T40 will not Power Off

[jharbinjr]

I see a lot of people with issues with a T40 that will not power on...

I have a strange issue in the opposite direction...

My T40 will power on with the power button and everything runs great, but the power button will not shutdown the laptop. I can hold it in as long as I want to and it will not forcibly or gracefully shutdown. I know the button is working or it would not turn the machine on when I press it.

If I issue a shutdown and power off command in either Windows or Linux, the system powers off, but other than pulling the battery, that is the only way to shut down the laptop.

I have upgraded to the last BIOS that was available from IBM/Lenovo with nothing being fixed.

Please help! Thanks.

[Harryc]

There is a 'power switch mode' setting in BIOS under the config/power options. Is it set to 'on/off' ?

[jharbinjr]

Yep. I've tried it both on On/Off and Standby.

[Harryc]

What are you using for Power Management? Most power managers have a setting to assign different functions to the power button, one of them being to turn the laptop off.

[jharbinjr]

If I power the laptop on and go into the BIOS setup screen... I can't power the laptop off even at this point. This is before an OS even takes over power management. I just find it strange that the power button works to power it on but will not power it off... is there a different trace or path or something that the power off command from this button takes that could be damaged?

(I've been using a couple flavors of Linux and Windows XP Professional with no luck... if I issue a shutdown from within the OS it shuts down, just can't use to power button to shutdown.)

[Harryc]

What happens if you remove the battery and just use the AC adapter?

[jharbinjr]

Sorry for not responding quicker... the board doesn't seem to be notifying me when I get a reply even though I have that option checked...


Same behavior with or without the battery... I have to either shutdown via an OS shutdown command or I have to pull the battery or AC plug to shut it down forcibly...

[Mike Blake]

If I issue a shutdown and power off command in either Windows or Linux,
the system powers off, but other than pulling the battery, that is the only
way to shut down the laptop.

That's an interesting observation: software can shut it down but not hardware.
Let me ponder that and look some stuff up.

[Mike Blake]

OK, I found a few things out on the web that may or may not help...

"If certain keys are stuck in the down position on the keyboard..."

An easy thing to check, and I can see it would not keep the power button from working when it's off; but I would expect a keyboard error when booting.

Another symptom another user had was that it only happened when the laptop had been on a long time and possibly heat-related. With your system having been off for a while, does your problem occur if you use the button to power up, then almost immediately try to use it to power it off?

Yet another found useful errors in Event Viewer from when he tried the button.

If you boot in Safe Mode, does the button work?

Wish I could be of more help...

[rkawakami]

If I power the laptop on and go into the BIOS setup screen... I can't power the laptop off even at this point.

With that description, I'd have to think that there's something wrong with the power control system on the motherboard. Won't matter what OS is on the disk, if he's in Safe Mode or what version of Power Manager is being used. If he can't shut the system down from within the BIOS menu, then there's a hardware issue.

Unfortunately, my best suggestion at the moment would be to mount the system on a port replicator or dock and see what the power button on that piece of equipment does. If that power button works normally, then I'd suspect the keyboard, the keyboard interface (i.e., the ribbon cable and connector on the motherboard), or the motherboard itself.

[jharbinjr]

That's what I've been leaning towards... just kinda strange that the button works enough to power on the system, just can't power it off... I'll look for a port replicator that I can try out... if that's the issue I'll look for a replacement power button assembly.

I was hoping there was something I was just blindly overlooking.

[SMA]

Perhaps there is something you have been overlooking, but do not expect too much. I am only guessing here.

Do you have the latest Embedded Controller (EC) version installed ?
If not, then you may want to try that. You can get it from IBM/Lenovo.

[DanijelM]

On non ibm laptops - I would bet on north bridge problem (I have same problem on Aspire 7720G - intel 965PM problem) - on T40 I am not sure, but it is a hardware problem