T43 doesn't boot from internal hard drive.

[tec]

It now happened two times that my 2668-74G did not power on. It did not make any sound or noise, the display and all lights stayed dark. After I dissassembled some parts (the keyboard and the touchpad), re-assembled them and kept on pressing the power button while inserting the battery, each time I managed to power it on again, although I do not yet understand what the problem was. It only seems to happen when the laptop has been transported while beeing switched off.

However, since the first time it happened, the laptop does not boot from the internal hard drive anymore. I removed the internal disk and put it into an external usb hard drive case. Now it boots again. The BIOS looks ok, but the system does not seem to find the internal drive.

The two problems seem to be related. Do you have an idea what the cause of the problem is? Which part needs to be replaced? Is it the system board?

I'll be happy to provide more information, if it helps.

Thanks a lot
tec

[SteveS]

It sounds like a serious system board problem – possibly in a power supply or blow fuses. Most of the peripheral connectors in the T4 series which provide power are fused – including the Ultrabay, HDD etc.

When it failed to boot from the internal HD, did you see a flashing cursor in the upper left hand corner? If so, the processor is powered and executing BIOS, but the drive is not found. If this is the case, suspect the connector for the HD. These are a “floating” connector which allow some movement needed to make up for mechanical tolerances and align the connector. But it is possible to flex the connector enough so the pins do not engage at all. If this happens, try removing the drive in its caddy and re-installing it. When you re-install it, lower the drive slowly into the slot. There should be slight resistance when the connectors begin to engage, with the drive is about 5mm (1/4 inch) from bottoming out. A genital push should be all that is needed to engage it, If it really hangs up, the pins on the drive are probably not aligned close enough to hit the tapered holes in the connector, causing it to align. Pressing hard on the drive at this point only flexes the connector, and the pins do not engage.

This will not be the problem if you have not recently removed the drive, and the machine did boot correctly before.

[NorrisCell]

A genital push should be all that is needed to engage it.

Genital push huh? That sounds like no fun at all