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Disk Drive cable extention for T61p
Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2018 4:11 am
by alessiof
Hello guys! Love small communities like this.
My mother's T61p thinkpad died (It was the model with the faulty nvidia GPU). I am in the process of swapping the mobo with another model. My mother's laptop is a 16:9 one, while the mobo I bought is from a 4:3 laptop (which should be compatible according to the internet). However, the new mobo is too short to make contact with the dvd drive. Is there a cable extension available somewhere?
Thanks!
Re: Disk Drive cable extention for T61p
Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2018 6:32 am
by RealBlackStuff
Welcome to the Forum.
I doubt that the 4:3 motherboard will do the trick properly.
Your mother's T61p is
16:10, not 16:9.
There are no drive-extension cables, but there is an
interposer that might do the trick, see
viewtopic.php?p=680106#p680106
It's the black connector at the right side on that picture.
You could theoretically modify it the same way as I did with the battery-connectors.
However, there are a lot more wires/pins to consider, so it would be very tricky!
I've never tried it, but maybe the interposer-part itself has all the "length" you need!
Re: Disk Drive cable extention for T61p
Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2018 8:46 am
by alessiof
Ignoring the DVD Drive ( which I will now look into) will the rest of the laptop work? Everything i have put back on so far seemed to fit right
Re: Disk Drive cable extention for T61p
Posted: Fri Dec 07, 2018 2:37 am
by wujstefan
What are the FRUs of your old and new motherboards?
Re: Disk Drive cable extention for T61p
Posted: Fri Dec 07, 2018 3:51 am
by alessiof
The old Mobo was "42w7653" while the new one should be "42w7648"
Re: Disk Drive cable extention for T61p
Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2018 11:28 pm
by Thinkpad4by3
The old one was a 15.4" mobo and the new one is a 14.1" mobo(as RBS stated). Since the 14.1" fit in the 15.4" I can say the 14.1" is a 4:3 model board. Those will fit but the ports don't line up like you have experienced.
Its a 10y/o machine. My recommendation would be to get another 15.4" mobo and make sure to match FRUs or at least size. It would be much less of a headache for you and no soldering or anything else. The mobo won't cost you too much and you should return the old one.
Re: Disk Drive cable extention for T61p
Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2018 5:53 am
by alessiof
I said screw it and just put it back together without the DVD drive. However, while doing so I noticed something strange: The little connection cable (the left end of this
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com ... SX425_.jpg ) doesn't reach the connector: Not because the motherboard is smaller (in fact, that part is exactly the same) but because there's a piece of metal in the way. I have no idea how to fit it through or how it was before, and all the videos online are about disassembling the laptop and not putting it back togheter., but I've turned on the laptop and it works, though the screen is white. With an external monitor, it works just fine though so the mobo is good to go
Any ideas?
Re: Disk Drive cable extention for T61p
Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2018 6:40 am
by RealBlackStuff
The 42w7648 has only Intel graphics.
Apart from the white mobo-connector at the top of your picture, all the rest sits inside the LCD-lid.
So what "little connection cable (the left end" are you talking about?
If the LCD was working before, but not now, then the mobo can't be OK!
Re: Disk Drive cable extention for T61p
Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2018 5:51 pm
by alessiof
The little mobo connector from the monitor can't reach the mobo. It has nothing to do with the mobo because that half is the exact same as the older motherboard. It can't reach it because the metal part that holds everything together is in the way. So the computer works but nothing is shown on screen because that part isn't connected.
Re: Disk Drive cable extention for T61p
Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2018 6:10 pm
by Thinkpad4by3
That probably has something to do with being the wrong mobo. I believe one person shoe-horned a 1.54" motherboard into a 1.41" case but never the other way around.
OT: Finally...2000 posts. I get my 4th feather
!