T61p failure...

Hi guys,

I was using my laptop plugged in as usual. Then, there was a huge power fluctuation after which the power in the entire house went dead (theres a cyclone here). and I was using it till the battery died completely (my battery is messed up so it shuts down in about 15-20 minutes if its not plugged in).

When the power came back, I plugged in my laptop and theres no power lights on... i know my battery is completely dead... and i'm just praying its my power adapter that got fried by the power fluctuation. I removed the battery and tried a direct connection with AC adapter and i tried connecting it to different powerpoints as well. Is there any chance my mainboard might be dead? I'm taking it to the IBM service center tomorrow, but I'm really worried about this!

Hope someone can help!

Thanks!

 

I'm with youon the hope that it is the adapter. Does you adapter get warm at all when plugged into the machine? Try another adapter if you know anybody with one. I hope this wasn't the little issue that triggered the dreaded nvidea chip failure.

 

try to remove the ram modules and start the laptop without it, see whether you get any response.

 

TheDudeComputes, I'm certain it wasn't the nvidia chip failure - the main power lights don't go on... it's not like it gets power and then nothing seems to work, there is no sign of any power, which is why i'm hoping its the adapter. If it were the nvidia thing, the power and battery indicators should go on and the hdd should spin up with no or faulty response from the display right? so i'm sure its not that. there was NO sign of anything wrong before this, which is why this is shocking! I'm just praying its only the adapter!

Lead, what could removing the RAM do? its not getting any power, but I am taking it to the IBM service place in a bit, hopefully they have a spare adapter to test if thats whats wrong! will write back as soon as i get back.

 

If you battery has any power, taking out the ram and trying to start it will let you know if the motherboard is dead.

It is worth doing. If it doesn't beep then the board is the problem.

 

Try this.

Remove both the battery and AC adapter (if plugged in).

Then depress the power button ten times and on the last press- hold down for 20 seconds.

Repeat this three times.

Now put the battery back in and plug it back in and give it another try. Press the power button.

 

Ohk... thanks! but the battery is completely dead jaredy... i'll take it to the service to do the adapter test - if their adapter doesn't seem to work on this either, then i know its something really bad! i might test the ram thing then... but thanks for the replies guys, i will post back soon about what happened!

 

Your Thinkpad should still work without the battery. The trick I posted was to drain the capacitors or something to that effect. It's actually helped a couple of people that had laptops that appeared to be unresponsive and dead.

Good luck.

 

Turquoise girl, I think I'm in love with you! It BOOTED! critical battery error and shut down... so i just tested the adapter! and it works too! I guess it was some sort of mainboard protection feature? why didn't it boot if the power adapter was powering it all along? and what was the magic sequence all about?! But oh THANK YOU! I can get back to work now... don't have to go to the service center or anything! gosh you have no idea how ecstatic i am right now! i'm in the middle of a huge project... thank you soooo much!

 

Glad that worked out for you. I have used what turqoisegirl08's mentioned many times when I use to do IT stuff at college.

 

I had no idea... thank you all so much for the quick responses!