T43p dead status lights

[that1nerd]

I'm in the process of refurbishing a T43p that I bought off of fleabay, and made decent progress with it, but I'm at a loss for what could be causing this particular problem.

None of the status lights work except for the WiFi indicator. They're all completely dead to the world, even thought the laptop itself is otherwise functional. I've tried swapping the inverter board, and checked all the connections, but it's the same problem every time.

For those who are curious about the specifics of the laptop itself, it's a 15" 2668-VQ7, with the 1600x1200 FlexView display in it. The weird part is that it didn't come with neither a bluetooth or wireless card in it, and the antenna leads still had the white protective tape over them, suggesting it came from the factory like this. There was also foil tape covering the IR sensor, so I can only conclude that the previous owner must have been working with some pretty sensitive information.

Either that, or they were a paranoid nutjob.

It's almost like the status LEDs were intentionally disabled by the previous owner, but I'd like to "hear" the opinion of a few forum members before I decide to dissect the whole laptop.

Any ideas?

[RealBlackStuff]

Check the fuses near the LCD-connector on the mobo: http://theboardroom.info/T4x_Fuses.pdf

[that1nerd]

Well, I guess it's time to grab the ol' Fluke 27 and start probing around.

I'll reply back with my findings, once I get a chance to look my laptop over.

[ajkula66]

The weird part is that it didn't come with neither a bluetooth or wireless card in it, and the antenna leads still had the white protective tape over them, suggesting it came from the factory like this. There was also foil tape covering the IR sensor, so I can only conclude that the previous owner must have been working with some pretty sensitive information.

Well...I'd be willing to bet that you'll also see that the machine was "Assembled in the U.S. from U.S. and non-U.S. components for Lenovo" written on the bottom. Correct? These were government-issued and/or telco units. Neither of these entities likes Bluetooth or integrated wireless...

It's almost like the status LEDs were intentionally disabled by the previous owner, but I'd like to "hear" the opinion of a few forum members before I decide to dissect the whole laptop.

Any ideas?

No. I've owned a bunch of these VQ7 and BY8 - all U.S. built, ex-government/telco - machines and the lights were perfectly functional. There's a defect there, either in the inverter or on the planar itself. Good luck.

[that1nerd]

Check the fuses near the LCD-connector on the mobo: http://theboardroom.info/T4x_Fuses.pdf

That was the problem. Fuse F8 was open.

I bypassed it with a carefully placed blob of solder, and that did the trick.

Well...I'd be willing to bet that you'll also see that the machine was "Assembled in the U.S. from U.S. and non-U.S. components for Lenovo" written on the bottom. Correct? These were government-issued and/or telco units. Neither of these entities likes Bluetooth or integrated wireless...

Indeed, it appears to be an ex-government/telco laptop. That explains a lot, actually. Especially why it's such a high-hour laptop. (The CCFL was completely burned out when I first got it.)


Thanks for the input, guys!