A21p booting problem

[adamspence21]

Hi all, this is my first post, so please forgive my newbiness. I've spent the last few hours reading posts, but nothing matches my problem.

I have an A21p (2629ABA) that won't boot. (Original description: PIII 850MHz (256KB), 256MB RAM, 32.0 GB-HS, 15.0 TFT 1600x1200, 8X-DVD, 3Com Combo, WinNT according to ibm.com) It's in fairly original spec (128+128Mb RAM and Win2K upgraded), it's never been dropped or lightning-struck.

When I press the power button, all I hear is a small click from within the FDD, and the HDD LED lights up very briefly (0.25 sec or so). Then nothing. HDD doesn't spin up, nothing on screen, no beeps, no more LEDs. Absolutely nothing. Same whether battery or AC adapter or both connected. Battery holds good charge because it works in an A22.

This started happening about 6 months ago, and repeated pressing of power button would eventually turn it on. But as time went by, it took more and more presses of the power button to turn it on. No such luck this time 'round.

It's very frustrating because apart from boot-up, the machine works great. I'm thinking it might be something like CMOS battery but not sure, and would appreciate to hear about anyone else's similar experiences.

Many thanks in advance.

Adam

[JHEM]

Replace the CMOS battery, it's dead!

Regards,

James

[adamspence21]

Thanks very much James.

Is the CMOS battery called the Backup Battery in the Hardware maintenance manual? And where do I obtain one? Or do I try cutting the leads and soldering to a new lithium cell?

Thanks again,

Adam

[adamspence21]

Eventually I got around to replacing the CMOS battery with a new one. No change, machine still won't boot. Now I'm really baffled.

I would appreciate any help from anyone who's experienced a similar problem.

Thanks,

Adam

[Deb Suran]

Read the sticky at the top of this section.

[adamspence21]

Oops! Sorry!

Thanks Deb.