T21 Startup Problems - Solutions?

[cdsmith]

Hi all.

I have been reading several threads that may bear on my situation; I just want to see if you think I am heading in the right direction.

I have a T21 (ED7, 800mHz P3) which I have had for 3-4 years. 512Mb RAM, Win2k; replaced the HD with Hitachi's 7k60 Fall of 2004 and cloned the original drive.

It all started with my AC adapter getting electically flaky - - where the wall cord plugs into the transformer the pins and jacks were getting pretty worn resulting in intermittent connections; when I would connect it up at work or home I would have to fiddle with this connection to get the AC adapter to work, and sometimes the computer would switch back and forth from battery to AC several times in a few seconds until I could get it reliably seated. I had to have it plugged in to my computer to determine when I had it connected together properly.

After a few days of this my computer began to freeze - - simply stop, no error display - - after running for a while, and in this state it would freeze at various stages during restart (power button) under most conditions. Sometimes nothing would display (although I could see that the display was lighted up), sometimes the IBM logo, sometimes the initial Windows 2000 bootup image, sometimes the second Windows 2000 bootup image, but it would stall. Sometimes after six or eight such restarts it would completely startup. Usually it would then freeze up again fairly soon and I would start (restart?) the restart procedure or give up and pull out the batteries so it would shut off.

What I did: I have removed and reseated the two memory cards, the PCI card and the CPU. I have renewed the thermally-conductive layer (Artic Silver) between the CPU and the heatsink. The hard drive is a replacement 7200 60Gb Hitachi that is about 18 months old. Everything had been working without error until the problems with the AC adapter started.

Additional notes: the computer starts and runs normally every time when I run it on batteries; if it freezes on restart when the AC is plugged (which it almost always does once the freeze ups start) I can unplug the AC and it will immediately and reliably start on battery power. Lately I have been starting it on batteries and plugging in the AC (new AC adapter) once it is booted up. However, it still freezes up after a while. I have a sense that it freezes up at least partly due to heat but I am not sure. It will run for a few hours on AC in an air conditioned room, for a shorter period in a room that is not cooled.

Currently I have all the batteries pulled and I removed the CMOS battery. I am going to let it sit for a bit.

Any suggestions or comments? I would like to keep this machine going if possible.

Thanks in advance for any consideration or replies.

[Orevin]

Remove the PCI card and see what happens.
Remove one memory chip. If it still freezes, try with the other one.
Download Mobile Meter to check the CPU temperature.

[rkawakami]

Download the version of PC Doctor for the T2x series from:

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... IGR-4YZM3F

This requires a floppy drive and three disks. Each download file will create one floppy. Boot the system with disk #1 and then continue to load disks #2 and #3 when prompted. If you do not have a floppy drive, but do have a CDR and ISO-enabled burning software, then you can try this CD ISO image file:

http://www.mypchelp.com/~dsmith/ibmutil ... pcdiag.iso

Backup site:
http://www.kawakami-ca.com/ibm_t23/ibm_t22_pcdiag.iso

Note: filename has T22 in it but it works for all T2x systems. Once you have the bootable CD, re-start your system, press the F12 key when the IBM splash screen appears and select the CD/DVD drive. You will also have to press a key to continue loading the "floppy" images.

Once the PC Doctor diagnostic program is loaded, you can select from different tests which will check your hardware. There also is an option in which you can loop any selected test up to 9999 (?) times, allowing you to "burn in" the system. I previously posted the instructions on how to do this here:

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=26705#175198

You may want to pull your hard drive before running the diagnostics. Normally, the standard tests will not disturb/overwrite/erase any data on your drive when performing any of the disk drive tests, but the program does have options to re-format or erase your drive. Better safe than sorry.

[cdsmith]

Hi folks.

I tried several combinations of removing/installing RAM cards and PCI card with no change in computer behavior: it continued to not start (as described above) when connected to the new AC adapter and it starts when only on battery power.

I will try the PC Doctor today and post my observations.

Thanks for your input!

CDSmith

[jdhurst]

There could be a bad connection at the plug on the motherboard for the adapter. If something has moved and shorted, it could cause this.

Another, unrelated, possibility is that your motherboard has developed a defect (cold solder joint or some such). That has happened to a number of T4x owners including myself.

... JD Hurst

[cdsmith]

Just in case anyone was interested or curious...

I ran the PC Doctor diagnostics a couple of times; it took over two hours.

To do this I removed the second battery from the multi-bay.

After a few hours of running the tests (no problems reported) and running Windows, I started thinking that maybe the problem was with the second battery. I have since left the floppy drive in and have set the second battery aside.

Today at work I used my Thinkpad all day without a problem.

I must have damaged the electronics in the battery?

Anyway, I will write more if there are further changes in behavior.

Thanks for all the input.

[lagoausente]

I have had just the same problem, and have no aditional battery. I have removed also the mainly battery with the same result. Any light'

[RealBlackStuff]

It's a bit of a job, but I would advise to take the motherboard out, and resolder all the inductors.
On this picture these look like the square blobs at D9 and E8.

There are also bigger, rectangular ones above/left of the CPU. These are connected with the charging circuit. (sorry no photo)

Some posts about this:
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... =inductors
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... =inductors