Alternatives and modern workflows
Elias had tried everything. He had burned through three parallel port dongles. He had tried removing the battery for a month. He was about to give up and strip the machine for screws when he remembered the legend. Thinkpad Hardware Maintenance Diskette Version 1.76
: To use the utility on certain models (like the T61), users often need to interrupt the boot process (e.g., pressing Esc at the logo) to temporarily disable EEPROM write protection. Step-by-Step Usage (Standard Repair Workflow) Thinkpad Hardware Maintenance Diskette Version 1.76