IBM Thinkpad T21 does not power up

I have a T21 that I purchased new several years ago. It now has a power up
problem. Most of the time, when the power button is pressed, the HD led
flashes and thats all that happens. Occasionally it will power up and
work fine until the next time it is powered on. How do I disassemble the
T-21? I took out 16 screws and it still wouldn't come apart.

"digi2" <> wrote in message
news: lkaboutcomputing.com...
> I have a T21 that I purchased new several years ago. It now has a power
up
> problem. Most of the time, when the power button is pressed, the HD led
> flashes and thats all that happens. Occasionally it will power up and
> work fine until the next time it is powered on. How do I disassemble the
> T-21? I took out 16 screws and it still wouldn't come apart.

If it just gives you a blank screen with no POST and no error messages, it
sounds like the problem that developed with my T22. Fortunately, it's still
under warranty because they're replacing the MB. As far as dissassembly, if
you have another computer with access to the internet, you should be able to
find the instructions for taking it apart on the IBM website. The document
is called "IBM Mobile Systems ThinkPad Computer Hardware Maintenance Manual"
and cover the T2x series of Thinkpad. Good luck!

digi2 <> wrote:
> I have a T21 that I purchased new several years ago. It now has a power up
> problem. Most of the time, when the power button is pressed, the HD led
> flashes and thats all that happens. Occasionally it will power up and
> work fine until the next time it is powered on. How do I disassemble the
> T-21? I took out 16 screws and it still wouldn't come apart.

I'm not sure, but if you find the answer I'd like to know as
well. I have one that is between 3-4 years old and it has started to do
the same thing. The first time it happened I gave up after pulling out
all of the memory/mini-pci/disk drive/battery/etc.. and trying to power
it on. I also tried a different power adapter and battery, nothing
worked. After it sat in the bag for a while one day I tried it again
and it just worked. It worked for quite a while, then recently it did
the same thing, I disconnected the power adapter and pulled the battery
out, let it sit for a day or two, then it powered back on.

This seems to happen after it's been powered on for some time
then I shut it off and leave it connected to the power adapter. When
it's connected and it happens I just get a faint flicker of the HD
light, if I disconnect the adapter I actually get a bit of a "click"
noise coming from, what I believe is the speaker. It's really strange,
almost as if there's a relay that trips when the button is presed and
that relay is getting "stuck", preventing it from powering on.

Does anyone repair these regularly and if so are you familiar
with this problem and the fix because it seems quite common.

Thanks for any help.

digi2 <> wrote:
> I have a T21 that I purchased new several years ago. It now has a
> power up problem. Most of the time, when the power button is
> pressed, the HD led flashes and thats all that happens. Occasionally
> it will power up and work fine until the next time it is powered on.
> How do I disassemble the T-21? I took out 16 screws and it still
> wouldn't come apart.

Change the CMOS (RTC) battery!

Remove the primary battery and you'll see the RTC battery under a small
plastic holder.

--
Regards,

James

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my thinkpad 2648 T-21 started to have lcd problem this last week,after reading all forums on the subject I think my problem is a short, my screen stays working as long as i dont move it .. if i shut it down and startup and find it blank,turning the laptop upside down and opening the top all the way open and closing it almost all the way has brought the screen back on, I had a no boot issue for about a month and almost gave up on this laptop until a friend got it working, after one day getting it back with a fresh lease on life this blank screen issue happened ,.perhaps unrelated but no data was able to be retrieved from my hard drive, nothing anyway I have been reading how it could be one of four things; inverter board, back light, lcd cable or cover switch .Iam leaning towards lid switch or lcd cable ,