T40 - Stuck on Boot Screen!

[Darkwin]

Hello guys stumbled across this forum a few minutes ago and since im having some issues with my laptop i thought someone could point me in the right direction. I purchased a T40 off eBay the computer came without a HDD so i purchased a Fujitsu 160gb separately. The problem im going through is that the computer is stuck, its just not doing anything when i turn it on it stays on the booting screen that shows the Thinkpad,Intel & Lenovo logos it says "To Interrupt normal startup, press the blue ThinkVantage button."

However when i try to press any button at all, whether it is F1, DEL, ENTER, the blue button it does nothing. I triedalso sticking a linux live CD and seeing if it would boot it, it reads it and im able to hear it spinning and reading it but the screen is just stuck there on the same boot screen. Any help would be appreciate it. Thanks!!

[RealBlackStuff]

Welcome to the forum.
Just putting in a hard disk, does not do very much.
You would also need to install an operating system.
To correctly mount the hard disk, it needs to be in a caddy with 4 screws:
( like this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Hard-Drive-Cadd ... 1001050890 )
It also needs to go in upside down (label to the table).
After you do this correctly, switch on and hit F1 immediately to go into BIOS.
Select Startup and then Boot.
If your HD is OK, you should see it in there after IDE HDD0.

[Darkwin]

I have done everything correctly and i am 100% the issue isn't with the HDD as i tested it out on my other computer and it worked fine. I have recorded a quick video of the problem: http://youtu.be/TNfTiJRJfkk

Thanks in advance for the help!

UPDATE: After having to switch over the HDD i bought to another laptop formatting it and then putting it back on the T40 im still having the same problem. My HDD isn't booting im stuck on the booting screen and can't access the BIOS options... Its beginning to get a bit frustrating.

[Neil]

The motherboards in this series of ThinkPads have weak solder joints especially on the GPU and Southbridge chips, the breakdown of which often manifests in various ways, one of which is to hang at the ThinkPad splash screen.

This may, or may not, be the case with yours, but it's looking that way to me.

[Darkwin]

The motherboards in this series of ThinkPads have weak solder joints especially on the GPU and Southbridge chips, the breakdown of which often manifests in various ways, one of which is to hang at the ThinkPad splash screen.

This may, or may not, be the case with yours, but it's looking that way to me.

So would you recommend replacing the motherboard? If so i will mine-aswell do that immediately. Thanks for the help!

[Neil]

Yeah, a replacement is probably in order. If you want to experiment a little, you could try booting while applying a little pressure to the GPU (under the keyboard) and/or the Southbridge chip (under the palm rest and wifi adapter). Try each, one at a time. If it boots with pressure applied...then you will literally have your finger on the culprit.