Thrift Shop T43 (2668-42U) wont boot past splash screen

[Penultimate]

I came here for advice recently on a T23 that I found at goodwill, and thanks to some advice and specific aid from automobus, I quickly got that one back into service with very little added expense over the purchase price.

Now, I have found a T43 that attracted my attention at another local Salvation army store, and picked it up for $20. I figured even if it did not run, the Multi-drive in it could be used as a spare if nothing else.

When I connected my 'new' T43 to the T23 charger, it lit up and indicated charging. The next morning, it was fully charged and the battery seems to be in excellent condition.

The problem is-
the computer turns on and enters the startup splash screen that reads =
"IBM Thinkpad pentium M" and "to interrupt normal startup press the blue access IBM button",
and it also lights up the light next to the optical drive and your can hear it check the optical drive and hard drive, but it stays forever at the splash screen and never moves beyond that point.

It does not give any indication of a error code, it does not read "press F1" or "press F12" and if you press F1 or F12 during the initial boot, it does nothing at all. Pressing the "access IBM" button also does absolutely nothing. It has a 40 gig HD and 1 gig ram that appear to be the original spec for a model 2668-42U

My question is.. could this simply be a issue of a dead CMOS battery like I had before with my T23, or is this some other problem? Thanks in advance for advice, I already (perhaps prematurely) ordered a set of restore discs for this computer and a new hard-drive, so I would like to get it up and running.

[ajkula66]

That sounds like a failing SouthBridge chip.

Try this old trick:

Pull out 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 - back in and try to power on and access BIOS.

Good luck.

[Penultimate]

That sounds like a failing SouthBridge chip.

Try this old trick:

Pull out 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 - back in and try to power on and access BIOS.

Good luck.

Thanks very much, I will try that when I get home and post my results!

[Neil]

Also take a close look at all the USB ports. Sometimes a broken insulator can allow USB contacts to short to ground, preventing boot. The Southbridge is probably the most likely issue, but this just gives you something more to check.

[Penultimate]

Well, I tried the advice on the power button procedure, and I still have the same problem. Wont boot past the splash screen with the pentium M logo and offers no prompt for BIOS nor will it go into BIOS with F12.

I also disassembled the computer down to the CMOS and plugged a new one in, also to no effect. I pressed down on the GPU gently also to no avail. I switched RAM from one slot to another and started up with only the one stick installed, to no avail.

I guess my 'easy fix' luck ran out on this one! Anyone who has done a board swap before who can recommend a board that works best in this unit? I would prefer a board that would still allow me to use the IBM recovery discs since I have already ordered a set.

Sorry for the stupid question, but-

1) If i install a Mother Board from a R50, R52, T5x, etc.. would I lose the ability to use the T43 recovery discs that I have coming to me?

2) Anyone have a better recommendation for the motherboard swap donor? I would like to avoid T43 boards, but if possible still be able to use the T43 recovery discs (since I already paid for them) simply due to the apparent failure prone issues with the T4x boards.

3) THIS IS A 14.1" UNIT, as the screen is measured diagonally across, so would that also affect the dimensions of the main board that I need?

4) Last question- Did these computers sometimes come wired for WiFi, without having the wifi card factory installed? When I opened this up, it had no wifi card, and the antenna leads were neatly taped over the GPU in a factory-looking manner, like they had never been used. It almost looks like the prev owner/company never had a wifi card and IBM simply manufactured the computer with the antenna to allow later upgrades by the end user.

[ajkula66]

1) If i install a Mother Board from a R50, R52, T5x, etc.. would I lose the ability to use the T43 recovery discs that I have coming to me?

The only board worth installing in there would be the one from R52, and you could still use the same set of disks.

2) Anyone have a better recommendation for the motherboard swap donor? I would like to avoid T43 boards, but if possible still be able to use the T43 recovery discs (since I already paid for them) simply due to the apparent failure prone issues with the T4x boards.

See above.

3) THIS IS A 14.1" UNIT, as the screen is measured diagonally across, so would that also affect the dimensions of the main board that I need?

No. All T4x/R5x planars are of the same size.

4) Last question- Did these computers sometimes come wired for WiFi, without having the wifi card factory installed? When I opened this up, it had no wifi card, and the antenna leads were neatly taped over the GPU in a factory-looking manner, like they had never been used. It almost looks like the prev owner/company never had a wifi card and IBM simply manufactured the computer with the antenna to allow later upgrades by the end user.

Yes. Many of these machines - especially if they were ordered by government of some kind - were shipped as "wireless ready" and set up in the manner that you're describing.

[Neil]

I see George was typing faster than I, but here is what I was going to add anyway:

1) You don't want a board from a R50 since they are way more prone to failure than T43 boards, which a fairly solid. R52 and T43 are basically the same, and recovery disks should work fine with either. Depending on which GPU you disks are for, and a possible miss match on the new board, you might have to load a few drivers after recovery. The T50, if/when available, is a custom board so drivers for it won't be on a recovery disk of any kind. You wouldn't want to use XP with that board anyway.

2) For your T43, I would recommend any T43 or R52 board, any will work, and they are the best of the lot of direct fit replacements. I happen to have a spare R52 board...if interested send PM.

3) System boards for 14" and 15" models are exactly the same. An interposer card is used with the boards to make them wider in the 15" chassis.

4) Yes, some were sold without wifi cards installed.

[Penultimate]

Ajkula and Neil, thanks very much for the info and taking the time to clarify things for me.

I noted that the MB in my Laptop has a board like this-
http://www.ebay.com/itm/IBM-THINKPAD-R5 ... 485caa41bd

With no ATI chipset, although it is a '2668' marked base. Is it possible some already swapped in a new board at some point in the past, or did some '2668' not come with a ATI graphics chip?

[Neil]

Here are the specs your T43 left the factory with:

Code: Select all

P M 750(1.86GHz), 512MB RAM, 40GB 4200rpm HD, 14.1in 1024x768 LCD, 64MB ATI Radeon X300, DVD, Wireless upgradeable, Modem, 1Gb Ethernet, UltraNav, Secure chip, 6c Li-Ion batt, WinXP Pro

So if it has Intel graphics on board instead of the Radeon X300, it sure looks like it was swapped at some time. But, I think the one in the ebay picture has an ATI GPU, although the X300 usually has a graphic on top of it that reads X300. Note also, the "wireless upgradable" indicates no wifi card installed.

[Penultimate]

Hey guys,.. I went ahead and just grabbed this complete IBM R52 (1847-92U) off of ebay, instead of a bare main board.
The prices beings asked on Ebay for untested or used stripped main boards are close to, if not more than, the price of a complete R52 (minus battery/HD)-

http://www.ebay.com/itm/IBM-Lenovo-Thin ... 7675.l2557

I guess I can either try to cannibalize the battery and RAM from the non-functional thriftshop T43 to this R52, and add in the HD I have on the way (also courtesy of ebay), since this R52 boots into BIOS and gets AC power,
or conversely I could potentially cannibalize its mainboard for the T43. According to what I can find here- http://www.superwarehouse.com/IBM_Think ... /p/1482537
This 1847-92U should be ATI graphics.

Either way, it seems the more prudent route given that the entire unit that boots into BIOS was only $10 more than the cheapest main boards I found on Ebay.

My question (sorry, I am chock full of them!) is, if I simply take the easiest route and add the battery/HD/RAM taken from the thrift shop T43 into the Ebay R52, could it still possible to use the T43 restore discs? It seems that if it would still allow the use of the T43 restore discs after adding in a R52 main board, it would probably also work in a complete R52?

[ajkula66]

My question (sorry, I am chock full of them!) is, if I simply take the easiest route and add the battery/HD/RAM taken from the thrift shop T43 into the Ebay R52, could it still possible to use the T43 restore discs? It seems that if it would still allow the use of the T43 restore discs after adding in a R52 main board, it would probably also work in a complete R52?

ThinkPad R52 (1847-92U)
P M 750(1.8GHz), 512MB RAM, 60GB 5400rpm HD, 15in 1024x768 LCD, 64MB ATI Radeon X300, CDRW/DVD, Intel 802.11bg wireless(MPCI), Modem(CDC), 1Gb Ethernet(LOM), UltraNav, Secure Chip, 6c Li-Ion batt, WinXP Pro


Yes, you can use the T43 restore disks. I'd add more RAM as well, and call it a day, unless you're intent on upgrading the screen.

[Penultimate]

ThinkPad R52 (1847-92U)
P M 750(1.8GHz), 512MB RAM, 60GB 5400rpm HD, 15in 1024x768 LCD, 64MB ATI Radeon X300, CDRW/DVD, Intel 802.11bg wireless(MPCI), Modem(CDC), 1Gb Ethernet(LOM), UltraNav, Secure Chip, 6c Li-Ion batt, WinXP Pro


Yes, you can use the T43 restore disks. I'd add more RAM as well, and call it a day, unless you're intent on upgrading the screen.

Thanks, I really appreciate all the help from you and Neil.