T30 memory slot 2 problem

[sktn77a]

Couldn't find this anywhere else on the board so I thought I'd share my recent learnings on the T30 memory slot 2 problem. Apparently, a short can occur between hard drive and the motherboard which takes out the memory slot 2. IBMs fix is a small spacer between the hard drive and the motherboard (slips into the HD caddy). If your memory slot has already fried, their preferred solution (no sh_t) is to replace your 256Mb memory chip in slot 1 with a 512 Mb memory chip. If you really need the second slot, they will replace the motherboard under warranty and install the spacer.

I got lucky (?) - my T30 at work had not yet fried the second memory slot so they installed the 512 Mb memory chip in addition to my 256MB chip.

[Myung]

On my T30, I have two 256MB memory chips installed, but I found out just one of them is recognized.

I sent in T30 for repair about two weeks ago and now I can see both rams are working.

But, I couldn't tell what they did to T30 to make it work. IBM didn't tell me what was wrong (thank you (?) as comments in the report form) and I was curious about what happened to memory slots. Still my two 256MB rams are there in the original motherboard. I have guessed that they would replaced the motherboard.

I hope nothing goes wrong when T30 gets out of warranty.

Thanks for the post, sktn77a.

[sjhwilkes]

I sent my T30 back a couple of months ago for the same reason. The ezserve postcard that came back with the machine said engineering change 1 had been applied - I presume this is the spacer. To my knowledge they didn't replace the main board and I certainly didn't get a free 512MB DIMM.

Simon

[sktn77a]

Maybe only Fortune 500 companies get the special (512MB) treatment!

[jwschmid]

I have this happen at least twice now. My company also has other T30's that have experienced the same problem. It has to do with the cheap plastic connectors used to hold in the memory. Either through heat or just over time, the 2nd connectors warp just enough so that the memory loses contact. I had my mother board replaced twice (under warranty). It is a known problem but it seems not many people have memory in the 2nd slot or pay attention to their memory. The tech said he doesn't see it too often. The catch 22 is that by the time you figure it out, your machine is out of warranty. Also, it doesn't seem like they fixed it as I had it happen twice in the 2+ years I've had my machine. I now have the "system" icon come up to show me how much memory is recognized upon boot.

A simple, albeit most likely not supported solution, is to place something to "hold down" the memory between the bottom cover and memory. The slots do not let the memory touch the motherboard so you cannot short it out. the pressure of the memory cover is enough to keep it "down". I also now use cooling fans.

Do T40's also have the cheap memory holders? My older Thinkpads don't.

Hope this helps...

John

[aleung]

send back to IBM for systemboard replace.. their latest motherboard fixed that issue. I have 3 systemboard replaced. Mine is the first shippment of T30. I got my 1st systemboard replaced less than a month i got my T30.