A31 Boot problems

[harshbarj]

I have a ThinkPad a31 that is refusing to boot. I put it in storage almost a year ago and it was a bit flaky then. On pressing the power button the screen lights up and the leds flash but nothing else happens (no fan or hdd). Before I put it in storage on every 3rd or 4th boot it would work. Once powered it was fine.

I have tried pushing on the chipset / gpu / cpu while booting with no luck. I did however notice 2 things. First the cpu stays ice cold (not a good sign). and second the GPU gets rocket hot, I.E. I can't keep my finger on it without a serious burn. I'm actually surprised it does not fry. Any idea what to do here.

[ajkula66]

Remove all the RAM and power the machine on. Does it beep?

[harshbarj]

Remove all the RAM and power the machine on. Does it beep?

I have removed everything (ram /cpu) and nothing causes a beep. Before storage it either worked or did not. It never gave error beeps. I even tried a diferent HDD and ram with no luck.

[rkawakami]

I think you need a CPU in the system before you get the "bad or missing memory" beep code that ajkula66 is looking for. That would at least confirm that the system is mostly working like it should. It's one of the first steps to take when trying to diagnose a general power/no boot problem.

[harshbarj]

Yes you would, but some system (desktop) will at least beep without a processor. I removed the ram first then cpu. Should have made that clear in my last post. looking over the board I see no problems. No burnt traces or components, no blown/bulging caps. All fuses seem to be ok.

[rkawakami]

Not trying to put words into ajkula66's mouth (the resident A31 expert here), but I'd say that you've got a major power problem which can (only?) be solved by dumping the motherboard.

[harshbarj]

That's what I was thinking but the power supply circuity all looks OK. No sign of overheating. I may take my multimeter to it and see if power is even reaching the CPU. I have a replacement system coming that has problems I can fix in minutes and then use the parts from this one to fix that one. So I don't mind if I fry this board (more than it is that is). As I also have my t60 I'm in no rush to fix this system, but a backup would be nice.

[ajkula66]

If that board hasn't beeped with no RAM inserted and the CPU still in it, it's likely as good as gone, so you can play with it all you want...the fact that nothing looks messed up does not equal too much hope on an A3x planar...

Let us know how things turn out for you.

[harshbarj]

What to me says it's dead the the cpu staying cold. I guess it could be a dead cpu but every dead cpu I have ever seen still gets warm. Wonder if my spare desktop 1.5ghz cpu will work in it for testing?? I'm at work now but I may give it a whirl when I get home.

[Harryc]

Desktop CPU will not work. It's a Pentium 4M (Mobile) CPU.