Thinkpads Forum

I would like to make a final attempt with my unbooting/unposting X201s, before to give up on it.

I noticed that the non-booting reaction changes if I screw or not some of the keyboards screws underneath,
or if I press hard on certain point of the keyboard.

I am able to disassemble the whole MB.
Can I try to power-on with the MB not sitting in the chassis?
How can I do this?

A cardboard placed between the "floating" MB and the empty chassis could be enough?
(I will have to disconnect the HD flat connector I believe..)

thanks a lot in advance for any suggestion,
A.

I noticed that the non-booting reaction changes if I screw or not some of the keyboards screws underneath, or if I press hard on certain point of the keyboard.

Make a drawing of the base and all the screw locations.
Each screw is described in the HMM manual, such as M2 × 3.5 mm.
That means it's an M2 type screw with a length of 3.5 mm.
Measure the length of each screw (including the screw head) that you remove and compare it with its description in the HMM.
If any screw has a different length, you already found a part of your problem.
Tape the removed screws on those drawing locations (and mark any that has a wrong size).

You need the motherboard (a.k.a. mobo) with the following items attached: the fan, the yellow CMOS battery, at least 1 memory module and the yellow DC-in socket.
No need for the LCD, HDD/SSD, sound card, battery or other things.
Lay this mobo flat on e.g. a piece of carton on the table and connect an external monitor to the VGA port.
Then attach the keyboard and put another piece of carton between mobo and keyboard, but don't block the fan air inlet.
When this is all done, attach the charger to the yellow DC-in and press the Power button.
Let us know what happens.

Thanks a lot!
I will try the mobo procedure as soon as I can.

Can I leave the yellow DC-in screwed into his place (the screw, I believe, is "grounding" the thing to the chassis, right?) ?
I have just put in a new one.

The screws of the keyboard are actually all of the same and correct size.

On a side-note: the machine makes the 1-3-3-1 sound if I power-on without the RAM,
is this a sign that the MB is not faulty?

A.

That DC-in screw does not 'ground' it, it just holds it in place.
The 1-3-3-1 only means that at least SOMEthing is still working OK, not a guarantee that all is well.
While you have it apart, it might be a good time to refresh the thermal paste between fan and CPU.

In my X201s the screw of the DC-in is securing a little wired ring to a metal hole, the connector itself stays in place in a plastic "perimeter".
That's why I thought it was "grounded".

https://www.pclecco.it/en/ricambi-lenov ... c-in-5-pin

Installed a new fan and thermal paste last time I tried to "resurrect" it, and never used since then (about 1.5 years ago).

A.