IBM ThinkPad T21 suffering Blink of Death

[Sanwalah]

Hi All,

I have T21 that does nothing but a teasing blink of a single left most icon in top row when i press the Power Button.
i have read all the posts and tried other ways to make it work, like removing battery, even tiny battery under the main battery, pressing the power button for certain times and for certain time,
but to no avail.
as a last resort i m going to replace ADP3421.
first off all, where to get it, is that chip easily available from electronics vendors or its some rare commodity. (i m in Pakistan)

secondly how to do that if i get it. if you could help me, coz i m new to soldering gun just doing it for my laptop coz laptop repairers are all handsup.

Regards,

Tan the Dark Lord

[rkawakami]

Welcome to thinkpads.com!

The T2x Blink of Death problem might be solved by checking/replacing a couple of resistors near the MAX1631 (or MAX1632) voltage controller chip according to this post:

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... 06#p457906

I do not have any information as to exactly where the resistors are on the board but if you can find the MAX chip, they are probably within an inch or two. Many ICs in consumer electronics are hard to find in single-unit quantities. The usual way to get replacement parts would be to locate a complete T21 system (or motherboard) and take the pieces off. However, if you are "new" to a soldering iron, then I do not think you will have much luck because the parts on the motherboard use surface mount technology (no leads sticking through holes in the board) and are very, very tiny.

[Sanwalah]

Hi All

I have tried disassembling and then assembling the t21, shortened the power cables as directed by slaterlp in a post, but nothing good is happening. I am not going to rip off some resistances or chips of that MOBO as it is beyond my skills.

I would be glad if you people, (specially Ray) could please guide me what alternative laptop (spares/repairs) should i buy from ebay that can use HD, DVD & processor etc from my current t21.

Regards,

[RealBlackStuff]

The HD can be used in all Thinkpads that do not require a SATA hard disk. Except for T20/T21/T22, you will have to reinstall the OS.
The DVD can be used in all A/T/X models below the T4x series.
The CPU and RAM only in T20/T21/T22.

To keep your current laptop alive, you need to buy a (used) T20/T21/T22 motherboard.

[nikki605]

To keep your current laptop alive, you need to buy a (used) T20/T21/T22 motherboard.

After several failed attempts to repair the BoD MB in my T21 a few years back, that is what I ended up doing. I found a reliable seller on eBay who was selling a T20/T21/T22 used MB with no passwords set in the BIOS and installed it. "Knock on wood," its been working fine since April, 2007.

[Sanwalah]

Thank you for that detailed answers RealBlackStuff and Gary A.

I was conscious about that BoD re-appearing on any other thinkpad that I replace and that knock on the wood stresses that i need not to worry about that BoD.

I hope to get a motherboard(t2x) on ebay.

I conclude that any other laptop (IBM Thinkpad series only) will require a processor and RAM, but I can use my existing DVD and HD, but I cant use any of existing working component with any other laptops by Compaq, Dell or Sony etc (the Black Shadow of BoD getting Big, Blinking ... in my mind...).

may be mythbusters will one day exactly locate the cause of BoD or I shall watch demystified it in Supernatural when Sam and Dean break the curse...

[nikki605]

I hope to get a motherboard(t2x) on ebay.

I don't know if you have any favorite (read trusted) sellers on eBay, but I got my MB from lady_fixalot

http://myworld.ebay.com/lady_fixalot

She has a great feedback rating and is a well regarded seller by other members here on thinkpads.com.

If she doesn't happen to have what you are looking for up for auction at the moment, contact her. As her page says, "If there is something you need that you do not see just ask!"

All I got from her was the bare MB. I moved my CPU and memory sticks from the bad BoD MB to the replacement MB. Cleaned the old thermal paste off the CPU, applied some Artic Silver to it and reassembled the T21. It came right up and ran first attempt. Been using it ever since.

[lukkbox]

hi mate

i know the feelin my beloved T21 died on me in exactly the same fashion

i bided my time, kept an eye on ebay and found a working base unit for £20 delivered, the unit i bought had a faulty screen, perfick

was cheaper than a new mobo and got a few spares aswell

good luck to you with your search