Dead T21?

[Duudson]

Hi,

I have T21 (running Centos 5) as my home server.

I just replaced its original hd (because it didn't boot anymore, didn't even try to boot from the disk) with Samsung 80GB.

Now today, I installed some new software and wanted to see that they all start on boot, so I rebooted the server.

But unfortunately it didn't boot up anymore. When I push the power button, all leds light up (all that would normally do) and fan spins a few rounds. Then it just powers off. It happens so fast that the screen doesn't show anything yet.

Is there something that can be done to bring this old mate back alive?

[rkawakami]

Welcome to thinkpads.com!

With a non-power-up issue, one of the first things to try is to remove ALL "extra" hardware from the system. This includes:

- memory
- hard drive
- Ultrabay device
- USB
- PCMCIA
- MiniPCI card

Powering up the system in that state should give you a series of beeps (1-3-3-1). This indicates that the motherboard has recognized that there is no memory installed. If the laptop still shuts down after a couple of seconds, then there's a problem with the motherboard.

Assuming that you get the 1-3-3-1 beeps, power off the system, replace the memory and power up again. This should allow the system to get throught the POST and you should be able to access the BIOS (hold down the F1 key). If that works, continue replacing one item at a time until the system does not power up. When it does that, you've found the bad part.

Hint: try the MiniPCI card first (after re-installing the memory). When that card goes bad, it can lead to many different kinds of problems.

[Duudson]

Hi, and thanks for your reply!

I removed all of those, and it still doesn't do anything. Now hd led flashes once, and that's all that happens

[rkawakami]

That sounds like what has been described here as the "Blink Of Death" (BOD). If all that happens when you push the power button is a 0.1 second flash of the hard drive LED, followed by NOTHING, then your motherboard has become afflicted with a case of BOD.

There have been several (temporary) "solutions" discussed here over the years. The one that seems to help my T22 system with this problem is by removing the main battery and AC adapter for a couple of days. Letting the system sit without power seems to help. It's not a 100% reliable solution. Other advice is to remove power, press the power button many times (12 to 20 times is what I remember reading), then on the last one, push and hold the power button down for 20 seconds. This is supposed to discharge any residual voltage on the capacitors. Re-attach the battery and/or AC adapter and try powering up. I personally subscribe to the theory that something has become detached from the motherboard and is causing a loss of system power.

One word of advice: Be prepared to transfer any data that you might need off of the hard drive once the system comes back from the dead. Turning the system off will probably result in a re-occurance of the BOD. My T22 was able to power up several times before reverting back to the same problem.