Thinkpads Forum

Hello there,

i would like to ask where is the T400 bios chip located. I have bricked my T400 after BIOS upgrade. I have used Windows7 for BIOS update, after success update TP was restarted and start beeping 1 - 3 - 3 - 1. After power off a have no ligh no sound. is completly dead. resetting CMOS can't help. So i will try to flash bios again using flashrom + arduino.

thank for help.

not sure where the BIOS chip is on the M/B is, but the HMM states this for your beep code:

1. DIMM
2. Motherboard

It's easiest to check out the RAM first -

Remove the keyboard and palmrest, and from there remove anything NOT needed to POST. ie wireless nic, wan card, modem, cd rom drive, HDD, battery etc. If you have 2 ram sticks, try removing one of them. Plug the keyboard back in and give it some power and turn on the laptop. If the beep codes persist, try swapping out the RAM stick if you had two of them in there and have removed one already. If you have any other RAM sticks laying around that would work for your T400, remove both existing chips and try another RAM stick

If any configuration of RAM installed still gives you the same beep code, you might be looking for a new MB....

Admin,
Please, post a sticky thread on bios updates. So many people are bricking their machines, so many fatalities, and it's completely avoidable.

I'm still pretty new to this matter, but it seems that
after certain kinds of failed bios upgrades, the T400
can be rescued using a usb flash drive and a working
XP/W7 machine.
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... 0&p=669454 ,
especially note the posts of Ede_123 and kleung21.