T30 powers up, but won't boot.

Message

Capwise01 · #1 Post by **Capwise01** » Tue Dec 11, 2007 7:52 pm

Hello everyone & thanks for having me on this board.

My problem is I have a T30 that powers on, but won't boot unless I keep turning it on & off for about 10 minutes. I turn it on then I take the AC adapter out to turn it off. I did a search & I am aware of the T30 having memory problems. I know my T30 has had that problem for awhile now & I'm also pretty confident that whatever is wrong has to do with the motherboard.

I would also like to add that once I have it on & I turn it off & back on right away it will boot. If I leave it off for a minute it then it won't boot.

There also aren't any beeps. It just powers on & sometimes I get the ghost light on the monitor, but after a few attempts of powering it on the ghost light doesn't come on unless I leave it alone for a few seconds.

My question is what is exactly wrong with it? Can I just replace one part or do I need a whole new motherboard?

I'm typing from the T30 as we speak. I have it powered on with the AC adapter & I haven't really used the battery since I got it. As long as I leave it on it doesn't have any problems, but I don't like to leave it on all the time. Can that cause a fire?

Thanks.

phool@round · #2 Post by **phool@round** » Tue Dec 11, 2007 11:45 pm

First things first, Welcome to "THE" Forum!!!!

Couple of quick things came to mind......

Do you hear the processor cooling fan come on at start up?

How about the Hard Drive, do you hear it spin up even on the false starts?

Capwise01 · #3 Post by **Capwise01** » Wed Dec 12, 2007 1:51 pm

No when it starts it just powers on. The indicators come on & the power on indicator stays on. All the other indicators turn off & the cooling fan doesn't come on nor the hard drive.

Only time everything turns on is when I finally get it to work.

I've had it sitting on my desk & I never really move it. I turned it off one night & the next morning it wouldn't turn on.

phool@round · #4 Post by **phool@round** » Wed Dec 12, 2007 8:20 pm

One or two memory modules?

Capwise01 · #5 Post by **Capwise01** » Wed Dec 12, 2007 9:27 pm

Two, but only one is being read. I should have a gig of RAM, but it only reads 512mb.

It's been like that for awhile now? Could that be what's causing my computer not to boot up right away?

phool@round · #6 Post by **phool@round** » Wed Dec 12, 2007 11:37 pm

It very well could be. Try booting with only one module installed, see what happens. Power off. Put module in other slot and boot, see what happens.

Whichever slot is bunged, try the folded business card trick, to put pressure on the disfunctional module/slot. Boot up and see what happens.

Do you have a copy of PC Doctor? Try this when you get it running again. Here is a link to the bootable CD for your T30; http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-56222

PC Doctor will more then likely ferret out anything obvious, run all the tests to be sure. I'm thinking you might have another issue but want to be sure of the PC Doctor results before suggesting what else I think.

uberT · #7 Post by **uberT** » Thu Dec 13, 2007 9:30 am

Capwise01 wrote: It's been like that for awhile now? Could that be what's causing my computer not to boot up right away?

Cap, I've had the same issue on my T30 due to faulty memory slots. If the machine won't boot at all, I open up the cover where they sticks sit and remove/re-insert them. That usually gets me up and running again on the 1st try...but not always.

I think you should eliminate this as a possibility before taking more serious measures.

good luck!

T30 powers up, but won't boot.

T30 powers up, but won't boot.

Who is online