The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Dead motherboard...Need to get it working

    Discussion in 'Lenovo' started by sheikhoo, Nov 8, 2011.

  1. sheikhoo

    sheikhoo Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    4
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    I have an old IBM thinkpad T30 which doesnt work. When i plug in the adapter the LED for power does light up and when i start the machine by holding down the power button it does start as the LED becomes stable. The problem is it doesnt move any further....no bios loads up....it doesnt boot. It belonged to my uncle so he told me its motherboard is dead...it doesnt have a harddisk at the moment either......is there any way i can get it to work again?
     
    sheikhoo, Nov 8, 2011
    #1
  2. Commander Wolf

    Commander Wolf can i haz broadwell?

    Reputations:
    2,962
    Messages:
    8,231
    Likes Received:
    63
    Trophy Points:
    216
    ... buy a new motherboard? I'm sure it's not expensive for a T30. Still probably not worth it, though. Since the LEDs are coming on, could it be your screen that's bad instead? Have you tried it on an external display?
     
    Commander Wolf, Nov 8, 2011
    #2
  3. sheikhoo

    sheikhoo Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    4
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    the screen is good i checked.....is it any way round other than buying a new motherboard....and not all LEDs are coming on; only the power LED
     
    sheikhoo, Nov 8, 2011
    #3
  4. Tsunade_Hime

    Tsunade_Hime such bacon. wow

    Reputations:
    5,413
    Messages:
    10,711
    Likes Received:
    1,204
    Trophy Points:
    581
    Have you tested your AC adapter? The only way you can really test anything is using known good parts...have you considered purchasing a working T30 as they can't be that expensive..
     
    Tsunade_Hime, Nov 8, 2011
    #4
  5. Commander Wolf

    Commander Wolf can i haz broadwell?

    Reputations:
    2,962
    Messages:
    8,231
    Likes Received:
    63
    Trophy Points:
    216
    You can try to take the thing apart and test the motherboard in isolation... but I doubt any other part is the culprit. If you want to somehow make low-level repairs to the board itself, the time you're going to spend on that will almost certainly exceed the cost of a new board or even system.
     
    Commander Wolf, Nov 8, 2011
    #5
  6. sheikhoo

    sheikhoo Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    4
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    i just found out that the power LED isnt what is turned on....its the charging LED so basically the laptop does not start at all.......how do i test whether the motherboard is actually dead and how do i
     
    sheikhoo, Nov 8, 2011
    #6
  7. Tsunade_Hime

    Tsunade_Hime such bacon. wow

    Reputations:
    5,413
    Messages:
    10,711
    Likes Received:
    1,204
    Trophy Points:
    581
    You can't test anything without known good parts. Just order a new motherboard or if you don't want to bother fixing it just purchase a new laptop.
     
    Tsunade_Hime, Nov 8, 2011
    #7
  8. ZaZ

    ZaZ Super Model Super Moderator

    Reputations:
    4,982
    Messages:
    34,001
    Likes Received:
    1,415
    Trophy Points:
    581
    Pull the memory, hard drive, wifi card, battery and optical drive. Hit the power button 10 times for a second, then one last time for 30 seconds. Plug the AC in and hit the power button. If the board doesn't beep, it's most likely dead. If it does beep, try putting things back one at a time to see if you can find the culprit. Good Luck.
     
    ZaZ, Nov 9, 2011
    #8