Thinkpads Forum

IBM Thinkpad Brick: I've recently come into posession of an IBM 600E Thinkpad. As a Mac user, I don't plan for this to be my main machine. But it'd be great if I could use it to test web design work, and perhaps to tinker with Linux. The problem is, it won't turn on. What's the best way to have it looked at and perhaps repaired? I don't particularly want to go to the local CompUSA and would like a solid estimate before sinking any money into it.

I live in Chicago, so a reputable local repair option would be ideal. I also wouldn't mind sending it somewhere for diagnosis and possible repair.

More details: The power brick itself seems to be working as I get a blinking yellow light from the machine when I plug it in.

I let it charge overnight, but it was still dead this morning. It might be the battery, but the machine doesn't even when plugged into the wall.

Unfortunately, it sounds like your motherboard is dead.

You can pick up a replacement board on eBay, and there are a few eBay sellers that might be recommended for their replacement of the board along with the purchase of the board...assuming that you didn't feel like taking on the task yourself.

It could be the CMOS battery too.

Remove everything: hard disk, memory, optical drive, battery, etc. and see if it will do anything when powered up.

If you are AT ALL handy, you should download your hardware maintenance manual (see the FAQ on this site) and perform your power system check.

And test your CMOS battery, or unplug it and take it to a battery store for a test, or to get a new one.

The blinking light means your main battery is likely toasted. Lenovo is still making and selling new main batteries for the 600 series for $59.

Unlikely it's your CMOS battery as you will get an error code on your screen if this is the case....actually, usually 2 of them as the CMOS battery also turns on the fan initially, so you'll get the fan error code along with the CMOS battery code. Yes, the blinking yellow is usually a sign of a bad battery. Could be the AC/DC board that screws into the mainboard. No juice to the machine due to this board not converting the voltage correctly, or just enough that the battery blinks. You can find the AC/DC board on eBay too. It would be cheaper to try it first before going the whole mainboard route. Good luck!

Excellent idea about the voltage converter, but it's a DC/DC card. It's called a "sub card" in the 600X manual, and maybe the 600E manual too.

Did u tried to hold powerswitch on little while?
Does any other ligt turn on/flash?

http://www.cmicro.blogspot.com/

Check them out. they're pretty good, and cheap.