T41 security chip issue

[lather]

I have a T41 that I use mainly to run programs I don't want cluttering up the HDD on my main laptop. Today, I went to fire it up as I had something I needed to do on it, and encountered a couple of issues.

When it first booted up, I got the bleeps and numeric error codes that I know signifies it needs a new CMOS battery, which isn't scary as I've swapped them over a number of times in various Thinkpads over the years. So I reset the clock and continued the boot-up, which promptly hung at the Thinkpad splash screen. After giving it ages to see if it moved on to the next stage (it didn't), I had no other choice than to force a hard shutdown via the power button.

After letting it sit there for a few minutes while I went to make a coffee, I came back and tried again. This time, I got the dreaded 4-4-4 bleeps and blank screen, which the hardware maintenance manual tells me is a security chip issue. From what I can gather, this usually means a full system board replacement. But, before I go ahead with such a drastic move, I just want to check and see if there's any secret little tricks they don't tell you about that can revive the machine without the need to do a full strip and rebuild.

So are there any tricks I can try, or have I just got to break out the screwdrivers and get busy with the dismantling?

[ajkula66]

Try the old "rubber ducky approach"...

Remove the battery, hard and media drives, unplug the AC adapter.

Press the "power" button ten times in a row, holding it down for ten seconds each time and thirty seconds the last time around.

Plug the adapter - but nothing else - in and try to power on.

Good luck.

[lather]

Thanks for the tip. Will that work with a dead CMOS battery, or should I replace that first?

[ajkula66]

Thanks for the tip. Will that work with a dead CMOS battery, or should I replace that first?

I'd definitely replace the CMOS battery first.

Good luck.

[lather]

I thought at much, but you never know! As I've not got one in the house, I've ordered one online and am just waiting for it to arrive. Once I've got it swapped over, I'll give it a go.

Just to clear things up, is it a total of ten presses, nine each of ten seconds, and then the tenth for thirty seconds, or ten presses of ten seconds, followed by another of thirty seconds? I'm guessing that it is a total of ten, but again I just want to make sure.

[RealBlackStuff]

Actually one press/hold down for 20 seconds does the same...

[kfzhu1229]

I thought at much, but you never know! As I've not got one in the house, I've ordered one online and am just waiting for it to arrive. Once I've got it swapped over, I'll give it a go.

Btw if you are *VERY* impatient about the eBay wait time for the new CMOS battery with the connector to arrive, you can make one by de-welding the original battery, tape the new one (any CR2032 or CR2016 will do) with foil tape (of course, make sure about the polar alignment and also not tape it in one piece and short it out), and then wrap it around with electrical tape. Not pretty, but certainly does the job done in a hurry. Did that to my T23 which I was too lazy to order another batch of CMOS batteries with that connector.

[lather]

Fitted the new CMOS battery, tried the 10 presses and..... It's alive!!

So it seems like, in this case at least, that trick works for a security chip issue.

Thanks for all the help!

[kfzhu1229]

I think it might be a conflict problem that only exists after CMOS data loss. I have similar things with BIOS device conflicts on my T22 for some reason, and also solved after me putting a working CMOS battery so that CMOS info doesn't get lost again.

[nexgardvietnam]

I think it conflict

[alanruther]

I've got the same problem - fitting the new CMOS battery didn't work for me