch patcher or r24rf08.
I tried to press F1 when power on, but result the same - lock icon. If to press OK it shows errors 173, 163.

I read about driven interface, but if 24RF08BT is the same thing as 24RF08CN than Si-Prog must be enough?

victor · S.F. Boss Joined: 07 Mar 2004 Posts: 2546 Location: Staff

1. Could be, but I can't just guess it. Why do you need a different datasheet since the eeprom is the same? The pinouts are given in SIPROG pdf.

2. Eeprom si not defective for sure.

3. Check again the connections is all I can say. Set GND wire to laptop's VGA out ground.

The 2 variants, 14 pin or 8 pin are identical internally..
Programming an eeprom in-system may give errors for SIPROG if the system's SMBUS impedance is too low.
When it comes to do it in-system, a driven interface would be perfect.
_________________
Victor Voinea
ALLservice HQ, Romania.