I have found the problem

[Jim Mc]

but, what are they TELLING me????

Okay, I have a T-40, gives me the 4 sets of 4 beeps, and a blank screen.

Lenovo tell me System board (security chip).. um, okay, what is the security chip, and what am I supposed to DO with it???? Thanks in advance....

[richk]

Is this a machine that used to work for you or did you buy it not-working?

[Jim Mc]

it was recently returned to me from a end user who had left the company. Keep in mind, this person was like the lone rider of the apocalypse- he was especially harsh on the smaller animals....

Having said that, the machine did work, I reimaged it with our standard image, and issued it to a new end user. 2 days later, it started this beeping. It's a t-40-2373. It runs win 2k, and has 256mb ram.

I know, not high end stuff, but it serves our purpose....

[richk]

It is almost certainly a motherboard failure. The only fixable thing I can imagine is that the security chip fell off. (VERY unlikely) It is on a tiny board that plugs onto the underside of the motherboard by the parallel port.

[Jim Mc]

is it just me, or did they really drop the ball on the -40 series????

It seems that the -30 and -20 series were ALOT more robust than the -40 series.......

[Trixie]

I had the same problem last year with my T42; the system board had to be replaced.

[lithium726]

is it just me, or did they really drop the ball on the -40 series????

It seems that the -30 and -20 series were ALOT more robust than the -40 series.......

They were also a LOT thicker, the 4x was thin and people like to grab them on the palm rest while the lid is open, introducing flex on the board and causing the solder joints on the VGA chip (middle of the board) to loosen until they break due to cyclic loading. This is probably the main reason the 60 has the Mg rollcage.

If you pick the 4x up by the corner above the keyboard it'll be fine. the moment arm is much smaller and that area is reinforced to some Mg around the battery bay.

[sjthinkpader]

The T2x and T3x have front batteries. The big T4x battery hanging out the back made it worst when a user holds it by the front.

But I never hold my T41 by the front. Nevertheless the GPU failed two months after the warranty expired. So I think the failure is mainly due to poor thermal design of the GPU and not so much due to flexing.

In contract, my colleague likes to hold his by the front and that machine is still working today.