X31 Sudden Death ;-(

[Jason404]

I was just using my X31 on the Ultrabase, with the PSU connected to the dock. As I was typing it suddenly died; the screen went blank and there was no sign of life.

I know that the Ultrabase is fine, as I am using an X30 connected to it right now, which I am using to type this.

Is there anybody that might know what might have happened to my Thinkpad, and what I could try to fix it? It has only been lightly used and I have been taking care of it.

It's out of warranty and I am feeling so p*ssed off about this happening!

[Jason404]

I am very relieved to say that it has started working!

I was searching on Google and found this page:
http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl ... 02/0012256

...where HerbieTMac mentioned this:

"Have you tried to drain the Thinkpad's built-up capacitor charge? Some people recommend freezing it, but I think it works better to just take out the battery and then hold down the power button for a couple minutes."

It worked! I had been keeping the laptop in Sleep mode with the PSU plugged in, so it must have caused this capacitor charge build-up.

[tomh009]

I have seen a very similar problem on my X31 with static electricity buildup -- I would dock the X31, and it would instantly go dark, and the power button would be inoperable.

I would need to take it out of the Ultrabase, pop the battery, press the power button, put the battery back in -- and then it would turn back on.

[Jason404]

It has actually happened a couple more times, but always started working again after the procedure we have both mentioned. So this is still a bit worrying, and annoying.

Are you sure it is static though? As it has happened while I have had the PSU and ethernet wires connected, which I would have thought would have dissipated any static.

[tomh009]

Mine has not happened since I started grounding myself (while touching the metal docking bracket on the X31) on a metal doorframe prior to docking.

Some people were also having similar issues docking their T-series ThinkPads.