T30 Memory Socket Fix Gone Bad

[rockstar]

Well I had a working T30 that had the infamous bad memory socket. I did get it to recognize the memory in the socket once by pressing on the socket while powering on. Now, after soldering the memory socket, the T30 no longer boots up. It powers on, the lights flash on and off and the CPU fan runs and continues to run. Nothing displays on the LCD or external monitor and I don't believe it completes POST. If I take out all the memory, I get the error beeps. Putting memory in either socket eliminates the error beeps.

My buddy, a former IBM Tech did the soldering and he is very skilled.

Any ideas?

[Neil]

I don't know what happened to your T30, but when I recently tried to re-solder mine, I must have created a solder bridge, because first time I powered it up after that, it burned up an IC on the bottom of the motherboard. It still does something like you describe, but I'm sure it's toast now, and will have to be replaced.

[rkawakami]

Yeah, cancel the check that you gave your buddy .

Most likely there's still an open pin on the socket. Or maybe there's a short between adjacent pins. A good look with a magnifying glass or microscope may reveal the problem. Or perhaps there was some collateral damage done as a result of the soldering (other surface mounted component has now been loosened).

You should probably also verify that your memory module(s) are still good.

[jronald]

Give Hammerhead Tech a try, it costs only shipping if they can not fix it
http://www.hammerheadtech.com/
I had 3 boards that did the same thing, one for the very same reason! They were not able to fix the board I attempted to fix, but were able to resurrect one of the others. about $65.00 with shipping.

Ron

[rockstar]

Yeah, cancel the check that you gave your buddy .

Oh come on, he's an ex-IBM CE. He's good at this stuff.

Anyway, here's an update. To remove the shock absorber which is supposed to cause part of the memory slot problem, you have to pretty much disassemble the machine. So my buddy, probably feeling bad that it wouldn't boot, took it all apart, cleaned it up, took out the shock absorber, and reassembled.

I now have a perfectly working T30 with 2 working memory sockets ! Woo Hoo !!!

So this machine was using PC2100 memory, but the Crucial site shows PC2700. Is that just because that's what they currently sell or will it run faster with PC2700 ?

They also say it will only take up to a 512MB SODIMM, but we know better than that. 2GB here we come.

[rkawakami]

Sorry for the tease....

Installing PC2700 (or anything faster) will not make your system any quicker. Most companies will now specify faster modules than what the laptop was designed for simply because the industry has moved ahead and nobody is making the "slower" stuff anymore (it's not cost-effective to manufacture the larger chip designs, given that most of the DRAM memory makers are still losing money). This is especially true for SDRAM and DDRAM (not DDR2 or DDR3) products.

[rockstar]

Ray,

Thanks for the info. That's exactly what I thought, but it's good to get verification. Who knows, maybe I'll find some PC2100 memory lying around.

[RealBlackStuff]

Many of us have (had) problems with T30 RAM slots.
Are you saying that removing the shock-absorber actually helps?
That's news to me!

[sncdrvr]

Thats the blue soft plastic rectangular hard drive shock absorber thats glued onto the opposite side of the circuit board from the memory slots. Been removing them since reading the following article. http://www.omskakas.se/2007/07/thinkpad ... ilure.html

[rockstar]

sncdrvr linked to one of the articles I read that suggested removing the shock absorber. I know I saw it in 2-3 articles. It also suggests a new memory cover that gives the sodimms more room to breath.

[jronald]

Im not so sure it room to breath, it is a much stiffer cover. Im thinking it is to stop flexing.

Ron

[rockstar]

I just got the new memory cover and it definitely does provide more space between the memory modules and the cover. Instead of being flat like the original cover, it has a "raised square" over the memory modules.

[adrian6322]

hi reding all that .past post whit ram slot problem ..disasemble lap and take the spongy shock blue absorber .assemble lap and resolder memory pins.adding solder ( my mistake) creating bridges betwen some pins ..yea dumb job. shorts just in the most difficult part betwen the 2 sockets ...solder get way inside plastic ...and can not get the solder out ...
Option 1 remove plastic socket and use with only one 1 gb .hoping that work .removing 200 solder pins .
Option 2 clean all bridges shortened pins..and resolder memory plastic socket ..again hope never hurt ..or get a used slot memory soldering the not damaged one
Searching for spare parts in( mercado libre) like e-bay
Memory issue first
Flat LCD issue second .external monitor was working afther this failure
Dead battery issue third .not so important .just to update bios and controller
If i get this thing working ...No ...When i get this machine working .i make new ram cover with small chisel and imagination
gracias Thank You

[cadillacmike68]

BTW, theHammerhead tech web site no longer loads. Are they kaput???