My T30 wont turn on

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wearetheborg · #1 Post by **wearetheborg** » Thu Jul 19, 2007 10:47 am

For a long while, the fan in my T30 was giving problems. Sometimes I would get "Fan error" while booting up.

Then after a while, even that message disappeared. When I press the power button, the indicator lights turn on, then nothing. No error message, no noise, nothing. The screen is getting power (it lights up)
Occasionally, after pressing the button like 20 times the laptop would turn on, but even that has stopped now.

I opened up the laptop and put in a new fan. The problem still persists. When I press te power button there is sort of a "phut" sound though. Its not the HDD (I took it out, and turned the laptop on, same problem).

Any idea on what might be the problem ?

Website · #2 Post by **tfflivemb2** » Thu Jul 19, 2007 3:20 pm

You might have waited too long to install the fan. This sounds like an overheating issue.

wearetheborg · #3 Post by **wearetheborg** » Fri Jul 20, 2007 10:50 am

Well it had been making this sound before, but the laptop would turn on after several tries. Now, it just wont.

Anyhoo, how should I go about fixing it ? New motherboard ?
How much is the expected cost of repair ?

Website · #4 Post by **tfflivemb2** » Fri Jul 20, 2007 7:34 pm

What happens is the sounds happens as the system shuts down to prevent causing damage to itself. Once the damage occurs, it will no longer start.

Now, there are three possibilities....

1. The CPU fried - might be an inexpensive fix, since 1.6-1.8 P-4M processors are pretty cheap. ($15-30)

2. the system board fried - not sure how much the system board will run....depends on eBay prices. ($40-100)

3. Both CPU and systemboard fried - cost = 1 + 2.

If you check the FAQ, you will find a link to the Hardware Maintenance Manual, which will show you how to remove and replace each of these components.

#5 Post by **RealBlackStuff** » Sat Jul 21, 2007 9:00 am

When you replaced the fan, did you apply thermal paste between CPU and fan?

wearetheborg · #6 Post by **wearetheborg** » Sat Jul 21, 2007 11:47 am

RealBlackStuff wrote:When you replaced the fan, did you apply thermal paste between CPU and fan?

No I did not. The laptop did not even turn on once after the new fan install. I put in the new fn only when the laptop refused to boot.
I change back to the old fan, same thing.

wearetheborg · #7 Post by **wearetheborg** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 2:19 am

Do you guys think my T30 might be suffering from a CMOS baattery problem ?
Its been in heavy use for 6+ years, Probably last 4 years been on 24/7/365.
Before it died, it would also randomly freeze.
Also, on many occasions, when I booted up, it would ask me to set the time.

Website · #8 Post by **tfflivemb2** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 6:46 am

It wouldn't hurt to check, or replace the CMOS battery, but I still think that you primary problem is the fact that it overheated.

P.S.
I see that an admin made a note in your profile, asking you to update your location. I think previously you were spelling California wrong, intentionally (I believe as a reference to Schwarzenegger), and it might have been taken as if you were mocking the location portion of your profile.

#9 Post by **Harryc** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 7:39 am

wearetheborg wrote:
RealBlackStuff wrote:When you replaced the fan, did you apply thermal paste between CPU and fan?
No I did not. The laptop did not even turn on once after the new fan install. I put in the new fn only when the laptop refused to boot.
I change back to the old fan, same thing.

If you didn't use thermal paste, now your CPU is shot in addition to whatever was the original cause.

Temetka · #10 Post by **Temetka** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 11:09 am

Ehh. NO thermal paste won't fry the CPU with just a couple of boot tries. It it won't power on, then the CPU can't heat up.

#11 Post by **Harryc** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 12:26 pm

Temetka wrote:Ehh. NO thermal paste won't fry the CPU with just a couple of boot tries. It it won't power on, then the CPU can't heat up.

Ah, the Pentium M's must have a thermal shutdown sensor/circuit. I am used to AMD systems where no paste means barbeque time ...

wearetheborg · #12 Post by **wearetheborg** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 1:46 pm

tfflivemb2 wrote: P.S.
I see that an admin made a note in your profile, asking you to update your location. I think previously you were spelling California wrong, intentionally (I believe as a reference to Schwarzenegger), and it might have been taken as if you were mocking the location portion of your profile.

Yes exactly, what is up with the forum admins ??????????
I was not mocking anything..

I did not get any PM either, I just noticed it now.

Temetka · #13 Post by **Temetka** » Tue Jul 24, 2007 1:10 am

Harryc wrote:
Temetka wrote:Ehh. NO thermal paste won't fry the CPU with just a couple of boot tries. It it won't power on, then the CPU can't heat up.
Ah, the Pentium M's must have a thermal shutdown sensor/circuit. I am used to AMD systems where no paste means barbeque time ...

If you run it for more than 5 or 6 seconds I would agree with you. But sitting the HSF on top and applying power to check for signs of life won't hurt the hardware. I have done this procedure countless times testing desktop and laptop components. Heck I did it with my T41P when I got my shiny new 2.0GHz Pentium M. IBM logo appears, I kill power.

It saves some time, but mostly labor. If the machine posts then you are usually good to go. That is assuming the previous owner wasn't some kind of numbnutz who overclocked aggressively with stock cooling or something like that.

It's also a great way to check for fan error codes, spin up, etc.

The key it to only have power on for a couple of seconds. Anything more than say 5 or 10 seconds (depending on CPU, I wouldn't do it with an FX-60 or something) and of course it will fry. Adequate usage of gray matter and a dosage of common sense need to be applied as well.

wearetheborg · #14 Post by **wearetheborg** » Tue Jul 24, 2007 11:57 pm

I put in the new battery, the T30 is still dead

Davemci · #15 Post by **Davemci** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 11:44 am

This is a T30 with the infamous memory problem. You may want to investigate that. Especially if you only have memory in the bottom slot.

wearetheborg · #16 Post by **wearetheborg** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 12:16 pm

Davemci wrote:This is a T30 with the infamous memory problem. You may want to investigate that. Especially if you only have memory in the bottom slot.

I have memory in both slots.
However, I took out one sodimm and the laptop turned ON !!!
Then I switched the sodimm, and laptop would not turn on. Switched the single sodimm back, and T30 still no boot.
No change on putting in two sodimms.

#17 Post by **Harryc** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 12:18 pm

The problem as mentioned by Davemci is that one (or possibly both) of the memory slots on the system board itself is bad. The only way to fix it (reliably) is to replace the system board. Meanwhile if you remove the RAM in that slot the machine will work if only one slot is bad.

wearetheborg · #18 Post by **wearetheborg** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 12:31 pm

Harryc wrote:The problem as mentioned by Davemci is that one (or possibly both) of the memory slots on the system board itself is bad. The only way to fix it (reliably) is to replace the system board. Meanwhile if you remove the RAM in that slot the machine will work if only one slot is bad.

I tried all possible combiniations: sodimm 1 in slot 1, sodimm 1 in slot 2, sodimm 2 in slot 1 etc (only one sodimm at a time).
It turned on once, but I was not able to reproduce the turning on.

Website · #19 Post by **tfflivemb2** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 7:10 pm

You are trying to find an easy fix for this problem, but it appears that the only solutions are to replace the CPU and/or the Systemboard.

It might still randomly start, but the fact is..."its dead Jim"...

I had two Dells with the exact same symptom... One was fixed by replacing the system board...the other was stripped, because the owner didn't want to spend the money on the new board.

wearetheborg · #20 Post by **wearetheborg** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 10:50 pm

tfflivemb2 wrote:"its dead Jim"...

wearetheborg · #21 Post by **wearetheborg** » Sat Aug 04, 2007 5:12 pm

tfflivemb2 wrote:You might have waited too long to install the fan. This sounds like an overheating issue.

Can a laptop die of overheating because the fan isnt working properly ? Isnt the system supposed to shut itself down in case of overheating ?
I'm wondering, since fan problems are so rampant in thinkpads, that if the fan starts acting up in my next thinkpad, whther I should replace it immediately, and whether not doing do immediately will put the motherboard in danger...

richp · #22 Post by **richp** » Sat Aug 04, 2007 8:58 pm

I just had a friend bring his 2 year old HP widescreen over, it was freezing and shutting off. I blew the cpu out and I swear there was a cat in with all the hair that came out. Once I got the entire machine cleaned out [do they hire professional jigsaw puzzle designers for these laptops or what] it worked fine and the reinstall went smoothly. I hate disassembling laptops..I hate reassembling them even more.

Website · #23 Post by **tfflivemb2** » Sat Aug 04, 2007 9:49 pm

wearetheborg wrote:Can a laptop die of overheating because the fan isnt working properly ? Isnt the system supposed to shut itself down in case of overheating ?
I'm wondering, since fan problems are so rampant in thinkpads, that if the fan starts acting up in my next thinkpad, whther I should replace it immediately, and whether not doing do immediately will put the motherboard in danger...

Yes, it can die from overheating. You had signs from the "thump" that you would hear, though you didn't know what it was. That was the CPU shutting down to avoid overheating.

As for fan problems being rampant in Thinkpads, that isn't the case. Fan issues happen in Desktops and laptops alike. Desktops are just easier to deal with.

Robbyrobot · #24 Post by **Robbyrobot** » Sun Aug 05, 2007 12:47 am

I hate disassembling laptops..I hate reassembling them even more

I can think of more pleasant pastimes, too

However, there are ways to make things a bit easier. I learned one just recently: when I take a laptop apart, I put the screws that I remove to take each component off in a sealed plastic bag and tape it to the component with "magic tape" (the kind that leaves no adhesive residues when removed). I use a bag sealer made for food in the kitchen for this... it's basically just a heated wire to seal and/or cut the plastic of a roll of foil that comes with the sealer. This allows you to make plastic bags of nearly any size and seal them, and is good for small things like screws.

Until I started doing this, I had a horrible time reassembling a laptop, even with the information in the IBM HMMs, since finding the screws for a specific component was anything but simple. Now this is no problem, and the screws are never lost.

wearetheborg · #25 Post by **wearetheborg** » Sun Aug 05, 2007 3:33 am

tfflivemb2 wrote:
Yes, it can die from overheating. You had signs from the "thump" that you would hear, though you didn't know what it was. That was the CPU shutting down to avoid overheating.

I dont get it, if the the thump is the cpu shutting down, then how can it be heat damage ? The shuttng down is supposed to protect the cpu no ?

The "phut" sound only occurs as soon as I push the power on button. There is no way cpu can overheat within a second.

wearetheborg · #26 Post by **wearetheborg** » Sun Aug 19, 2007 6:28 am

Suppose the cpu gets fried.
Then, will the IBM logo appear on power ?

truk · #27 Post by **truk** » Fri Aug 24, 2007 3:04 am

The IBM logo usually would not show on a laptop with a dead CPU, as the CPU is required to start. As for the CPU dieing from that second of heat, thats not what they mean. The CPU likely died from a heat issue while you were running it. Then, when you tried to start, it made the sound and went no further. If I were you, I'd try to figure out the source of the sound. I have to agree though that your best course of action would be to get a new CPU, or at least borrow one to test with.

Hope this helps!
Truk

My T30 wont turn on

My T30 wont turn on

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