Completely dead Z61M, need help, where do I begin?

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wpod · #1 Post by **wpod** » Sun Jul 05, 2009 1:19 pm

Greetings- First Post. My very reliable (until this morning), barely two year old Z61M shut off (no noise or smoke) while I was in the midst of organizing pictures that I had taken on a recent trip out of the country. The laptop will not light up at all (NOTHING!) using battery and/or AC adaptor .Where should I begin to troubleshoot? I have already removed the battery and it seems to test fine (Fluke DMM) outside of the computer, same with the AC adaptor. I'm really hoping that there is an accessible fuse, circuit breaker, or relay that is user serviceable. I should mention, the Z61M travelled to Israel with me last week on my first ever vacation, operated flawlessly on 220vac, and has worked fine for the last five days back here in Providence, R.I. on 120vac. Suggestion? Thanks very much, regards, Paul

#2 Post by **RealBlackStuff** » Sun Jul 05, 2009 1:52 pm

Welcome to the forum.
If you have any warranty left on it, send it in for repair.
Doesn't sound like a DIY affair.
If not, start looking for a new motherboard, either here in our Market forum or on eBay.
If you have Intel graphics, reckon with $90-100. If other, ca. $250 upwards
Search eBay with "ibm z61m motherboard"

echorobotics · #3 Post by **echorobotics** » Sun Jul 05, 2009 3:57 pm

Sounds like a dead motherboard. Like RealBlackStuff said, try ebay or something.

#4 Post by **RealBlackStuff** » Sun Jul 05, 2009 8:56 pm

What you could try: take out everything removable (hard disk, CD/DVD, wifi card, PCMCIA card(s), modem, bluetooth, both RAM modules).
Try to boot, if there is any life left in it, it should beep 1-3-3-1.
If you hear nothing, your mobo is as dead as a dodo.

ajkula66 · #5 Post by **ajkula66** » Sun Jul 05, 2009 10:51 pm

If the machine beeps with no RAM, try this: remove the hard and media drives, battery and unplug the AC adapter. Press the "power" button ten times in a row, holding it down for ten seconds each time, and thirty seconds the last time around.

Plug the adapter (but nothing else) back in and try to power on.

Good luck.

wpod · #6 Post by **wpod** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 11:20 am

I really appreciate it. I should have mentioned earlier, I'm not afraid to get my hands dirty and DIY, although most of my electronic experience has been with vacuum tube circuits. I've scratch built my own tube amplifiers (single-ended and PP), preamps, and horn speakers over the past 12 years or so. I've never even looked inside of my laptop, but I had always envisioned a seperate power supply with a switching mechanism to allow for battery or transformer use. Are you stating that the power supply is intergrated into the motherboard and could not be repaired/replaced seperately? How interchangable are the parts between the different series of Lenovo laptops (Z, M, T, etc.)? My thought was, that if I couldn't find JUST a motherboard for this Z 61m unit, that I could purchase a similar laptop so long as parts were interchangable. After I try booting the unit with all of the "removables" taken out as suggested, I'll be tempted to look for "damage" under the hood. Is there one particular component on the motherboard that I should be looking at for discoloration (overheating) or other anomolies? Also forgot to mention, the laptop was always used in conjunction with an Antec (sp?) cooling device (usb powered fans). Thanks again, regards, Paul, Providence, R.I.

mr.motoring · #7 Post by **mr.motoring** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 1:22 pm

I've had that happen to me with an A31p plugged in while in Windows... Suddenly it switched over to battery power, then a second later, it shut off. Turned it on and received the 0190 Critical low battery error. Tried to turn it on again, but it died for good. I opened the bottom memory door and did smell a faint odor of burned-chip, but never did find out what happened.

I do have a working Z61m that has a weird problem with the LCD (half of it displays, the other half will if you apply a little thumb pressure to it), but the motherboard is good. If you're interested, lemme know.

#8 Post by **RealBlackStuff** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 2:51 pm

The powersupply (i.e. adapter) is an external unit.
The rest of the charging circuits is integrated on the motherboards.
Nobody outside of IBM has ever seen any diagrams, so your guess for a 'bad spot' is as good as the next guy's.
Compare mr. motoring's Type/model with yours, may be just what you are looking for!

wpod · #9 Post by **wpod** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 5:44 pm

Greetings- Well, I pulled the bottom cover off today and took some pictures of the mobo. There is clearly a scorched area the size of a quarter on the board in the corner near the fan and where the external monitor hookup is. I'd post a picture if I knew how. I tried all of the recommended fixes but nothing worked. If I can't find a good used or new motherboard or whole Z61m (please check your IMs, mr. motoring), I may buy something new in the 5-700 dollar range, been looking at NewEgg's selection. Suggestions?? Thank you, Paul

#10 Post by **ZaZ** » Tue Jul 07, 2009 1:40 am

wpod wrote:Suggestions?

Buy a system board on eBay. Like RBS said you can probably get one eBay with the Intel GPU for less the $100. Seems like a better move than spending $500-700 on a new machine. What's your machine type? The board is not that tough to do, less difficult than the LCD.

wpod · #11 Post by **wpod** » Fri Jul 10, 2009 1:10 pm

Hello again- Not sure if this is what you were asking, the machine type/model is a 9450-A38, built in 2007-08-26. Being my first laptop, I purchased it new from a local guy on Craigslist, sealed in the box, originally purchased at Staples . regards, Paul

#12 Post by **RealBlackStuff** » Fri Jul 10, 2009 2:05 pm

If you fill in the 'blanks' on this screen:
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... yle=lenovo
it'll show you a list of the original part numbers ex factory.
You'll want to know the P/N or FRU of the motherboard (or 'planar' in IBM speak)

wpod · #13 Post by **wpod** » Fri Jul 10, 2009 6:58 pm

Greetings- Wow!- Thanks for that great link. The "blanks" are as follows:Model =9450, Ser.# = L3CD973. Would the number for the replacement board be 44M5712 by chance? I had written that down after I did the autopsy. Thank You, Paul

#14 Post by **RealBlackStuff** » Sat Jul 11, 2009 6:34 am

No, your mobo is this: 42W7744 / 42W7743 SYSTEM PLANAR; FRU PLANAR CARD ASM 945GM
which has Intel graphics integrated.

The number 44M5712 does not exist AFAIK.

On eBay I found this: http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-IBM-Thinkpad-Z6 ... 0443624989
which seems fully compatible (and cheap).
Only difference according to the HMM, is that your original board is an OA2 version, and the eBay board is not.
Can someone please explain OA2?

Completely dead Z61M, need help, where do I begin?

Completely dead Z61M, need help, where do I begin?

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Re: Completely dead Z61M, need help, where do I begin?

Re: Completely dead Z61M, need help, where do I begin?

Re: Completely dead Z61M, need help, where do I begin?

Thanks so much for all of the help thus far.....

Re: Completely dead Z61M, need help, where do I begin?

Re: Completely dead Z61M, need help, where do I begin?

Re: Completely dead Z61M, need help, where do I begin?

Re: Completely dead Z61M, need help, where do I begin?

Re: Completely dead Z61M, need help, where do I begin?

Re: Completely dead Z61M, need help, where do I begin?

Re: Completely dead Z61M, need help, where do I begin?

Re: Completely dead Z61M, need help, where do I begin?

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