Sensitive IBM T40 Thinkpad.

[secret]

I require your experience and assistance,

I currently have an IBM T40 with some issues. These include the laptop freezing when moved then the screen not coming on when booted. For example, when I lift the laptop off the desk when booted into a OS, the screen will freeze and I'll be forced to turn the system off by holding in the power button (this is probly causing damage itself). After this it is difficult to get the screen to work when turning on the system, the hard disks fire up and everything else seems to work, but the LCD won't work - there is sometimes when I will move the laptop or tap the bottom and then once turned on, the screen will appear again.

Anyways, to see if it was anything to do with the video card, I connected a chord from my laptop to a monitor and it shows everything on the monitor; while the screen on the laptop continues to stay black.

Also, when I attempted to reboot before it gave beeps, but I can't be certain on the exact order - it hasn’t happened since.

Anyways, all I can guess is that it's a wire on the motherboard or something similar because the screen does light up sometimes, but when the bottom of the lappy is touched or moved, the screen freezes and everything on screen is then non-responsive. This indicates to me that it's a wire joint or ribbon cable; but then I can't explain the LCD not coming on when turning the power button on.

Could someone please help me with these issues because I require this laptop for educational purposes. Hence education; meaning I also don’t have the money to pay for a new motherboard so please tell me there is a way to fix it.

I appreciate the help and have searched these forums but couldn't find anyone with these exact problems.

P.S - this machine isn't under warrantee.

Thanks in advanced.

[rkawakami]

G'day, and welcome to thinkpads.com!

Your problem could be due to something as simple as a loose ribbon cable connection somewhere inside the laptop. Or, it can be a component that has (partially) separated from the motherboard. My guess is the latter, as your descriptions on how it works (or doesn't) seems to indicate.

You can download a copy of the Hardware Maintenance Manual for your system from IBM/Lenovo and attempt to disassemble the laptop so you can re-seat each connector along the way. That is about all you can do without access to specialized equipment. For most cases of loose components on a motherboard, even assuming you can FIND the problem part, cannot be fixed with just a simple soldering iron. With today's use of surface mount parts, you need an elaborate surface mount rework station which uses hot air, vacuum, and mostly skill, to repair these kinds of problems.

By all means, if you are comfortable with handling tiny screws and have some patience in following pictorial directions, download this file:

T4x HMM

You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to open and view the file.

If, after opening the laptop and re-seating all of the connectors and re-tightening all of the screws, the system still acts the same, then I'm afraid that the solution is another motherboard.

[secret]

Ok sir, and thanks for the welcome.

I am not to sure what the latter is, could you please tell me what that is? Iwill take it to a Computer repair store today and show them, if they think it requires a new motherboard then it looks as if I'm in trouble - I can't handwrite too well and this laptop is a resource in which I require.

[rkawakami]

Sorry, "latter", meaning the second of the two guesses to your problem. In this case, a loose component on the motherboard. If it is all possible, when you take it in, have the repair shop re-seat all of the ribbon cable connections and closely inspect the board for any loose parts.

[secret]

Hey, you wouldn't believe it but the Lappy is still under warranty. I went on the IBM site and it said type in your model number and serial number and the warranty doesn’t expire until the 18/01/2007 (I had thought the laptop warranty expired because I purchased it second hand and the previous owner said he had thought the warranty expired). Anyways, I contacted IBM and told them the laptop issues and they said they would have someone pick the item up and it will be repaired (If within the warranty guidelines) and sent back to me.

I have a couple of questions, when they say warranty guideline; I read the warranty outline and rules. However, what would cause IBM to think these problems were caused by myself? Just say they take a look at the laptop and they diagnose these problems I mentioned as being effected by the user; what could I have possibly done to cause such issues with my laptop? Like, I haven't spilt water or anything on it, and too be honest the laptop is in great condition and I look after it.

I'm just hoping they don't call and say it's my fault because I can't afford the $130.00 charges applied for the services they complete, and I haven't done anything to cause this.

Has anyone here had any bad encounters with warranty and the tech support in relation to IBM blaming you for the problems with the laptop?

Anyways, wish me luck

[christopher_wolf]

Has anyone here had any bad encounters with warranty and the tech support in relation to IBM blaming you for the problems with the laptop?

Anyways, wish me luck

Uhhh, mayyyybbeee...

However, I don't think they are going to chalk something like that up to you (seriously); well, that is assuming that they can't find a way to blame a spilled liquid for loosening up a few cables...

[secret]

You wouldn't believe it, they sent the IBM back saying it is out of warranty. Strait away I looked on the bottom of the case to see the serial number and rang them back up saying you're mistaken; this serial number is right. They said they had checked in the bios and seen that the serial number was **-***B9, then I looked carefully at the sticker on the bottom and it is, lolz, I thought it was **-***99 -Lucky they didn't charge me.

Anyways, what I did was open the machine and checked all the connectors, correctly clicked them in to position while also cleaning the machine with a soft bristle brush to discard the dust. And, surprisingly, the screen flickering has somewhat vanished. BUT, the system still does freeze when logged on to an OS, but not when I move it... I can actually move the machine now without the OS freezing or screen acting erratic. The other problem is the machines screen fails to come on sometimes, not all the time, because I could restart now and the screen will appear, but if I was to leave it over night on the charger or just turned off (whatever), when booted up, the screen may not come one while everything else continues to run. Now, I can't think what could be causing this problem - I reseated all the connected (but I didn't pull the screen apart and look in their because I didn't have time - I just can't work out what is causing these problems.

I am getting a brand new hard drive just in case it's this Toshiba hard drive causing the OS to freeze (maybe it's sensitive).

What else could be causing these problems? Could it be that the machine requires more then 512mb of ram to show the screen or what? It's got me confused and a little irritated now.

I appreciate your help by the way sir.

[erasmus]

Sounds like its the same problem - loose GPU
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... c&start=30

I tried this:

I just almost fixed my T40 with a loose GPU.

The trick is to get something stocked between the GPU and the keyboard. So when you tighten the keyboard screws under the trackpoint buttons it will make a firm pressure on the GPU.

I added a little aluminum cooling profile on the GPU - and fixed it with some cooling paste. On top of that I added enough post-it stickers to make the pressure on the GPU when then keyboard is back on.

So far it works.

Thanks to vlyne and rkawakami bringing up the loose GPU issue.

[thetrufh]

I had the same loose GPU problem. I tried using the postit notes and it did work for about a week but then the problem came back.

I narrowed down the actual problem to the wireless connection and when I disabled it the laptop worked fine with no freezes/crashes. However, I still had the blank screen when I restarted.

I completely removed the wireless card and the laptop is working beautifully. I just bought an external wireless card and so far...not a problem.