X31 suddenly stopped booting up

Message

umern · #1 Post by **umern** » Tue Jan 15, 2008 6:23 am

Hope someone can shed some light on this...
X31 was working fine - did a hibernate and it powered down ok.
Tried to use it an hour later and it wont start up.
I can hear the fan come on and stay on. The power LED and A and 1 lights come on a second and then just the power light stays on and thats it. Nothing else.
The LCD is definitely not getting any power as it stays pitch black and there is definitely no hard disk activity.

My wife is convinced I had this problem before and somehow I fixed it but I cant remember at all....

Have tried running of battery only and then removing battery and running psu alone.

Any ideas?

ajkula66 · #2 Post by **ajkula66** » Tue Jan 15, 2008 11:22 pm

I'm sorry to say that I've seen these symptoms on several X31s, and although I don't have an exact explanation of what causes them, every time they've led to motherboard replacement.

Hopefully, you'll have better luck than this.

smugiri · #3 Post by **smugiri** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 12:40 am

I do not mean to raise your hopes but I had this happen to me and managed to recover - here's what I did - go all the way to the end where I post under my username..

umern · #4 Post by **umern** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 4:52 am

Thanks but that didnt work - gonna try and reseat everything this evening.

ragefury32 · #5 Post by **ragefury32** » Sat Jan 19, 2008 3:22 am

Try unplugging the backup battery from the machine and see if that'll boot it up. Google up "X31 HMM" for the Thinkpad X31/32 Hardware Maintenance manual, look at step 1050 on page 85.

If the backup battery is not kicking up enough juice, you'll see weird or bad boots. Not sure if that's the solution of the problem, but it's certainly worth it to try.

umern · #6 Post by **umern** » Sat Jan 19, 2008 3:54 am

Backup battery? Is that the CR2032 battery next to the RAM modules?
If so I tried this and even put a new battery in.
After I put the new Battery in the X31 booted up all fine and dandy.
However, I then hibernated and tried to bootup again - stop booting again. Removed the battery and tried again - no joy - just wont have it. What is that all about???

I just dont understand how changing the backup battery allowed me to boot up once and only once - it just does not make sense.

I just cant beleive that a 3.5yr IBM Thinkpad would fail like this - really disappointed - it has been treated quite well - used mostly at home for the past 2 years to surf whilst watching TV. I have been a great fan of Thinkpads for years - both at work and home. My wife wants another light / slim laptop like the X31 - but dont know if I want to risk a 2nd hand X31 or X41 - will they go the same way?? Seriously considering a Samsung Q40 or Q45 now...

iamdmc · #7 Post by **iamdmc** » Sat Jan 19, 2008 1:02 pm

If you want to buy a new X31, I'll buy the X31 screen off of you. Message me if you don't get your problem solved.

umern · #8 Post by **umern** » Sat Jan 19, 2008 2:37 pm

Would be happy to sell you the LCD screen - but I am in the UK.

X31 suddenly stopped booting up

X31 suddenly stopped booting up

Who is online