T43P will not enter BIOS setup

[paul van benschoten]

I have a T43P that displays the startup screen with "To interrupt normal startup, press the blue Access IBM button".

Pressing that button does nothing. Mostly, the machine just sits and does nothing.

Sometimes, I can boot from a CD, or at least start to boot. Once in a while it does complete. I have tried a WinXP install CD, a Win 7 install CD and a Macrium Reflect recovery CD. I have been able to boot from all of them at least once, but usually the boot hangs with no error messages.

There is no hard drive in this machine, but I think this problem started before the harddrive was removed.

Sometimes, pressing F8 will bring up a screen that lists options like "Select Boot device" and "enter Setup". None of them seem to work, although pressing enter to stop the countdown does work (so I think the keyboard is OK).

I replaced both of the 512MB memory cards with similar cards. That does not seem to make a difference.

I have been thinking of updating the BIOS, but do not know how to do that without being able to boot Windows. I did write the Bios update exe from Lenovo onto a USB thumbdrive and tried to use that when the Win 7 CD did boot, but the thumbdrive lights up for a second and then the light goes off. I assume that the thumbdrive is not recognized.

Can a Bios chip be replaced? Does this sound like a Bios problem ?

[ajkula66]

It sounds like a SouthBridge chip problem.

Remove the keyboard, palmrest and the wireless card. Re-connect the key board and start the machine, then press on the large square chip under the wireless card slot. If the machine enters BIOS while you're (gently) pressing on the chip, you've found the culprit.

Good luck.

[paul van benschoten]

Well, that does seem to be it !

While pressing on that chip, I can get into BIOS setup, and can Boot my Win7 install CD.

So, is that replaceable ?


I just did a search on replacing the south bridge chip. It appears I need to replace the motherboard. Drat.

[paul van benschoten]

I forgot to say Thank You!

Your quick and accurate response is appreciated !

[ajkula66]

You're very welcome.

Could you please add your location to the profile, it would help us assist you further...

[paul van benschoten]

Could you please add your location to the profile, it would help us assist you further...

Done.

[RealBlackStuff]

To fix your problem, you either need to find someone who can professionally 'reball' the Southbridge chip,
or replace the motherboard.
The only reliable 'reballer' is in the UK (www.reflowrepairs.com), but unfortunately shipping there and back has become prohibitive due to exorbitant postal rates, even if sent in bulk.
If you don't need the power of the the T43p's ATI FireGL GPU, I could provide you with a replacement motherboard.
It's from an R52 with Intel integrated graphics.
Due to their limited graphics power, they can only drive all XGA screens and a 15" SXGA+ LCD.
No chance for a 14.1" SXGA+ or even UXGA.
PM me if interested.

And also see the website-link in my 'signature' below.

[poshgeordie]

Unfortunately it's classic unsoldered Southbridge as you've found out.

Re repairing it, it's only possible if there are red, black or orange dots round the chip. But it's likely to have lines of clear epoxy (darkish opaque lines along the chip sides) around the chip and this prevents the chip from being taken off to be have the solder balls replaced (reballed).

I'd go with RBS's advise. It's also a great shame that in there's no one decent in USA who can reball - BTW I run Reflow Repairs in UK.

[paul van benschoten]

There are two orange dots in each corner.

There is an image at http://maldenyachtclub.org/southbridge.jpg which is too big for me to feel comfortable to directly include in this post.

Right now, this laptop looks like it is ready to be scrapped. Since this was my daughter's college laptop, I could try to find out if any of her friends have one still (she graduated in 2006). Even if someone did have one in the back of their closet, it would probably have the same issue.

Thank you all for the help.

Anyone want a good T43P display and/or keyboard

[poshgeordie]

You've posted the image correctly - a link rather than the actual image.

Also yes, that's a fixable chip. It's quite a desirable laptop and such a shame you're not in UK or Europe.

Also there are some great mods we do to the motherboard that allow you to run modern SATA Hard Drives in place of the older IDE one's and this immediately gives it a whole new lease of life.

There's a thread about this in this forum.

[ajkula66]

If you decide to scrap the laptop, I'd be interested in buying it for parts, presuming that the LCD is good.

Feel free to PM me should you choose to take that route...

Good luck.

[RealBlackStuff]

Nick,
you ever consider moving to the USA (with your reballing machine)?

[poshgeordie]

Nick,
you ever consider moving to the USA (with your reballing machine)?

Simple reason - I've still got some shelves to put up here