Startup problem with A20m

[Ideaman7777]

I have an A20m that suddenly went dead, and since then I have only been able to start it once for a few minutes, after which it went dead again. Since then, when I press the start button, I hear a soft quick "thuwck" sound coming from inside, and the HD LED flashes once very briefly. I was told that the cause might be the CMOS backup battery or perhaps the microprocessor chip came unseated. So I checked, and the battery measured 2.88 volts (more than 2.5 volts is acceptable). Likewise, the microprocessor chip was firmly held down by the cast fan housing so there was no possible way that the chip could have come loose. Thus, at this point, I am wondering what the probability is that the cause is a bad motherboard, and what else might cause this particular set of symptoms. And what to do about it. Not that it matters, but FYI I am using Windows 98SE, and the computer is equipped with a 192 MB of RAM and a 500 MHz Celeron. Thank you for your time and assistance.

[Deb Suran]

See these two discussions:
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=1611
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=2178

Cleaning the contacts with alcohol seems to be the key in some cases.