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.

    T61 won't boot.

    Discussion in 'Lenovo' started by Fingerling, Nov 20, 2009.

  1. Fingerling

    Fingerling Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    39
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    Problem occured in middle of defragging "new wd scorpio blue" hard drive, was almost done when it just froze "no control" so i did what everyone would do i waited forever then turned it off by holding power button.

    Now my next problem is i can't boot up. All i see is a black screen whereas i should of seen thinkpad logo but nothing, just hard drive activity here and there. I have a spare hd but same thing. And the lights that stay active is plug/battery/leftofthebattery/sometimeswireless but only once that i heard 2 short beeps never resurfacing again.

    Man i bought this when 1st wave came out it's T61 7662-CTO. So far i replaced powercord and i'm on my 3rd new fan.

    Please can anyone relate and help me out. I may need to buy internal parts but i just don't know. :(
     
  2. lead_org

    lead_org Purveyor of Truth

    Reputations:
    1,571
    Messages:
    8,107
    Likes Received:
    126
    Trophy Points:
    231
    what GPU does it have? none of my T61 have had a catastrophic failure as yet, and none of them chewed through that many fan in such a short space of time. I have only replaced one fan after 2 years of continuous usage, because that laptop works in a dusty environment for the past 1 year (we usually wear masks).
     
  3. Fingerling

    Fingerling Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    39
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    yeah i've lately been gaming on it while it's on 24/7 but recently on the newer fan no, idle times 45 and normal usage 51. nVIDIA Quadro NVS 140M - 44C3933 the spec lead org.
     
  4. BaldwinHillsTrojan

    BaldwinHillsTrojan Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    72
    Messages:
    674
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0


    those are your GPU temps? I seem to get 55 on idle. Something wrong with mine? Also how can you tell if the fan is working? Dont near it much. I feel air out of the top left side of the notebook but its also hard do discern what is air versus heat. Never thought about this until recently.

    I think maybe you corrupted your BIOS?
     
  5. Fingerling

    Fingerling Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    39
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    yea on the power setting i enabled power saving mode and hmmm hard drive -5mins. i use tpfancontrol to monitor fan.

    literally noway of checking if i have a corrupted bios i mean i can open laptop but i've already checked the memory dimm slot.
     
  6. Fingerling

    Fingerling Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    39
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    btw since it's out of warranty. can i still use lenovo repair center for one time charge?
     
  7. ZaZ

    ZaZ Super Model Super Moderator

    Reputations:
    4,982
    Messages:
    34,001
    Likes Received:
    1,420
    Trophy Points:
    581
    You're probably better off buying a new one and selling yours for parts for what Lenovo charges for a repair. I might suggest the T500 as it doesn't have the problematic GPU. The outlet has some good deals on occasion.
     
  8. BaldwinHillsTrojan

    BaldwinHillsTrojan Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    72
    Messages:
    674
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    how long has it been out of warranty? btw, dell extended their warranty on notebooks equipped with the suspect nvidia GPUs. Dell made a public annoucment and also notified all customers affected. I dont recall Lenovo making a similar annoucement. I suggest you tangle with them and if they jerk you around then file a complaint with the North Carolina BBB. Use the Dell annoucements as proof and also whatever you can find as far as comments from Nvidia acknowledging the defect. I say this if you are certain the video card is at fault. If you would have recorded and incident during your warranty you might have a better case but Lenovo did not follow industry practice and excercise goodwill to customers like Dell did. I say give them a hell of a fight if you think its the GPU. Personally, i think the WD Scorpio corrupted your BIOS somehow.
     
  9. Fingerling

    Fingerling Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    39
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    from lenovo forums. i guess it's mobo failure. ZaZ i would hate to give up my t61 especially when i have all my backups in my hd but i heard you can buy an enclosure shell and usb it? i have triple boot winxp/win7/openesuse/storage.

    BaldwinHillsTrojan i would give lenovo a rant but my t61 doesn't fall victim to one of the defects or does it.
     
  10. xnoxpx

    xnoxpx Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    6
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    a few other things to try is,
    pull the MOBO battery for a few seconds(while also pulling main)
    If you have two DIMM's, try booting with just one, try both slots with each DIMM(I believe you can use either slot)
    try booting with out the hard drive or CD/DVD rom installed ( can't get far, but you may get past POST)

    As for running 24/7, any laptop is going to cook MUCH sooner if you treat it like a desktop, they just aren't designed for that kind of abuse.
     
  11. Stewie Griffin

    Stewie Griffin Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    48
    Messages:
    296
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    my advice to you op is before you try a few of these suggestions, look at lenovo's site. Its fine when people provide links to as a source, otherwise proceed at your own risk..

    Anyways, I didnt understand what you meant. So in one occasion your laptop beeped twice and never again?
     
  12. Renee

    Renee Notebook Virtuoso

    Reputations:
    610
    Messages:
    2,645
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    I disagree, xnoxpx. The ability to take stress is one of the things you are paying for by selecting a Thinkpad.

    Perhaps that's what Thinkpads have degenerated into.

    Renee
     
  13. BaldwinHillsTrojan

    BaldwinHillsTrojan Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    72
    Messages:
    674
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    I've seen this kind of failure before and its not due to a video card. BIOS corruption due to size of HDD you tried putting in and maybe interaction with some setting you did in ThinkVantage. OR as the other poster pointed out, pull the DIMMS and reseat one, alternating slots with all combinations.

    I gotta say, in line with what the previous poster said, you shouldn't play hard core games with an underpowered GPU ThinkPad. It's like driving a Hyundai at 150 MPH repeatedly thinking its a Porsche Carerra and expecting it to start up day after day. After you redline the car until the gaskets are leaking and pistons warped, then you want to install a nitrous oxide tank in it to race your friend's Ferrarri. So, the engine melts one morning before your take the car out for another trashing. Just joking, but I hope you get my point. Reseat them DIMMs.
     
  14. Stewie Griffin

    Stewie Griffin Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    48
    Messages:
    296
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    i wouldnt go that far... lol
     
  15. ZaZ

    ZaZ Super Model Super Moderator

    Reputations:
    4,982
    Messages:
    34,001
    Likes Received:
    1,420
    Trophy Points:
    581
    Try pulling the hard drive, memory, optical drive, Wifi card and battery, not the CMOS battery. Plug in the ac and try to turn it on. If it doesn't beep, the board is dead. If it does it still may be dead, but try plugging everything one at a time to see if any one of them is the cause of the failure.
     
  16. Fingerling

    Fingerling Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    39
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    yeah upon bootup it just happened once the 2 beep code after that silent treatment. what i do hear is when i hold the power button for a sec it beeps once before turning off.

    about the hd i read fact reviews thru newegg claiming 320 gb in some lappy. in my case 298 gb showed up so you may be right on this one.

    i tried those technique except wifi card but i did remove the small battery just b4 i read lastest post but i guess it's dead dead dead. thank you guys. happy holidays and black fridays!!!
     
  17. BaldwinHillsTrojan

    BaldwinHillsTrojan Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    72
    Messages:
    674
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    so you are saying the 500GB is incompat with your notebook and KOed it?
     
  18. Fingerling

    Fingerling Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    39
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    i'm sorry yo but i actually had it for about 2months without any problems.
    HD - Western Digital WD3200BEVT 320GB 2.5" Hard Drive SATAII 5400rpm 8MB Cache
     
  19. Fingerling

    Fingerling Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    39
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    hello BaldwinHillsTrojan. i'm interested in fixing a corrupt biso if this is the case.