T41: after shutdown, must wait 75 seconds to power up

[gaiageek]

Anytime my system powers off, such as after shutdown or after a BIOS update, if I power it back up right away I get the AC and battery lights and a whirring fan, but nothing on the LCD and no HD activity. However, if I wait about 75 seconds, it powers up fine.

This strikes me as very peculiar, almost as if it's a safeguard that would kick in if the system shutdown due to overheating (though my system never gets that hot, with all sensors generally reporting under 50C). Today I tried reverting back to the two previous BIOS versions to see if that would help - and it didn't. Before trying even older versions, I figured I'd ask here and see if anyone else has had this problem or has any suggestions. Would the problem described be more likely affected by the Embedded Hardware Controller version?

Someone mentioned in another thread that perhaps these systems were pre-programmed to start exhibiting strange problems like this, and I have to admit, I'm growing suspicious.

Any thoughts?