IBM A21m type 2628 wont boot?

[HOU-TEX]

My father recently gave me his old laptop (IBM Thinkpad A12m type 2628). The battery was dead when I first tried to start it up, so I have since charged it up and am now having another issue. When I first power it up, the IBM startup screen comes on along with text at the bottom that reads:
Press to enter set-up
Press to choose temporary boot device
There is no other activity after showing this screen. If I press F1 I get "Entering setup..." which does nothing, and when I press F12 I get "preparing boot device list" and it again does nothing??

If I hit Esc on the startup screen I get what appears to be a boot sequence that reads:

Phoenix BIOS 4.0 Release 6.0 for IBM Thinkpad.
Copyright 1985-1999 Phoenix Technologies Ltd.
All rights reserved

(C) COPYRIGHT IBM COPR. 1999, 2001 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
US Government users Restricted rights - Use, duplication or disclosure
restricted by GSA ADP schedule contract with IBM corp.

CPU=Intel (R) mobile pentium (R) III processor 750mhz
640k system ram passed
63M extended ram passed
0256K cache SRAM passed
system BIOS shadowed
Video BIOS shadowed
UMB upper limit segment address: E000
mouse intialized
Fixed disk 0: IBM-DJSA-220
ATAPI CD-ROM: CD-224E

I have tried to use the recovery disk he gave me with it, but when powered up the cd drive runs for a second then stops. He also gave me a list of the passwords, because he thought it may need that, but there is no prompt for a password?? Not sure what to do here. Could the hard drive be bad? Why wont it enter the bios or allow to set a temporary boot device? It appears to power up fine to the startup screen, then I cant get any further with it??? Any ideas or suggestion would be greatly appreciated.

[HOU-TEX]

I just read the sticky above.. It appears the A series TP's have inherient problems?? Could this be my problem? I sure hope not. My dad used it a lot up untill about 6-8 months ago. I tried booting up off only AC power and it didn't do anything. I pulled the battery and litium battery in hopes of reseting something, I will try powering back up in the morning. I pulled the ram and reseated it to no avail. I am starting to get very nervous that it may be "toast" (as stated in the sticky). Wow...not sure what to think about that, other than this will probably be my last IBM laptop. If anyone has had this problem and knows a fix or suggestions please let me know.. I went from very excited about finally having a craptop to now very bummed.. oh well back to saving for a new one...

[a31pguy]

I would look to the hard drive first. It sounds like it's trying to boot. Do you have a copy of DOS or windows? Try to boot from the floppy or CD-ROM first. otherwise you might try to reset the CMOS.

[HOU-TEX]

All,
Looks like A series thinkpad questions go over like a turd in a punch bowl on this forum, as does it on most others. I made an interesting observation today while blankly staring at this thing praying it might just mysteriously start working. The AC power supply that my father was using (and wasnt having any problems with at the time) was a 16V 4.5A power supply. The voltage on the machine indicates it requires a 16V 3.36A supply. I found a power supply that matches the indicated power on the machine (thats a long story), but of course it didn't work either. I am wondernig now though if the small variance in amperage could have caused this problem? Didn't seem to bother it when my dad was using it. My next question that maybe someone can answer/advise is about installing a new system board. I can get a new system board on ebay for approx. $80. This does not include a processor, and I guess would depend on if I could salvage the processor on this machine (soldered in??). All the drives are powering up and showing up in the boot sequence (locating HD, counting up the RAM, etc.). I wouldn't be opposed to spending $80 on a new system board if I thought it would fix the problem, and I would have a fully functioning machine afterwords. My issue with buying anything on Ebay is getting a DOA or password locked mobo. What are your feelings on this? Worth it, or wait who knows how long for enough money to free up for a new machine. Keep in mind it is real easy to say wait for a new one, but in actuality it may end up being waiting another 3-5 years for another "dad hand me down". Thanks in advance for any feedback.

[HOU-TEX]

whoa A31 guy must have been typing at the same time... thanks for the reply. I pulled the batterys (including the lithium) over night and then plugged them all back in. Nothing. I figure I will have to tear into it to see if there is a jumper I can try. I plan on making a boot disk tonight and trying that. The machine is detecting the HD, but I realize that doesn't mean it is working properly. Wouldn't you still be able to access the bios though even with a bum HD? Never had a toasted HD so Im not sure. Do you know of any way to test the HD short of buying a new one? If I did buy a new one, would I be able to slide it in and load windows if that was the problem (I.E. it would start running and ask for a windows disk?). Please excuse my ignorance on this, I have built several computers, but it has always been on used parts, hence windows and everythign was already loaded on the HD. Thanks for any help you can provide. I am getting desperate for answers. Don't want to trash this thing, but don't want to sink a lot money into in vain. Thx again.

[a31pguy]

Yes - we're around - but on a coffee break! Full time gig - plus this is a lot. Add two kids and there is no time!


Yes - you can still access the BIOS when the hard drive fails. The bios is firmware on the motherboard. The BIOS will usually say something like "insert boot disk" or boot failure when the hard drive is fried.

There are some drive fitness testing utilities - but you'll need another working laptop to use them. I would just reformat the hard drive and reinstall from scratch. XP CDROM and key in hand and you'll be good. You might want to order the IBM recovery disks for your machine by calling IBM and ordering them. Some of the older hard drives use a special partition on the hard drive.



If you can't get into the BIOS:

http://www.ja.axxs.net/unlock/

[HOU-TEX]

a31 guy,
Thank you again for your reply. Sounds pretty busy, in fact it sounds eerily familiar to my house...lol. I have the recovery disks, have tried them, and all the cd drive does is run for a second or so and thats it. All I get is F1 for setup and F12 for temp boot device. When I try to access either of them it doesn't do anything. I have run across that site you linked before while trying to trouble shoot this thing. I have all the passwords though, and think that is for people with password locked machines. Unfortunately I am beginning to beleive mine may be "mobo fried" locked. I plan on making a boot disk and trying that next. The only thing I can think to do after that is crack it open and see if I can find anything that looks suspect internally. This is very perplexing, because it worked fine for my dad about 6 months ago. I guess I just got too excited about finally having a laptop and scared it away . Whats your exp. with replacing the system board? Worthwhile, or not worth the time and money?

[a31pguy]

Sorry to hear! I've replaced my motherboard and it's not hard if your handy with a screwdriver and gentle with it. However, the cost of motherbaords can be expensive - unless you find a nice cheap one. The a21m series is out of production so you may find them cheaper on ebay or some of the parts resellers.