Unidentifiable Laptop

[kingstillballin]

I have an IBM Thinkpad a friend gave me but I don't know what kind it is? It's very old
Is it a Thinkpad 770x? It's very slim, has a small screen, but does not have a CD/DVD drive. And the charger goes in the back. Can anyone tell me what kind or version of the IBM Thinkpad this is?

Admin note: Moved from T400/T500 forum to here

[tom lightbody]

welcome to the forum

> identify thinkpad

turn it over--then usually on a bar-code sticker you
find a "type" such as 9549-82U

post that type, we can tell you how to get more info

[kingstillballin]

The type is 2662-6PU.

[qviri]

See http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... ry=26626PU

Product: ThinkPad X21 2662-6PU
Original description: PIII 700MHz (256KB), 256MB RAM, 20.0GB HDD, 12.1 XGA(1024x768) TFT LCD, Intel Combo, Li-Ion Battery, Win98

[tom lightbody]

better at

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... yle=lenovo

[kingstillballin]

I looked up images of it on google and you're correct! THANKS!!
Now I just got one more question. It doesn't turn on.
I don't know what the problem is. The Li-Ion Battery is there
and I have the recharger. I recharged it but it still doesn't turn on.
I look at the backup battery and it was there.
Next to it, there is a slot or something for something else which is empty.
http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm26 ... 068734.jpg
Could that be the problem? If not do you have suggestions for what could be the problem?
It dropped one time but it didn't drop from that high.
http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm26 ... C06885.jpg

[qviri]

.

[Neil]

The Li-Ion Battery is there
and I have the recharger. I recharged it but it still doesn't turn on.

Maybe the battery is just dead. Did to try to turn it on with the AC adapter connected? Or remove the battery and try with only the adapter.

You are missing system memory, also known as RAM.

Doesn't the X21 have 64MB (or sometimes 128MB) RAM on the systemboard? Making it unnecessary to have anything in the RAM expansion slot.

Still the question is, what exactly happens when you connect the adapter and press power button. Any lights, beeps or what?

[qviri]

.

[kingstillballin]

When I try to turn it on, nothing happens no sound no lights no beeps nothing.

[qviri]

.

[kingstillballin]

Isn't there any other possitive possibility?

[rkawakami]

Optimist's possibilities:

- both the battery and AC adapter are dead. If you get a green LED lit (on the right hinge) when the AC adapter and battery are both plugged in, then both the battery and adapter are okay; orange LED or a blinking LED means your battery may be bad but the adapter is probably good. If, however, you do not see any LED lit when the battery is installed and the AC adapter connected, then you could still have a discharged battery and bad adapter. You said earlier that you "recharged it"... Did you see the green LED then?
- loose connection of keyboard to the motherboard. Since the keyboard has the power button, if there's a problem with the connection, you may not be able to turn the system on. Opening up the system (actually, removing the keyboard) to get at the connector may be all that's needed. The Hardware Maintenance Manual is your friend here: http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... IGR-4UZMN7
- assuming that you don't get any green LED when the adapter is plugged in and you know for sure that the battery and adapter are working (either with another Thinkpad or measuring them with a voltmeter), then you could have a broken DC jack. I believe that can be replaced but it requires taking the system apart and dealing with unsoldering it from the motherboard.

Pessimist's outlook:

- there's an electrical malfunction somewhere on the motherboard. This could be as (simple ) as a blown fuse, or something quite major like a blown transistor or IC. A fuse can be fixed with a well-stocked workbench (multimeter, soldering iron, good eyes, etc.) and a known good replacement part. That part can be sourced from another donor X21 motherboard or if positively identified, purchased from a distributor such as digikey.com or mouser.com. If it's a bad transistor or power controller chip then that's another story. You might be able to find the source of the problem if the part actually smoked and left behind some physical indication, like a burn mark or hole in the chip but most electrical failures don't leave behind many visible clues. If you do get lucky and find the obviously damaged part, then you have the problem of figuring out what it is, how to remove it without causing damage to the board and surrounding components, where you can get another one (inexpensively), and then putting the new part on the board (again without inflicting any damage and dealing with tiny surface-mounted parts with closely spaced pins). Then again it could just be a matter of a part that's been knocked loose from the "drop" but you'd have to be very lucky to figure out where it is/was.... which brings me back to the optimist's list:

Final optimist possibility:

- it's possible that one (or more) of the inductors have been loosened from the motherboard. That's a fairly common problem with T23 systems. What they typically look like is the "black square" at the lower right corner of E8 in the following picture: http://www.rkawakami.net/ibm_t2x/mobo_b ... legend.jpg

[kingstillballin]

"it's possible that one (or more) of the inductors have been loosened from the motherboard. That's a fairly common problem with T23 systems."

I'm hoping this is what happened. It did fall from a couple feet.
I'm going to open it up and see what the problem is if I can.