Thinkpad t42 Will Not Boot

[byepass]

I have a ThinkPad T42 that will not boot. When I press on the start bottom I can hear a clinking sound. I have installed a new battery but only get a solid amber light. I am also charging with a new ac adapter when did not resolve the problem. Does anyone have an idea where to go next. Everyonce in a while it does boot up but shuts off after the Windows XP starts up.

[Johan]

Welcome to the forum!

The clicking noise may indicate that you have a dying (or already dead!) harddrive - provided the "IBM" boot screen is shown before everything stops? Where does the noise sort of come from? On the other hand, it is a bit spooky that it will boot now and then... fortunately I am not very familiar with dying or dead HDD's, so let us hope that it is not your mainboard that is the cause. Is your T42 still covered by warranty?

In order to test whether the HDD is indeed malfunctioning, try if you can follow the three suggestions in the post of Mon Aug 25, 2008 10:20 pm in the thread T42p doesn't boot - no error message. Then, report back here.

Johan

[zdriver]

I think Johan is exactly right and it is the HD that is the problem.
See if the clicking noise is coming from the right palmrest area - where the IBM Thinkpad logo is.
If you can download and boot the pcdoctor diags cd, you can test the drive and the other hardware in the system.

[byepass]

I have a ThinkPad T42 that will not boot. When I press on the start bottom I can hear a clinking sound. I have installed a new battery but only get a solid amber light. I am also charging with a new ac adapter when did not resolve the problem. Does anyone have an idea where to go next. Everyonce in a while it does boot up but shuts off after the Windows XP starts up.

I pulled the harddrive out and was able to access it by attaching it to my desktop. The sound is coming from the rear left next to the fan assembly.

[byepass]

I have a ThinkPad T42 that will not boot. When I press on the start bottom I can hear a clinking sound. I have installed a new battery but only get a solid amber light. I am also charging with a new ac adapter when did not resolve the problem. Does anyone have an idea where to go next. Everyonce in a while it does boot up but shuts off after the Windows XP starts up.

I pulled the harddrive out and was able to access it by attaching it to my desktop. The sound is coming from the rear left next to the fan assembly.

I just pulled the RAM and replaced it with another stick - no change

[Johan]

I pulled the harddrive out and was able to access it by attaching it to my desktop. The sound is coming from the rear left next to the fan assembly.

In such case, you may have a dying fan... and in this relation, try see the threads T42 Fan Error ... What next? and Any way to fix the T42 fan myself? *PIC* and Regarding T42 Fan Removal and take off your keyboard so you can see if it is actually spinning or not? If not, or if it is rattling, then...

PS: Recently, some users have reported success with lubricating a noisy fan, but I don't believe this trick will wake a dead fan back alive again? Anyway, you may want to see the thread Total solution for absolutely ZERO noise in t4x .

Johan

[byepass]

I pulled the harddrive out and was able to access it by attaching it to my desktop. The sound is coming from the rear left next to the fan assembly.

In such case, you may have a dying fan... and in this relation, try see the threads T42 Fan Error ... What next? and Any way to fix the T42 fan myself? *PIC* and Regarding T42 Fan Removal and take off your keyboard so you can see if it is actually spinning or not? If not, or if it is rattling, then...

Johan

When it does boot up the fan is spinning. However after a moment the fan stops but the boot continues. Perhaps there is a fan problem and the CPU overheated.

[byepass]

In such case, you may have a dying fan... and in this relation, try see the threads T42 Fan Error ... What next? and Any way to fix the T42 fan myself? *PIC* and Regarding T42 Fan Removal and take off your keyboard so you can see if it is actually spinning or not? If not, or if it is rattling, then...

Johan

When it does boot up the fan is spinning. However after a moment the fan stops but the boot continues. Perhaps there is a fan problem and the CPU overheated.

When the fan does start it is a bit noicy but then quiets down and then stops. I will try to get another fan. Does anyone know the voltage coming into the fan. I will try to measure it and see if there is any current when I press the start button.

Thanks to all

[richk]

When you try to start, do you see the IBM logo?

[byepass]

When you try to start, do you see the IBM logo?

Most of the time it does not boot. When it does boot I can see the IBM logo.

[Tantalus]

Looks like your machine is going POST. But since it does get to the IBM logo its not the motherboard. It has to either be the Fan or the CPU. the CPU is capable of making the clicking noise as well as the fan. Most likely its your fan, you should spray with a can of air and see what happens, if nothing changes then the fan could be bad. If it is the cpu then it is probably overheating, as to why it only boots sometime.

[visionviper]

Try disconnecting you fan t see if that changes anything. If its the fan I would expect it to post and then show the fan error screen, but it would post every time.

Hopefully that's the problem - because if the fan isn't the problem I think you are suffering from a GPU problem. My T40 showed some of the same signs as yours (not always posting) and it turned out being the GPU.

[Tantalus]

would suck if it was the gpu, would need to get a whole new system board