T40 Laptop Won't Boot- No Power at ALL

[Guitarrassdeamor]

Hello Thinkpads forumers,

I recently received a laptop from my father. It is a T40, upgraded as far as it can go (I believe). 1.5ghz Pentium M, 14" screen, etc. Well, when I go to turn it on and boot it up, nothing happens. No power after any amount of time, no LEDs, nothing.

What could be the problem? I really wanted to get it working, and saw a motherboard on eBay last night that I made an offer of $50 for with a counteroffer of $65, and I almost took if, but somebody else did this morning. I realize now I should have taken it, but that's that I suppose. I can't afford much more than that.

I checked the AC port, thought it could be that, but that looks to be fine, so I pointed towards the motherboard. Is there anything else it may be?

[RealBlackStuff]

Welcome to the Forum.
Take out the battery, hard drive, CD drive, RAM from the bottom.
You need to remove the keyboard and the palmrest as well.
Then remove the other RAM (if there) and the wifi card.
Now put the AC adapter back in, if the motherboard is still alive, it should beep 1-3-3-1.
If not, you need a new motherboard.

BTW, tell us the 7-character type that's printed on the bottom of the T40.
Looks like: TYPE 2373-44U S/N 99-12345
We want the red numbers.

[Guitarrassdeamor]

Alright, I'll do that now.

TYPE: 2373-94U

[RealBlackStuff]

Product: ThinkPad T40 2373-94U [change]
Operating system: All [change]

Original description: P M 1.6GHz, 512MB RAM, 80GB 4200rpm HDD, 14.1 SXGA+(1400x1050) TFT LCD, 32MB ATI Radeon 9000, 16x10x24x/8x CD-RW/DVD(slim), Bluetooth/Modem(CDC), 1Gb Ethernet(LOM), Intel 802.11b Wireless(MPCI), Secure Chip(TCPA), UltraNav, 9 cell battery, WinXP Pro

[Guitarrassdeamor]

Well, I just took everything out (besides bluetooth) and plugged the adapter in- nothing (assuming I don't have to press a button somewhere). I never checked the fuse though, as I can't see where it is.

[RealBlackStuff]

You need to also reconnect the keyboard (hold it in your hand), then hit the power button.
Also see if your CPU fan spins when you hit the power button.

[Guitarrassdeamor]

Did that after my post, then just tried again.

Nothing.

[RealBlackStuff]

Looks bad...
For fuse locations, see this

[Guitarrassdeamor]

Well, I don't see a problem with the fuses I don't think, then again I'm used to different ones.

[Guitarrassdeamor]

Would a TYPE: 2373-82U motherboard work or does it have to be the same?

Also found one (same as mine I think) for $80...

[RealBlackStuff]

Any type T40/T41/T42/R50/R51 mobo will do.
Your best bet: R51 mobo with integrated Intel graphics.

[Guitarrassdeamor]

Any type T40/T41/T42/R50/R51 mobo will do.
Your best bet: R51 mobo with integrated Intel graphics.

http://cgi.ebay.com/IBM-THINKPAD-R51-R5 ... 335a928a88

Would that work?
What is the difference between my board and that one? Will all my parts be compatible?

[RealBlackStuff]

You'd need to take the mobo out and transplant it. Everything else will work.
But first ask seller for the 7-character code (as above) to find out if that is Intel or ATI graphics.

[Guitarrassdeamor]

I did. However, is this a downgrade from what I have now?

[ajkula66]

What you have now is a dead T40. There's no downgrading from a dead machine, even if it's a dead ThinkPad.

R51 mobo with Intel graphics will work as well as the original one, and even better in certain respects...

[Guitarrassdeamor]

But that isn't an answer to my question..I want to know is the CPU slower? It's just knowledge I want to have.

[ajkula66]

Even if the CPU were slower, you could install your old one, that's the very least of problems.

[poshgeordie]

AjKula66 is right in what he says.

Read this link for more info: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=65505

[FTC]

Hi, just one thing. Make sure your AC power adapter is not dead... if it is, and the battery is depleted you'd get also no beeps/nothing when trying to power up... Your problem could be also a broken power connector... a good way to test that is by using a known charged battery from a friend..

[Guitarrassdeamor]

I tried testing the AC adapter (and laptop) with a Professional Analog Multimeter that I have, and it didn't work on either. I also tested a regular battery with a good charge, and it wouldn't read, so I think the meter itself is screwed up. Just my luck...

I haven't got answers from the eBay parties yet, so I think I'm going to go ahead and jump on this, as it looks exactly the same as mine now:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... K:MEWAX:IT

[Guitarrassdeamor]

The board I posted above is a ThinkPad T40 2373-72U.

What is the difference between the two? I saw one specs page for the above, and it said it had a 1.5 processor, whilst the auction says 1.6.

[ajkula66]

That's a standard T40 board with Radeon 7500.

Not the choice I'd make for reviving a T40, but it's your $$$

That board is as likely to fail as the original one.

Get one with Intel graphics and sleep soundly after that. You need a planar from a R51, model numbers starting with 288x.

[Guitarrassdeamor]

Nobody who I've messaged from the R5- boards has messaged me back, and I want to get this done as soon as possible. If you can find me a board on eBay for that same price ($80 or less), I'll take it. I also don't know if this is an graphics issue considering the whole board is dead (I baked it last night as well), so that doesn't matter to me.

[ajkula66]

My advice still stands.

R51 board (Intel graphics only) is the safest way to go.

Good luck.

[Guitarrassdeamor]

So you mean this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/93P4204-IBM-ThinkPa ... 4a9eaa10df

?

http://cgi.ebay.com/IBM-ThinkPad-R51-15 ... 35a76312e2

?

And what is the difference? You're kind of dodging my questions...I just want to know why I should get this instead of this and etc instead of just being told. You don't have to explain it in your own words, but at least point me to links about this stuff specifically. Also if there is a list of what the versions of T40s and R51s are, I'd like it.

Screw it too, I'm waiting. If I have to do all the research by myself I'll do that too..I don't need it now so no sense in rushing.

[RealBlackStuff]

This is what an R51/Intel GPU mobo looks like:
http://cgi.ebay.com/IBM-THINKPAD-R51-MO ... 0490650261
Not a bad price either.

Most ATI GPUs (and recently also the Southbridge) on T40/T41/T42/R50/R51 boards run the risk of becoming unsoldered, due to poor soldering at manufacturing time. If the laptop is handled wrongly (e.g. carry it -open- by one corner) the problem may crop up sooner.
These problems however can be solved by professionally reflowing or reballing the GPU.
See e.g. http://www.reflowrepairs.co.uk

Later manufactured T42 boards were improved. T43 and R52 mobos have sometimes a Southbridge coming loose (but don't fit in the other T4x/R5x models).
The Intel integrated graphics don't have that problem

[Guitarrassdeamor]

So, that motherboard will work with all my parts? How much is the GPU downgraded from the ATI (if any)? So, the soldering problem is the main thing? Understandable.

[RealBlackStuff]

Yes, that mobo will completely work.
Your T40 had 32MB dedicated graphics memory.
This R51 board with Intel GPU can use up to 128MB shared RAM.
You will hardly notice any difference, on the contrary, you may find it smoother than before!
It would be advisable to upgrade this type of board to 2x 1GB = 2GB RAM.
Get it while the going is good!
The company is reliable, I buy from them regularly, even though I have to pay PA state tax.

[Guitarrassdeamor]

Well I have 2gb of RAM for the T40, wireless card, bluetooth, and etc. So just to confirm, all that will work? The BIOS battery too, or do I need a new one? Thanks for the information. The 128 shared sounds good though. I'm not using it for gaming (well, much besides AoE probably), but I just wanted to know.

I still really wish I could get that voltage meter to work though, because if it happened to be my charger/battery I'd be annoyed.

[RealBlackStuff]

Yes, the whole lot will work.
You could maybe try a small 12V bulb from a car. The adapter voltage is 16V, the battery ~11V.