T40 Type 2373 LCD screen problems

T4x series specific matters only
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cuzman
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T40 Type 2373 LCD screen problems

#1 Post by cuzman » Sun Jan 27, 2008 5:50 pm

My girlfriend has a problem with her T40. If you sit it in a perfectly still position and turn it on then the screen will be fine. However, the slightest tilt or movement can result in the screen having a series of strange vertical coloured lines, gong blank, or looking like a bad analogue TV reception.

Is this a known problem that is easy to rectify? I can easily order a replacement LCD ribbon cable and change that, but I don't know if that's the problem so I wanted to check here first.

TIA.

Harryc
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#2 Post by Harryc » Sun Jan 27, 2008 5:58 pm

Welcome to the forum. It sounds like the T4X GPU problem. The fix is system board replacement. See this thread for symptoms similar to her machine's.

cuzman
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#3 Post by cuzman » Fri Feb 01, 2008 3:31 pm

Changed the LCD ribbon cable and the problem still persists. Might take it apart and rebuild it completely from scratch, but I am not keeping my hopes up on it being a loose connection elsewhere.

I see a series of cheap T40's on eBay being sold as barebone to the point where they only have the base case and motherboard. They show pictures of these all POSTing to the BIOS, yet nothing else is guaranteed. Any chance that these would have a fully working motherboard? See ebay item 150212052444 for what I mean.

TIA

ajkula66
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#4 Post by ajkula66 » Fri Feb 01, 2008 6:59 pm

I'd be very scared of these...

You're better off contacting forum member baisley and buying a tested mobo from him ($110)...

Just my $0.02....
...Knowledge is a deadly friend when no one sets the rules...(King Crimson)

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Otter
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#5 Post by Otter » Sat Feb 02, 2008 12:13 am

I have a t40 with the same symptoms (except i can't get it to start normal ever).
I'm going to attempt to reflow with a heatgun.
You can see a video of it on youtube if you search for t41p reflow.

cuzman
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#6 Post by cuzman » Thu Feb 14, 2008 3:52 am

Well, I am going to attempt the re-flow as suggested here. However, one problem the T40 has which may affect future flexing of the motherboard is that there are two hairline cracks in the palmrest, indicated as being by the two black lines in the following picture. This isn't a picture of the laptop in question, just one from Google Images that I added the marks to.

http://img401.imageshack.us/img401/477/t4001uu5.jpg

A simple and cheap replacement shouldn't be too difficult to find on eBay. The question now is, which Thinkpad palmrests share the same spec and measurement as the T40?

cuzman
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#7 Post by cuzman » Sat Feb 23, 2008 11:30 pm

OK, finally got the replacement palm rest which I was waiting for before I attempted the re-flow.

Used a 2000w heat gun and spent half the evening doing it. Put it all back together and magically got the battery light when I plugged it in to the charger.

Then I pressed the "on" button and it died. From then on I just have a dead Thinkpad. Not sure what to do now.

I'm also [censored] at threading one of the palm rest screws right at the end. Wouldn't have minded so much if it was somewhere in the middle.

Any advice?

saab
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Display Flickers

#8 Post by saab » Mon Feb 25, 2008 4:58 am


Hai , If you are facing a flickkering display, then it will be a motherboard issue. If it is a hardone problem, then it will be an LCD issue. if intermittent, chance for LCD Cable also. After connecting with power you got that battery glow, correct?
The symptom is like not powering ON, then there is an issue with motherboard. Else remove the battery and try to switch on the machine with power....Any way according to the symptoms that is mentioned, chance of motherboard failure is not less.....

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