T30 Type 2366 no LCD display, no external display

[palazz]

Hi everyone, this is the last chance for a T30 in use by my eldest DAUGHTER (you can imagine what that means) !!!!!!! Thanks in advance for any help that you will give. I'm not an expert so please no suggestions which would require an electrical engineer knowledge .

The T30 Type 2366 running Ubuntu do not display anything neither on the LCD nor on an external monitor. Pushing the On button the T30 starts up, the fan starts, no evident flashing of the hard-disk LED, LCD screen remains black. Also an external monitor do no get any signal, even using Fn+F7 several times. No beeps at all during start-up procedure. Power On LED stays on and Battery status LED is green. No other LED working. ThinkLight on/off works. I tried the following up to now:

1) Taking out DIMMs. Yes it beeps three times or something taking away the rear DIMM. No beeps taking away the front DIMM. Seems to be correct reaction.
2) Checked the backup battery. Has the correct voltage. Seems ok.
3) Start-up without battery, only AC Adapter plugged in. As usual, no LCD, no external display.
4) Start-up without hard disk, the same.
5) Start-up with SystemRescueCD 0.3.7 (Linux). Seems to take the CD at the beginning but then nothing happens. I know that after a while it should start automatically and check disks etc.
6) After start-up I tried to blind input the hard-disk password which I know is the first that the T30 asked after pushing the On button. No reaction, no hard-disk LED flashing.
7) I have also a docking station. tried to use external monitor through the station. Same reaction as with external monitor directly plugged in, no signal whatsoever.
At the end I also tried to squeeze gently the ATI graphic chip on the system board while the computer was on. Nothing happens.

If I do not manage to repair I will have to throw the T30 away and buy a new notebook for the daughter. The family situation is quickly becoming unstable !!!!!!!!

[Harryc]

1) Taking out DIMMs. Yes it beeps three times or something taking away the rear DIMM. No beeps taking away the front DIMM. Seems to be correct reaction.

This does not sound right. If you take both DIMMs out of the machine you should get 3 beeps. If you replace either DIMM it should not beep. If it beeps 3 times when you take the rear DIMM out but leave in the front DIMM, then you have a RAM slot problem. The T30 is known to have this issue, and it calls for resoldering the slot to the systemboard.

[RealBlackStuff]

Correction: without any RAM the T30 should beep tones in this sequence:
1-3-3-1 (1 beep - pause - 3 beeps- pause - 3 beeps- pause - 1 beep)
If you don't hear that, something is seriously wrong with the motherboard.
If you do hear it like that: try and boot with only 1 RAM module. Try first one slot, then try the other. Then do the same with the other module.
Remove battery during these tests, and also remove the AC cable while you change RAM modules.
What's the result?

[palazz]

Hi Harryc and RealBlackStuff, I try to summarize the DIMM issue to see if its working or not:

1) No DIMMs at all: no display, beeps 1,3,3,1
2) No front DIMM (still rear DIMM): no display, no beeps
3) No rear DIMM (still front DIMM): no display, beeps 1,3,3,1
4) Front and rear DIMMs inserted but exchanged: no display, no beeps

Does this indicate any serious issue ?

I have also an additional information from the T30 "user". Before reaching the current status (no display, no external display) it happened several times that the T30 didn't start-up or it started normally and the screen became white after a while. At this point nothing worked anymore, the thinkpad was like frozen.

[Harryc]

3) No rear DIMM (still front DIMM): no display, beeps 1,3,3,1

Yes, you have a bad RAM slot. See this thread.
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=73443

[RealBlackStuff]

1) No DIMMs at all: no display, beeps 1,3,3,1
2) No front DIMM (still rear DIMM): no display, no beeps
3) No rear DIMM (still front DIMM): no display, beeps 1,3,3,1
4) Front and rear DIMMs inserted but exchanged: no display, no beeps

1) OK
2) would indicate bad RAM module inserted
3) OK, could indicate bad front slot
4) don't do this. You have either a bad RAM module, or a bad RAM slot, and you could even have both!

The usual RAM slot problem is the slot nearest the front of the laptop, you should be able to boot with just RAM in the rear, and nothing in the front. You need to try each module on its own in only the rear slot, and then try each in the front!
From your description, your problem is just the opposite, your rear slot seems not to work!

[palazz]

Txs for your patience.

I tried both RAM modules in the rear and in the front slot.

When the rear slot is filled with any RAM module: no display, no beeps
When the front slot is filled with any RAM module: no display and the 1,3,3,1 beeps.

Could this be the proof for a bad slot ?

A last question about this. Is there a primary RAM slot ? If yes, is that the rear one ? Is it possible to run the T30 with only the front slot filled from what you know ? Couldn't find out in any discussion threads.

[RealBlackStuff]

Like I said, normally the front slot goes bad, but it looks like your rear slot might have gone bad.
OR both RAM modules have gone bad. Was the machine "shorted" or has it suffered from lightning?
Look for someone with a working T30, T40, T41 or T42 and borrow RAM from them to try in yours.
Try your RAM in their machine first to see. If they do work in another machine, then you better start looking for another motherboard...
T20/21/22/23 or T43 and higher will NOT fit.

If only one slot (either one) is working, you can still run the T30 with a 1GB module without any problems.

[jronald]

I have at least one of each of ram slot issue
My sons has a bad rear slot
My wife's a bad front slot

I shipped 3 boards to Hammerhead hoping to get a couple of good ones back
The jury is still out though

Ron

[thinkpadinside]

You failed to mention the other possibilities:

Bad video card/motherboard: Happend to me with exact same symptoms, and both slots were good

Thats more likely the case, in which you will have to buy a new motherboard for the computer. Before you do that though, take a couple of post its and put them between the memory door and the ram slots, to increase pressure on the dimms to help make better contact on the poins on the motherboard. Good luck.