T60p won't boot

[coleridge]

Hi, My t60p is doing something really strange. I had the computer for a few months, everything working great, installed windows 7 64 bit on it, got the right drivers for the ATI V5200, upgraded the CPU to the T7200. Loved the 1600x1200 flexview.

It froze while watching a movie, and did not respond to anything. So, I rebooted it by holding the power button down. It switched off, proceeded to boot, load the bios, and then it just freezes on the "Starting Windows" screen, right when those 4 colored windows logo squares appear.

I have tried to repair the OS using a repair disk, boot into safe mode, reset the computer to the last known good configuration, run memory tests, run a HD test, remove the HD and place it in a dock and check it with another computer, put a new HD into the T60p and try to install a new copy of Windows 7 or Windows XP, update the bios to 2.27. Nothing has worked, it just keeps freezing at the same point.

Does anyone have any idea what this could be? Could I have overheated and fried the ATI 5200 and need to replace the motherboard, or could it be another hardware error?

Any help or advice would be very appreciated.

Thanks

[RealBlackStuff]

Try booting from a Linux Live-CD, such as from here: http://puppylinux.org/main/Download%20L ... elease.htm
DON'T install, just boot from it.
If that also freezes, you'll need a new motherboard.

[coleridge]

Yes, I tried that as well, does not work, just freezes.

So, I guess I need a new motherboard. Should I look for one with the ATI v5250, rather than the v5200? Is there a certain version/revision/part number that is the best one to replace it with?

Thanks again.

[RealBlackStuff]

It's more important that you trust the seller!
Try a WTB in our Marketplace forum.
I'll have to look in my pile to see what's available.

[coleridge]

Cool, that would be great. I am looking through ebay at the moment, and alot of the sellers say that this is a board for a 15', non widescreen, T60P, with the ATI FireGL GPU, but the part # does not match the ones listed on the system service parts site at Lenovo Support. Lenovo list the ones below only. ?????

Am I correct that the only motherboard that will work, is part #41W1370 or will #41W1405 and #41W1407 work as well.


Thanks

[twistero]

As a last resort have you tried removing all power sources and CMOS battery, and letting it sit for a few days?

[coleridge]

Twistero, thanks for the suggestion, I will try that.

Could a dead CMOS battery be the cause of this?

[ajkula66]

Am I correct that the only motherboard that will work, is part #41W1370 or will #41W1405 and #41W1407 work as well.

No.

All you should care about is:

a) That the board came from a 4:3, non-widescreen machine

b) That it has V5200 or V5250 GPU if you want to keep up the "p" specs intact.

Happy shopping.

[coleridge]

Cool, that is good to know, just found a board on ebay, has the V5200, looks like it should work fine, plus is has some extras that are nice, a T61p heatpipe and fan, which I think can be modified to work ok, new palm rest, wifi card, bluetooth card, as so forth.

I will let everyone know how it goes.

Thanks for all the help. I am a writer and this is my main system for that, just love that screen.