Z61t will not power on, Please help.

[UltraLight]

Hello all, I finally found the thinkpad of my dreams a z61t with the titanium screen. It was brand new still in box when i got it about a year ago. It's worked flawlessly up until an hour ago.

I tried to turn it on and nothing happens. There are indicator lights turning on, the hard drive does not spin up, pretty much there is no power of any kind. The battery was fully charged when I turned it off so I know there's nothing wrong with the battery. I have tried multiple power adapters and even tried putting on my ultra-base, but still nothing. My last attempt was to press the power button 10 times and on the 11th time I held it down for 30 seconds.

This forum is probably the most knowledgeable group of thinkpad users I've ever come across so I am hoping that you guys and gals might be able to help me.

[ZaZ]

Pull the memory, hard drive, optical drive, battery and wifi card. Hit the power button 10 times for a second, then once again for 30 seconds. Plug the AC in and hit the power button. If it does not beep, the board is most likely dead and you'll need to replace it. If it does beep, try putting things back one at a time to see if you find the culprit.

[UltraLight]

Thanks Fred, I tried doing everything that you said but nothing worked. I've been having overheating problems and I believe the motherboard might have died on it. For not I'm going to try to find a replacement board through the forum. Thank you very much for your help!

[ZaZ]

You might want to look on ebay too. If you have the time to wait an auction out, you may get a better price.

[UltraLight]

Can i use any motherboard for a Z61T or can i only use the exact one that's in there now?

I found this motherboard on ebay and I think I will end up buying it, but the fru on this one is different than the one inside of mine.

[RealBlackStuff]

Check the Hardware Maintenance Manual for part numbers.
You probably need the same size motherboard as the 'old' one, but it will probably come in 2 flavors, one with nVidia graphics (which you probably have now, and which is known to break down due to bad GPU design) and one with integrated Intel graphics.
I'd go for the latter (as in that eBay auction), unless you need the nVidia horsepower.

[ajkula66]

Actually, the Z61t boards all have Intel Integrated graphics. The possible differences include WWAN support or lack thereof, and the support for Core 2 CPUs...although I have yet to hear of a case where an installation of a Core 2 Duo CPU was unsuccessful when it comes to Z61t...

[underclocker]

All correct regarding the mobo; only Intel graphics and all support Core 2 Duo. Some support DVI out via the dock, some do not. I am not sure if all had WWAN or other connectors or not, but the HMM shows 4 different boards.

All will certainly fit in any Z61t base, but it's best to be sure all the ports and features you need are in the board you're buying before you buy it! Perhaps others have more info.