T42 Thinkpad Won't Start Up

[hedgefunder]

My T42 Thinkpad wont start up. It appears to power on normally,fan fan comes on, all of the the indicator lights flash except for the hard drive indicator light. The screen stays blank. The fan and the battery light are the only indication that anything is working.

I would appreciate any help.

[T43pSSD]

so, there's no POST at all? Could be a dead cmos battery.

[ajkula66]

T43pSSD wrote:

so, there's no POST at all? Could be a dead cmos battery.

Not likely at all.

What is the full model number of your T42, hedgefunder?

Should be something like 237x-xxx...let us know so we could direct the revival attempts accordingly...

[Johan]

@ hedgefunder:

Welcome to the forum... although I regret to hear of your problem(s)...

Are you able to boot from a CD? Try see the thread Black screen, blinking cursor, OS won't load and download and burn the free bootable mini-XP as discussed in this post. You may download the free Hiren’s BootCD 14.1 from here.

Johan

[BillMorrow]

Hi Bill,
thanks for your reply. The model number is 2374. I can't find the additional numbers and letters but for some reason, I remember WK7 was associated with it in the past. Does that help? I'm completely computer illiterate....... thanks so much!

its a 2374 something....
if it is a WK7 or something like nnthat it sounds like thinkpad made for a big company..
all normal USA models have (or had) M/T numbers like 2373-4AU with the U indiicating it is a USA model..

all of this is irrelevant to the problem which SOUNDS like a bad motherboard..
much like the same problem i have with a T61p..

what happens when you boot without the AC adapter plugged into the thinkpad..?
or when you start it without the battery in place and only the AC adapter..?

what lights blink..?

there are other things to try, though its a slender thread.. pull one (if you have two) memory DIMM's.. pull the HDD..

if any of these makes it boot to at least the setup screen then you have pinpointed the nproblem..

miniXP (johan's post) is a good idea also.. IF you can get that far..

[hedgefunder]

Hi Johan,
I will try the CD to see what happens. Thanks so much for your response

@ hedgefunder:

Welcome to the forum... although I regret to hear of your problem(s)...

Are you able to boot from a CD? Try see the thread Black screen, blinking cursor, OS won't load and download and burn the free bootable mini-XP as discussed in this post. You may download the free Hiren’s BootCD 14.1 from here.

Johan

[ajkula66]

If this is what you have:

ThinkPad T42 (2374-WK7)
Based on 2374-CTO: P M 735, 512MB RAM, 40GB 5400rpm HDD, 14.1 XGA(1024x768) TFT LCD, 32MB ATI Radeon 7500, 8x DVD(slim), Intel 802.11b/g wireless(MPCI), Modem(CDC), 1Gb Ethernet(LOM), UltraNav, Secure Chip, 6c Li-Ion batt, WinXP Pro

Take the keyboard off but leave it connected.

Press *gently* on the square chip marked "ATi" while the machine is attempting to boot. Are you getting anything on the screen now?

[T43pSSD]

on the battery- I realize it's supposed to be just for the settings, but have read of some people having post issues when one goes dead. No? can't happen?

[cadillacmike68]

on the battery- I realize it's supposed to be just for the settings, but have read of some people having post issues when one goes dead. No? can't happen?

With CMOS battery issues, either a dead one or not there (or broken off connector like I did to one of my T30s), you'll get a delayed boot into the BIOS (and woe be to u if u don't have the PW!) but it will still boot. And it WILL run, just don't shut it off!

This problem is before it even gets to look at the CMOS / BIOS settings. And yes I have one of these as well, completely blank screen. It's not on my priority list to get fixed.

And, just to keep everyone on the same sheet of music, the Type is always the 4 digit number, in this case 2374, while the Model is the 3 letters/ numbers, in this case the WK7. Type 5150 was the original PC!

[sp9239]

I had sililar problem.
I ended upwith moving around the laptop , also pick uplaptop and flip upside down.
It sounds funny but I got to work . Sometimes the display still goes away on me and I pick up from right side corner and slam down slowly.

It does have issue with the you.