Please Help: X201 Won't Boot

I am a new, recent TP owner and decided to swap out the factory thermal grease with some Arctic Silver per Lenovo's disassembly instructions found here: http://download.lenovo.com/ibmdl/pub/pc/pccbbs/mobiles_pdf/43y6632_05.pdf.

I followed the instructions pretty closely. A few hours after, my computer will turn on but not fully boot. A few quirky symptoms I noticed are:

• 
  Indicator lights turn on, but the laptop doesn't make that beep sound.

• 
  Although the WiFi switch is in on position, the bluetooth/WiFi indicator doesn't go on.

• 
  The amber and green light from the fingerprint reader isn't on even when a fully charged battery is loaded.

• 
  Screen is blank.

I have an I5-540 cpu if that's relevant. Any help or insight would be greatly appreciated.

 

Why on earth would you do that? You have probably voided your warranty and may have "bricked" your new laptop. There are many things you can try, like going through the whole process again, step-by-step, very carefully. Hopefully you didn't toast anything with a static discharge.

 

try to reconnect and disconnect/reconnect the keyboard and the palmrest's electrical connection to the motherboard.

Also, take off the battery and ac adapter, press the on/off button 10 times in 30 sec intervals.

 

@raydabruce: I successfully regreased my old (non-TP) laptop. Also, I learned a lot about the X201.

@lead_org: I reconnected and disconnected the connections to the mobo a few times without any noticeable differences. But I am confused about the effects of the AC adapter. I know an AC adapter without the battery is detrimental, but why both and why 10 times? Although I still haven't fixed the laptop I still appreciate your suggestions!

 

the wifi switch is really flimsy, maybe when you put it back together you had it in a wrong position. I know this because I took apart my x200 already. Not that difficult! Just lots of screws.

I'm not sure why yours wouldn't turn back on though... first thing to do is disassemble everything again and make sure you re-plugged all the wires correctly. I almost forgot to reattach the cpu fan cable.

If that doesn't work, perhaps disconnect the clock battery? The flat watch battery just under the keyboard. Unplug it and leave all ac cable/battery/clock batteries disconnected for a night. When the BIOS update finished, it restarted and refused to boot up although the lights were fully on. After unplugging the clock battery overnight and then re-attaching it the computer rebooted fine.

I have no idea why but why the heck not try it.

 

@brutalturtle:

Thanks for the suggestions! You're right, the WiFi mechanical switch connected to the chassis is pretty simple and has to be in the on position when removing and attaching the mobo.

I've already assembled and disassembled most of the computer about 5-6 times. Unfortunately, the emergency battery suggestion didn't work but I think the problem lies around there. Lenovo has some error messages due to no beeping upon startup: Lenovo Support & downloads - Beep and no beep symptoms - ThinkPad General.

I reseated the DIMM and checked the connections to no avail. All I counted was 3 main serial connections. Whenever you powered on your computer did you fully assemble it (tighten all the screws in) before testing?

 

did the computer work after you took it apart the last few times? I'm scratching my head... I don't see why it would fail after disassembly unless something broke.

I did not fully assemble it before powering on the computer - just in case it wouldn't turn on and I had to re-check everything. I had the keyboard unscrewed and the palmrest removed at times. It worked fine. Let me know how this turns out.

 

@brutalturtle:

To test, I did not screw in the palm rests, keyboard, and keyboard bezel. Unfortunately, after trying multiple tests the indicator lights no longer turn on.

It's weird because I didn't do much other than disconnect/connect the back-up battery, DIMM, and serial connections. I appreciate your posts on what worked for you though.

 

just curious though why did you feel that it was necessary to reapply thermal compound?

 

I read that manufacturers will apply too much inferior thermal compound poorly.