T23 - mostly dead

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pault · #1 Post by **pault** » Sat Jul 28, 2007 8:26 am

Hello all,

Previously I'd posted about a missing cmos battery connector. Anyway, in the days since that post, my T23 started to die. Firstly, it would only boot if I took out the battery. Then it started only to boot if I took out the battery and disconnected the power cable and let it 'rest' for a few minutes.

Then it got worse. Either, I'd end up with a blank screen, a whirring fan and nothing. Or I could get to the BIOS setup screen where I'd reenter the time and date. However after exciting with F10, it would hang again - whirring fan, blank screen and the power-on indicator.

The last time it did that it was days ago. Now it just won't boot. My symptoms are exactly described here: http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=42860

That is, if I remove the RAM I get the 1-3-3-1 beeps. Occasionally, if I power up and leave it on for a bit, I'll get two beeps and then the fan will spin down but the power on LED will remain lit.

Anyway, today I opened it up. I found the CMOS battery connector that had snapped off, I also found one of the spacers from the motherboard was rolling around freely inside.

I soldered them both back and put it back together. It's still not working and I have exactly the same symptoms.

What's the chance it's a broken motherboard or processor? Because the symptoms appeared slowly over a couple of weeks, I thought it might have been because the loose pieces shaking around inside might have shorted something on the motherboard.

Update: Since I wrote the post I've been intermittently trying to boot the laptop. The last time I removed the battery and unplugged it. I then pressed the power button down just in case that would discharge something that needed discharging. I left the battery out and plugged it in. I turned it on. Wow! The BIOS setup screen came up. I entered the date and time. Then Wow! the BIOS spash screen comes up again and it boots just like its good old self.

It's working and I'm writing this update on it now. Does anyone have any idea what is going on? Cuz I don't.

pault · #2 Post by **pault** » Mon Jul 30, 2007 4:03 pm

Well, there's another odd thing. When I power on, the fan spins up, but the screen is black. However, if I tip it forwards quickly by raising the front end, I can get to the BIOS flash screen and can boot.

I'm not going to keep doing that,obviously, because it's really bad for the hard disk ... but it does suggest there's a loose connection somewhere.

#3 Post by **rkawakami** » Mon Jul 30, 2007 4:14 pm

Don't know how I missed this thread...

Your problem(s) sound like the typical things that happen when one or more of the components on the motherboard are loose. Refer to the sticky at the top of this conference:

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=21979

for one of the more common problem areas. If you are getting a steady fan but no other life, start checking some more of the larger components such as what I documented in this thread:

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=40648

pault · #4 Post by **pault** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 3:09 pm

Thanks I took it apart and tried again. I resoldered anything that looked as if the joint needed help. There are a few changes:

The date/time doesn't seem to be forgotten now, so I must have soldered the CMOS battery connector on properly this time!

The other change is that when I get to the BIOS splash screen, booting proceeds whereas it used to hang most of the time.

However, the basic problem remains: getting to the BIOS splash screen. I need to power on 8 to 10 times to get there. Tipping the computer up no longer seems to help.

Unfortunately, I don't have PC Doctor to be able to test all the hardware.

Website · #5 Post by **tfflivemb2** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 4:58 pm

Will it boot to a bootable CD?

If so, you can use the link that Ray set up on his own site for creating a bootable copy of PC Doctor for the T2x series (see his post here). There is also a link to a floppy version as well...

pault · #6 Post by **pault** » Mon Aug 06, 2007 5:11 am

Thanks for the advice. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to progress this as I haven't been able to boot it since my last message. Once I got as far as the BIOS flash screen and then it hung.

I think I need a new motherboard or a new laptop.

It seems that years of handling has caused some trauma to the motherboard.

T23 - mostly dead

T23 - mostly dead

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