Thinkpads Forum

Here is the story in brief: I had found a working 700 PS/2 in great condition, but when the seller and I met, the thinkpad did not power up. The seller was keen on getting rid of it so he just gave it to me.

I tested the machine again later that evening and it still wouldn't work: when I try to power it up, the screen flashes once, and then shuts off again. Once in every ten tries or so, the screen keeps blinking and I can hear the HDD trying to spin up, but nothing else happens.

Now, normally I would just admit it is dead, but there is a twist: the laptop came in a sort of briefcase, bundled with an IBM printer, and there is only one power supply for the laptop and the printer:



The printer still powers on and seems to be working, but I can't shake the feeling that the 700's problems are PSU-related. Do you think it is possible or should I give up all hope?

That picture shows an error code on the screen, have you looked it up?

Sorry, it was confusing: that's not an actual picture of my 700. It's just exactly the same carrying briefcase as mine.

Mine does not show any error code.

I would suggest opening up the case, and measure the PSU with a Multimeter.
If the printer starts, it would seem to work.
Switch off the printer to keep all the 'juice' for the 700. Any better?

pull the battery, it may power up then. If you need a reference disk I may have them. Those were Microchannel and the HDD's were SCSI not IDE if the HDD was replaced with an IDE one I think it kills the computer (been years since i worked on one so please feel free to chime in if I'm wrong)

Thanks for all the advice. To give you an update, there is hope: I had a little time today to test the 700 further, and disconnecting the printer allowed it to startup ( ), BUT there is nothing on screen. It seems like it completes a normal boot sequence, from what I can tell (there is activity on the floppy drive, the lights seems to work correctly, there is no beep, etc.). I tried using the various slider and buttons (light, contrast, etc.), to no avail. Any more ideas?

The HDD was not changed. Apparently it's not even SCSI, it's some weird connector that was only used in Microchannel computers.

I will not try anything with the battery - according to the seller, the problems started when he tried to remove the battery to check it.

The HDD in the caddy is SCSI I don't see how pulling the battery could cause an issue. I have seen 770's that the screen wouldn't light with the wrong voltage adapter. That might be your issue.

I thought the 700 had ESDI, not SCSI. Anyway, thank you for your advice about the voltage. I will try to find a newer power adapter on eBay or something since there are obviously some issues with the one I have.

martin255 wrote:I thought the 700 had ESDI, not SCSI. Anyway, thank you for your advice about the voltage. I will try to find a newer power adapter on eBay or something since there are obviously some issues with the one I have.

it might be, it's been YEARS since I've worked on one. Regardless I seem to recall I killed one with an IDE drive LOL
I'm going to go check to see if I still have one, (I may) Now I'm curious. I know the old apples were.

Yes, hard drives in the 700C were ESDI, hence the PS/2 in the name.

Paul Pennington wrote:Yes, hard drives in the 700C were ESDI, hence the PS/2 in the name.

My PS/2 Mod 80 was SCSI, Yes I know many older ones were ESDI, mine was SCSI... 120MB baby LOL I also had many PS/2 Mod 50z's that were not ESDI. (and pretty much several dozen every other model) You know there were PS/2's that were not Michrochannel either right? Not getting into a pissing match, I'll admit I was wrong on the 700C (unless I still have any and can get a model number off the HDD) but I will say PS/2 did not mean ESDI or Microchannel.