Finished Assembling A31, Questions

[RWDPLZ]

I finally installed the final part in my pieced together A31. When I press the power button on the keyboard, nothing happens, no lights, beeps, etc. However, the orange battery light comes on when the battery is plugged in, and turns off when the battery is removed. If I unplug the power adapter and plug it back in, the battery light blinks orange and then becomes solid again. Also, it looks like the inverter could be plugged in either way at the connector, is it possible the wires are switched at the inverter?

Any suggestions?

[RWDPLZ]

I've left it plugged in, and after a while it began blinking green, and finally became solid green, which from the HMM means the battery was charging and is now fully charged. I also tried taking out pieces like the wireless card, hard drive, RAM, both disk drives, and unplugging the CMOS battery and starting it, with no results.

[SeanM]

Could be a bad power button.

You definitely don't want to plug in that cable at the inverter backwards. One way the plug goes in easily, and all the way. The other, it should stop about halfway.

[RWDPLZ]

OK I figured something out! I started taking it apart, and found the ribbon cable to the keyboard was torn at the connector! So I replaced the keyboard with the other one I had. Now all the indicator lights light up when I press the power button, and the screen turns a really dark purple color. The computer then beeps twice and turns off.

NEXT I hooked it up to my regular CRT monitor. I turned on the power, and it went to the IBM screen, with press F1 or F12, etc. Then it gave a 'fan error' message, beeped twice, and turned off.

SO: Is the screen or inverter bad if it only works on the CRT monitor?

The HMM lists the error problem as Fan, but doesn't mention the beeps. Two beeps and a blank screen (but the screen wsn't blank if it had the error message?) is the system board?

[proaudioguy]

Is the CASE in good condition? I have a complete working A31 with cracked case. Let me know if you decide to part it out. I think I was watching that auction.

[JHEM]

NEXT I hooked it up to my regular CRT monitor. I turned on the power, and it went to the IBM screen, with press F1 or F12, etc. Then it gave a 'fan error' message, beeped twice, and turned off.

Sounds like the fan is bad, the unit is overheating and shutting itself down.

James

[RWDPLZ]

OK I ordered a new fan. Any ideas on the video problem? LCD, inverter, cable? I checked the cable connections and they were good. Still works when hooked up to an external monitor.

[RWDPLZ]

I finally recieved and installed the new fan, and I still get the fan error. Suggestions?

I also purchased an A31 2653-CU3 for parts, I put in RAM, a hard drive, and the keyboard and it started right up. I installed Windows and it's is working great, but I'd like to get both working now.

HELP!

[schen]

It's possible (although I hope not) that you have a fan error generated from a blown capacitor on the MB. I had the same situation a while back thinking that the fan error would be a quick replacement fix and I'd have a good A30. Turned out not to be the case. I put in a known good fan and the machine still returned the error, so it was the MB. You screen thing is probably down to 2 things if the external monitor is working. You could have a bad inverter or the backlight could be out. If you turn it on and put the machine up to a strong like (or shine a flashlight at the screen) and you can see the image in there, but it's really dark, you've got a bad backlight. In that case, you can replace the screen (expensive) or replace the backlight (tricky, but relatively cheap).