Thinkpads Forum

I have a 3.5 year old Thinkpad T430S, that suddenly refuses to start. The beep codes (4 short beeps, 4 short beeps, 4 short beeps, 4 short beeps) indicate security chip error/problem, as far as I can google.

"Four cycles of four short beeps and a blank screen. System board (security chip)"

The machine is outside warrenty/support, so I am interested in any suggestions or solutions.
I suspect that replacing the mainboard is a bit too expensive for a 3.5 year old machine.

You can switch that security chip off in the BIOS.

Apparently not, since the error prevents me from ever reaching the BIOS

Shot in the dark. Disconnect the power, remove the battery, take out the RAM, take out the hard drive. Let it bake for a while. Put only the bare minimum RAM if you have more than one SODIMM, even leave out the Drive and see if you can get into the BIOS.

If you have the luxury of using DIFFERENT RAM try that. I have had some crazy boot issues on my T430s and once bad RAM caused errors that pointed to something else and switching it out got me back up & running.

Good luck.