T30 with failing memory slot

Message

kawal · #1 Post by **kawal** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 4:06 pm

I'm brand new to this forum, so many of you might already know about this issue, but a senior member suggested I post this.

My sister-in-law asked me to look at her T30 which was often reacting very slowly. It had two 256 Mb RAM modules in it, but both the BIOS and Windows XP SP2 showed total memory of only 256 Mb.

After looking through this forum, I found a number of posts regarding the failing memory slots and how to fix them. But since my sister-in-law wanted to upgrade from 512 Mb (which she thought she had) to 1 Gb, I decided to install a 1 Gb PC2700 chip in the good slot. I had also upgraded the BIOS to the latest version from 2006.

The T30 seems to run fine and recognizes the full 1 Gb of system memory. So instead of fixing the bad slot, I just left it empty, and used the 1 Gb chip. I had also tried two 512 Mb chips in both slots, but only one was recognized.

Anyway, this wasn't really a "fix", but instead a very simple workaround to get the full 1 Gb of memory. Maybe this will help others in a similar situation.

Website · #2 Post by **tfflivemb2** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 5:16 pm

The T30 should recognize the full 1GB since the max ram for the T30 is 2gb...1GB per slot. (Though, IBM's documentation say that 1GB is the limit)

A lot of people tend to try to get rid of their systems because of the dead slot issue, but I feel that 1GB is sufficient.

Msmax · #3 Post by **Msmax** » Wed Feb 27, 2008 3:47 pm

The bad memory slot problem can easily been solved by just resoldering the pins of the memory slot.

If checked with a magnifying glass then you will find some of the memory slot pins loose from the main board in the corners.

I have fixed several already by just touching the metal pins for a few seconds with my soldering iron, do not try to add new solder to it as this will give you a big mess where all the pins will be connected together. Just heat the pins a bit to reflow the existing solder on the board.

Msmax

kawal · #4 Post by **kawal** » Wed Feb 27, 2008 5:39 pm

Thank you for the reply.

After reading your suggestion, I took a careful look at the slot connections. But even with a magnifying glass, I just can't see any problems. Below are some links to closeup photos. Can you possibly lead me in the right direction, based up the photos?

http://www.kawal.net/upper%20left.jpg
http://www.kawal.net/lower.jpg
http://www.kawal.net/upper%20right.jpg
http://www.kawal.net/upper%20left%202.jpg
http://www.kawal.net/lower%202.jpg
http://www.kawal.net/lower%20right.jpg
http://www.kawal.net/lower%20left.jpg

If you can point me a bit closer, I'll try to look closer.

Thank you for the suggestion.

Moderator edit: Removed HUGE inline images. Please keep images <50KB in size!

#5 Post by **RealBlackStuff** » Wed Feb 27, 2008 6:53 pm

You need to store those photos elsewhere, and supply us only with LINKS to them.
This size photo is well over the limit of what is allowed here!

Msmax · #6 Post by **Msmax** » Thu Feb 28, 2008 5:41 am

Hello Kawal,

Just take a soldering iron and heat up the pins of the bad memory slot as described before.

Msmax

kawal · #7 Post by **kawal** » Thu Feb 28, 2008 1:30 pm

Msmax wrote:Hello Kawal,

Just take a soldering iron and heat up the pins of the bad memory slot as described before.

Msmax

Msmax,
I've added some links in the above post to show some closeup photos of the solder joints. With 200 joints, without a hint, I don't even know where to start. You mentioned "in the corners", but are you referring to the very end solder joint or the last two or three or what have you found to be the problem? Do I need to heat up all 200 joints?

It would be a great help if you could click on the links and refer to at least one of the photos in your description.

Thank you very much.

Msmax · #8 Post by **Msmax** » Thu Feb 28, 2008 2:48 pm

Hello Kawal,

Even to heat up all the 200 pins is not more then 3-5 minutes of work.

Take out your battery and and backup cell.
Just put the clean tip of your iron on top of the metal pins ( it does not matter if you touch 3 pins at once), count to 5 and continue to the next set.

Make sure you do not have a ball of solder on the tip because that will flow to the areas between the pins and short them. Clean tip is needed!

If you do not have any experience with soldering ask a friend who has.

Regards, Msmax

phool@round · #9 Post by **phool@round** » Thu Feb 28, 2008 3:19 pm

Or.....send it me and I'll do it for you.....lol.

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=57368

kawal · #10 Post by **kawal** » Fri Feb 29, 2008 3:06 pm

Thank you for all of the help, and I finally got the issue fixed. It turned out that a close friend of mine in our little town does a lot of custom audio designing and building tiny circuit boards as part of their business. I happened to mention this problem and one of his employees was able to fix this in just a few minutes. They had the stereo microscope and tiny soldering equipment, and they were able to show me exactly what the problem was. With tiny tweezers, he showed me how four pins on the end of the bottom (nearest the edge of the computer) right were loose. He resoldered those and it works perfectly with two 512 Mb RAM chips.

Without that microscope, however, I don't see how one would ever find that problem - at least with old eyes like mine.

Thanks again for the forum help!

Rick Aguinaldo · #11 Post by **Rick Aguinaldo** » Sat Mar 01, 2008 2:03 pm

Thanks for the tip Msmax; one defective T30 memory slot recovered

. I filed to needle point the tip of my 30W soldering iron, pulled it out a bit from the heater barrel so that there is not too much heat, tinned it with solder, then wiping it off with tissue paper to remove the molten lead, I was ready to go. With magnifying glass on one hand, I just pushed the tip of the iron to the edge of the slot pins for about two seconds and after finishing one row, checked if the loose connection(s) had been reflown. I inserted one module into the formerly defective slot, fired the laptop and bingo! There was no need to go to the back row. Cheers!

EdipisReks · #12 Post by **EdipisReks** » Tue Mar 04, 2008 3:33 am

i want to try this on a friend's T30, and just to be sure, i apply heat to the area circled on each pin, right?

http://img410.imageshack.us/img410/6217 ... ghtto0.jpg

stupid question, and i've done soldering before, so i'm sure it can do it, i just want to make sure i'm applying heat to the right place. thanks.

Moderator edit: Changed 92KB inline image to link

Rick Aguinaldo · #13 Post by **Rick Aguinaldo** » Tue Mar 04, 2008 3:41 pm

EdipisReks wrote:... i just want to make sure i'm applying heat to the right place. thanks.

Yes those are the pins to be heated, and you circled one in the harder-to-reach back row. In my case I started at the front row where there is more room to maneuver my iron. After completing that row I tested it whether the loose connections were gone and it proved positive so I did not have to do the back row. I had better control by targeting the pcb pads (instead of the top of the pins since they are flat) and just let the iron's needle tip touch the edge of those pins. With the magnifying glass on one hand I observed the texture of the solder on the pins change as they are re-flown. I used the visual indication as an aid to approximate how long I had to apply heat. Hope this helps

EdipisReks · #14 Post by **EdipisReks** » Tue Mar 04, 2008 3:50 pm

awesome, thanks a lot! i'll definitely start with the front row. i'll see about trying it on her machine this weekend, and i'll post an update.

kawal · #15 Post by **kawal** » Tue Mar 04, 2008 6:40 pm

Just for your information, the pins that were loose on my T30 were on the other row, the one you see only if you remove the memory chip.

They would be the right four pins in this photo:

http://www.kawal.net/lower%20right.jpg

When the fellow who soldered them showed me the loose pins through the binoculars, he showed me how he could wiggle them with some tweezers. I never could have seen that without the binoculars.

kboykowboy · #16 Post by **kboykowboy** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 7:02 am

This sounds very interesting! i might wanna try it out! what are the potential damage i can do?

and by the way - how will i know if i have the right bios for my t30 to run with a 1gb ram block?

#17 Post by **RealBlackStuff** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 7:20 am

There is no specific indication to say which BIOS version you need minimally for 1GB SoDIMMs.
Here's a list of all BIOS-updates and what they corrected.
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-45884

I would suggest, try it first, with just 1 SoDIMM in 1 slot, then try the other.
If none work, it's time to update the BIOS. If it works, leave things alone.
"If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"

EdipisReks · #18 Post by **EdipisReks** » Sun Mar 16, 2008 12:31 pm

i finally got around to looking at my friend's laptop, a few minutes ago: success! it took about a minute to fix. instead of doing a few and then testing, i just reheated all the pins on the inside of the slot. it took about 4 seconds a pin (i have a very fine needle tip, so i did each individually instead of heating multiple pins simultaneously). , but i had my soldering iron dialed down, so YMMV. i'm just glad i had a magnifying glass! thanks for all the help, everyone!

AEN007 · #19 Post by **AEN007** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 9:22 am

17March2008

Greetings.
Finding/Reading this post actually gives me some hope
about fixing the failed 2nd memory slot on my T30.
(Relating the horror story about the vendor
who sold/shipped me this T30 is or is not Forum etiquette?)

My relevant question -
If/When I find someone competent/equipped
to solder the slot pins, can I/we test the result
by putting the only RAM module I have -
a PC2100 512mb module - in the currently
non-functioning memory slot?
I don't know if it matters which memory slot
one uses on a T30 when one uses only one memory slot.
Should the T30 recognize the RAM module and boot up
regardless of in which memory slot one inserts the RAM?

Any insights appreciated.
Thank you.
Regards,
AEN
Æ

Rick Aguinaldo · #20 Post by **Rick Aguinaldo** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 10:49 am

AEN007 wrote: Should the T30 recognize the RAM module and boot up
regardless of in which memory slot one inserts the RAM?

If the module and slot are OK, the T30 should recognize the RAM and boot regardless which memory slot the module is inserted. In fact this is one simple way to check which slot is defective using a known good RAM module.

t20user · #21 Post by **t20user** » Tue Mar 18, 2008 11:54 am

Cool thread.

I just fixed a T2x board I have had around for 2 years. Now I can replace my BOD T22 board.

spriggan · #22 Post by **spriggan** » Tue Mar 18, 2008 4:01 pm

anybody who lives in belgium who is willing to do the soldering for me. Since I have never done it in my life

tjm001 · #23 Post by **tjm001** » Thu Mar 20, 2008 3:23 pm

anybody who lives in belgium who is willing to do the soldering for me. Since I have never done it in my life

I'm in Bremen, Germany and just soldered my T30. I now have 2GB of RAM. With this and a new 100GB 7200RPM drive this little bugger flies!

I could do it for you, but I think I'm about 3 to 4 hours from you.

Msmax · #24 Post by **Msmax** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 7:38 am

Hello Spriggan,

I live in The Hague, The Netherlands.
I can do it for you if you drive to my house on a Sunday...

Regards, Msmax

AEN007 · #25 Post by **AEN007** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 12:37 pm

23March2008
Greetings.
I live/travel in the Bodensee/Alp regions
(Vorarlberg/Schweiz/Konstanz).
Anyone who could repair my failed T30 2nd memory slot
or anyone know someone/somewhere
who could repair my failed T30 2nd memory slot?

Any insights appreciated.
Thank you.
Regards,
AEN
Æ

phool@round · #26 Post by **phool@round** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 12:42 pm

I offered to fix the memory slots for awhile in our Marketplace (for a cost) and nobody took me up on the offer.....so I deleted the post.

AEN007 · #27 Post by **AEN007** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 1:00 pm

23March2008

Greetings.
The Lenovo website allows one to search
for "PC Partner in Ihrer Nähe",
if that is any help to spriggan or anyone else.
I'm still trying to find someone to repair
my T30 failed second memory slot.

Any insights appreciated.
Thank you.
Regards,
AEN
Æ

shifty21 · #28 Post by **shifty21** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 4:31 pm

It would appear that my hand-me-down notebook has this issue. Which slot is it that is defective? From what I read, it could be either...

Also is 1 gig the max for this notebook or could it handle two 1 gig sticks?

kboykowboy · #29 Post by **kboykowboy** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 5:13 pm

hmm.... is it that hard to solder it yourself?! by the way that was what i meant by my last question.... but i quess the question is "yes, you can do really bad harm by soldering on a laptop"

could have said my self...

tjm001 · #30 Post by **tjm001** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 8:32 am

shifty21 Wrote:

Also is 1 gig the max for this notebook or could it handle two 1 gig sticks?

That's what I have in my T30. Two 1GB sticks for a total of 2GB. The specs say only two 512 KBs, but trust me two 1GBs are OK. Mine works great!