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t61p wont start anymore, cannot find matching beep code

Posted: Sat Feb 09, 2008 1:25 am
by thomas565
Hi All

Anyone has an idea what following beep code could mean?

II i iii iii ii

two long, a large pause, one short, pause, 3 short, pause, 3 short, pause, 2 short. Screen is filled with garbage. Cannot enter BIOS.

replaced 4gb mem with one 1gb stick, same error.

this machine is 2 month old.

Called lenovo and they will send out a guy in 4 days to replace my new mobo, as far as I know them, with a junky refurbished one (that has the graphics problem ?).

I depend so much on a working machine. This is a disaster for me, I will miss al my project deadlines.

So much to the quality of Lenovo.

Toby

Re: t61p wont start anymore, cannot find matching beep code

Posted: Sat Feb 09, 2008 2:13 am
by ryengineer
toby909 wrote:snip...Anyone has an idea what following beep code could mean?...snip
Consult pg. 44 of Hardware Maintenance Manual.

Re: t61p wont start anymore, cannot find matching beep code

Posted: Sat Feb 09, 2008 3:45 am
by thomas565
ryengineer wrote:
toby909 wrote:snip...Anyone has an idea what following beep code could mean?...snip
Consult pg. 44 of Hardware Maintenance Manual.
I saw that before I posted, but I posted because the beep code is not mentioned there. so again:

Anyone has an idea what the above beep code could mean?

Thanks

Posted: Sat Feb 09, 2008 12:59 pm
by kernelpanic
If it is a beep code that is not listed, then probably it is the bios itself - that is corrupted - even the beep routine isn't working, which is just a program stored in the bios. That is probably why the default solution is to replace MB. It might be interesting to to reflash the bios from a boot disk, if you know how to do that. There are viruses that intentionally corrupt the bios just for funsies...

Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2008 1:38 am
by thomas565
kernelpanic wrote:If it is a beep code that is not listed, then probably it is the bios itself - that is corrupted - even the beep routine isn't working, which is just a program stored in the bios. That is probably why the default solution is to replace MB. It might be interesting to to reflash the bios from a boot disk, if you know how to do that. There are viruses that intentionally corrupt the bios just for funsies...
I know how to do that, and did it with another thinkpad before. Problem is, i cannot even get into the bios. I also cannot boot from the CD that I created according to lenovo instructions, to flash the bios.

???

Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2008 4:17 am
by Brad
Sorry to hear of your trouble.

Why should it take four days? If the part is available shouldn't they be there to replace the motherboard on Tuesday?

I hate to say this because these machines are usually reliable but having a spare to go back to would be nice to have around just in case. Maybe there is a desktop around that you can continue working by moving the hard drive temporarily.

Hopefully Lenovo will exceed your expectations and have you back to work in less than four days.

Brad

Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2008 2:42 pm
by Merc
Brad wrote:Sorry to hear of your trouble.

Why should it take four days? If the part is available shouldn't they be there to replace the motherboard on Tuesday?

I hate to say this because these machines are usually reliable but having a spare to go back to would be nice to have around just in case. Maybe there is a desktop around that you can continue working by moving the hard drive temporarily.

Hopefully Lenovo will exceed your expectations and have you back to work in less than four days.

Brad
I was going to suggest the same thing. Go to Best Buy and puchase a 2.5" SATA interface Hard drive enclosure, pull the hard drive and put it in the enclosure. Hook up to a desktop and you should be able to get the data off so you can continue working. Not as hard as it sounds and when you are done you can buy a blank hard drive to install into the enclosure and having a compact back up system. Something that specs like this would be good. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817392009