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R61 7738-A52 - Won't start, LED goes out when pressing power

R30/R40, A30/A31, G40/G50 and Z60/Z61 Series. NOT for AMD-Ryzen.
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Insomniac1971
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R61 7738-A52 - Won't start, LED goes out when pressing power

#1 Post by Insomniac1971 » Fri Oct 28, 2016 7:18 am

Hi, I got an old 14.1" R61 which worked fine - but after being on the shelf for about 6 months it now has problems that it won't start. When attaching power cable I see power and charging LED's, but if I press power ON both LED's turn off.

I have been lucky to get it started by leaving it charging for 6 hours, and then it would power ON.

What is causing this and is it something I can replace myself?

Is it the 02K6572 CMOS battery that is drained? Normally that should just give an error on the screen.

I have 3 batteries, where one is less than 1 year old, and on all its the same thing.

Hope an Expert can answer this:)

JBJ
Live life to to fullest:) I do!
Thinkpads: T500, R500, X300 - (dead R61(intel), T61(Nvidia))
Other: Toshiba Satellite L40-139(dead)

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Re: R61 7738-A52 - Won't start, LED goes out when pressing power

#2 Post by RealBlackStuff » Fri Oct 28, 2016 7:30 am

Switch it off, remove battery and charger, then hold the power button down for 20-30 seconds to discharge any capacitors and reset it.
Then just attach the charger and try to switch it on.
If OK, switch off, attach also the battery and try again.
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Re: R61 7738-A52 - Won't start, LED goes out when pressing power

#3 Post by Insomniac1971 » Fri Oct 28, 2016 7:43 am

Hi, Thank you for the answer but I already done this several times - to reset capacitors/remove static electricity.

The problem is that it will not work until the laptop has been charging for several hours. And next time it's on the shelf for a month or 2 I have to do these things again. I never had this problem with my T61 and my R500.

And can't remember having this problem before it were on the shelf for 6 months(1st time since I got it).

And if I turn it off and leave it for a couple of days then it work fine. Only over longer period it won't.

I left it here in the house(Denmark) when I were in the Philippines from december 2015 to end of may 2016(Cold period), and forgot to take out the battery. Then when I returned, I plugged it in(idiot) without letting it heat up to room temp first.

So question is if by doing so, I blew something?
Live life to to fullest:) I do!
Thinkpads: T500, R500, X300 - (dead R61(intel), T61(Nvidia))
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Re: R61 7738-A52 - Won't start, LED goes out when pressing power

#4 Post by RealBlackStuff » Fri Oct 28, 2016 7:51 am

Maybe you just "blew" that one battery?
Any problems with another battery?

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Re: R61 7738-A52 - Won't start, LED goes out when pressing power

#5 Post by Insomniac1971 » Fri Oct 28, 2016 7:55 am

It's the same with all my batteries.

Could it be that the CMOS battery got blewed and that is causing this? I had that on an Acer Travelmate, but here I got error on the screen and after replacing the CMOS battery it worked and it still working.
Live life to to fullest:) I do!
Thinkpads: T500, R500, X300 - (dead R61(intel), T61(Nvidia))
Other: Toshiba Satellite L40-139(dead)

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Re: R61 7738-A52 - Won't start, LED goes out when pressing power

#6 Post by RealBlackStuff » Fri Oct 28, 2016 8:26 am

Remove the palmrest and keyboard, to get at the CMOS battery.
Remove it, then try again to start, it's a possibility.

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Re: R61 7738-A52 - Won't start, LED goes out when pressing power

#7 Post by Insomniac1971 » Fri Oct 28, 2016 8:31 am

I don't have time to do this now, so I will just take my hdd out and put in my external cabinet - Then on monday order new CMOS battery and then replace it - I'm pretty sure now, thats the cause.


Thank you for your input, sometimes its good to bounce ideas of someone else:)

I Will post update here when I get the new CMOS battery:) Should be thursday:)


JBJ
Live life to to fullest:) I do!
Thinkpads: T500, R500, X300 - (dead R61(intel), T61(Nvidia))
Other: Toshiba Satellite L40-139(dead)

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Re: R61 7738-A52 - Won't start, LED goes out when pressing power

#8 Post by thinkpadcollection » Fri Oct 28, 2016 11:59 am

I just had a generic memory module die while R40 was resting on shelf.

Cheers, thinkpadcollection

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Re: R61 7738-A52 - Won't start, LED goes out when pressing power

#9 Post by Insomniac1971 » Mon Nov 21, 2016 4:52 am

Ok, I had time yesterday:

Took it apart and changed the Cmos Battery with a new one - nope
Took it totally apart and changed thermal grease(fell of like dust) with artic silver - nope
Removed modem and wifi - nope
Removed the CPU and looked at it - nothing to see
Re-inserted CPU and tried to start - nope
Removed everything that could be removed from Motherboard tried to turn ON - nope
Removed and tried both RAM seperately - nope

Nope = no reaction except for the Power LED flashing and no reaction from the fan

Conclusion: Dead motherboard or CPU - don't have a CPU to try with.

@#¤%&"*§ :x :evil: :(

Anyone in Denmark that want to pick it up for spareparts can get it for 400 dkk incl. orig. charger and 1 year old 11.1V 6600mAh battery and 2 old ones - 14.1" Widescreen, 2GB Ram, DVD-CDRW, Danish keyboard, Touchpad, HDD caddy + rubber spacers(minus HDD).

I'm not shipping it unless buyer pre-pay and pay for shipping.

EDIT: I tried the above without the battery inserted, and later with battery but without powersupply - nope

Haven't tried without any of the 2 ram modules - as suggested by RealBlackStuff - will do so tomorrow
Last edited by Insomniac1971 on Tue Nov 22, 2016 11:04 am, edited 2 times in total.
Live life to to fullest:) I do!
Thinkpads: T500, R500, X300 - (dead R61(intel), T61(Nvidia))
Other: Toshiba Satellite L40-139(dead)

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Re: R61 7738-A52 - Won't start, LED goes out when pressing power

#10 Post by RealBlackStuff » Mon Nov 21, 2016 5:41 am

One last question:
if you remove all RAM, but everything else is in place, then try to start, does it then beep 1-3-3-1?
If not, you have indeed a dead motherboard. :(

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Re: R61 7738-A52 - Won't start, LED goes out when pressing power

#11 Post by MikalE » Mon Nov 21, 2016 10:18 am

Could it be a bad switching circuit from internal to external power combined with a bad battery?
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Re: R61 7738-A52 - Won't start, LED goes out when pressing power

#12 Post by Insomniac1971 » Fri Aug 18, 2017 10:18 am

Tried without ram - nope

I sell it for parts, as I got my hands full with some nice machines: 15.4" R61, 15.4" R500, 15.4" T500 and last 13.3" X300:)

Thanks for the help guys:)

JBJ
Live life to to fullest:) I do!
Thinkpads: T500, R500, X300 - (dead R61(intel), T61(Nvidia))
Other: Toshiba Satellite L40-139(dead)

Insomniac1971
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Re: R61 7738-A52 - Won't start, LED goes out when pressing power

#13 Post by Insomniac1971 » Sun Sep 17, 2017 10:32 am

Hi guys, lets say I want to make a frankenpad, could I use a T61 motherboard in this R61 laptop?

Or use my parts from this R61 on a T61?

Qualified answer please, from someone who tried this or can read through the jungle of Lenovo parts.

Specs: R61 7738-A52

R61 and R61i Systemboards that fit physically in the laptop(according to my research):

Currently - without 1394 port
42W7842 P42X4682
http://i.ebayimg.com/images/i/281677638 ... -l1000.jpg
http://i.ebayimg.com/images/i/322299770 ... -l1000.jpg

Alternative
42W7868

with 1394 port
42W7843
42W7869
----------------------------------------

T61 systemboards mentioned in the HMM - I need to know if these will fit:

System board assembly, Intel GMA X3100 GM965 with 1394 for T series - FRU# 41W1487

For models:
6378-CTO, 1Xx - 6379-CTO, 1Xx - 6480-CTO
7658-CTO, 11x, 12x, 13x, 14x, 15x, 16x, 17x, 18x, 19x, X2x, X3x, X4x, X6x, X8x, X9x
7659-CTO, 11x, 12x, 13x, 14x, 15x, 16x, 17x, 18x, 19x, 1Ax, 1Bx, 1Cx, 1Dx, 1Ex, 1Fx, 1Gx, 1Hx, 1Jx, 1Kx, 1Lx, 1Mx, 1Nx, 1Px, 1Qx, 2Ax, 2Bx, 2Cx, 2Dx, 2Ex, 2Fx, 2Gx, 2Hx, 2Jx, 2Kx, 2Lx, 2Mx, 2Nx, 2Px, 2Qx, 2Sx, 2Ux, 2Vx, 3Ax, 3Bx, XAx
7660-CTO, 11x, 12x, 13x, 14x, 15x, 16x, 18x, 1Ax, 1Bx, 1Dx
7661-CTO, 11x, 12x, 13x, 14x, 1Nx, 1Px, 2Ax, 2Bx, 2Sx, XAx

System board assembly, Intel GMA X3100 GM965 with 1394 for T series FRU# 42W7866
For models:
6378-CTO
6379-CTO
6480-CTO, P1x, P2x, RSx
7658-CTO, N4x, N5x, N6x, N7x, N8x, N9x, NAx, NBx, NCx, NDx, NEx, NFx, NGx, NHx, NJx, NKx, NLx, RUx, RVx
7659-CTO, 2Tx, N2x, N3x, P1x, P2x, P3x, P4x, P5x, P6x, P7x, P8x, P9x, R8x, R9x, RAx, RBx, RCx, RDx, REx, RFx, RGx
7660-CTO, NWx, P1x, P2x, P3x, P4x, R1x, R2x, R3x, R4x, R5x, R6x, R7x, RPx, RRx, RTx
7661-CTO, P1x, P2x, P3x
Live life to to fullest:) I do!
Thinkpads: T500, R500, X300 - (dead R61(intel), T61(Nvidia))
Other: Toshiba Satellite L40-139(dead)

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Re: R61 7738-A52 - Won't start, LED goes out when pressing power

#14 Post by TPFanatic » Sun Sep 24, 2017 1:49 pm

R61 and T61 14.1" widescreen use the same motherboards and the same lids.

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Re: R61 7738-A52 - Won't start, LED goes out when pressing power

#15 Post by Insomniac1971 » Thu Jun 28, 2018 8:58 am

An update to this old post, I took the laptop down from the shelf where it has been for almost 1½ year, and plugged in the powerplug while holding down the power button and the laptop started up. Turned it off charged the batteries and back on again when my batteries were charged fully - it turned on and could go to bios. I turned it off and left it on carger until next day - then it would not start again and has not since.

I'm selling it for parts.
Live life to to fullest:) I do!
Thinkpads: T500, R500, X300 - (dead R61(intel), T61(Nvidia))
Other: Toshiba Satellite L40-139(dead)

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