T40 is DEAD no signs of life, Please help

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vdubbinn · #1 Post by **vdubbinn** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 9:16 am

Hello,

I have a t40 that was working with no problems, then died suddenly after some work. I decided to add a wireless Mini PCI card to it since I noticed it already had the antennas ran for one. I proceeded to remove the battery, Keyboard, and palmrest. Once I did that I installed the Wireless card and reassembled the laptop carefully. After reassembly I pressed the power button and got NOTHING, so I plugged the AC adapter in and tried it again and still got nothing. The interesting thing is that it is completely dead, I do not even get the battery light when it is plugged in or anything.
I Disassembled it again to make sure I got everything plugged in right and found nothing out of place. I tried taking the battery and CMOS battery off and doing the power button trick (press ten times and hold), but still got nothing. I have tried everything and am at my wits end with it, If somebody could give me some ideas on this I would greatly appreciate it.

lithium726 · #2 Post by **lithium726** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 10:47 am

This is going to sound dumb, but you did plug the keyboard back in, right?

vdubbinn · #3 Post by **vdubbinn** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 11:02 am

Yes I double checked everything to make sure I did not reassemble it wrong, including the keyboard since it has the power button integrated into it. Thnx for the response though.

#4 Post by **carbon_unit** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 11:38 am

Did you try removing the mini-pci card and seeing if it will boot?

vdubbinn · #5 Post by **vdubbinn** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 12:05 pm

As soon as the problem arose that is the first thing I did, and it did nothing to change the situation. I am at a loss here?

#6 Post by **GomJabbar** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 12:17 pm

What about the display switch above the ESC key? Is it properly connected? Is it stuck? Try pressing it down a few times, then release it and see what happens.

If your Mini PCI card was shorted, it may have blown a fuse or breaker on the motherboard. I can't tell you where it would be though. I haven't had my T42 apart yet.

#7 Post by **BillMorrow** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 12:36 pm

go back to basics..
remove everything that can be removed..
add in memory (but not the original memory), HDD and the offending miniPCI card of course..
even the main battery..

and see if you can enter the bios setup..
or even if you get the splash screen..

vdubbinn · #8 Post by **vdubbinn** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 12:48 pm

GomJabbar, I checked the switch also and fiddle with it a little to make sure it was not stuck but got nothing. The Mini wireless card had been installed in a previous laptop and worked fine, so I don't think it is the problem. The laptop would not even power on the first time and did not have any signs of life (no lights hard drive display or anything) when I got it together, so I do not think a fuse blew.

BillMorrow, I have it completely apart now with everything removed that I can (it is practicly down to nothing). When I get it back together again I will post and let you know the results. Thnx for the ideas from both of you.

vdubbinn · #9 Post by **vdubbinn** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 9:16 pm

Well I just got done tearing it down to nothing (literally just the motherboard left in the base) put it back together using a different stick of memory. When I got it back together I tried powering it on and got nothing again. There is no sign of it powering on at all and no sign that it is even receiving power, nothing lights up even the battery indicator. Anybody else have an Idea?
What perplexes me is that it worked fine before and all I did is take the keyboard and palmrest of to install the PCI card. I have worked on and repaired quite a few laptops, so it's not like I am a newbie or something.

bigtiger · #10 Post by **bigtiger** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 9:35 pm

well, if you can disassemble it again, try to tear it apart until you only have the motherboard, then only connect the fan and the keyboard to the motherboard, then connect the power supply, if you see the fan spin, then you know the motherboar is getting power.

If the fan does not spin, then check if the power supply is good. If you have a multmeter, you can easily check on that. Otherwise, get a new supply.

If the power adapter is good, and the fan does spin, probably the motherboard is dead.

cmarti · #11 Post by **cmarti** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 10:02 pm

While doing the upgrade did you loose any screws?

Maybe one did a shortage.

FTC · #12 Post by **FTC** » Wed Sep 27, 2006 2:10 am

Hi, my guess is more related with power, a crossed / damaged battery and/or power supply could be the cause. Have you tried to power up without battery and with another power brick ? maybe measuring the voltage output from the brick could be wise... Another thing that does break sometimes is the power connector in the thinkpad...

coreman · #13 Post by **coreman** » Wed Sep 27, 2006 4:46 am

I am not familiar with Thinkpad innards but as an engineer, I would take a multimeter to the DC-DC converter (motherboard?? or separate unit?) and check for input voltage and output voltage. If input but no output, then DC-DC went south. If no input, then somewhere there is another switch (like the LCD panel switch) that is thrown and has killed the power.

I don't know if IBM has a master kill switch that kills the power to the entire machine when the keyboard/palm rest is removed as a protection against accidental shock.

I, of course, am assuming that the battery is charged and machine still won't power up on battery power alone. But it wouldn't hurt to take that same multimeter and check the battery voltage. I think it has to be >9V of charge otherwise the internal battery protection circuit will shut battery down.

Finally using the trusty multimeter, check the power adapter and make sure it is plugged into an active outlet. I once had a problem where my adapter was plugged into a "switched" outlet, meaning there was a wall switch that turned the powerstrip on/off. Someone had turned the switch off and I never noticed it, so battery ran down and I was unable to recharge to machine...thought I had a bad adapter until I noticed that nothing worked in that socket...

vdubbinn · #14 Post by **vdubbinn** » Wed Sep 27, 2006 2:51 pm

well I have tested the AC Adapter and know that is working as it should. The battery I remember before I shut it down was at full charge, But I will use my multimeter to make sure it outputting the right voltage. I checked the plug in on the motherboard and that seems fine also. I am going to tear this thing back down to nothing and start looking at the power circuitry to make sure nothing is wrong there. My guess at this point is that there was some underlying problem that was already there and it was just a coincidence that it happened to act up when I installed the Mini Pci card. I will post again when and if I figure something else out. If anybody ales has a suggestion that has not been posted, your input would be greatly appreciated especially if you have had the similar problem. To all that have posted so far thanks, your ideas have helped to narrow things down and rule things out. I am just hoping that I do not have a junk motherboard on my hands, because I am not in the position right now to pay for a replacement.

#15 Post by **K. Eng** » Wed Sep 27, 2006 7:53 pm

Based on my experience (3 broken T40 boards), I think it is most likely that your system board is toast.

If you can't afford a replacement board right now, start saving for a new machine, and see if you can find someone to loan you a spare machine in the meantime.

vdubbinn · #16 Post by **vdubbinn** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 9:16 am

Well I got it torn down to nothing and figured out what the problem was. Once I got the motherboard out of the base I noticed corrosion on the battery plug in, the corrosion was on the positive side of the plug in and was pretty significant. I went ahead and rigged the battery up so I could plug it in where a slimbay battery would and the thing fired right up, the only problem is that the battery would not charge. My guess is that the corrosion fried the battery and charging circuitry at the top of the board and it was just a coincidence that it shucked out at the time it did. I gues now I need to figure out if I want to spend the money for the motherboard or invest in a new laptop, option two seems the most logical right now. Thanks to everybody who have posted.

vdubbinn · #17 Post by **vdubbinn** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 9:26 am

By the way what motherbaords will fit the t40 Chassis? will any other series like the t41, t42, or S series fit this chassis without major modification?

#18 Post by **GomJabbar** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 10:55 am

vdubbinn wrote:By the way what motherbaords will fit the t40 Chassis? will any other series like the t41, t42, or S series fit this chassis without major modification?

This thread may be of interest: http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=30885

cmarti · #19 Post by **cmarti** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 11:20 am

Look at my sig. I am using a T42P motherboard.

Yes you can.

vdubbinn · #20 Post by **vdubbinn** » Fri Oct 06, 2006 8:59 pm

Well I found out some good news. I happened to look the laptop up on IBM's website and it had 3yr warranty good until 12-12-06. I called IBM and they said they will send me a box out and to send it in for a new motherboard. I had originaly bought this through work (state job) and was not aware of the warranty, so this was a welcome surprise. Thanks to everybody who helped me to figure out the problem.

T40 is DEAD no signs of life, Please help

T40 is DEAD no signs of life, Please help

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