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    ThinkPard 380Z Keeps Shutting Down....

    Discussion in 'Lenovo' started by MarkTwain, Jan 1, 2006.

  1. MarkTwain

    MarkTwain Newbie

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    The ThinkPad 380Z that I inherited has a dead battery. I had been running the laptop with an adapter just fine, when all of a sudden it slowly shut down on me, and I couldn't re-start it until much later (it's running under Win 98 SE). After that, it wouldn't finishing booting up (even with the adapter plugged in), and it kept shutting down on me… The Suspend Mode Indicator Light stays on for long periods, even when unplugged--does this mean the 380Z settings cause it to shut down like that (in Suspend or Hibernate mode)? While it’s shut down, hitting the Fn key does no good, nor does unplugging it for 60 seconds and plugging it back in. Thanks for any responses....
     
    MarkTwain, Jan 1, 2006
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  2. SpacemanSpiff

    SpacemanSpiff Everything in Moderation

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    Wow ! An eight year old Thinkpad. Congratulations. :)

    It could just be the adapter. I don't suppose you have a similar adapter lying around to experiment with ?
     
    SpacemanSpiff, Jan 1, 2006
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  3. MarkTwain

    MarkTwain Newbie

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    SS -

    Good idea! I can get a similar adapter from a friend....

    Thanks!
     
    MarkTwain, Jan 2, 2006
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  4. Jason986

    Jason986 Notebook Guru

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    Sounds like it could also be a heat issue. Try shootinng some compressed air through the fan vents to remove the ~8 years of dust that's caked on the fan and heatsink assembly.

    Also, try running with the battery physically removed from the case. A truly dead battery may be confusing the BIOS and preventing bootup..
     
    Jason986, Jan 2, 2006
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  5. MarkTwain

    MarkTwain Newbie

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    J986 -

    I'll try the compressed air bit. Meanwhile, I did try running it with
    the battery removed, and it didn't finish booting up....
     
    MarkTwain, Jan 2, 2006
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  6. Nooorm

    Nooorm Notebook Consultant

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    Sounds like an Microsoft issue to me. After 8+ years, the version of 98SE on that machine has to be a freakin mess. I don't suppose you have the Disk to to a reinstall. If not, you consider wiping it clean and installing an open operating system. I doubt there's any way you could upgrade to XP even if you cared to.
     
    Nooorm, Jan 3, 2006
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  7. SpacemanSpiff

    SpacemanSpiff Everything in Moderation

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    Say, Mr. Twain, I'm just checking to see if you've isolated your problem. Any luck ?
     
    SpacemanSpiff, Jan 3, 2006
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