T400 HARDWARE modification question

[jwege]

Hi all,

may sound like an odd question ...

I need to have an external "power-on" button (the silver one) to start the T400 by a remote unit (no, WOL etc. does NOT the trick for me).

I did do that with other notebooks lie a Toshiba one etc.

Basically I need to have the two "wires" that the key shortcuts, being led to the outer part of the T400 to use a relay to simulate a user's push on the power button.

Unfortunately, that key is part of the keyboard. Here's the question:

1.) anyone knows if that button (almost 100% sure as this works also with no power up when the keyboard controller is "dead") is being directly connected to another point on the main board that I can access to solder two wires?

2.) anyone knows how to disassemble (without damaging it) the keyboard so that I can solder two wirdes directly to tha button?

Thanks in advance!

[Cigarguy]

I would think it might be easier to tap into the power switch on a docking station than a keyboard. So I would get a docking station, tap into that and run my wires from the dock.

[axur-delmeria]

Since the T400 and T60/61 share the same keyboard, I think you can post your question at the T6x section.
Maybe someone over there figured it out already.

[jwege]

@Cigarguy: Valid hint! Anyone has tried that out or has dismantled a dock?

[rkawakami]

http://www.kawakami-ca.com/images/t410_ ... wer_up.jpg

Short pin 19 of the keyboard connector to chassis/system ground. In the experiment I just did I clipped the wire onto the metal tab atop the Ultrabay. With an ohmmeter I verified that the three screws along the "front" edge of the keyboard bezel are also ground.

While this works your problem will be attaching the wire at this point. I think that the wire I used is 30AWG wire wrap and it is too large to fit into the through-hole. You might trying scraping the solder mask off the trace going to pin 19 and then lay the wire on top of the trace and solder that. Good luck!

[jwege]

WOW! Great Help! Will try it out and hope the t400 and t410 have the same layout at the connector ...

For those interested: I am using the T400 in an home automation project in regions where power outages in the wintertime occur VERY often, from minutes to hours. The battery of the t400 is "the last resort" and will power the server even if the UPS is drained. But if the battery level reaches a certain level, the server stores all data and goes into hibernation. To wake it up (no way with WOL as the switch and router will have forgotten the ARP table) I use a simple single chip board like Net-IO or RasPi (that is available a few seconds/minutes after power is back) to power up the t400, but only when "stable conditions" are reached - say 5 minutes after power back.

That's why I need the "external switch".

[rkawakami]

Because the T400 and T410 use the same keyboard FRUs, the connector will be the same. The T400 may not have the exact, same layout of the traces and holes as my T410 but the position of the pins will be the same.

Hacking the dock's switch might be easier since you wouldn't have to deal with the tiny traces but I don't think I have a dock for my T410 systems yet.

[jwege]

TKS! will investigate ... my next weekend job.

[TuuS]

Another thought... I believe if you unplug the keyboard the machine will boot as soon as power is applied. If this is what you're trying to achieve, this may help.

This may help if you're using it as a remote server and you need it to restart after power interruption without pressing the button.

These keyboards are pretty cheap so you don't have a lot to lose if you want to experiment with one. I usually get $5 to $20 depending on condition or I may have a slightly damaged one that still works you could have for free.

[rkawakami]

By "power" do you mean just the battery? If so, that wasn't my experience.

For my experiment, I disconnected the AC and battery, then removed the keyboard (per the HMM). After clipping the wire to ground I re-attached just the battery. Nothing happened; the system remained off. Only when I touched the grounded wire to pin 19 of the keyboard connector did the system power up. I neglected to foresee that I'd have a slight problem controlling the system after it started booting Windows, without a keyboard . When the login screen appeared I tried connecting a USB mouse but it was not recognized. I then thought about "pressing" the power button to get the system to power down. However, when I again touched the wire to the keyboard connector, the system went into standby. Figuring I had no hope, I just gave in and pulled the battery. I then re-attached the keyboard. Of course at the next boot-up, Windows barfed and said it wasn't shut down properly but that was the extent of the problem.

[jwege]

I ordered a dock today - found it for 2.90 EUR (I am European) plus shipment (5.00 EUR, more than the device ... lol ... actually ordered two which reduces the shipment to 2.50 for each and makes me no headache if I break one).

Seems that's the simplest solution. Also, I then have an RS232 (often used in home automation) and parallel printer port (older printers here also and some cheap relay cards available for printer ports also), 4 USB's additionally ... that's worth more than 2.90 EUR ...

Looks like the best solution for my use case, and also I can easily drill a hole for the connector I need to the power button.

BTW:
I would not have problems with "no keyboard" as I run VNC on that machine anyhow to completely control it remotely. The only thing "remote" I need is the power button actually. Once set up and running, that system shall run for years without any human touch ... HOPEFULLY.

Thanks again for all the input and your efforts. Let me know if anyone interested in home automation and mybe I can help with code / ideas!

[Cigarguy]

Once set up and running, that system shall run for years without any human touch ... HOPEFULLY.

Thanks again for all the input and your efforts. Let me know if anyone interested in home automation and mybe I can help with code / ideas!

If this is your goal, then modifying the dock also offers another benefit....the ability to switch machines in and out almost at will. Do not have to be a T400, anything that will fit the dock with the proper software will do. If it were me, I'd have 2-3 T400 on standby and ready to go.

[jwege]

Just in case someone other with an "odd thinking" stumbles into this thread:

I successfully managed to complete the task. The use of the dock was a HUGE help.

Much (!!) more space and very easy access to the items that need to be changed/soldered. Also, nice spaceous place to mount an own "connector" so you can easily apply and remove the wires you need. And the best: Docks are available for as less as 2,50 EUR. So, I bought two in case I break the first and even with shipment, I ended up below 10 bucks. Unbelieveable!

In case anyone is interested, I have taken a number of pictures about how to best make it happen (there are some space limitations as the button to be pressed when releasing the T400 from the dock takes away much "empty" space) - just send me an email to (my name as show in the post plus @ plus gmx dot net ).

Regards
J.