I have a Thinkpad A21M which was not used for about a year. It has Windows XP Pro SP2. After starting to use it again, the ethernet controller is no longer working. There is no LAN connection in Network Connections, and in the Device Manager there are no items that don't have drivers installed (in other words, everything looks fine). I tried doing a scan for new hardware but that yielded no results.
I would like to get this network controller working again. 500 points.
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This is another problem I have with this laptop, which I didn't know would come up here - the owner of this laptop had work done before I got a hold of it. The old hard drive was replaced with a new hard drive, and since then the BIOS hasn't been accessible. From the documentation I have read, F1 is the BIOS key but I can't get it to work.
A new hard drive SHOULD not affect the BIOS but they may have updated the BIOS during the procedure.
Don't remember when the A20 series were released but if the previous owner upgraded the BIOS to one of the more current versions the BIOS key might no longer be F1. The newer ThinkPads use the blue "Access IBM" button to go to BIOS. On the older ThinkPads you might have a "ThinkPad" button that does the same thing. I also have a T20 series that uses the F2 to access BIOS. Give all of those a try and see if you can get in. You should note that on most ThinkPads, BIOS is only accessible from a cold start not a reboot. So make sure you turn off the laptop completely before trying to access the BIOS.
If all of the methods fail you might consider downloading a copy of the current BIOS and installing it via floppy (if you have a floppy drive for your internal bay) or CD.
The A21M IBM laptop uses F1 to access bios:
http://www.michaelstevenst
However, I think the old model IBM laptop used to have connector drivers to configure hardware in windows environment. In Bios page, you can enable or disable, but the NIC should should fine.
Unfortunely, the Lenovo / IBM troubleshooting and support page is on and off at this time, I could not check the service manual for this model.
"IBM PCI Modem with Voice"
There is one small connector, which is plugged in, and one bigger connector, which is not plugged in because there is no slot on the card for it.
I guess this would mean this card is only a modem, but there is definitely an ethernet port directly adjacent to the phone jack port on this laptop. Could the NIC card be somewhere else?
Sounds like you have no Ethernet on that PCI card. All ThinkPads have both modem and Ethernet ports but a combo PCI card is necessary to use both those ports. It's interesting because in newer TPs the modem is usually a soft modem. You can still purchase a combo PCI card for your ThinkPad but it'll probably be better to just get a wireless PC card. If you must then:
IBM Thinkpad Mini PCI Combo Card (3COM) - 22P6753
http://www.impactcomputers
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by: tmassa99Posted on 2007-06-24 at 19:28:19ID: 19353104
You will have to tell us what type of NIC is reported in Device Manager. Do you have a built-in NIC + Modem? It may come with IBM 10/100 EtherJet Mini PCI Adapter with 56K Modem (Mini PCI Combo card) or none at all.
-TM