POLL: My A31p has failed. Repair or let it RIP?

[ajkula66]

Yes. It has finally happened.

The GPU on my beloved A31p has gone haywire.

Started with random freezings and report of video driver crashing about a month ago.

Yes, I knew what was eventually going to occur. I also knew that there was absolutely nothing I could possibly do about it.

Heartbroken I am.

No good spare planars left in my basement.

End of life support for XP coming pretty soon.

The beautiful IPS LCD getting dimmer and dimmer.

Should I repair it, and try to restore it to its full glory, or just let it rest in peace?

[rumbero]

As you only provide negative reasons to get rid of it, and not a single one to the contrary, this appears to be pretty much decided already. Thus not unnecessarily voting in this superfluous poll. Be a man, just do it.

[Neil]

I say repair it if possible. My own A31p is on it's last leg too. Sound has stopped working and LCD is fairly red at start-up, but at least the GPU still seems OK.

Problem is good replacement parts, especially system boards, are extremely rare.

[RealBlackStuff]

Logical answer: replace with a T601FL Frankenpad with T61 Intel mobo, UXGA LED screen and SSD.
Instead of CD/DVD, put in an Ultrabay SATA adapter and SATA HD up to 1TB.
In other words: let it RIP

[ajkula66]

As you only provide negative reasons to get rid of it, and not a single one to the contrary

You've been around long enough to know that there's one *huge* reason to get it repaired: the very special relationship that I've maintained with these machines over the past decade.

this appears to be pretty much decided already. Thus not unnecessarily voting in this superfluous poll.

Decided it has not been, and I'm sorry to hear that you deem this poll superfluous.

Be a man, just do it.

That sounds like a Nike commercial and I've been an Adidas guy for the past 35+ years, so you'll have to provide some guidance here. Do exactly what?

[ilakast]

Do exactly what?

Do a search on ebay, add the rss feed to your rss reader and wait for the moment when a planar or a full system shows up. (If I am not mistaken, I know you hate ebay, but it's a necessary evil for this case)

[rumbero]

Do exactly what?

Following the excellent advice of RBS sounds like a good plan.

[pianowizard]

Repair it, and then use it sparingly (like once a month) just for nostalgia's sake.

[jronald]

Dont hold any great hope, and I say this very, very quietly...........................
Let me dig in the closet'o'doom and see if I have a Mobo.
I know my wife's is a P, and I think I recall stashing one some years ago.
You are not going to pry hers out of her hands anytime soon
If I do, and only because its you, we can decide on something fair.
Once again, dont hold out any great hope!
I have lost track of most of my inventory lists, Once upon a time when I was refurbing so many I could have told you...anyway.

Ron

[jronald]

And before someone asks:

I have stuff I will readily trade/swap or just plain give away
Then I have my personal stash, these are hard to find/rare/or current works in progress. These are offered more to ensure they will have a good home, than because I do not need it, or can not use it.
A few on the forum have benifited from these items, and I in return have benifited from their stash.

When some one absolutly can not find what they are looking for, I offer.
When I can find what Im looking for I ask.

Pretty simple, pay it forward.
Ron

[Tasurinchi]

Should I repair it, and try to restore it to its full glory, or just let it rest in peace?

Repair!

(How you dare to post such a question )

[dr_st]

Wow, George. I think we thought this day would never come indeed. Not the failure part, but the fact that you are out of spares.

I think I most identify with pianowizard's suggestion here: Get it repaired, and keep it for nostalgic purposes, without using it on an everyday basis. It's too slow for a daily driver anyways. This way you can still have it in "working" state for many years to come.

I wonder - are these planars repairable using the reballing that's been offered by our forum members for T4x/R5x boards, or does something prevent this solution from being used effectively?

Also, I second the eBay approach. I would just be hunting for any A31p in working state. Eventually one of them would have a good board. Not the most cost-effective approach, possibly, but then again there is nothing cost-effective about repairing/maintaining such an old machine to begin with. And a hobby does not have to be economically justifiable.

[rkawakami]

And a hobby does not have to be economically justifiable.

You must not be married .

[jronald]

So far only Non P's, and not many of them. Still a few more to open and look at.

Ron

[jronald]

1 P, its in the wifes.

Ill ask, but dont hold out any hope.
Ron

[Nycto]

I'd be willing to trade away one of my A31p units. I have one with either a bad inverter or bad backlight. The board appears fine, but to be sure, I'd be willing, since you're a well respected member of the forum, to mail it to you on my dime, and let you stress test it, and then have you make me an offer. Let me know if you're interested.

[emeraldgirl08]

I feel that the A31p is inextricably linked to your genetic makeup

Fix it up George

[ajkula66]

First of all, I'd like to thank everyone who has taken the time to participate in this thread/poll, as well as to several TPF members who have contacted me via PM and/or email to offer their A31p units under very favourable conditions...there's no place on the web quite like this forum, period.

I feel that the A31p is inextricably linked to your genetic makeup

Fix it up George

This post brought up the smile to my face, and is - in a humorous way - very true indeed.

That being said, pianowizard's suggestion is the one that I'm most likely going to follow up on, but wanted to address a couple of other thoughts that were posted earlier on in this thread...

@RBS:

You know better than anyone else that even after all the FrankenPads we've built over the years, nothing could take the special place that A31p (and to a slightly lesser extent T43p) holds in my heart...so yes, a newer daily driver is a must, but this oldie shall be resurrected, one way or another.

@jronald:

Thank you for taking the time to search the closet of doom... ...and being there for me in the time of need.

@dr_st, who wrote:

I wonder - are these planars repairable using the reballing that's been offered by our forum members for T4x/R5x boards, or does something prevent this solution from being used effectively?

There are problems with reballing these planars on several different levels:

a) Nick (poshgeordie) has given up on the said business altogether.

b) James (jamiphar) who actually re-balled an A31p board for me a couple of years ago, had to create a whole new set of stencils and what-nots for it, since the setup is different from one found on T4x/R5x planars, and went through hell and back to get it done right. Unfortunately, that board died from a non-GPU-related problem some 15 months later. I'd never ask him to jump through the same set of hoops for me again, because given the amount of time he spent getting it to work - with no fault on his end - James ended up with something like $0.25/hour for the work performed and since I value both his friendship and his craft highly, that's not the route I'd take ever again.

@Nycto:

Thank you for the offer. I'm going to be hellishly busy over the next ten days or so, but will PM you once the madness ends (does it ever...LOL) to check what we can arrange.

While searching for another A3x piece for a fellow forum member yesterday, I found a planar that I had forgotten about, with a healthy GPU but damaged charging circuit. In the worst case scenario - since the machine is never used on battery power anyway - it will do...

Once again, a huge "thank you"...will keep you, the good people of TPF, posted...

[PowerPC]

Logical answer: replace with a T601FL Frankenpad with T61 Intel mobo, UXGA LED screen and SSD.
Instead of CD/DVD, put in an Ultrabay SATA adapter and SATA HD up to 1TB.
In other words: let it RIP

My FrankenPad is a work in progress, I'm still buying parts.

As well as an A31p fully expanded. Don't worry ajkula66, I'm not going full retard on the CPU. Thanks for the advice.

I got a working WorkPad c505 for cheap. I have this unit waiting to be shipped in a courier service. I'm going to buy the Ultrabay Cradle and the Numpad module too. In my opinion, the A31p was the best ThinkPad ever made.

The Numpad is a fantastic idea. Shortsightedness is one of the only explanations I can see for IBM dropping this option on a business laptop; the other one is some problem with it. Perhaps punching on a lever connected to a delicate laptop is not a good idea. Anyway, after I saw it, I really want to have something like this in my T60. After buying one to dissect, I will try to figure out something, perhaps using a W70x numpad module.

I'm probably going to put the A31p inside Perspex after I end my tests, the sad destiny of all collectibles. I'm going to base my future mods on T60 parts, simple because they are widely available. The A31p would be way better, being much larger and with the two Ultrabays, but it is next to impossible to buy enough A31 parts to destroy without remorse. Even the T60 stock is drying up; I'd better start hoarding soon.

[automobus]

The Numpad is a fantastic idea. Shortsightedness is one of the only explanations I can see for IBM dropping this option on a business laptop; the other one is some problem with it. Perhaps punching on a lever connected to a delicate laptop is not a good idea.

What is the explanation for proprietary Ultrabay Slim and Ultrabay Enhanced? Will you call that decision, which affected models until 2008, and affected dock used with models until 2009, shortsighted? The out-facing style of Slim and Enhanced was even changed for α60 generation. Proprietary Slim and Enhanced was done to save cubic centimetres and mass. Ultrabay Plus Numeric Keypad in Carrier weighs more than a pound. A was discontinued, and T became thinner. Lever connected to delicate laptop? I argue, IBM did not stop because delicate was a problem; IBM stopped before delicate became a problem.

What I call shortsighted: lack of additional USB port in generation T40 R50. Every X model had USB ports in two locations; finally T60 gave a third port, and ports were on both left and right sides.

edit: I might have poorly expressed my opinion. I want to emphasise, I think the stupid decision was to develop Ultrabay Slim and Enhanced. After they committed to using that new Ultrabay system, then I completely understand the decision to discontinue numeric keypad option. Their goal in developing Ultrabay Slim was to reduce weight. The Ultrabay 2000 NumKeypad was the opposite, it was heavy. As dr_st later states, the way keyboard controller forces numeric overlay is unfortunate. For unix X users, it can be fun puzzle-solving work to customise.

edit again: When I say fun, I mean , not .

[PowerPC]

A pound which you only got if you paid for it. Too bad, it was a nice thing, like 4:3 screens.

And I guess in 20 years, when the thin laptops of the future will be freebies cut out from the back of cereal boxes, it will be impossible to have a numpad inside an Ultrabay. But hey, I could glue them over polystyrene boards to make them thicker.

[dr_st]

As the owner of one of these nice ultrabay numpads (incidentally the same one that was previously owned by our friend automobus and apparently also the same one that is pictured on Thinkwiki), I can share a few thoughts.

* It is a super-cool feature and causes everybody to "wow" whenever they see it spring out.
* It is sturdy enough and provides good support for regular use.
* It is very heavy indeed so may not be suitable for thin-n-lights

It is bit unfortunate that there is no separate numlock for it. Once you turn the numlock on, it affects the keyboard as well, turning the right side of the letters into numbers. Later Thinkpad numbers allowed separate numlock settings for the keyboard and the USB numpad, but it is exactly the models that moved over from Ultrabay 2000/Plus to Ultrabay Slim/Enhanced.

Also, when used in an A3x, there is one unfortunate side effect. The A3x series, unlike most laptops which have the ultrabay at the back of the chassis, has it in the front (Cardbus slots are in the back). As a result, the keypad does not align as well with the main keyboard (shifting your hand back and forth between keyboard and numpad requires forward/back motion, not just sideways.

[PowerPC]

It is bit unfortunate that there is no separate numlock for it. Once you turn the numlock on, it affects the keyboard as well, turning the right side of the letters into numbers. Later Thinkpad numbers allowed separate numlock settings for the keyboard and the USB numpad, but it is exactly the models that moved over from Ultrabay 2000/Plus to Ultrabay Slim/Enhanced.

That's really unfortunate. Perhaps this default behavior can be bypassed making a new keyboard driver with Microsoft Keyboard Layout Creator or editing keyboard maps on you favorite *nix OS.

Also, when used in an A3x, there is one unfortunate side effect. The A3x series, unlike most laptops which have the ultrabay at the back of the chassis, has it in the front (Cardbus slots are in the back). As a result, the keypad does not align as well with the main keyboard (shifting your hand back and forth between keyboard and numpad requires forward/back motion, not just sideways.

I always wondered why I can't seem to be able to find images of an A3x with it installed, and why the wiki used a T23 as a host. So that's the reason.

---

With that said, I can't wait to get one. It's actually easy to get most parts for any ThinkPad model with immediate shipping from existing stock; several companies have huge stocks of laptop parts, provided you are willing to pay the price. Considering that the Ultrabay Numpad and the Carrier Device are the kind of part which the current owners will want to be buried with, perhaps I should bite the bullet and pay the asked price.

[Unknown_K]

Did you decide to fix this? Nice solid machines.

If I find another A31p cheap I will probably snag it, heck I snagged another stock A31 this week (was only $14 shipped, works).

[ajkula66]

Did you decide to fix this? Nice solid machines.

Yes, it will be fixed. Just have to get to it...

[E350]

Wow! My A31p bit the dust just inside of the extended warranty in 2005. I was able to wrangle a T42p out of IBM in return. But I missed the A31p for a while. Especially the screen. Is it sacrilege to say that I believe my T61p is a near worthy replacement for it?

Unless I have a big project which benefits from two pages side-by-side I prefer the smaller format of the X61 series, and I would be pretty grumpy if I wasn't able to repair or resurrect them and had to do without. So I understand your goal of laptop immortality.

(I am insecure by nature, so that is why I own two X61 and two x61T and will be selling a pair of X61s (one of which if I remember right has issues.)

[ajkula66]

Update time...

I finally went through the unholy mess of spare A31p parts and ended up building a machine from scratch.

It's great to have a functional A31p once again, although it will be relegated to "light duty".

The screen that I've bumped into and ended up using is beautifully bright with no major flaws. The board has some type of a quirk within the charging circuit since it keeps on draining the battery when the machine is turned off, and the power LED stays on as well. It does charge the battery without any glitches though.

The new setup will suffice for the time being.

I've re-used the hard drive, RAM and wireless card from the original machine, which will be properly fixed at a later date.

Thanks for the thoughts, suggestions and encouragement, my fellow ThinkPadders.

[PowerPC]

Congratulations.

What did you do with the thermal compound?

[ajkula66]

Thanks!

CPU got re-pasted, that's all.

[Saucey]

I have that problem as well, taking out the battery for a moment after shutdown works so far.