R31 thoughts.

Hi all,

Ages ago I was given an R31 (2656 M3G) to fix or dispose of (no
backlight). I was busy at the time and I / they didn't want to gamble
on an inverter when it might be the CCFL so it got shoved in a
cupboard.

Last night I dug it out for a play on an external monitor and I like
it. ;-)

Sooo, very dead screen (but stuff going on when viewed in bright
light) so what is the most likely fault please? Did I read of a fuse
somewhere?

FWIW I did replace the CCFL in my old Dell and assuming I could get
one (I got the Dell one from the States) I've got nothing to lose by
trying to replace it on this.

I did try Ubuntu (V9.04) on there but it came up with some errors
(audio I think).

Cheers, T i m

p.s. Never had a Thinkpad, always wanted one. ;-)

On Jul 21, 2:51*am, T i m <n...@spaced.me.uk> wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> Ages ago I was given an R31 (2656 M3G) to fix or dispose of (no
> backlight). I was busy at the time and I / they didn't want to gamble
> on an inverter when it might be the CCFL so it got shoved in a
> cupboard.
>
> Last night I dug it out for a play on an external monitor and I like
> it. ;-)
>
> Sooo, very dead screen (but stuff going on when viewed in bright
> light) so what is the most likely fault please? Did I read of a fuse
> somewhere?
>
> FWIW I did replace the CCFL in my old Dell and assuming I could get
> one (I got the Dell one from the States) I've got nothing to lose by
> trying to replace it on this.
>
> I did try Ubuntu (V9.04) on there but it came up with some errors
> (audio I think).
>
> Cheers, T i m
>
> p.s. Never had a Thinkpad, always wanted one. ;-)

Quite a bit of rambling...but I did catch on! Good Luck (and easy on
the caffeine)!
bob_v

On Tue, 21 Jul 2009 04:50:39 -0700 (PDT), Bob Villa
<> wrote:


>> Ages ago I was given an R31 (2656 M3G) to fix or dispose of (no
>> backlight). I was busy at the time and I / they didn't want to gamble
>> on an inverter when it might be the CCFL so it got shoved in a
>> cupboard.
>>
>>
>> I did try Ubuntu (V9.04) on there but it came up with some errors
>> (audio I think).
>>

>Quite a bit of rambling...but I did catch on!

Thanks for hanging in there. ;-)

>Good Luck (and easy on
>the caffeine)!

Update. Fresh restore of XP, no DHCP on the internal network, a USB <>
Ethernet adaptor or PCMCIA WiFi card. Clean generic install of XP no
different. Static i/p addresses - no probs. Hmm

So: Live Ubuntu CD and all networking ok > Full install of Ubuntu and
all seems ok (but slower than XP).

All I need now is to see if I can find a working inverter and if it
isn't that then I might remove the display and fix the laptop to the
back of a desktop TFT and make a cheap low-energy Internet machine
(and I'll probably put XP back on and just leave the i/p stuff
static).

Cheers, T i m

>I might remove the display and fix the laptop to the
back of a desktop TFT and make a cheap low-energy Internet machine
(and I'll probably put XP back on and just leave the i/p stuff
static).

A hybrid...what a great idea!

bob_v

On Wed, 22 Jul 2009 03:46:40 -0700 (PDT), Bob Villa
<> wrote:

>>I might remove the display and fix the laptop to the
>back of a desktop TFT and make a cheap low-energy Internet machine
>(and I'll probably put XP back on and just leave the i/p stuff
>static).
>
>A hybrid...what a great idea!
>

I'll have to confess it wasn't my idea.

I've since taken the screen off, fresh XP install (Ubuntu seemed to be
having issues with the graphics, some characters were getting
corrupted etc) and have it running on a little 15" TFT. I am now
looking for a 512M PC133 SODIMM and I should be away. ;-)

This Thinkpad is quite suitable for this project as no interfaces or
CD / floppy drives are at the front so nothing inaccessible when the
unit is vertical behind the display.

I could go into production with my VESA conversion brackets. ;-)

Anyone know what the maximum capacity HDD I could put in there please?
Or I may even fit an external USB drive to it for portability between
machines.

T i m

Bob Villa wrote:
>> I might remove the display and fix the laptop to the
> back of a desktop TFT and make a cheap low-energy Internet machine
> (and I'll probably put XP back on and just leave the i/p stuff
> static).
>
> A hybrid...what a great idea!
>

Dismantle the original LCD, remove the diffuser/mirror and tape the
screen to the outside of a cardboard grocery carton with a suitable hole
cut in it. Place a mains CFL in the box...

--
Adrian C

On Mon, 27 Jul 2009 18:56:18 +0100, Adrian C <>
wrote:

>Bob Villa wrote:
>>> I might remove the display and fix the laptop to the
>> back of a desktop TFT and make a cheap low-energy Internet machine
>> (and I'll probably put XP back on and just leave the i/p stuff
>> static).
>>
>> A hybrid...what a great idea!
>>
>
>Dismantle the original LCD, remove the diffuser/mirror and tape the
>screen to the outside of a cardboard grocery carton with a suitable hole
>cut in it. Place a mains CFL in the box...

;-)

Or just fit a new CFL to the laptop monitor? I did that on an old Dell
I was given, bought the CFL from the States for a fraction of what I
would have paid here. Bit of a fiddley job, one of those where you
really need at least 4 hands but it went ok in the end and has been
working ever since.

The key with a lot of this laptop (or PC's in general for that matter)
is having another similar model to play with, substituting parts etc
(as I'm sure we all know).

I have a Toshiba Satellite Pro A60 (supplied by the Insurance Co in
lieu of an old Compaq that got damaged) that suddenly died after not
much use. I remember a mate having one with a duff screen and when
asked he kindly he gave it to me. It turns out it was an Equium A60
(but close enough) that had been raped of hdd, memory, WiFi and
keyboard. Luckily I had all those and now appear to have a working
laptop again. ;-)

Cheers, T i m