IBM T* Series and A* Series Board issues

[mehtabbukhari]

I have come accross several A22m, A20m, A21m, T20, T21 laptops, which gives a common power-n problem. There are so many defective boards floating around because of this know failiure. I hope IBM has rectied this problem. To be more specific about the problems.

* Machine does not switch on. When you try to switch on the machine your HDD light flash and goes off.
* If machine switches on after several tries then there won't be any display.
* Machine shuts down after 10 to 15 mins of continues usage.
* 0175 CRC error occurs due to the above problem.

I have tried working on these issue as I could do lot of R&D on these planner boards. There seems to be a problem with DC-DC section on the planner board which is malfunctioning after continues load/usage. CRC error is generated as a result of sudden [censored].

There are two ICs used for CPU VRM (Voltage regulator module) ie. ADP3421 and ADP3410. I have tried replacing both the chips along with three MOSFETs (IRF 7811). But the problem persist.

Has anybody been able to workaround this problem?

[oodobah]

my a22m recently exhibited the same problem. i read your messages and am inquiring if you ever came to a resolution as to how to fix the problem. if this is a widespread problem, i'm ruling out buying a new system board in favor of fixing the existing one or buying a new notebook from different manufacturer. i also have a thinkpad R40 series. are you familiar if this problem persists in this model? from your last message, it
appears the replacement of the adp3410/adp3421 and irf17811 did not resolve the issue. is this correct?

thanks for any feedback,
-Kent

[mehtabbukhari]

Dear Kent,

There are no such known issues with R40 models. Because, Only Thinkpads with PIII processor use ADP3410/ADP3421 and IRF7811.

After all this, I still prefer IBM machines because they are still the best.

Mabs.

[oodobah]

Dear Mabs,

sorry about the redundancy, but did replacing the ad3410, adp3421 and irf7811 on any of the A series fix the power-on problem during your debugging? if so, i'll forgo getting another R series.

i'm nervous about buying a T series if you found the same problem with them as well. what T model specifically did you find problematic.

thanks again,
-Kent

[karn]

Yes guys the T series have the same CRC1 problem as the A series the system boards are crap plus the both also have the same crappy type of "ATMEL" bios chip in them so save all your bucks boys cause it's just a matter of time when the CRC1 errors hit you working A and T series owners too

I have found on the Toshiba site that says if you are getting a CRC1 error on an IBM laptop, the trouble is the SAME as the Toshiba and that shorting out some of the PINS on the parallel port you can gain access in the boot area, that way allowing you to do a RE-FLASHING of the bios.

It's that o'l cheap PhoenixBIOS 4.0 Release 6.0, what IBm don't tellya is that Packard Bell & Gateway solo (266mhz) use them too just shows you how old this crappy Atmel pos really is, and guess what these guys are getting the same problems that the IBm guys are getting just after Re-Flashing their laptops too

However, I'm still trying to find more information on this technique, and I'll keep y'all posted:)

It's just really bad design flaw, and personally I can live with that, it's just the constant BS and constant denial from IBm that's hard to accept, even when I know, that they know that these laptops were rediculously flawed.

IBM definately know they scewed up and are hoping that ppl just move on and leave them alone to count ALL their profits that they made (and still to make on out-of-warranty repairs) on the glitchy, flawed A and T series laptops.
I have 2 "A" series IBM flawed laptops both broken, both disgustingly flawed, IBm does nothing, so I feel your pain.

I am truly certain that the present IBm CEO is W. Chu, it has to be, because everytime I call IBm support all I get is the : "We Can't Help U" theme, LOL.

[JaneL]

Now, see, if we'd gone with private newsgroups like I suggested, we'd have the ability to killfile...

[JHEM]

[censored] it Nonny, get OUT of my head!

[JaneL]

;-)

[squidsys]

Yes guys the T series have the same CRC1 problem as the A series the system boards are crap plus the both also have the same crappy type of "ATMEL" bios chip in them so save all your bucks boys cause it's just a matter of time when the CRC1 errors hit you working A and T series owners too

I have found on the Toshiba site that says if you are getting a CRC1 error on an IBM laptop, the trouble is the SAME as the Toshiba and that shorting out some of the PINS on the parallel port you can gain access in the boot area, that way allowing you to do a RE-FLASHING of the bios.

It's that o'l cheap PhoenixBIOS 4.0 Release 6.0, what IBm don't tellya is that Packard Bell & Gateway solo (266mhz) use them too just shows you how old this crappy Atmel pos really is, and guess what these guys are getting the same problems that the IBm guys are getting just after Re-Flashing their laptops too

However, I'm still trying to find more information on this technique, and I'll keep y'all posted:)

It's just really bad design flaw, and personally I can live with that, it's just the constant BS and constant denial from IBm that's hard to accept, even when I know, that they know that these laptops were rediculously flawed.

IBM definately know they scewed up and are hoping that ppl just move on and leave them alone to count ALL their profits that they made (and still to make on out-of-warranty repairs) on the glitchy, flawed A and T series laptops.
I have 2 "A" series IBM flawed laptops both broken, both disgustingly flawed, IBm does nothing, so I feel your pain.

I am truly certain that the present IBm CEO is W. Chu, it has to be, because everytime I call IBm support all I get is the : "We Can't Help U" theme, LOL.

I have purchased a secondhand T22 notebook from a junker here in my country. I have successfully repaired the notebook from a very dimmed LCD when I replaced the inverter and LCD cable. The inverter replacement was a wild guess. It is actually the LCD cable problem. Looses about USD 20 there, not much.

Then used the notebook for about a week, when suddenly in the middle of playing a movie with VLC media player it just blacks out. Continous power-on, power-off seems to do nothing. The power LED blinks a few time, (two actually) and the reset itself. Done this a few time, then got the display, when the error 0175 comes out.

Disgusted and confused. Search on google found that the error comes from EEPROM corruption. As it is a TSOP chip, and I don't have the tools to actually replace it, been looking high and low for a software recovery solutions. Found this thread and was hoping that "karn" did actually found a parallel port solution.

Now, I will just be searching again on Google and elsewhere. If anybody ever finds the solution, I'll be much obliged if they can PM me or something.

My TP spec b4 the failure:

Motherboard:
CPU Type Mobile Intel Pentium IIIE, 900 MHz (9 x 100)
Motherboard Name IBM 26474EA
Motherboard Chipset Intel 82440BX/ZX
System Memory 384 MB (SDRAM)
BIOS Type Phoenix (02/26/01)
Communication Port Communications Port (COM1)
Communication Port Printer Port (LPT1)

BIOS Properties:
Vendor IBM
Version 16ET19WW (1.00a)
Release Date 02/26/2001
Size 512 KB
Boot Devices Floppy Disk, Hard Disk, CD-ROM, PC Card, LS-120
Capabilities Flash BIOS, Shadow BIOS, Selectable Boot, EDD, BBS
Supported Standards DMI, APM, ACPI, ESCD, PnP
Expansion Capabilities ISA, PCI, AGP, PCMCIA

Motherboard Properties:
Manufacturer IBM
Product 26474EA
Version Not Available
Serial Number J1H5V13T12K

[thinkie]

Similar problem here with i-series Thinkpad, HDD light winks on briefly, then nothing after pressing the start button. The CMOS battery has been replaced, but it had been dead a long time prior.

Anyone have knowledge of the parallel port shorting trick? If I can just get the thing to boot, then I could flash the BIOS.