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Thinkpad R51 not posting
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justaW
Jun 19, 2023, 3:07:24 PM6/19/23
to
Since I've joined usenet I figure I might as well ask.
I own a R51 for a very long time. When I got it, it worked flawlessly
(about 10 years ago, the battery even worked).
However a few years ago I wanted to try to have it boot from a CF card
instead of the slow IDE drive.
When I tried to boot the device, it never passes through post. The
system fans spin up to max, the power LED lights up, but it never
progresses through boot. I can't even access the bios.
I recall seeing something a long time ago on a forum that this model
might be suffering from a poor solder somewhere on the mainboard, but I
haven't the slightest idea on where I might need to look for that. I
don't even think that site still exists. I didn't think anything of it
at the time, because my device worked, but now that I have it sitting on
a shelf collecting dust, I still want to try to salvage it.
Does anyone know anything about a bad soldier on the R51? The model
number fully is R51 2889-CTO.
I've done everything short of disassembling the device, but it will not
post regardless of if there is or is not the hard drive, battery, or CD
drive connected.
Thanks
I own a R51 for a very long time. When I got it, it worked flawlessly
(about 10 years ago, the battery even worked).
However a few years ago I wanted to try to have it boot from a CF card
instead of the slow IDE drive.
When I tried to boot the device, it never passes through post. The
system fans spin up to max, the power LED lights up, but it never
progresses through boot. I can't even access the bios.
I recall seeing something a long time ago on a forum that this model
might be suffering from a poor solder somewhere on the mainboard, but I
haven't the slightest idea on where I might need to look for that. I
don't even think that site still exists. I didn't think anything of it
at the time, because my device worked, but now that I have it sitting on
a shelf collecting dust, I still want to try to salvage it.
Does anyone know anything about a bad soldier on the R51? The model
number fully is R51 2889-CTO.
I've done everything short of disassembling the device, but it will not
post regardless of if there is or is not the hard drive, battery, or CD
drive connected.
Thanks
Computer Nerd Kev
Jun 19, 2023, 7:00:43 PM6/19/23
to
justaW <jus...@noreply.invalid> wrote:
> Does anyone know anything about a bad soldier on the R51? The model
> number fully is R51 2889-CTO.
>
> I've done everything short of disassembling the device, but it will not
> post regardless of if there is or is not the hard drive, battery, or CD
> drive connected.
I don't know anything specific about that, but my standard process
> Does anyone know anything about a bad soldier on the R51? The model
> number fully is R51 2889-CTO.
>
> I've done everything short of disassembling the device, but it will not
> post regardless of if there is or is not the hard drive, battery, or CD
> drive connected.
would be to swap over the RAM in case that's the trouble, then swap
over the CPU (in the case that I have a compatible spare and the
CPU is socketed). If neither of those fix it, then frankly it's
unlikely that any fault on the motherboard will be practical to
diagnose and repair unless it's quite obvious, so I'd admit defeat
at that stage.
The only other thing is that I've had Thinkpads behave very
strangely when their BIOS battery is nearly dead. I'm not sure if
any were ever so bad as to just show a black screen, but if it's
getting some way into POST and then stopping with a meaningless
error or just no obvious reason, then I'd definately try it with a
fresh BIOS battery if the voltage measures a bit low (buy a 2032
cell with solder terminals and solder it to the wires from the old
one to save money).
--
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#_ < |\| |< _#
psvrh
Jun 20, 2023, 7:36:52 AM6/20/23
to
Welcome!
Does it beep at all? There's a lot the system can tell you, even if
the display doesn't function.
Have a look at https://thinkpads.com/support/hmm/hmm_pdf/39t6190.pdf,
specifically page 59 (beep codes and no-beep symptoms). That'll get you
at least a direction to go in.
Does it beep at all? There's a lot the system can tell you, even if
the display doesn't function.
Have a look at https://thinkpads.com/support/hmm/hmm_pdf/39t6190.pdf,
specifically page 59 (beep codes and no-beep symptoms). That'll get you
at least a direction to go in.
justaW
Jun 20, 2023, 2:22:05 PM6/20/23
to
sent it separately there.
The device doesn't post at all. No beep codes, no display on the screen.
However it sounds like the hard disk and cdrom spin up, but there's
nothing to indicate that the device is even trying to post.
I'm going to try to disassemble it fully this weekend and see what might
be it. I don't think I'll need a service manual because these old
devices are so incredibly easy to be serviced that it makes more modern
laptops look shameful.
Will post an update on if it works. It might be the ram, as I can only
access one stick of it on the underside. The first slot is under the
keyboard so they'll need disassembly to get to.
Thanks
justaW
Jun 25, 2023, 11:32:17 AM6/25/23
to
it's working now. The memory is tested good, too, so I'm not sure what
the cause of it was. Now the only issue is that the cmos is dead and I
need to get some electrical tape to put a new one in.
Nuts to see that the laptop can use both of the CF cards, 32GB each.
Thing has never ran faster! But the tray for the CF cards doesn't fit
nice with the HDD door, so it isn't screwd into it. Need to use a bit of
tape to pull out the tray, but I'm not intending on needing to do that
very often, so it is working well enough.
Cheers
psvrh
Jun 26, 2023, 8:25:52 AM6/26/23
to
Possibly corrosion? Or a small tin whisker somewhere? Either way,
glad to hear it's alive!
glad to hear it's alive!
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