Thinkpads Forum

Hi. I have an old 755CD I got on eBay that I use to play old DOS games. It was worked fine for over a year, then it sat around for about 6 months because I was busy with school.

I picked it up recently and tried to boot it up. When I hit the power button, the usual buttons on the LED display flash, but along with the steady battery and power LEDs, the speaker LED flashes repeatedly.

The LCD doesn't light up, and the laptop doesn't get to POST. The battery works and holds a charge, but the laptop doesn't work on AC or battery power. I attached it to a Dock II, and it did the same thing.

I tested the HD and memory card on an old 750C that I had lying around, and they both still work. The AC also works fine.

The Hardware Maintenance Manual gives no explanation for the flashing Speaker LED, so I'm kind of stuck. Anyone have any ideas about what is wrong?

Thanks.

First, locate the red, blue or yellow emergancy button located on the back near the docking port. Using a pen, press it and keep held down for about 10 seconds, flip the power switch a few times while holding down. Now see if the comptuer works properly.

If that doesn't yeild a working result, then try removing the removable drive, memory, cmos battery, main battery and RAM, leave for 10 seconds, flip the power switc several times, put everything back, see if comptuer works then.

Nope, didn't work. I've already started looking for a replacement.

I'm pretty confused, actually. I don't recall having done anything to the laptop that would seriously damage it. The HD, CD-ROM, memory card, and battery still work, so basically I just need a replacement bare 755CD laptop.

It still kinda sucks though, it was working fine for the longest time.

Before you totally give up, I'd try reading through the forums FAQ and through the corresponding IBM manual which is also listed in the FAQ.

Gah. I went through the manual and HMM and couldn't find anything helpful.

In fact, I think I might have made things worse... I accidentally ripped out the standby battery socket. @&$@(*$&@(*$&

I still think this thing might be salvageable, but I'm stuck. Any ideas before I toss this thing out the door?

Well, last ditch effort but if the thing doesn't show image on LCD, then turn it back off then take your finger off the switch then immediatly turn it back on. See if the screen turns on and if not, repeat one or two more times. A while back, I had a 760E that would only turn on once out of every two times I tried until I replaced the motherboard. Reason I say take your finger off the switch is because that stalls you just long enough that you won't turn it back on too soon after but you can still turn it back on quickly.

If this doesn't work, then unless anyone else can come up with suggestions, I suggest either moving on to a different laptop and/or seeing if anyone would be willing to buy the 755 for parts before sending it to the closet or trash bin.

As for the ripped standby battery socket, I don't think it's a problem. At this point, the standby battery is probably dead anyway. Now you just won't be able to install a new one. The standby battery serves the purpose of allowing you to swap main batteries without plugging in the computer without losing any data while the computer is in standby mode. Just so long as the cmos battery is alright, things should be fine as far as batteries go.

Is it at all possible that the display is set to "external" monitor only? Try hitting the Fn plus F7 keys (I think that's right for your 755), and see if the display comes on. Of course, this doesn't address your blinking speaker LED...???

leoblob wrote:Is it at all possible that the display is set to "external" monitor only? Try hitting the Fn plus F7 keys (I think that's right for your 755), and see if the display comes on. Of course, this doesn't address your blinking speaker LED...???

I already tried this... in fact, I tried ALL the Fn key combinations. The computer gives a low beep for each one, but does nothing. Really weird...

Perfect timing too, just when I have an urge to play some Civilization 1...

The problem actually sounds similar to a problem I once had with a ThinkPad 760E where it would do exactly as you say when I first turn it on but then I'd turn it off then back on and it'd work. For some reason, this thing only worked on every other power on. The motherboard was to blame and the problem went away as soon as I replaced the culprit part.