X21 do not power ON but suspend led lights up

[r2d2]

Here I go again... trying to revive an old X21... I do not really know why but I am really fond of these old X models. In fact this is becoming more of an addiction already... ok I admit... I am sick and need intervention...

Going back... I have a base unit X21 (no LCD, no keyboard). I was told it does not power on. I found the body is good, no missing pieces as far as my eyes can see but there is no RAM, HDD and keyboard.

So I got my working keyboard from an X20 and decided to put power to the base unit before I put a screen/lcd assembly. I really do not have the slightest idea if this will even work or if this is the correct method. When I plugged in power, I can see that only the suspend LED is ON and flashing. Battery LED and all other LEDs are OFF. Since the keyboard is already attached, I tried pressing the power ON button but I get no response.

I may be way over my head in doing this but as I said I need intervention as I may be sick and addicted to this Thinkpad thing already.

I opened this topic to get ideas from other members who might have experienced the same... is having the suspend LED ON and flashing mean something (aside from the probable that the mobo may be toast)? Or should I first complete the unit (add LCD assembly, keyboard, HDD, RAM) and try putting power again?

[phool@round]

It means the board is a goner. I've had the same experience when I bought a used x21 off eBay. Usually it's the processor, it's either fried or has disconnected from the system board. They are soldered on, not socketed. I use this company when I need an X2X board; here.

[r2d2]

Thank you for the reply phool@round...

I got this knowing before hand that it has a POWER ON issue. But I still took it to replace the plastics of my X20 (a pretty good deal for less than $20). I just got challenged about it when I saw that the unit looked good and complete.

So I guess that's it... no chance of reviving this one...

[phool@round]

Rosh,

I do the exact same thing.......especially with the X's, more than any other system. They can be a little high strung...lol. If they quit I still have parts and pieces I can swap around. My first X20 did the same thing as yours, flashing orange battery light. I probably could have reflowed the processor but with the system boards being inexpensive (at times ridiculously so) I felt it easier to replace. I still have the old board. If I find a shell I might try and rescue it......

Hammerhead Tech occasionally has inexpensive boards, that's who I go to for replacements. I have three X22 boards that I bought for $39 bucks from them just waiting for shells...... sound familiar?

On the X20's I look for the system boards that will support XGA resolution. They tend to be a little rarer then the SVGA's. It's what I'm typing on right now. It's the shell from my first X20, the one with the bad board........coincidence that you asked about yours!

[r2d2]

I would try Hammerhead Tech for the motherboards pretty soon. In fact after learning how much you got the X22 boards, I am thinking of replacing my working X20 board with an X21 ... sure enough my linux would be smiling again (not that it is frowning on the performance now but running it 100Mhz faster would sure make a difference).

This is my first time to see a blinking/flashing SUSPEND LED while all the other LEDs are OFF upon plugging the power. And this blinking does not happen immediately, I need to wiggle the (male) power jack a bit before I can get the suspend led to blink that is why I really thought it was just a bad power jack... With that I thought that if I just mount all the other devices like RAM, LCD and keyboard, I could get it go bios at least. But then again who knows what to expect with defective mobo.

Anyhow since I am removing the mobo from the base shell anyway, I might as well have fun and play around with the power jack.

Are there X20 models that support XGA? How will I know if mine is XGA or not? I thought XGA is only supported with the 'newer' ones only but not X20s.

[phool@round]

Link; Here.

[r2d2]

I finally got to see the cause of this mobo failure which I failed to see the first time I opened the base.

Today as I was removing the plastic casing, I noticed that there is a burnt chip at the bottom of the board. I have no clue on what it is for but it used to have six legs . The right-half part of the chip is burnt... I know because the burn marks are left on the mylar (sheet of plastic) covering the base plate.

phool@round... it is indeed a cooked (overcooked?) mobo...

[phool@round]

I would take a stab and say it controls the power circuit. Same thing happened with mine, exactly the same thing. I replaced that component and it still wouldn't boot so I assume that it went straight to the processor from there, like a voltage spike.

By any chance..... did you try to power it up with a brick of lower wattage value? I did, it was a 56W that I used and the board went as soon as I plugged it in. I don't blame the power supply but I do think that a board in a weakend state may exihibit the same results........ poof, magic all gone.....

[rkawakami]

Any chance it looks like this: http://www.rkawakami.net/ibm_t2x/let.jpg

About 1/4" square? A "Q" number published on the board next to it? Mine was an eight legged creature... a MOSFET (power transistor).. had a neat orange glow... for a couple of seconds anyway .

[phool@round]

In my case, even worse Ray. I could not have recognized it even if I was going to be tortured..... I duh NO, honest?!

I never experienced the "glow" only the smell of charred silica in the morning........ all the while Bell Huey's flew overhead.....

I was able to asscertain "what" it was by doing a little CSI on it with the use of another board. Yes, indeed it was a little MOSFET sitting on her tuffet.....

The odd thing was that the second MOSFET didn't give up at all. But no boot, no life what so ever. I assume that I tazed the processor into a coma. I've been waiting for a call from the Prosecutor's office ever since.......

[r2d2]

phool@round... Nope I have not tried using a brick of much lower power rating... I do not think it would do any good if ever. Though it hurts to see that I cannot revive it anymore, I just keep in mind my original intention... that I bought the base for its plastics to replace the ones on my X20...

Ray... yep looks almost the same... thinking about it, I think it was a 8-legged critter after all... (I refuse to open the box and see it again... ) One thing for sure though.. it small.. much like the ones in location G4 here: http://www.rkawakami.net/ibm_t2x/mobo_b ... legend.jpg as it was also near the battery connector.

Ok then... thank you guys for the replies...