Questions about resurrecting a T43p 2668 G2G

[Tim82]

A couple weeks ago my beloved and faithful companion (T41p 2373-221) died. She froze randomly and suddenly didn't want to boot, or do anything else when I pressed the power button.

After a little brainstorming I decided not to repair the T41p (R.I.P.), which decision would be too expensive for my recent budget, instead I had an opportunity to buy a cheap T43p 2668-G2G. So I can use the Dock II, the brand new 9 cell battery etc. and sell the parts of the T41p for good.

It would be fine, if the previous owner of the T43p hadn't broke accidentally the notebook, just three days before the deal planned. Okay, maybe I can solve this.

I have two major problems. The first problem is the screen - the backlight is gone. If I have the courage and tranquillity to take a deep breath and follow strictly the instructions of the Hardware Maintenance Manual, I can replace the screen with the dead T41p's TFT, because as far I know, they are compatible.

The other problem is there is some part missing from the lower case, under the left hinge. There are two pictures: http://img202.imageshack.us/img202/2223/p5140213.jpg - http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/2586/p5140214.jpg. Is the lower case of the T41p compatible with the lower case of the T43p? Can I use the first to replace the second? If not, I see compatible lower cases on Ebay, but with shipping to my country they are not that cheap.

Okay, there are no rational cause to jump in buying some wreck-type notebook, but I like Thinkpads in general, I would like to fix this fine T43p and restore to her former glory - and I have time to decide if I can fix this notebook, before I'll pay, and I haven't found other issues than this two, the T43p survived the accident pretty well, all other things & functions work, maybe the fan operates louder than I expected.

Edit: some corrections, sorry, I don't speak (and write) English very well.

[Harryc]

You will have to change the PCMCIA cage for the T43 board to fit in. You may also have to change the HD cage depending on whether that T43 board supports a Fingerprint reader. Otherwise the base swap will work.

[ajkula66]

To confirm what Harry said, you will have to change the HD cage.

[Tim82]

Thank you for the replies.

The T43p has a fingerprint reader. So to say, I can only use the T41p's lower case on the T43p only with modifications.

I've contacted yesterday with notebook-parts merchants, maybe I can find a lower case of a T43(p). From Ebay the cost of the shipping and the deal is total ~40 $. ( http://cgi.ebay.ph/14-1-Base-Cover-IBM- ... 53e145ef77 )

Otherwise I think, this is a fine machine, maybe slightly better than the successor modells (T60, T61) in build quality, and that's the important thing for me. This setup (Pentium M 770, 1 GB RAM - I'll add another 1G stick of RAM, Dock II and WD3200BEVE - I'm aware of the non-Thinkpad-HDD-error message problem) should be sufficient for daily usage for me.

[Tim82]

I've found now another issue. The sound device seems to not working, neither with speakers, nor with headphone. Windows XP says the Soundmax device is fine, must be working properly, with the correct driver already installed. I reinstalled the driver, but nothing changed. If this is a damage of the soundcard chip on the motherboard, it's beyond my abilities to repair this and I must say "sorry, this ain't worth it".

[richk]

Is it possible you pushed the mute button above the keyboard or lowered the volume the same way?

[Tim82]

Is it possible you pushed the mute button above the keyboard or lowered the volume the same way?

I checked it, because that was my first thought too. But the hotkey driver isn't installed, so I don't think so. The little speaker icon on the system tray seems like "sound on" and I turned the volume to max, without any result.

Tomorrow I'll reinstall the OS and the drivers and try again.

[rkawakami]

You might have a problem with Windows' volume control panel. Double-click the speaker icon in the Windows system tray to bring up the Master Volume panel. Click Options / Properties and make sure that the Master Volume, Wave, SW Synth, Video, and CD Audio boxes are checked. Click the OK button. Then check the volume sliders and mute boxes and see if they are too low or enabled. If that's not the problem, then....

....you may want to try the PC Doctor for DOS diagnostic program. There is a test in that program which sends different tones to the internal speakers. Since Windows and any associated drivers are not used, you will be able to see if you have a hardware problem. The program can be downloaded for free from here:

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-56222

It does require that you have a way to burn an .ISO file onto a CD. There are various programs that can do that: CDBurnerXP, ImgBurn, etc. Once you have burned the CD, use it to boot your system, follow the prompt (press the Enter key to select the only system option available) and choose the Interactive Tests menu, then the Internal Speaker test (using the arrow keys or the Trackpoint). This will bring up a small window in the center of the screen which has the frequency of the sound that should be coming out of the speakers. If the speakers have been muted or turned down, press the volume up button a couple of times. The frequency of the tone can be controlled by the arrow up and arrow down keys.

[ajkula66]

Another thing you can try...

Download and burn a "live" Linux CD, and boot from it. Mint works out of the box on any T43/p.

www.linuxmint.com

If there's no sound in Mint, your audio chip is dead. If there is, you have a driver issue somewhere in Windows.

Good luck.

[Tim82]

Thank you for the replies.

I'll try first PC Doctor, because I tried the Windows sound settings, as rkawakami said.

I have some Linux LiveCD-s (Ubuntu, OpenSuSE), so one of them would be the next step.

And I received good news: I can get a base cover of a 2668-G4G model.

I'll post the results.

[rkawakami]

Another issue could be that the headphone jack is broken. There basically is a switch inside that jack which disconnects the speakers when you plug in a headset. I'm not sure, but if you have a docking station or port replicator, try mounting the system to it and see if the headphone and/or line out jack works there.

[Tim82]

Another issue could be that the headphone jack is broken. There basically is a switch inside that jack which disconnects the speakers when you plug in a headset. I'm not sure, but if you have a docking station or port replicator, try mounting the system to it and see if the headphone and/or line out jack works there.

rkawakami: You may be right. Thank you for the wise advice!

All PC Doctor tests passed, but there wasn't any sound. I tried with Ubuntu Live CD, but without any results too. I docked the T43p to my Dock II and via the dock's audio jack I can hear the Windows boot signal.

I already contacted with a guy, who specialized in Thinkpad repairing, he is the one, who said he found for me a T43p base cover. Maybe he could do something with the supposedly broken jack.

Maybe there is some kind of light at the end of this tunnel.

[Tim82]

Today I'll bring the T43p to the repair guy. If the cost of the repairing would be too high (> ~ 80$), I'll give it back to the owner, and he'll use it as a desktop computer. Wish me luck.

[Tim82]

Today I'll bring the T43p to the repair guy. If the cost of the repairing would be too high (> ~ 80$), I'll give it back to the owner, and he'll use it as a desktop computer. Wish me luck.

It seems the repair's cost will be reasonable, but the repair guy said he don't know if he can fix the sound problem. All other issues can be solved for sure.

[Tim82]

Nearly all of the issues have been solved.

The screen from my donor T41p works fine. The problems with the sound was caused by some internal pollution, after some cleaning it works properly. The base cover was replaced.

What remained is the question of the fan. It operates loud and it seems to nearly unattacheable from the GPU because of the thermal compound. Somebody knows a safe way to remove the fan without hurting the GPU and the motherboard? Thank you in advance.

Edit: Oh, and another note: I've replaced the original 1G Hynix DDR2-533 RAM with a pair of Samsung-made 1G DDR2-667 RAM sticks. They went in dual-channel fine, and if I want to upgrade to the T60/R60/X60 models in the future, they'll prove as good there. I'll get soon another 1G DDR2-533 RAM stick, it will be Samsung-made too.

I'll replace the 60G 7200rpm HDD to my WD3200BEVE. I'm aware of I cannot solve the infamous non-IBM-compatible-HDD error message, but I can live with it. If this setup proves to be reliable, I'll consider a larger SSD, preferably with at least 64G capacity, and the WD3200BEVE shall be the backup drive in my Dock II.

I plan to use Win 7 Ultimate 32bit OEM as OS in the T43p, maybe with dual-boot setup with a Linux distribution (Ubuntu 10.04 LTS, OpenSuSE and Linux Mint in mind).

And when I stayed long in this forum, seeking and browsing threads with similar problems & solutions, I can't help but feel the desire to get another Thinkpad, maybe an X32, because of the compatibility with the Dock II and the 2.5" PATA HD-s makes this model a great candidate for me.

[Tasurinchi]

Good job getting that T43p working! They are really fine machines...

I plan to use Win 7 Ultimate 32bit OEM as OS in the T43p, maybe with dual-boot setup with a Linux distribution (Ubuntu 10.04 LTS, OpenSuSE and Linux Mint in mind).

I've tried both in my T43p (see sig below) and both work great!

Did not tried Linux Mint yet, but Ubuntu Lucid boots in around 37 seconds using a "kind of old" 80GB stock drive.

I can't help but feel the desire to get another Thinkpad, maybe an X32

Feel the same! I would also like to have an X32, mainly because I miss my ex X31 I gave to a friend of mine, and also because it's an exotic model. Unfortunately they are pricey too...

Cheers

[Tim82]

Good job getting that T43p working! They are really fine machines...

Thank you! But I think, the compliment is really not meant for me, the honest and expert repair guy did the rest of the job.

But one issue remains and my question too:

How can I remove the fan without damaging the GPU/motherboard? The problem is, the thermal compound seems to be a little melted on the GPU. May I use knife? Is there any other **safer** method to do this?

[Tasurinchi]

How can I remove the fan without damaging the GPU/motherboard? The problem is, the thermal compound seems to be a little melted on the GPU. May I use knife? Is there any other **safer** method to do this?

I think these threads may help:

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... remove+fan
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... remove+fan

Good luck with the replacement!

Cheers

[Tim82]

Tasurinchi: thank you for your helpful comment, these threads are interesting.

It'll take a while, before I can do this, because I need to buy a new Long M24 fan. I saw a few on Ebay, when I receive one, I'll do the operation.

The current fan seems to cool the notebook's innards properly, but in its noisy and whirring way, which can be very unnerving on the long run. Everest Ultimate Edition states that the CPU, GPU and the mobo stays between 39-45 Celsius.

[Tasurinchi]

I would also recommend you to use the search function to see more discussions about short/long fans, which thermal paste to use and so on, I remember having read many of those threads and they are full of useful information and tips! I've just included the first two that were familiar for me.

Cheers! (and take your time to do the change properly...)

[Tim82]

I would also recommend you to use the search function to see more discussions about short/long fans...

Thank you, I used to use the search function, but now I sought only for the FRU of the long fan. My bad, I know...

As a long-time reader of this forum, I remember that the best thermal paste advised by the members is the Arctic Silver. Right now I have some good quality Thermaltake paste in my computer-toolkit, I think that'll be sufficient too.

[RealBlackStuff]

Here's another option.
I have a 15" R52 with ATI X300, that had the "Fan Error" (fan P/N 26R8198).
Not having a replacement fan for it, I used the 'short' CPU fan from an R51 (P/N 13R2810), and combined that with the separate aluminum heatsink from an ATI 9000 GPU (P/N 13R2849).
This was getting a bit too warm for my liking (using only my fingers for temp-measuring), so I replaced it with the separate copper heatsink from an ATI FireGL GPU (P/N 13R2647).
So far I'm happy with the result.
When I find the time, I'll install some software to get 'real' temperatures.

[Tim82]

RealBlackStuff: Thank you, I eagerly await for the results, this may help some other folks who have similar problems.

But for me it is not a real option, because for any modification I need to detach the fan. So the complete replacement could be the best.

[Tim82]

Hello there!

Using dental floss, I was able to separate the heatsink without doing any damage to the GPU.

I have a replacement heatsink & fan from Ebay, but it seems to be an aftermarket product. My T43p refuse to boot within this heatsink, saying "fan error". So I placed the old fan back, and boot goes without problem, but the noise is still too much for my ear.

Oh, and I had an opportunity to buy a Pentium M 780 CPU to the T43p.