fan error problem

[l2karl]

Just got a refurb T40 from Leveno. Today it gave me "fan error" and will not boot up. An IBM precautionary routine .

According to Atlanta Thinkpad support, I have to wait until Monday for DHL to pick it up and get it repaired and returned to me by Thursday.

But I need access to that hard drive now. Anybody know of a caddy or some such that I can use to pull the hard drive and copy the info off of it unto a backup hard drive (I have a firewire and/or USB hard drive that I could use if there were a way to access this hard drive.

Any help much appreciated.

Karl

[richk]

There are lots of chouces. I keep a USB to IDE/SATA adapter around that will plug into a USB port and connect to any sort of HDD, but they are probably hard to find at a computer store. I bought online. Here is an example:
http://cgi.ebay.com/USB-2-0-to-SATA-IDE ... dZViewItem

You might also be able to find a 3 1/2" to 3 1/2 adapter and plug the drive into an IDE cable in a desktop. Here is one of those:
http://cgi.ebay.com/2-5-IDE-To-3-5-IDE- ... dZViewItem

Also you might find a USB housing the will hold a 2 1/2"drive.

[PanEuropean]

Karl:

There is an easy fix, it is what I have been doing for the past three weeks (!) while I have waited for IBM to ship me a replacement fan for my T42p. I have exactly the same problem you do.

Here's the fix (don't laugh, I am serious): You grab your household vacuum cleaner, or if you are on the road, you call housekeeping and ask them to bring you a vacuum cleaner. Turn the vacuum cleaner on, then hold the end of the hose about 1/4 of an inch away from the fan outlet on the left side of the computer. The suction from the vacuum cleaner will spin up the fan, so when the laptop does the POST (Power-On Self Test), it will not detect any excessive current draw from the fan, because the fan will be spinning. As soon as you see that the computer has started to boot normally, you can turn off the vacuum cleaner.

This little trick has been saving my [censored] for the last 3 weeks. You don't have to worry about the computer getting too hot with the defective fan. In fact, there is a good chance that after you spin the computer fan up with the vacuum cleaner, you will suck all the crap out of the fan (dust, etc.) that is causing the problem, and the fan will come back to life for a little while.

Be aware that if you put the vacuum cleaner hose too close to the fan outlet - for example, right up against it - you will spin the fan too fast, and it won't pass the POST. My experience is that about a 1/4 to 1/8 inch gap between the end of the vacuum cleaner hose and the side of the laptop gives the desired fan RPM.

If you don't have a vacuum cleaner available, you can flip the laptop over, remove the small screws that are marked with a '3' on them (keyboard removal screws), then push the keyboard horizontally back toward the screen about 1/16 of an inch, then lift it up at the front. This will allow you physical access to the fan. You then spin it around really quickly by kind of whipping it with your fingertip right after you press the power-on button, and this will also fool the computer into thinking it is turning fast enough. Usually it takes 2 or 3 attempts before you get this technique perfected. You don't have to put the screws back into the keyboard - just don't lose them.

Michael

[PanEuropean]

PS: If you are spinning up the fan with your fingertip during the POST, be aware that it turns counter-clockwise.

Whatever you do, don't apply the vacumn cleaner to the fan from the inside (when you have the keyboard removed). This will spin it up in the wrong direction, and that is the kiss of death for the fan. Ask me how I know this.

Michael

[l2karl]

[quote="richk"]There are lots of chouces. I keep a USB to IDE/SATA adapter around that will plug into a USB port and connect to any sort of HDD, but they are probably hard to find at a computer store. I bought online.

Thanks for the info. I was lucky in that Atlanta returned my refurb T40 almost overnight. Didn't have time to buy equipment to do a backup myself and they didn't destroy any data, so I got off easy.

All is working well now, but I kind of resent the big brother attitude of "we'll shut you down completely when your fan dies". Anyhow all's well that ends...

Much thanks.

Karl

[Brad]

If you have anything you don't care to lose most don't include the hard drive when their ThinkPad goes for repair.

It is simple to remove. I have seem some get lost in the mail and otherwise.

Brad