IBM Thinkpad T41 will not boot, and no beeps.

Greetings,
This is a last ditch effort to try to understand what's going on with
my T41.
When I turn it on, all of the indicator lights flash for a moment and
then just the power indicator and battery indicator remain on, and
nothing else happens. No beeps, no hard drive sounds...nothing. The
last time it booted successfully, it made it to the desktop stage,
and
the desktop wasn't sized properly. It then froze. During the past
100
or so attempts to start it, there was one instance where it made it
to
a screen which offered several options including a backup option.
When
I attempted that, it reported that the necessary software was not
installed. Then, black screen. It hasn't come close to booting up
since.
According to the beep code guides I've seen, no beeps at all
indicates either a system board problem or a power problem. I've
tried
F1 during boot, IBM key during boot, every possible f-key, Ctrl+
combination, and Alt+ combination, all to no avail.
I'll be taking it to the shop soon, but I thought I would run this by
some of the experts here to see what I might expect. Thanks for any
assistance you may be able to offer.

Only a Step 1 to try:

Remove the battery.
Then leave unplugged for several days
Plug it back in without a battery - just to see if the symptom changes.
If so, it's a power-related problem.
Update us.



"ConDumbNation" <> wrote in message
news:f45701b0-dc83-415b-a112-...
> Greetings,
> This is a last ditch effort to try to understand what's going on with
> my T41.
> When I turn it on, all of the indicator lights flash for a moment and
> then just the power indicator and battery indicator remain on, and
> nothing else happens. No beeps, no hard drive sounds...nothing. The
> last time it booted successfully, it made it to the desktop stage,
> and
> the desktop wasn't sized properly. It then froze. During the past
> 100
> or so attempts to start it, there was one instance where it made it
> to
> a screen which offered several options including a backup option.
> When
> I attempted that, it reported that the necessary software was not
> installed. Then, black screen. It hasn't come close to booting up
> since.
> According to the beep code guides I've seen, no beeps at all
> indicates either a system board problem or a power problem. I've
> tried
> F1 during boot, IBM key during boot, every possible f-key, Ctrl+
> combination, and Alt+ combination, all to no avail.
> I'll be taking it to the shop soon, but I thought I would run this by
> some of the experts here to see what I might expect. Thanks for any
> assistance you may be able to offer.

On Apr 29, 7:37*pm, "- Bobb -" <b...@noemail.123> wrote:
> Only a Step 1 to try:
>
> Remove the battery.
> Then leave unplugged for several days
> Plug it back in without a battery - just to see if the symptom changes.
> If so, it's a power-related problem.
> Update us.
>
> "ConDumbNation" <condumbnat...@gmail.com> wrote in message
>
> news:f45701b0-dc83-415b-a112-...
>
> > Greetings,
> > This is a last ditch effort to try to understand what's going on with
> > my T41.
> > When I turn it on, all of the indicator lights flash for a moment and
> > then just the power indicator and battery indicator remain on, and
> > nothing else happens. No beeps, no hard drive sounds...nothing. The
> > last time it booted successfully, it made it to the desktop stage,
> > and
> > the desktop wasn't sized properly. *It then froze. During the past
> > 100
> > or so attempts to start it, there was one instance where it made it
> > to
> > a screen which offered several options including a backup option.
> > When
> > I attempted that, it reported that the necessary software was not
> > installed. Then, black screen. *It hasn't come close to booting up
> > since.
> > According to the beep code guides I've seen, *no beeps at all
> > indicates either a system board problem or a power problem. I've
> > tried
> > F1 during boot, IBM key during boot, every possible f-key, Ctrl+
> > combination, and Alt+ combination, all to no avail.
> > I'll be taking it to the shop soon, but I thought I would run this by
> > some of the experts here to see what I might expect. *Thanks for any
> > assistance you may be able to offer.

Thanks for the suggestion.
I'll give it a try.

[Follow-up set to comp.sys.laptops.thinkpad]

>"ConDumbNation" <> wrote in message
>news:f45701b0-dc83-415b-a112-...
>> This is a last ditch effort to try to understand what's going on with
>> my T41.
>> When I turn it on, all of the indicator lights flash for a moment and
>> then just the power indicator and battery indicator remain on, and
>> nothing else happens. No beeps, no hard drive sounds...nothing. The
>> last time it booted successfully, it made it to the desktop stage,
>> and
>> the desktop wasn't sized properly. It then froze. During the past
>> 100
>> or so attempts to start it, there was one instance where it made it
>> to
>> a screen which offered several options including a backup option.
>> When
>> I attempted that, it reported that the necessary software was not
>> installed. Then, black screen. It hasn't come close to booting up
>> since.

Does the screen display anything at all when you power it on?
Have you tried booting from a diagnostics CD?

>> According to the beep code guides I've seen, no beeps at all
>> indicates either a system board problem or a power problem. I've
>> tried
>> F1 during boot, IBM key during boot, every possible f-key, Ctrl+
>> combination, and Alt+ combination, all to no avail.

Did you hold down (not just press) the F1 key? If so, and you don't see
the BIOS screen, there's probably nothing you can do.

>> I'll be taking it to the shop soon, but I thought I would run this by
>> some of the experts here to see what I might expect. Thanks for any
>> assistance you may be able to offer.

On Wed, 29 Apr 2009 19:37:21 -0400, "- Bobb -" <bobb@noemail.123> wrote
in <gtaobh$mvp$>:
>Only a Step 1 to try:
>
>Remove the battery.
>Then leave unplugged for several days

No need to leave it unplugged that way for more than a few minutes.

>Plug it back in without a battery - just to see if the symptom changes.
>If so, it's a power-related problem.
>Update us.

--
Best regards, You are cordially invited to participate in the
John official ThinkPad group news:comp.sys.laptops.thinkpad

In news:f45701b0-dc83-415b-a112-
ConDumbNation wrote:

> This is a last ditch effort to try to understand what's going on with
> my T41.
> When I turn it on, all of the indicator lights flash for a moment and
> then just the power indicator and battery indicator remain on, and
> nothing else happens. No beeps, no hard drive sounds...nothing. The
> last time it booted successfully, it made it to the desktop stage,
> and the desktop wasn't sized properly. It then froze.

> During the past 100 or so attempts to start it, there was one instance
> where it made it to a screen which offered several options including
> a backup option.
> When I attempted that, it reported that the necessary software was not
> installed. Then, black screen. It hasn't come close to booting up
> since.

OK ConDumbNation, WHAT necessary software?
What black screen = BSOD with what indication?
Please be more specific with Your reports.

> According to the beep code guides I've seen, no beeps at all
> indicates either a system board problem or a power problem.
NO beeps at all does not identify a hardware problem!

> I've tried
> F1 during boot, IBM key during boot, every possible f-key, Ctrl+
> combination, and Alt+ combination, all to no avail.

You failed to start a reasonable failure analysis!

> I'll be taking it to the shop soon, but I thought I would run this by
> some of the experts here to see what I might expect. Thanks for any
> assistance you may be able to offer.

NO, your input is too poor to suggest any thing!
So take it to the shop.
Horst