T22 symptoms

[broket22]

Hello. I have a T22 that has been intermittently freezing or just winking off for the last six months. I ran all the PC-Doctor tests and each time they came back no problem found. I tried running Memtest 386 for many cycles, the RAM was fine. Diskcheck would catch an occasional bad cluster and repair it, more often than not no problems were found.

Yesterday the screen snapped and winked off black, the hard drive would spin for a few seconds then quit - this went on for a few minutes, I powered down and waited 30 seconds, then got a long beep then a pause, and two more short beeps. The screen gave a message "Error 0175: bad crc1 stop post check".

I checked the error message in the community archives, it appears to be a motherboard (systemboard) error. I did see a mention of flashing an eeprom to get the bios updated, this appears to be a no-no here, so I won't pursue this further.

I need to know if I purchase a new motherboard and install it won't the Operating System (Win XP SP2) reject it due to the hive not recognizing the new systemboard? Will I have to format the hard disk and due a full reinstall? Does the Lenovo website have some type of downloadable executable for this situation?

Since this will be my first attempt at repairing a laptop (worked on many a desktop hardware and software, no bios experience) any further help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks for the Thinkpads Support Community bbs!

[RealBlackStuff]

Welcome to our Forum.
If you change the motherboard, you don't need to do anything with your Windows installation.

Download the Hardware Maintenance Manual to see how to take your laptop apart.
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... IGR-4UYM3F

On page 150 you'll find the exact part number for the motherboard you need.

[nikki605]

When I replaced the system board in my T21 a couple years ago, the only thing I had to do (after setting the date/time and a few other perameters in the system BIOS) was to re-register my copy of WinXP online with Microsoft.

WinXP apparently recognized the new system board as different and just went through the re-registration with the MS website. But, it was no big deal, a few minutes and it completed OK.

Just make sure you get a system board with no supervisor password set and you should be alright. I did not have to reformat my HDD or reinstall WinXP. Aside from the BIOS settings and re-registering my copy of WinXP with MS, I didn't have to do anything else to get back up and running.

[broket22]

Thanks for your replys, it's good to know a format/reinstall won't be necessary, just a reregistration with Microsoft. I had all the HMM material and part numbers on the hard drive of the dead laptop, I'll just redownload from the link you gave or dig out my portable 2.5" hard drive enclosure and pull it off. Can anyone recommend a source for an economical reliable supplier of motherboards for a T22?
Thanks again

[nikki605]

I've bought some things from ACS, but they are pricey.

http://www.acsfactoryoutlet.com/

I got lucky when I needed a motherboard. I bought mine on eBay from a well respected seller - lady_fixalot. Several other members here have used her. Great feedback rating - over 6800 sales and a feedback rating of 99.9%. If you have an eBay account, check out her listings (I don't see a T22 MB right now, but she may have something in her eBay Store).

http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZlady_fixalot

I'm sure some of the others on the forum will have suggestions as well. Have you looked in the marketplace forum here? You can always post the part you are looking for - WTB.

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewforum.php?f=11

[broket22]

Thaniks for the tip, I'm always wary about buying something sight unseen, (I have bought items on ebay and been pleaantly suprised so far) since you and others have had good experiences with this ebay vendor and the feedback rating is very good I will definitely check there.