my t40p turns on but doesn't boot, please help

[atechnica]

today, out of nowhere, my thinkpad won't boot. it shows the battery light and the power light, and the fan turns on, but nothing else happens. the lcd doesn't turn on and it doesn't go into the bios. if I put a cd in, it spins it and stops but won't boot from it.

think it's the hard drive? mother board? i'll do a visuual inspection later but i'm not an expert by any means. any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

i'm posting on my htc mogul now

[Brad]

Welcome to the forum!

Sadly what you describe is a known issue with the GPU.

Unfortunately the only options are to repair your existing motherboard or replace it.

Brad

[atechnica]

does it make a difference if mine has a radeon video card? how difficult is repairing the motherboard, and why would it just not start one day?

i'll try to do some searching through old threads when i'm on a real computer.

thanks

[Brad]

Discrete GPU is exactly the problem. This is the ATI GPU. Search the forum for threads on this repair.

Were there any other problems leading up to the day your ThinkPad did not start?

Brad

[Johan]

Your problem could also be caused by a RAM-module failure. To test this, see the suggestions in the thread T41 Wireless Upgrade --> Dead Mobo?? (see the post of Wed Apr 02, 2008 5:24 am).

If you are able to boot off a DOS-diskette (via USB), then get the bootable Memtest86+ DOS-diskette, as suggested in that thread.

Johan

[atechnica]

thanks for the suggestions so far. I still haven't gotten to use a real computer to look into it more, but i'll try to do it tomorrow. i'll let you all know what turns out to be the problem, the gpu or ram. I just hope i'll be able to repair it on my own, I love my thinkpad.

oh and the thinkpad was working flawlessly until I closed it and let it hybrnate for the night, then tried to start it up in the morning.

[seaweedsl]

oh and the thinkpad was working flawlessly until I closed it and let it hybrnate for the night, then tried to start it up in the morning.

Yep, that's just how two of my thinkpads failed. From one day to the next, with no warning.

One was a T23 and other an R51. The R51 I hibernated in the afternoon and then at night it responded just like yours. And neither of those have the GPU problem.

In fact, they were both probably victims of the sea breeze here. But the symptoms were exactly the same when the MB went out.

By the way, there are many people who have a provisional success with the GPU thing, there are even videos on youtube about it.

You'll find the details, in this forum.

Personally, I'd start shopping for a spare MB right away. Sooner or later, you'll need it. Should cost around $100-150 on Ebay, double that if you are in a hurry.

[zdriver]

To try and narrow down the problem, you could try the following proceedure...
Step 1 - Unplug the battery and the AC Adapter
Step 2 - Initiate a hard reset by holding down the power button for 30 seconds, then giving it a push 10 times, holding it down for 10 seconds on the last push.
Step 3 - Plug back in the AC Adapter and try to power up the thinkpad.

Should that fail, and it might because Brad & Johan could be right, try removing all plugable accessories, ram, dvd drive, hd, modem, wifi card, and see if it powers up with just 1 ram module - reseat it first.

Also check that the lcd lid switch is not just stuck in the down position, which would cut off the display but not prevent it from booting, which I think you say it does not do.
Best of Luck...

[sktn77a]

PM Jamiphar on this forum; he's probably the most knowledgeable on GPU issues with the T4x and may be able to re-flow the graphics chip, if that's the problem.