Thinkpads Forum

Did anyone ever experiencing black screen on their T61s after Windows XP boot up loading bar (the moment before seeing mouse cursor / welcome screen)?

I have done the RAM test, HDD surface scan, Hooking up external monitor and can't find any problem. And usually it happens when I first turn on in the morning.


Any clues?

Sounds like a fried graphic card/chipset. I've seen things like that on other laptops using nvidia graphic card.

The fact that the screen becomes black after windows boots up means it's not a problem regarding the inverter.
The screen turns black when the video drivers are loading... means it could either be a driver trouble or a fried/defective chipset.
(When the use of graphic card is a little more intense or call some instructions that are fried on the chipset (what the driver does when loading), the screen turns black).

Try to boot Windows in "safe mode", so no video drivers will be loaded, if it boots and you've got the screen appears (in low resolution) then you can make this little test :
- if you get artefacts like green lines, green or red dots, blinking stuffs, then your graphic chip is fried. Use warranty to get motherboard replacement from Lenovo.
- If you see no artefacts, then try to install new video drivers (more up-to-date drivers). If it works after installing video drivers and rebooting normally, then you're done. It was a problem of drivers
- if you get Blue Screen Of Death when re-installing video driver then your graphic chip is fried. Use warranty to get motherboard replacement from Lenovo.

Defective graphic card is a common problem with graphic chipset from Nvidia seen on Geforce 8xxx series and some Geforce 7xxx series.
Apparently it also concern NVIDIA Quadro NVS 120M on T61/R61 (ref: http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=84282 )

I have a similar problem on my T60. It loads up similar to you and dies. However, I hear strange squeaking sounds coming from the vicinity of the inverter and gone when the screen goes blank. How about an inverter change. I am in the process (trying to find the part first.)

@tockki
T60 is a different laptop from the T61, so a different problem.
Try an external monitor first, to see if it still boots.
If yes, then try swapping the inverter.