Thinkpads Forum

Brief:
This has been happening for a long time (several months)... The Speaker icon on the Status Indicator LCD Panel is blinking and the system won't boot.
1) Power on
2) Fan comes on
3) Blinking speaker icon
4) Nothing else; The SI shows battery, etc. and the battery will "drain" when not plugged in, so something is going on.

I found a thread indicating that it could be the "Suspend Button" sticking, but I haven't been able to find anything else. About the only thing that works is taking the laptop apart and putting it back together again. This problem occurs/occured with all of the following configurations:

1) Original configuration: "Stock" 770ed P2-266 w/ 2 x 128MB pc66 ram.
2) Switch out DC/DC for a 770z DC/DC card
3) "Stock" with P2-400
4) "Stock" with P2-400 & 770z DC/DC
5) "Stock" with 770z 4mb Video
6) (3) with (5)
7) (4) with (5)
8) "New" 770x/z System Board w/ P3-500 & 2 x 128mb pc100, 770z DC/DC, 770z 4mb video.
9) I will be re-seating all of (8) tonight... it booted fine 5 times and then went into the "blinking speaker" mode again last night... AARGH!!!

Essentially the only things I haven't tried are new keyboard, new SI panel, and new TFT LCD display.

Any suggestions or recommendations as to what I might look into next? Thank you.

Firstly, I would try to keep the 770E and 770X stuff separate. I think I've swapped back and forth, but you don't know what the problem is and this may cloud the issue. Also, don't use the 770X with a PIII processor until you have solved this problem.

If the speaker icon is flashing, there may be a problem with the sound. The best way into that is Easy Setup (hold F1 while turning on the Thinkpad), then go into Diagnostics (little ambulance) and press Ctrl-A, which starts the diagnostics. Then you can do diagnostics on the Sound card.

One other thing to try in Easy Setup is to initialize the computer.

If you still can't find the problem, go inside and make sure everything is seated properly.

Also, check the secondary BIOS battery (the green thing with 3 cells in it). It should be at least 2.5 volts or you may have a problem there.

And check the CR2025 battery near the memory.

Dying CMOS batteries can cause a lot of really odd problems.

Hope this helps.

Clarification: When the speaker icon is blinking, nothing happens (except for the fan and the SI display coming on), and nothing can be done. So, you can't get into Easy Setup. As I originally posted, I'm reseating everything tonight and expect to be able to boot again (per prior experience). The last time, with the "stocK" setup, it took 2 times of reseating everything.

Summary:

Already verified CMOS & Secondary batteries are "good"
Have run diagnostics multiple times:
1) On the "stock" setup, all systems report "good" in diagnostics.
2) With the P2-400 in the "stock" 770ed, all systems report "good" in diagnostics.
3) With the 770x DC/DC (which holds the sound stuff, if I remember), all systems report "good"

With all the 770x/z stuff, I haven't had the chance to run diagnostics yet. I also have a new P2-366 coming in and a new keyboard assembly coming in... hopefully by Monday.

It seems quite odd to me that the same problem occurs with completely different system boards, memory, DC/DC cards, CPUs, Hard Drives and video cards.

Does anyone know if there is some logic in the keyboard or Status Indicator assembly that might "stick" and keep the computer in "suspend" mode? I'm grasping at straws here. Thanks.

Update:

I reseated everything on the "stock" configuration last night. Twice. It is still acting the same. I have ordered a "new" keyboard bezel assembly that includes the SI panel. We'll see if that makes any difference.

Just for grins, I got a new 2025 cmos battery last night too... the one's I had were still "good" but a little low. Now they're new. All batteries are fully charged, etc.

Sounds for all the world like bad dc-dc cards. I would not switch them between models as they all carry a different part number and they could damage something or themselves if put in the wrong model. They are available cheaply enough on ebay.

The DC/DC card 12J0413 (for the 770s) and 10L0890 (for the 770e/ed) were "replaced" by the 10L1022 (for the 770x/z). I found the reference a while back in an obscure web page, and I think it was on IBM's site, but I haven't been able to find it since... that's why I have both the "stock" 10L0890 and the new "factory tested" 10L1022 now... and what started me down the path of the 770x/z hardware.

Anyway, looking at the two boards, they appear identical... same resistors & capacitors in the same spots, same chips, etc. maybe there's some etching differences or differences in the resistors/capacitors/etc. but they appear the same... just with different fru numbers.

Can anyone confirm this "replacement," either way (true or false)? Thanks.

I have had your blinking speaker icon problem a number of times on my 700ED. The problem was always cleared by removing the Enhanced Video Adapter, booting without it, turning it back off, then re-inserting the EVA. I don't know why but that has always done the trick for me.

Did you get your 770ED to work? I have this problem and can't get it to POST.

Well if you have the 770X/Z motherboard, 770X/Z Dc/Dc card, and 770X/Z videocard everything should work ok.

The things that are different from the 770E/ED are the:
1.)modem
2.)upper shield
3.)lower shield (should should have had fitment issues when trying to mount the MMC-2 processor).
4.)Dc/Dc Card
5.)Videocard
6.)Fan assembly

I would say that the problem is a shorting problem (the motherboard is shorting on the lower shield) because when I was trying to convert my 770ED to run my MMC-2 750 I could never get the 770X/Z motherboard to sit right in the shell and it seemed like something was hitting the lowershield.Either that or the problem is being caused by the modem but since you said that the thing boots once you reset things it boots. Two words then Electrical tape...

But try this:

Take the motherboard and put some RAM in it. Set it on your work area and put the DC/DC, video, modem, and PCMCIA cards in and hook up an external monitor (to see whats happening, its in convient to hook up the LCD) and power it on.


I was doing the same things you were but once I found the 770X/Z motherboard everyone on ebay wanted an arm and a leg for all the other parts I needed so I just bought a 770X.

Hi,

I am having the exact same problem as described in this post and I am wondering if you ever found a solution?

All batteries are Ok/replaced and speaker light is flashing.

Thanks,

Wayne