What Don't I Understand About the TAWbook?

[ArtShapiro]

I've just committed to purchase a broken T23 (for no particular reason) from an acquaintance. It sounds like it has the dreaded "blink of death". For $60, I'll take the chance that I can find a good MB on eBay.

He told me it was a 2648-GU2 from reading the bottom label, and I know that's a legit number as a search of these forums revealed exactly one of that model sold a while back.

So I went to the TAWbook to see what I could learn about it, and to my surprise could find no 2648 models - only a slew of 2647 guys.

What am I missing here???

Art

[rkawakami]

Not ALL of the models are listed in the tawbook. For the 2648 types, they usually are the same as the equivalent 2647 types, but with a different warranty coverage. For better information, plug your type into this page:

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... OME-LENOVO

edit: However, in this case:

Product: ThinkPad T23 2648-GU2 [change]
Operating system: All [change]

Original description: PIII-M 1.0GHz (512KB), 512MB RAM, 20.0GB HDD, 14.1 XGA(1024x768) TFT LCD, 8x-3.3 DVD-ROM, Modem(MPCI), Ethernet(CDC), WinXP Pro

Product: ThinkPad T22 2647-GU2 [change]
Operating system: All [change]

Original description: Based on 2647-8EU - PIII 900MHz (256KB), 256MB RAM, 20.0GB HDD, 14.1 XGA(1024x768) TFT LCD, CDRW/DVD, Intel combo, TV out, Li-Ion battery, Win2000

Two entirely different systems!

[ArtShapiro]

Thanks, Ray. Do you happen to know if that means that the MBs are different between the two series?

I figure if I'm lucky it will be memory or a mini-PCI card or something really easy to swap, but more than likely will require a new MB and the requisite hours to complete the exchange, assuming I can find one at an acceptable price.

Art

[rkawakami]

I believe that there are a couple of different motherboards for the T23 systems. What the differences are, I really don't know. The HMM should give you some details which might shed some light on that. I have about a dozen T23 motherboards that need checking out so I will probably find this out myself very soon .

The T23s should not have the typical "blink of death". By that, I mean the power LED is the only thing that flashes when the power button is pushed. More likely, if it refuses to power up at all, you are looking at a bum MiniPCI card (easy fix) or a motherboard repair (hardest fix).

[RealBlackStuff]

In case you didn't notice, your MT refers to a T23, the second one in Ray's post is a T22.
If you open the lid over the MiniPCI card at the bottom, you should see a white plastic 'flap' that sits over this card.
On that flap you would find the motherboard P/N:
26P8218 or it's older version 26P7997 (most common)
or 12P3770

[ArtShapiro]

On that flap you would find the motherboard P/N:
26P8218 or it's older version 26P7997 (most common)
or 12P3770

Thanks - I won't see the actual machine for a while - perhaps as late as the 27th when there's the monthly meeting of an organization to which we both belong.

I still don't know why I'm getting this computer, especially given the risk, but everyone here knows how it is. I'm giving my old T20 to a friend this morning (as it's raining too hard here in So Cal for my normal Saturday and Sunday bicycle club events). She's never had a laptop, and has the incentive of an employer half-subsidized cellular card that will be a real benefit in her sales job. If I can get the T23 working, that would seem to be a much better machine for her; the T20 has to work pretty hard to deal with Windows XP.

Art

[ArtShapiro]

The T23s should not have the typical "blink of death". By that, I mean the power LED is the only thing that flashes when the power button is pushed. More likely, if it refuses to power up at all, you are looking at a bum MiniPCI card (easy fix) or a motherboard repair (hardest fix).

This thread involves a known-broken T23 that I decided to purchase. For $60, I figured I could take a chance.

Just got it today - he included a nice leather case, CD, DVD, and floppy drive, extra battery, and some other stuff. The unit itself is in remarkably pristine condition.

And sure enough it's dead...it has the "pulse of death", if I can coin a term, where it continuously attempts to come up at about a 45-50 times per minute rate.

Removal of memory, hard drive, network card, modem card, battery, and CMOS battery - powering the unit from AC - did not affect the problem.

I guess this symptomology conforms to the broken inductor issue frequently cited in these forums. Guess I have to work up the ambition to tear the T23 apart. I've done T20s, so presumably this will be similar.

Is the loose inductor always obvious to the casual observer? I know in the worst case one of them comes completely off the motherboard and rattles around in the case. Don't think that's the issue here.

Enough babbling for now.

Art

[RealBlackStuff]

Open her up, and you should see loose parts immediately. Or use Ray's photo's from his website to locate those inductors. Then re-solder them all and try it again.