ThinkPad X31 dies.....and is risen!

[The Spirit of X21]

Hi folks,

I know it's been a while since I last posted a topic, but I've come across some interesting observations that might be of some use to you.

Tonight, as I was putting my ThinkPad on the floor of my room, the left corner of the bezel tapped my plastic desk chair, causing the laptop to shut itself down. I tried pressing the power button to turn it on: nothing!

Thus, I began researching what might have caused this. Fearing that it might be the motherboard issue that I had read about from other X31 users, I tried the usual steps: unplugging the battery and AC; holding the power button down 10 times for 15 seconds each; re-seating the memory chips. Nothing happened! It just wouldn't power on!

In my desperation, I removed the keyboard to see if I could see anything. I noticed that the metal plate that normally goes over the mini-PCI card was loose (I had removed the 2200BG card last week.) I placed the metal cover back over the mPCI slot, reconnected the keyboard/RAM/HD/etc and pressed the power button.

It worked!

Ever the skeptic, I tried tapping the bezel corners and the palm rest with light, then moderate force. It really does seem to be fine again. Does it sound reasonable that the loose mPCI cover created a connection with the motherboard that caused a short circuit?

At any rate, I wanted to write this down with the hope that someone might benefit from this nerve-wracking experience. Thanks for listening!

[jtt3011]

I've noticed that the hard disk is not recognised if it is fitted in the X31's internal bay without the the mounting shield fitted - bit of a pain when you're swopping drives about. Curiously, there's no sheild provided/required when a disk is fitted in it's carrier in the docking station. The innards of the X31 have obviously got a lot of digital crap flying about inside, and the sheilds, equally obviously, are there to minimise interference pick up, with good reason.