Dead T42p - won't power up

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kevin_i_orourke · #1 Post by **kevin_i_orourke** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 7:34 am

Last night I wanted to print some photos, so I plugged in my USB printer and my T42p immediately switched itself off. I know that Windows USB support is flaky so I assumed it was that.

Unfortunately I couldn't make it turn on again. I've tried a different battery, a different power supply unit and followed the troubleshooting instructions on the ThinkPad support site. Nothing works, it's now a big, black paperweight.

Nothing happens when it's connected to AC power, not even the battery charge light. Pressing the power button has no effect.

I've contacted support and I'm waiting to see what they suggest. As I'm in Nigeria I think I'll have to wait until I go on holiday to the UK in April before I can get it fixed (it's still under warranty).

Does anyone have any experiences of ThinkPad repairs in the UK? I'm assuming the motherboard is fried, so I'll have to send the whole thing back.

Fortunately the hard disk is OK, I've taken it out and put it in an external USB case, so I still have all my files and emails.

Kevin

danage · #2 Post by **danage** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 9:35 am

yes. your assumption is very likely to be true. you can try the usual "without ac adapter" "without battery" and so on, but with your description it is highly likely that somehow the usb must have chain reacted and fried the motherboard.

did you try the printer on another computer (watch out it might of course break as well...)

kevin_i_orourke · #3 Post by **kevin_i_orourke** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 10:05 am

danage wrote:yes. your assumption is very likely to be true. did you try the printer on another computer (watch out it might of course break as well...)

I'm thinking it was probably just a static discharge, from some other posts on here it seems that the T42 has poor protection on the USB ports. It's dry season here just now, so static can be a problem.

I suspect support might try to claim power surges or something like that but both the printer and T42p were connected to the same voltage stabiliser, UPS and surge-protector.

I'll try out the printer on my office computer next week, should be fun...

Temetka · #4 Post by **Temetka** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 11:00 pm

IF it's dead, I'll buy the CPU off you.

rxtech27 · #5 Post by **rxtech27** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 11:25 pm

Got the same problem with my T40 .. . . .im "lucky" enough to still get the lights to go on . .but pretty much in the same boat. I am already looking into buying a new mobo . . . good luck and keep us posted . . sad to say . . but this would have never happend with my Dell

kevin_i_orourke · #6 Post by **kevin_i_orourke** » Thu Feb 15, 2007 3:07 am

Temetka wrote:IF it's dead, I'll buy the CPU off you.

I'm thinking I'll probably have to send the whole unit back so that they can replace the motherboard, I doubt they'll send the broken MB back to me.

rxtech27 wrote:Got the same problem with my T40 .. . . .im "lucky" enough to still get the lights to go on . .but pretty much in the same boat. I am already looking into buying a new mobo . . . good luck and keep us posted . . sad to say . . but this would have never happend with my Dell

So why would it never have happened with your Dell? Poor USB protection is sadly common in the industry, seems to be a popular way to shave a few cents off the Bill of Materials.

When I opened up the T42p I was really impressed by how neatly everything is laid out inside (I'm an electronics engineer, so I like that kind of thing). It has certainly survived Nigeria (heat, dust, humidity, bumpy roads and erratic electricity) better than the Dells, Toshibas, etc. that friends have had.

cs98sss4 · #7 Post by **cs98sss4** » Fri Feb 16, 2007 4:50 pm

My laptop was showing symptoms of freezing and but was getting more and more frequent so I have sent my machine back as its under warranty.
Lets see how the UK handles the problem along with the turn around time.
I think its carefully using the USB ports using a powered hub most of the time and not picking the laptop with one hand, as this flexes the motherboard.

cs98sss4 · #8 Post by **cs98sss4** » Tue Feb 27, 2007 10:50 am

Update:
Got my machine back from service yesterday, all seems good and I have USB 2.0

I had the lcd replaced as well, but there seems to be a loose screw in there along with some white pixels. Lets see what IBM UK say when I call them up.
I am amazed at the turnaround speed.
In the future I'm going to try and always use an externally powered USB hub to reduce the chance of damaging the motherboard.

kevin_i_orourke · #9 Post by **kevin_i_orourke** » Wed Feb 28, 2007 2:50 am

cs98sss4 wrote:I am amazed at the turnaround speed.

How long did it take them?

I'm planning to get mine fixed while I'm home on a short holiday in April. If they can't fix it within two weeks it will be very expensive for me to get the laptop sent back out to Nigeria!

As you say, using a USB hub might help.

kevin_i_orourke · #10 Post by **kevin_i_orourke** » Fri Apr 27, 2007 4:37 pm

Getting the laptop back to IBM in the UK was a bit of a saga. They use TNT SameDay as their courier, but only at a few depots across the country.

Two weeks later the machine arrived back, repaired. I just got back from a trip, powered it up and discovered that when they replaced the motherboard they must have used a T42 one in place of the original T42p one.

So I now have a 32 MB ATI Radeon Mobility 7500 graphics chip instead of a 128 MB ATI FireGL T2.

I'm furious!

I have to return to Nigeria tomorrow, so I won't be able to easily send it back to IBM. I'm now going to have to complain from a great distance and hope I can get them to pay to collect it from Nigeria and return it to me there after putting in the correct motherboard.

If I'd wanted a worse graphics chipset I'd have paid less and bought a T42!

The other components all seem to be OK.

Dead T42p - won't power up

Dead T42p - won't power up

IBM stole my graphics card

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