T400 Finally Arrived :)

So got my T400 came on yesterday and I messed it up lol. More about that later.

It's loaded out and I absolutely loved it when it was working.

I got the following config:

P9500 @ 2.53
WXGA+ Display 1440x900
160gb 7200RPM
Camera
3gb Ram
Intel 4500MHD
FPR
Verizon 3G
Intel 5300 Wireless
DVD-Rom Meh
9 Cell Battery
Windows 7 Pro

It was $300 so I'm really happy.

I went ahead and ordered the Ultrabay HD adapter and I got an OCZ 90gb Agility 2 drive. It was only $115 so I'm happy with that as well.

Now down to my stupidity. So I went to do all the updates using the Lenovo Toolbox. Well guess what the computer froze at the bios updating screen and turned off!!!! So now when I press the power button I get one long beep followed by 2 short beeps. It won't stop and it repeats. I called lenovo and a box will be here for shipping. So main thing, can I do anything?

 

nice price. where did you buy it?

 

desairs, first of all congrats on your super deal! Nice to hear that everything arrived in working order! At least before you start poking it!!!
Now, one long and 2 short beeps in our case (ThinkPads) indicates a problem with either one of the following: system board or video adapter or LCD assembly... are you up to cracking it up and checking the respective connections, e.g. GPU, before anything else...?


trieudoahong, nice puppy! desairs got this from ebay.

 

Yeah it has to be the system board. I took the entire thing apart today. It sucks that I have to go back to this Toshiba POS. My MBP is sold so this is the only option for now. Lenovo seems to be quick with the repair though.

I also found 8gb of ram for about $130 I might jump on that.

 

Hopefully it will be a quick fix...
(In the meantime you got accessories at the cost of another laptop! wow!)

 

you took the entire thing apart? this is usually not advisable if you have warranty.

300 dollars for a T400 with P9xxx CPU is a very good price. The CPU alone is worth around 100 to 150 USD when i last checked.

 

Such a shame you didn't have it for so long because it sounds like a cracking machine for the price! When updating BIOS on ThinkPads I always try to do it via the bootable disc (DOS) method, there's too many things in the background of Windows that can disrupt the flashing process.

All you need to do is download the ISO from Lenovo, burn it on a blank disc (use IMGBurn if you don't have a burning tool), restart and when the ThinkPad logo comes on press F12 (assuming DVD drive is on the list) and boot. Just follow the instructions and it shouldn't take more than 5 minutes for the whole thing to be done. It will be followed by a loud beep as a sign of completion so I advise to stick some sort of headphones in the jack and leave it to dampen the sound down.

 

Yeah of course I read that after the fact. I also read that the lenovo utility fails more often than you would think. I'm just glad that it is under warranty. I wouldn't want to sell out the money to replace the system board.

 

I would suggest you try what Hearst555 said
May save you and you then would not need to send out for repair.
Smoking deal btw

 

At this point it's too late. I will definitely always do it that way in the future.

Thanks

 

What about the Emergency bios/Crisis Recovery recovery routine?

 

From what I have read and what Lenovo support said there is no way. Do you know the routine? It would be greatly appreciated.

 

Sorry i do not have full knowledge of the procedure on the thinkpad
This is something built-in the bios, such as phoenix.
So long as the bootloader of the bios is not dead, it can be done blind via floppy drive flash.