Problems with my T21

[S4MUR41]

Ok well I got a IBM Thinkpad T21 from my friend, the laptop first had a screen problem which I knew about before I got it. The screen doesnt turn on but I dont think its the bulbs since my friend showed me the broken inverter. Once I got the laptop it was running ok, there seemed to be a power problem in which to turn it on he said you had to plug in the A/C adaptor, turn it on, then if you wanted to you can unplug it. It wasnt till on day that when I turned it off then came back later on that it would not turn on at all. When I plug in the A/C I see the little green battery icon on the top right of the keyboard light up but when I hit the power button that little light goes off and the "write to" light (the one that looks like an arrow pointing to a cylinder) flashes once really quick. I looked this problem up on here and from what I have seen which was either a dead battery in which the A/C cannot do a complete circuit with a battery that cannot hold a charge, so I tested the battery and it was full and still held a charge, so that problem was eliminated. The other thing I have read up was that it might be an overcharged capacitor and to fix that your supposed to leave it unplugged for a while to drain the capacitor. I have left it for 1 day and tried it and still didnt turn on, not sure if that was long enough so I have it completely apart right now because im fixing the cracked case and its been unplugged for a little over 2 days so Im going to try once its all back together. Was wondering if anyone had a similar problem or knows the solution. Thanks.

[S4MUR41]

I assembled the laptop back together and hopefully will be testting it tonight again.

[ryoustra]

Sounds like you may have the same problem I'm having, which I just posted this morning: http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=26976

I took my laptop apart and put it back together and now only get that quick flicker from the hard drive indicator light... that's it, nothing else. Quite frustrating to diagnose, that's for sure.

-Ray

[tfflivemb2]

Did either of you have a pulsating fan?

[S4MUR41]

ok the laptop is re assembled, and it turned on!! the screen is still off which is probably because of the broken inverter. As for the fan it sounds like it is constant.

[ryoustra]

Pulsating fan? Possibly...... before I finally succumbed to ordering a replacement motherboard, one of the symptoms - in addition to not booting - was that the fan seemed irregular to be sure. Almost like it was running at half power, then maybe back up higher for a second or two, then back down. Not necessarily a fast pulsating sound, but it was definitely unusual.

[Note: I did mention in the other thread that I pulled out most of the components except the cpu/fan and a stick of memory, and still only get a quick flash of the battery light and the hard drive indicator]

Thanks much for jumping in with your thoughts on this.

[tfflivemb2]

@ryoustra: Moving my comments to your thread, since these symptoms are not relevenant to the OP's problems.

[ryoustra]

Glad to hear your machine is working! Is there anything that you can recall that might have made the difference? From reading your description, it simply wouldn't power on - with only a flicker on one of the indicators - and you took it apart and put it back together and voila!

Anything you noticed unusual? Anything loose or anything you took particular care with in reassembly? I've got the same symptoms, but unfortunately not the same luck...