NotebookForums.com › Forums › Notebook Manufacturers › Lenovo Forums › Lenovo Notebooks › T41 problems. Vidio and Booting.
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

T41 problems. Vidio and Booting.

post #1 of 3
Thread Starter 
I have two IBM T41 units.

Form what I gather they both have bad mother boards, but I wanted a third opion here please. I'll discuss them as unit#1 and unit #2.

Unit#1;
This unit boots fine and runs fine until it warms up, then the slightest movement, even light typing or mouse movements, will cause the vidio to go off, sometimes the screen will go black other times it'll turn to colored streaks. The unit is still running hard drive light blinking, wifi blinking, and even my dsl modem still passing packets to it.

From what I've read on the internet, the video chip comes loose from the board. My question is, are the new boards the same or have they fixed this so as they don't have the same problem. They have new boards on ebay for just under $300.

Unit#2;
This unit works fine when it boots. But on occasion it won't boot. When you press the power button, all it does is blink the lights, then they all go out except the battier light and the power light. The IBM bios screen never appears, the drive never spins, no beep or anything. It doesn't even beep when I power off by holding the switch down.

At times you can unplug the AC adapter and then it'll boot, but not always. Today I pluged in a printer and it booted. I've seen post simaler to this that sudjest a main board failer.

Do I need new boards in both these units?

I just bought these on ebay, nether one lasted more than 3 or 4 months. I've heard that IBM had made changes to the main board because they had a lot of returns while still on warrenty. Is that true, and How can I be sure I get one of the newer boards? Not just a new one that will develope the same problems later.
post #2 of 3
i would personally take them apart and clean them all up and applying new thermal paste first

cheers ...
post #3 of 3
wow, I don't know about the thermal paste idea, unless it is a way to put more pressure on the video card, which could be checked easily by pressing on it. I think they were responding to it "warming up", so if that is the problem by itself (ie. it screws up regardless of whether or not you move anything) then by all means use more paste and vent it well. Maybe even blow out the fans with comp. air.

My thought though is that the heat is actually causing some expansion which, with a bit of movement is then creating the problem. Does it happen when you tap or move the computer as well, or just with keyboard input? Does it happen if you use an external mouse? I'm wondering if it is the signal the computer is reacting to or the physical movement.

If the video chip is coming lose, you could test by removing the keyboard and pressing on the chip. This might fix the connection or it might not, but it's something to try. Reflowing the chip is tricky but possible and sometimes craigslist or eBay has people willing to do it for a fee (maybe even with a money back guarantee). But you'd want to make sure it's the chip first.

That means you should test with an external monitor. If the problem happens with the external, it points to the video card, if not, it points to the inverter or LCD or even the cable. I'd check all connections first, clean them with an eraser if you can or electrical connector cleaner or a toothbrush (no Colgate).

The problem with the second computer sounds like a grounding problem. It might be that the computer isn't grounding properly through the AC jack but sometimes it is. I'd also check the RAM. Clean the contacts with contact cleaner or alcohol (remember the whiskey kind is for you, the isopropyl is for the computer).

In all reality, you probably need 2 main boards, but hey, you could get a cheap fix if you try a few things.

good luck. keep us posted.
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Lenovo Notebooks
NotebookForums.com › Forums › Notebook Manufacturers › Lenovo Forums › Lenovo Notebooks › T41 problems. Vidio and Booting.