I bought a good used IBM 300mhz pentium thinkpad computer to repace the old 486 I was using to program my E6k and I cant get it to download from the E6k. Is this a common problem. I seem to remember a year or so ago hearing something about this, but can't find anything on it.

 

I had one just like that, a thinkpad 380z, 300mhz, p2 machine, it worked flawlessly with DOS programs, the only reason i would assume something would be wrong with it would be incorrect com port selection, incorrect com port settings, or your serial connector is physically damaged on that laptop.

Make sure the com port is named appropriately and designated in the software. And that the settings on it are the correct ones. Try diagnosing the port to see if the hardware is right.