Please HELP - X31 won't start

[visitor]

Please help anyone.

My X31 was working as usual (external monitor, dock, internet, etc).
I turned it off to get rid of a "device cannot be stopped because it is still being used by a program" which was preventing me from turning off my external DVD writer.

When I press the Power button to restart the notebook, the screen remains black, as does the external monitor.
But: the energy LED is there and the battery is charged, and the other LEDs quickly blink as soon as I press the Pwer button, as does the external keyboard. And I can sense some internal motion and gentle air coming out of the vent, so my guess is the HDis alright.

Has anyone experienced this situation ? Does this seem like a serious problem such as a ruined motherboard, or could it be simpler, a CMOS battery or such ?

Would anyone be kind to post the steps for a quick check that would allow me ruling out possibilities before taking it to technical service (very expensive here, outside the US).

Many thanks for reading.

[Harryc]

Disconnect AC power and remove the X31 from it's dock. Remove the battery. Press the power button 5 to 10 times, holding it down for a couple of seconds each time. Reinstall the battery, power up.

[visitor]

Disconnect AC power and remove the X31 from it's dock. Remove the battery. Press the power button 5 to 10 times, holding it down for a couple of seconds each time. Reinstall the battery, power up.

Thanks for the tip. Unfortunately it wasn't good enough. Situation is the same, not even the Thinklight works, only the green little LEDs. Something else I could try ?
all the best

[jackmanon]

When the power supply is overloaded is protects itself but shutting down immediately. Check for shorted pins in all the connector and USB ports.

If no shorted pins, try this. Remove the machine from the docking station/port replicator. Remove all accessories. Remove all plugin items - hard drive, modem, wireless card, battery - everything that plugs in that you can remove. Now try to power up. If it does power up, put things back in one at a time until you identify which unit has a problem. If after removing everything the unit still doesn't start, the system board has a problem. Patience is the rule of the day