Bios Upgrade and Ram Upgrade Help

[CoolT30]

Well my IBM T30 236685U, 1.8 Ghz, 767 mb ram, 40gb, BIOS 2.01 is still in excellent condition after 8 long years. But recently I came up with the idea to try to upgrade it. Many forums siad to upgrade the ECP and BIOS first, but being a total noob I don't know how. First do I have to start downloading BIOS 2.02 install, download ECP(how do you find your current version) and then go on to the next version all the way until 2.10? Or just download 2.10 and install it. Also, do I choose the diskette version? Anyways after upgrading the BIOS and ECP(if done successfully), I saw a few parts that can be used for upgrading. The problem is will they work?
Ram:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... K:MEWAX:IT
HDD:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... K:MEWAX:IT
and if I don't need DVD drive:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... K:MEWAX:IT
I also saw in this article that you can upgrade to 2.4ghz, but other threads saw best is 2.0Ghz
http://web.mit.edu/~joncox/www/t30upgrade.html
I found a part here and extra Thermal Paste:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... K:MEWAX:IT
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... K:MEWAX:IT
Also, I've always wanted USB 2.0 I asked seller they said it can't work:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... K:MEWAX:IT
Can it? And this is probably retarded, but can I have Directx 9.0 on this laptop using any method?
Thanks

[jronald]

Looks like everything you have chosen is fine.
The 2.4 CPU will run very hot and is finicky as all get out. The sweet spot on the T30's is the 2.0 CPU and 1.25 to 1.5 gig memory. Dont upgrade the bios unless its broken. Try it first and then if something is wonky upgrade.

Ron

[CoolT30]

I could not find a cheap 2.0 Ghz processor on ebay, but I'm gonna keep looking. I found out that the GPU is soldered on so I can't do anything about it. And I also found out that I need BIOS 2.02 since it supports a processor with 2.04 Ghz. Also, how do I update the BIOS? One version at a time until I reach 2.10 and do that afterwards with ECP?

[RealBlackStuff]

If you want/need to update the BIOS, go straight for BIOS 2.10 and ECP 1.07.
Update BIOS first, then ECP.
If you have a floppy drive, use the floppy version.
Get it, and any other drivers here:
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-42358

For taking it apart, get the HMM here: http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-42308

With XP/SP3 you can get Directx 9.0

[CoolT30]

But the hardware does not support Directx 9 right?

[CoolT30]

Also, if I got this PCMCIA USB 2.0 cardbus:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... K:MEWAX:IT
I can get transfer rate of 480 Mbps right?

[RealBlackStuff]

The hardware does not support DX9, but that's not what you asked...
That card will support UP TO 480 Mbps, but I doubt if you'll get it that high.
It will improve a lot on the USB1.1 though.
Be aware that it only has limited power, so cannot drive power-hungry things like hard drives without an external power source or Y-splitter into the old USB1.1 port!

[CoolT30]

I just wanted to get some faster transfer rate from flash drives and webcams. If i need more power I think I can plug the ac into the old USB ports. Also, what are the typess of CPU models I can get?

[RealBlackStuff]

I would strongly recommend to not go beyond the 2.0GHz, which is the 'sweet spot' for a T30.

RTFM http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-42308