R50p won't boot, black screen, fan keeps spinning

[peter_d]

Hi,

I tried searching for this issue on the forum, but I couldn't find it (I did find similar issues for other models, but the solutions there didn't help). If there's already a topic about this, I apologize for creating a duplicate one.

All of a sudden my R50p won't boot. I'm running Linux and suspend the laptop instead of shutting it off. Once in 1-2 weeks I reboot. Today, it didn't recover from suspended. It turned on with a black screen so I turned it off completely and tried powering it up, with no success.

The symptons are:

- Fan test starts but never ends, fan keeps spinning at max speed.
- HDD spins.
- Black screen.
- No error beeps.

What I've tried:

- Removing the BIOS battery backup for 5 minutes. Even tried booting with the battery removed.
- Removing RAM -- at this point I'm getting 1+3+3+1 beeps. No beeps if there's a module in either of the slots.
- Disconnecting fan -- screen still black, no fan error message.
- Removing HDD -- screen still black, no HDD error message.

I don't know what order the boot-up tests are performed in, but the RAM test evidently finishes, the fan test starts but doesn't finish.

I use the laptop as a desktop replacement, I don't move it around, I don't close the lid. I use it for browsing, pic and document handling, etc. I used to play games on it, and it became clear that the GPU's passive heatsink fails miserably, so I've removed it and replaced the CPU heatsing with a T4xp one, so the GPU has been actively cooled since I got the laptop about 5 years ago.

I'm afraid the motherboard may have died. I hope it didn't, because I love this machine. Its display is wonderful, that was one of the main reasons I bought it. Most laptops I see in the stores have infinite RAM and HDD space but are equipped with a pathetic screen.


Thanks in advance.


Peter

[rkawakami]

Welcome to thinkpads.com!

From your description, it sounds like you might only have a display issue, not a non-booting system. Have you tried connecting an external monitor to see if there's a video signal coming out the VGA port?

[peter_d]

Thanks!

If it was a display issue, wouldn't the boot-up process finish? Unfortunately I don't have an external monitor. I'm trying to get one to test.

[rkawakami]

Yes it would but without a display to know that the OS loaded the desktop, how would you know? It still could be a motherboard/boot issue seeing how the fan keeps spinning (I'm assuming that it used to stop; I don't have my own R50 handy at the moment). Another thing you could try would be to use the Fn+F7 key combination to switch between the LCD and external display modes, even before you attach the monitor.

[peter_d]

Yes, the fan always stopped. It's just turned on for test and turned off after 1-2 seconds. Also, if the OS was loaded I would hear the HDD working and see its led blinking, none of which is happening.

[ajkula66]

Turn the machine on, press the "caps lock" key.

Does the LED for it light up and stay lit?

[peter_d]

No, the LED doesn't light up.

[ajkula66]

I'm sorry to say that the board is most likely gone.

[peter_d]

I found a board on eBay, but I'm not sure I want to experiment with that. If I could get my hands on a new one than maybe. But buying a used one, seeing how it can die without any excessive use, is quite a risk, plus the laptop's specs are pretty outdated, except the fantastic screen.

Boards of which models fit the R50p? I think the T41p and T42p should fit, but the T43p has a newer GPU.

[RealBlackStuff]

If your screen is SXGA+ (1400x1050), you could use the mobo from an R52 with Intel graphics (I have one for sale, incl. GPU).
But if it is UXGA or QXGA, you will need any T4x/R5x mobo with ATI graphics, even the 32MB ATI 7500.
Better would be 64MB ATI 9000/9600 or 128MB FireGL, but all of these are quite rare nowadays.

All motherboards are interchangeable within the T4x/R5x series.
The cut-off line is T40/T41/T42 and R50/R51, they use a 400MHz CPU and DDR RAM PC2100/PC2700.
The next generation T43 and R52 uses a 533MHz CPU and much cheaper DDR2 RAM PC2-4200/PC2-5300).

R5x fans are thicker and do not fit in T4x cases, but v.v. is OK.
All ATI GPU fans will fit and work on Intel GPU boards, but not the other way around (they fit but do NOT work OK).
R50/R51 have different PCMCIA cages, that do not fit on T4x boards and v.v. does not work either.
14.1" and 15" boards all have the same dimensions. In 15" models an interposer/extender/expander strip is added to make up for the extra width.
That's about it.

[peter_d]

My screen is UXGA. I tried searching for some boards, but I probably won't take my chances with a used one. I'm leaning towards buying a new machine, probably an all-in-one PC. Thanks everyone for the help!