T30 network problem

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Russ67 · #1 Post by **Russ67** » Fri Oct 02, 2009 4:13 pm

Hello Everyone, this is my first post to this board, I hope you can help me out. I have a T30 2366-FBU. It's been a great machine and never gave a hint of trouble. I recently bought myself a T60 and am preparing to give my T30 to my granddaughter. It has stopped connecting to my wired (cat5) home network and it says that the network cable is unplugged when I click on the network icon. It has built in wireless and that works fine. I ran PC Doc diagnostics and it says that the adapter is working but the link test failed. I'm an ex-IBM CE so don't mind going into it, but I'm looking for some info before doing that. The parts catalog shows a small board that connects between the system board and the RJ45 connector on the rear of the T30. I'm thinking (hopeing) that this small board is the problem and just wondering if anyone has had this same problem and can verify what I'm thinking. I believe the actual adapter is on the system board and I'd much rather swap the small board than the system board. I don't think there is any driver that would cause this failure but if anyone knows differently please let me know. Replacing a driver would be better than replacing hardware.
Hope someone can shed some light on this..
Thanks in advance for any help you can offer.
Russs Ashley

ajkula66 · #2 Post by **ajkula66** » Fri Oct 02, 2009 5:00 pm

Welcome to the forum!

I'd start with uninstalling the LAN driver and then re-installing it...or booting from a "live" Linux CD (with the LAN cable plugged in) and checking whether the network is present there, basically trying to distinguish between hardware and software issues.

If it turns out that the LAN port is dead, you can always obtain a PCMCIA card for under $10, which would be my preferred choice, instead of even opening up the machine. YMMV.

Good luck and keep us posted.

#3 Post by **RealBlackStuff** » Fri Oct 02, 2009 6:29 pm

Just in case, the T30 LAN card sits under the lid (near the rear of the T30) on the bottom, same one where the wifi card is.
It's the smaller card of the two. Cheap and easy to replace.

SMA · #4 Post by **SMA** » Fri Oct 02, 2009 6:41 pm

I'd start with checking the lan cable and the router.
Try plugging that same cable into the T60 and see if the cable is 'alive'. That is, if the T60 is getting a wired cable connection from there.

Russ67 · #5 Post by **Russ67** » Sat Oct 03, 2009 8:47 am

Thanks for your replies. I'm glad that I found this forum as I've found that forums dedicated to a certain topic or product are usually the best source of help and information.
I have tried it on different hub ports and different cables with the same result. I have also tried my T60 on the same cable as the T30 and it connects fine. The old IBM CE in me is making me think it's a hardware problem but I'll try booting the Linux cd and hope it tells me otherwise. I'll post the resuts.

#6 Post by **RealBlackStuff** » Sat Oct 03, 2009 9:36 am

$10.49 with free shipping: http://cgi.ebay.com/IBM-Thinkpad-T30-T4 ... 0484925140

Russ67 · #7 Post by **Russ67** » Sat Oct 03, 2009 3:56 pm

RealBlackStuff wrote:$10.49 with free shipping: http://cgi.ebay.com/IBM-Thinkpad-T30-T4 ... 0484925140

Thanks. I bought it. It was cheap so if it does't fix my immediate problem I might need it later as I have 3 T30s in the family.

Website · #8 Post by **tfflivemb2** » Wed Oct 07, 2009 8:16 am

Did you look into the Ethernet port on the back of the T30 to make sure that nothing was lodged in it? I had a problem on an HP machine a while back that was killing, until I found that the owners child shoved something that looked like part of a "bendaroo" (flexible, shape-able toy for kids) in it. Only enough that the cable didn't seat firmly...

Also, make sure that the connectors inside aren't damaged, as I have seen them bent before...

louieb · #9 Post by **louieb** » Thu Oct 08, 2009 7:59 pm

RealBlackStuff wrote:$10.49 with free shipping: http://cgi.ebay.com/IBM-Thinkpad-T30-T4 ... 0484925140

Cat go mad and went on my T30 - ruined the keyboard - Got a replacement.
Ethernet quit at the same time - use a PCMICA card now for wired.

Let me know how it worked out. Think I'll hit ebay and get one too.

Russ67 · #10 Post by **Russ67** » Wed Oct 14, 2009 5:39 pm

Progress report: I got the board mentioned in a previous post off of Ebay but the joke's on me. That wasn't an ethernet board at all but rather the security chip, which is absoulutely worthless to any other computer. I would have known that if I had taken the machine apart before ordering the part, but I didn't want to have it scattered in a hundred pieces, which it is now, while I waited on the board to arrive. The diagnostics said that the adapter was working but the loop back test failed so I'm now thinking that the I/O board that has the connectors on it at the rear of the machine must be the problem. The RJ45 connector itself is clean and the wires are perfectly straight. I do have one question: Is the wired ethernet adapter integrated into the system board or is it a part of the wireless card that is easily removed from the bottom of the system without having to dis-assemble the entire computer? Anyone know for sure?
I hate to keep buying parts for it when I don't know for sure what the problem is. Also in order to know if the I/O board is really the problem I'll have to completly re-assemble the machine to test the replacement.

ajkula66 · #11 Post by **ajkula66** » Wed Oct 14, 2009 11:00 pm

Ethernet is integrated on the motherboard.

#12 Post by **RealBlackStuff** » Thu Oct 15, 2009 7:26 am

@Russ67:
I should have known better, I work on a lot of T23s (which DO have small ethernet cards) and thought the T30 had the same setup. In the T30 there is a modem or bluetooth/modem card in that slot.
I sent you up that creek without a paddle

On Google, that part number 26P8193 is a modem, an ethernet card, a security chip, and probably other things as well...

Russ67 · #13 Post by **Russ67** » Fri Oct 16, 2009 9:33 am

If I had taken it apart before ordering that EBay part I would have known because the T30 maint manual plainly points out the security chip. It's no problem though. I spoke with the person that I bought it from and explained that what I bought wasn't what he sold it as and he's replacing it with the I/O board that I think will fix my problem. I guess it's partly my fault for not knowing exactly what I needed. The name of the seller on EBay is Thewozygroup. They have a lot of Thinkpad parts and so far they have been good to deal with. If that should change I'll post it here.
I googled the p/n also and got the same results, different descriptions, but I think that the Thinkpad maintenance manual is the most reliable and it says that it is the security chip.

#14 Post by **richk** » Sat Oct 17, 2009 9:16 pm

That card is not the ethernet chip. The ethernet controller in on an I-O board that sits behind (and under) the motherboard. It should not be too expensive, but you need to take the machine completely apart. I'm sure I have one around here if you decide to change it and cannot find one, send me a PM.

Russ67 · #15 Post by **Russ67** » Mon Oct 19, 2009 8:37 am

richk wrote:That card is not the ethernet chip. The ethernet controller in on an I-O board that sits behind (and under) the motherboard. It should not be too expensive, but you need to take the machine completely apart. I'm sure I have one around here if you decide to change it and cannot find one, send me a PM.

Thanks for that offer. I think I'm getting what I need as a replacement for the chip that I sent back. You are correct when you say that you have to take the machine completely apart to change it. My T30 now reaches from one end of my desk to the other but I'm kind of enjoying it because I'm an old IBM CE that loves to see the inside of computers, and I'd never had a Thinkpad apart before. That says a lot about the reliability of T series Thinkpads as I have six of them in my family and never had one apart.

Russ67 · #16 Post by **Russ67** » Fri Oct 30, 2009 6:52 pm

Update: I got the new i/o board and installed it but it didn't fix the problem so now my guess is that the system board must be the problem. I'm going to take it back apart and get the FRU number off of the system board and see if I can locate a replacement without spending more than a T30 is worth.

Russ67 · #17 Post by **Russ67** » Thu Nov 12, 2009 8:29 pm

The least expensive system board I've located so far cost $119 so I just decided to take the easy and cheap way out and got a Linksys PC card with the built-in RJ45 socket. It works great and was only $17 with shipping. I'm giving this T30 away and I'm not sure that it will ever be used on a wired network anyway. Wireless works fine.
Thanks everyone for your assistance.

DanDLT · #18 Post by **DanDLT** » Wed Nov 18, 2009 10:47 am

try renaming the network to different name,,, i had this problem... uses the wizard

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