T41 Won't Boot

[ecw]

Hi Guys,

Got a T41 that was previously working fine. Now it won't boot. I hit the power button, the lights flash. The Battery and Power light stay lit. No beeps and nothing on the screen. Not even the IBM logo, so no access to BIOS. The fan spins but I can't hear the HD spin. I tried switching the HD but that didn't work either. I took out one of the RAM and still the same. I plugged in an external monitor and still nothing. Is my T41 dead? TIA

[Volker]

Unless you forgot a zero you should be posting in the T4x forum.

Admin note: Thanks! Thread moved from T4x0/T5x0 forum.

[ecw]

Sorry about that.

[rkawakami]

Try removing everything that plugs into sockets (hard drive, MiniPCI card, PCMCIA card, USB, Ultrabay and both memory modules) and see if you get the "no/bad memory" beep code; 1-3-3-1. If no beeps occur, then you are probably looking at a dead motherboard. If you do get the 8 beeps, then plug in one memory module and try booting again. Continue to re-install one part at a time until either the system refuses to boot (last item installed is the problem) or if you get everything plugged back in and the T41 works normally, assume that you had an intermittent contact problem with something.

[ecw]

Try removing everything that plugs into sockets (hard drive, MiniPCI card, PCMCIA card, USB, Ultrabay and both memory modules) and see if you get the "no/bad memory" beep code; 1-3-3-1. If no beeps occur, then you are probably looking at a dead motherboard. If you do get the 8 beeps, then plug in one memory module and try booting again. Continue to re-install one part at a time until either the system refuses to boot (last item installed is the problem) or if you get everything plugged back in and the T41 works normally, assume that you had an intermittent contact problem with something.

I know it's been a while but I finally got a chance to do as you said. Still no beep codes. No video. The fan spins. Doesn't seem like the HD is spinning. Same as before. I also tried new memory and HD but no luck. Any more ideas? TIA

[rkawakami]

If removing both memory modules and powering up did not yield the 1-3-3-1 beep code, then there's something majorly wrong with the motherboard. Installing new memory without first verifying the "no memory" beep code is probably a waste of time (and money if you had to buy the modules). Assuming that you did get the beep code without any memory installed, then there's a few more things you can check.

You may have a bad (loose) video chip (aka, GPU) on the motherboard. With some memory installed, press the area on the keyboard bezel between the touchpad and the space bar while powering up. If you see video on the LCD, then you're looking at a loose GPU. You can also try connecting an external monitor to the VGA port and see if the system displays anything there. It's common with an loose video chip to be fine on the external port but not see a signal on the LCD. An easy fix could be the CPU; it's in a socket. Re-seat it: turn the locking screw in the CPU socket counterclockwise, apply slight downward pressure on the top of the CPU and then turn the screw clockwise to lock it in place. You could also try replacing it with a known good CPU but that carries some risk. Whatever problem may exist on the motherboard could also take out the "new" CPU. Otherwise you may be looking at a power supply controller chip gone bad, blown fuse(s), or other general failure(s) on the motherboard. If you don't already have a copy of the T4x Hardware Maintenance Manual, you can get a copy from here:

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... 46464.html

[Feebs]

I'm having the same issue however I replaced my CPU fan in my t41. Now it has a problem overheating to the extreme, it'll shut off, so I decided to get a new fan. I took it apart, made sure I didn't have static build up, and then I applied thermal paste on the CPU instead of the fan so I think I might have fried it cause I got a blue screen of death (something about a memory dump, a whole bunch of numbers and it wouldn't reset after that) and now it won't even go to the boot screen. I did try what someone else in this thread said about taking out the RAM and I got a beeping noise so I guess that could mean the motherboard is fine? Also the charging light comes on, and the battery light, but the processor light NEVER flickers which leads me to think that this could be the culprit. I can get a new processor Friday from my friend's old laptop and I was wondering what I did wrong. I had my fan replaced prior and I seen them apply the thermal paste to the CPU, not the fan and it worked fine so I'm trying to figure what to do, how much to apply, etc. Any help and affirmations would be greatly appreciated. Even though my laptop is old and refurbished, and acts like a piece of junk, I love that piece of junk. LOL!

[Feebs]

So I found the problem. I replaced this little battery in my computer and now it works just fine. The little lithium battery for back up memory I guess? Not sure exactly what it does, but it works fine now. Only thing that doesn't now is the trackpad, but hey. It works so I'm not going to complain about it. I'm getting a new computer at the end of the month to the beginning of next month so hopefully things go well.

[netzspannung]

Only thing that doesn't now is the trackpad, but hey. It works so I'm not going to complain about it. I'm getting a new computer at the end of the month to the beginning of next month so hopefully things go well.

Probably just the plug. Check if you forgot to plug the palmrest cable in the motherboard.

[Feebs]

It's completely in, even replaced it, so I think the connector to the motherboard is bad or something.The little eraser mouse in the center of the keyboard works though, so I'm not completely helpless.

[rkawakami]

Ah, double-check the BIOS settings and see if the touchpad has been disabled (Config, then Keyboard/Mouse menu). I do this on my T41 as I don't like using the touchpad. I suppose it's possible that when you replaced the backup battery the BIOS setting changed. To me it's always a good idea to force a re-load the default settings in BIOS if the backup battery is changed.

[Feebs]

Tried both. Still no avail. I really think it might be the motherboard cause both trackpads are new and were working before the Lithium battery went dead. It could be possible since the battery and it are close together that there could have been a short somewhere. But hopefully that's the only problem. I only have one USB port so I just use it for my webcam for making YT videos, but as long as it does that it's not too troublesome.