T61 bricked? Data recovery?

[5w30]

When I try to turn on my 2.5 year old T61, I get a blank screen (also blank w/ external display) and the "one long and two short beeps" error code. I already tried reinstalling the RAM, so I'm pretty sure it's the system board. Is there anything else that I can do to get this thing back up and running? If not a long-term fix, then just something that might let me boot so I can get my files off the hard drive.

If there's no way to get it to boot, then can I still access the data on the drive? I want to try accessing the HD by installing it in another computer, but I'm not sure how this would go because I have the HD password enabled. What would happen if I install this as a non-boot drive in another machine? Will it prompt for a password on boot up before letting me access the drive? To be clear, I remember the password, and I'm NOT looking to hack, crack, or circumvent it in any way. Thanks... I hope this is an acceptable topic.

[craigmontHunter]

Easiest thing may to go and see if you can use another machine. that is the only way I know of to get a hard drive password off a system.

Good luck.

[richk]

First question is this: "did you have "passphrase" turned on?"

[5w30]

If the "passphrase" is the one that's more than 7 characters long, then yes. I don't know if it makes a difference, but I also set a passphrase to get into BIOS. I'm pretty sure I turned off the security/TPM chip in BIOS.

And yeah, my first thought is to plug the drive into another machine. Before I do that, I was hoping to get some indication that it would just prompt me for the passphrase on boot up and then let me access the drive as before.

What about the Thinkpad itself? Is there some voodoo trick out there that I can try to get it to boot just once more?

[RealBlackStuff]

If your machine is still under warranty, take out the HD and optical drive, and send it in for repair.
Mark clearly how much RAM, what wifi card etc. is included in your shipment.

[richk]

passphrase means you cannot start it in a non-thinkpad. If the other machine is a different model, there are extra considerations.

[5w30]

I'm considering getting it repaired. It has been out of warranty for long time now, and I can't imagine how much it'll cost to fix. I'll be sure to back up my data more frequently in the future. If I had a more recent backup, I'd just straight up look for a new laptop. Would you expect the drive to start as it did before if I get whatever's keeping it from booting repaired?

Also, what can I do to more definitively isolate the problem? So far, I...
1. Checked the RAM by removing all of it, and then tried to boot with each stick installed by itself. Pretty sure this is not the cause.
2. Plugged in an external display to see if the graphics card (a questionable NVS 140M) can still output a signal. I want to say it's probably the system board (graphics card) because there's no signal to either the LCD or the external display, and it has that defective nVidia graphics card, but I don't know if I can entirely rule out an LCD issue. At this point, how would I verify that it is in fact the system board?

[RealBlackStuff]

Find someone with another T61, put your HD in there, and then remove the passphrase.
Or send your HD to someone with a T61/R61 who may be willing to remove the passphrase for you.
richk and archer6 are both trusted moderators on this forum, and I think at least in the same State as you.
I'm sure one (if not both) have a T61/R61 of some sort.

[richk]

If you replace the board with a similar one, it will boot fine. What model is the machine? Nvidia? (which one?) Intel? 14" 4:3? 14.1 wide? 15.4"? I may have one in stock.

[RealBlackStuff]

If you do replace the board, contact poshgeordie on this forum.
He is looking for a guinea-pig T61 board.