A31 dead motherboard?

[jimg29]

Hi all

Advice on a probably dead A31, please.

A week ago, a friend gave me two 'not working' Thinkpads (A31, R40e) as they were taking space under his desk and he knew I like a computer challenge (and the kids wanted laptops so they can do their schoolwork slumped on the floor instead of sitting at their desks.....). The R40e I managed to revive with the help of tips and suggestions from several existing forum posts, and it's now happily working away (thanks to the various members who led me in the right direction).

The A31 (2652-CYG) is not so good, however. When I try it, all I get at switch on is a flash from the indicator lights then just the green power light with the orange battery light. No fan, no drive noise. Both USB ports are wrecked, but the pins don't appear to be shorting out.

A search through the forums suggested removing all peripherals + RAM and switching on as a last resort test - removed battery, HDD, DVD, RAM, wi-fi, network and mini-PCI cards. Nothing, zilch, etc.

So - it looks as though I can assume that the motherboard (or maybe CPU?) has expired.

Questions therefore
- will any A31 m/board fit my machine? There are four currently on eBay UK; two 93P3551 (GBP45.00 post free) and two 93P3536 (GBP43.95 post free). All no CPU, no RAM.
- if either will fit, which is better? Will either take a faster CPU than the one currently installed

Secondly - how difficult is the transplant? Tho' not a full-time tech, I've successfully built / upgraded / fixed several desktops for various members of the family - including the kids who don't want to use them....

All help gratefully received

Thanks
Jim

[ajkula66]

Welcome to the forum!

Remove all the RAM and power the machine on. Does it beep?

[jimg29]

Thanks for the speedy reply.

No, nothing.

Jim

[ajkula66]

Then you can most likely kiss that board goodbye...

[jimg29]

Ah well - 'tis as I feared.

Which (if any) of the available alternatives would be the better option?

Thanks
Jim

PS - King Crimson ... respect!

[ajkula66]

Your machine came with the most basic planar that has ATi 7500 video card with only 16MB VRAM, so there's no fear of possible downgrade...

Any A31 (not A30, A30p or A31p) board will work and fit just fine.

Take a look at the HMM and decide for yourself whether you're up for the swap:

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-39796

As for the CPU, A31 will take a P4M CPU (Northwood core) up to 2.6 Ghz, 400Mhz but you'd have to upgrade the fan as well.

[schen]

The plus of all this is that the A3x series of machines are large and robust...relatively speaking, so is really a good starter for someone doing a MB swap for the first time. And, when configured well, CPU at or above 1.8Ghz, 1-2Gb of RAM and a modern 5400rpm drive, they really are still very useable machines.

The "Sky's the Limit" on these things. You can do a search and find any number of excellent threads that discuss the outstanding potential of this model. The one thing that you are stuck with is the old 1.1 USB ports, but you'll just need to invest in a USB 2.0 PC Card and that's resolved as well.

As far as expertise is concerned, you've already heard from our resident expert on these machines (Ajkula). He and others will be able to walk you through the process if you chose to tackle the project. Just one caviat: don't get more invested in trying to get it up to a POTENTIAL spec where you end up investing more in the machine than a more up-to-date model.

[jimg29]

Thanks both for the useful information and advice.

I've looked at the HMM and decided it's do-able - with a bit of care and attention, and taking it methodically. So - I'll watch for a decent motherboard and take it from there. Looking around suggests that going to 'the limit' would be costly, but going close is much more reasonable.

Thanks once again for the help - I may come back for more en route, and I'll post the outcome either way. My faith in human nature is restored!

Cheers
Jim

[jimg29]

One replacement motherboard later, a working machine - all seems OK, good screen, battery charges and holds charge. Now all I need is a CPU upgrade, a decent chunk of RAM, and a USB 2 card: total cost to revive and re-invigorate <GBP100 - which, IMHO, ain't bad! Many thanks to those who provided help and advice.

Cheers
Jim

1 x R40e; (now) 1 x A31