T61p boot problems. Dead MB?

[kam187]

Hi Guys,

I turned my T61p on today, and the usual lights under the screen turned on (Battery, external power). The Hard drive light flashes once, then nothing. The lights stay on, but there's no life at all. No Bios post nor any beeps.

I removed the RAM and it then beeps continuously (Might help figuring out at what point in the bootup process its dieng).
I removed all the internal cards and hard drive and its still the same.

I assume the motherboard is dead :/ Has anyone seen anything like this before, and have any idea what could be wrong? I have reworking, soldering and replacement tools, so I dont mind having a go and reflowing some parts of the motherboard as a last ditch effort.

Its really anoying because its a 1920X1200 15.4", and you just cant buy that high res machines easily any more
Kam

[kam187]

I just noticied, if I leave it running in this state, the CPU fan is spinning.

[kam187]

BTW does anyone know where I can find the motherboard part number?

[rumbero]

I assume the motherboard is dead :/ Has anyone seen anything like this before, and have any idea what could be wrong?

Is this a machine with nVIDIA graphics? Please tell us the Product-ID and machine TYPE, as shown on the sticker at the bottom of the machine.

[kam187]

Hi,

Yeah i believe it is.

Type: 6457-5KU
Product ID: 64575KU

[rumbero]

BTW does anyone know where I can find the motherboard part number?

Go to support.lenovo.com/en_US/product-and-parts/partsLookup.page and enter your Machine Type and Serial number. Then press the Submit button. You will be shown a table of the parts your machine was consisting of during the time it was build. Look for the word "planar" and note down the FRU shown in the second left column.

EDIT: Check http://thinkpad-wiki.org/T61#Mainboard- ... anartausch for a listing of possible mainboard replacement FRU's for your machine. It is strongly recommended to avoid any nVIDIA based mainboard, as these GPU's tend to be all faulty, and to rather opt for an Intel GPU based mainboard instead. If you don't need the nVIDIA graphics power, the Intel GPU is good enough and should also be able to run your WUXGA+ resolution just fine.

[rumbero]

Type: 6457-5KU
Product ID: 64575KU

According to http://support.lenovo.com/en_US Quick Path it has a nVIDIA GPU:

Code: Select all

ThinkPad T61p (6457-5KU)
T7700(2.4GHz), 2GB RAM, 100GB 7200rpm HD, 15.4in 1920x1200 LCD, 256MB 
nVIDIA Quadro FX 570M, CDRW/DVDRW, Intel 802.11agn(n-disabled), Bluetooth, 
Modem, 1Gb Ethernet, UltraNav, Secure chip, Fingerprint reader, 9c Li-Ion, 
WinVista Ultimate

[kam187]

Thanks

So I guess its a 42W7653. Do you know which other motherboards would be compatible with this configuration? I'm wondering how much it would cost to just replace the existing board for the same spec, and/or if I can upgrade it at all to any newer processor?

Parts lookup is below:

Mfg P/N FRU P/N Description Serviceable
39T2798 39T2799 HDD100GB@ Yes
41W1156 39T0497 CALLISTO 2 Yes
42T0407 42T0408 FLT PNL DS FRU 15.4 WUXGA Yes
42V8639 0000000 BOMS, NOT SHIPPABLE ACROSS BORDERS; 15 W No
42X7212 42W7653 SYSTMBRD FRU PLANAR CARD ASM NVIDIA Yes
41V9556 41V9948 BASE CVR14 Yes
42T0872 42T0873 802.11N Yes
42T3109 42T3143 US KEYBRD Yes
39T7209 0000000 - Yes
41W6442 42W2609 CVR HDD Yes
42X1917 43T8088 VU32 US Yes
42X3997 42T0408 FLT PNL DS FRU 15.4 WUXGA Yes
93P8979 44W4800 IDATAPLEX 2.5 INCH PAPOOSE BACKPLANE CAR No
39T0494 39T0495 ADONIS MDC Yes
41V9757 41V9756 HDD RUBBER Yes
41W1343 41W1499 USB CARD Yes
42X4075 0000000 ENERGYSTAR4.0:PUBLICATIONS MISC No
39T2828 39T2829 CD/DVD DRV CD-RW/DVD-RW RAMBO-VI FRU Yes
41W4528 0000000 - Yes
42W2427 0000000 LABELS; FCC LABEL FOR WLAN:LABELS No
42W2739 0000000 LABELS; MS WINDOWS VISTA PREMIUM LOGO:LA No
42Y7880 0000000 COA LABEL:LABELS No
92P1132 42T4619 BATE9SNY Yes
41R0595 40Y8404 DDR2GB53K Yes
42W3817 42W7653 PLANAR15.4 Yes
92P1105 42T5000 90WADAPTER Yes
41U5625 42W7850 T7700 CPU Yes
42T5008 0000000 - Yes
42W2143 44M4361 NOT AVAILABLE No
42W3918 42W3704 BSCVR 15.4 Yes
39T2793 39T2799 HRD DSK DR TRAYS C100 SG Yes
42W2023 0000000 MECHANICAL ASSEMBLIES AND SUB-ASSEMBLIES No
42W3007 0000000 FINGER PRINT READER ASM:MECHANICAL ASSEM No
42X3558 0000000 T61(DAVINCI3/CORONADO3 DISCRETE MODEL):P No
42X4525 0000000 - Yes
91P8421 0000000 - Yes

[rumbero]

So I guess its a 42W7653. Do you know which other motherboards would be compatible with this configuration?

As written before, check http://thinkpad-wiki.org/T61#Mainboard- ... anartausch for a listing of possible mainboard replacement FRU's for your machine. It is strongly recommended to avoid any nVIDIA based mainboard, as these GPU's tend to be all faulty for practically all T61 generation machines. Rather aim for an Intel GPU based mainboard instead. If you don't really need any graphics power, the Intel GPU is good enough and should also be able to run your WUXGA+ resolution just fine.

I'm wondering how much it would cost to just replace the existing board for the same spec, and/or if I can upgrade it at all to any newer processor?

There is not much more margin for your T61, as the T7700 is almost at the maximum with it's 2,4GHz. I wouldn't bother about adding an additional 0,1GHz of CPU power by switching to a T7800 or even a Penryn T9500. This would require too much bucks for just a marginal gain in bang.

If you would like to have more power, than better upgrade to a Thinkpad T500 with more potent CPU specs and reuse your T61 screen with this newer Thinkpad. The screen should be perfectly compatible between the two machines.

[kam187]

Thanks for the great info rumbero.

After looking around for replacement motherboards, i've decided to just buy a new laptop!

If anyone is interested in this one for parts let me know. Everything else was working perfectly fine so i'm sure the other components are still 100% working.

I also have a IBM T43p 2668-F8G with a 1600x1200 screen thats fully working EXCEPT the inverter in the screen has gone. Well its all dim, so its either the inverter or the backlight. I can't see to lookup its SN on the lenovo link - i assume its because its an IBM and pre lenovo.

I'll put the same up in the trade/sale section later!

[kam187]

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=100713

Up for sale!