a31 2653-bu3 dead sytem board replacement question

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IBM4ME · #1 Post by **IBM4ME** » Wed Nov 30, 2005 10:43 pm

My A31 will not boot up, just get the green light.
When I research the IBM site for parts I can not find the specific system board for an A31 1.6GHz that is model 2653, let alone a 2653-BU3 so I am not sure how to cross reference. On Ebay I have located a sytem board that is P4-M 1.8GHz M7 32Mb. The board is supposed to be compatible with Thinkpad A31 and A31p systems (2652-Dxx, Exx, Mxx - compatible with 93P3542 & 26P8231 motherboards), but not sure if it will work with my 2653-BU3 A31 1.6GHZ. Can anyone shed some light or direct me to a place I can get information about compatibility? Thanks in advance!

a31pguy · #2 Post by **a31pguy** » Mon Dec 05, 2005 6:43 pm

IBM Field Maintienance guide with the FRU parts numbers will list some of the compatible part numbers.

Be warned - there are few factory new parts available any more. My last motherboard was a refurb from IBM field service.

IBM4ME · #3 Post by **IBM4ME** » Wed Dec 07, 2005 12:00 pm

I tried to find it on-line and I only could find the Hardware Maintenance Manual on the IBM site. It only lists the exact system board that originally came with the computer, doesn't give any real crossreference. Mine is a 1.4 and the new one is a 1.8 so it only shows only what models they came in from the factory, but why couldnt the 1.8 work just fine, especially since you can increase to 2.6? Thx

#4 Post by **underclocker** » Sun Dec 11, 2005 9:19 am

Any A31 system board should work. I just revived my A31 2652-C3U, by buying one of these;

http://cgi.ebay.com/IBM-Thinkpad-A30-A3 ... dZViewItem

It took about 90 minutes of careful disassembly and reassembly. But it worked great. The difference between this board and the other is the memory for the video chipset 16mb vs. 32mb.

Good luck.

Ed A.

P.S. The $130 price is excellent. Lowest in a year.

Frank Ponte · #5 Post by **Frank Ponte** » Sun Dec 11, 2005 9:55 am

Before you replace the system board check both USB ports for "bunged" pins. I've seen two instances of shorted pins on A31 / A31P's causing boot up problems. On both laptops, one of the USB pins was pushed back and shorted to another or ground. I was able to straighten the pin and isolate it. The USB port was bad so I filled it with some silicone sealer to prevent future use and further problems.

Seems to happen on units that are used frequently with an external mouse or USB accessories. Using a port replicator or docking station can prevent this problem.

Another possibility before you replace the system board, remove the power adapter and battery, cycle the power switch 10 times and hold it on for 15 seconds on the 11th. Reinstall the battery and and power adapter and attempt to reboot, enter bios setup, select defaults and save.

Happy Holidays!
Frank

IBM4ME · #6 Post by **IBM4ME** » Mon Dec 12, 2005 4:29 pm

I checked the USB connections onto the board and they seemed very straight. With respect to the cycling of the power switch, so that I am clear, you cycle the switch with no power connected?

I saw those on ebay, Would getting the 1.8 GHz board bet better or does it not make any difference since the cpu is not included?

Thx,
Chris

#7 Post by **underclocker** » Mon Dec 12, 2005 5:34 pm

The 1.8GHz board has 32mb for video, the 1.6GHz board has 16mb. I bought the board with 16mb becasue that is what I removed (as with you), but I don't suppose much should change. Perhaps a video adapter redetect in Windows XP. After my swap, there wasn't any redection of anything. Must have been exactly the same everything as removed. (I did have to upgrade the BIOS and embedded controller software.)

I have never heard of such a thing as pressing the power switch 11 times without a battery or A/C, but I think this is awesome!!! Perhaps if you spin around once in between each press and shout "hallelujah", there would be a greater chance of success! It reminds me of baseball batters' superstitions - tapping bat, walking in circles, etc. I might just try this at the office. I'm thinking about reinstalling my old system board (another 90 minutes, then 90 more to put the new one back) just to try it! Awesome! Whether it works or not, that dude is a ThinkPad god just for coming up with it.

Good luck.

P.S. Do not attempt the system board swap without a copy of the IBM A31 Hardware Maintenance Manual by your side!

IBM4ME · #8 Post by **IBM4ME** » Thu Dec 22, 2005 9:57 pm

New board arrived today. I installed it, When I push the power button, it lights up the power button just as before and does nothing else, JUST A BEFORE. The HD is spinning but is not booting up the system, and there is no beeps or video. ANY IDEAS??? Thanks Chris

#9 Post by **underclocker** » Sun Dec 25, 2005 8:59 pm

That is very unfortunate.

I'd do the following;

1) Don't throw away the old board!!!

2) Remove every peripheral possible, one at a time, and see if the machine will POST or boot. All drives, all memory but one SODIMM, battery, WiFi, etc. Perhaps you have a bad item.

You might also want to try connecting an external display to the machine, in the event it is your panel that is bad.

Hopefully this will work.

Good luck.

underclocker

chan_man · #10 Post by **chan_man** » Tue Dec 27, 2005 10:03 am

IBM4ME wrote:New board arrived today. I installed it, When I push the power button, it lights up the power button just as before and does nothing else, JUST A BEFORE. The HD is spinning but is not booting up the system, and there is no beeps or video. ANY IDEAS??? Thanks Chris

This is EXACTLY what happened to me when I had the same problem with my A22P, only the green light would go on, nothing else. Found a motherboard on eBay for $65.00 and replaced it. Put everything together and same problem. Now I have a pile of parts...

IBM4ME · #11 Post by **IBM4ME** » Mon Jan 02, 2006 7:39 am

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL !!!!!

Ok, I have taken every removable item off one at a time, and put it back on one at a time, but still NOTHING, even when I remove the memory stick it doesn't give the series of beeps that it supposed to and DID prior to the board replacements.

One thing I noticed is that apparently I am missing the CMOS battery I have ordered a new one from eBay. Could this possibly have caused this problem?

Any other possible issues I need to look at considering it has a new motherboard?

Thanks,
Chris

LtTPfan · #12 Post by **LtTPfan** » Mon Jan 02, 2006 9:35 am

Did you get a "new" board or used board, one with a warranty? You said you removed each removable device one at a time but did you remove all of them at once? I'd take out everything, CD/DVD, FDD, HDD, Mini-PCI card, CDC, PCMCIA cards, batteries, everything; and try booting with only the power supply, then with only the battery. (It's not unheard of to have a power supply that will charge a battery but not allow the machine to boot, nor is it unheard of to have a machine not boot due to a bad battery.) Swap your DIMM to the other slot or better yet, try to borrow a known working DIMM.

I believe not having a CMOS battery will give you error or beep codes.

a31 2653-bu3 dead sytem board replacement question

a31 2653-bu3 dead sytem board replacement question

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