Can no longer resuscitate ThinkPad by removing CMOS battery, laptop batt, AC adapter [solved]

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pepperminty
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Can no longer resuscitate ThinkPad by removing CMOS battery, laptop batt, AC adapter [solved]

Post by pepperminty »

I have a ThinkPad T430 that I bought used in summer 2017. It died on me 2 weeks ago. I resuscitated it by removing the keyboard, CMOS battery, laptop battery, and AC adapter temporarily. When I removed the CMOS battery and laptop battery and AC wihtout removing the keyboard, the laptop wouldn't turn on.

Since rescuscitating it, it has died twice more, and doing the stuff I mentioned above solved things. But now, it doesn't solve things. What could be the problem? WHy doesn't my previous solution work anymore?
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Neil Edmond
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Re: Can no longer resuscitate ThinkPad by removing CMOS battery, laptop batt, AC adapter

Post by Neil Edmond »

How dead is dead?
Try removing everything you can possibly remove including RAM, wifi cards, etc. Then plug in only the A/C adapter and power up. If the system doesn't give the 1-3-3-1 beep sequence, it means the system board is dead. If you do get some beeps, then there might be hope in trouble shooting further.
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Re: Can no longer resuscitate ThinkPad by removing CMOS battery, laptop batt, AC adapter

Post by pepperminty »

Neil,

Before any of these problems, the computer never beeped.
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trytip
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Re: Can no longer resuscitate ThinkPad by removing CMOS battery, laptop batt, AC adapter

Post by trytip »

a beeping sound is VERY good, it will tell you wasup. have you researched what those beeps mean? how many are there. many laptops die because of the thermal tape of cpu/gpu is bad ... many others removing the RAM is issue they go bad, which is most likely the message of the beepings
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Re: Can no longer resuscitate ThinkPad by removing CMOS battery, laptop batt, AC adapter

Post by Joe2Shoe »

"Tolerance is the refuge of men without conviction."
"Common sense is not so common" - Voltaire
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Re: Can no longer resuscitate ThinkPad by removing CMOS battery, laptop batt, AC adapter

Post by pepperminty »

Let me be clear.I hear no beeps before this problem, and even now.
richyrich

Re: Can no longer resuscitate ThinkPad by removing CMOS battery, laptop batt, AC adapter

Post by richyrich »

Something wrong with the laptop's built-in keyboard?

Does it do anything when you do all your battery unplugging, etc. and then leave the keyboard unplugged to boot?
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Re: Can no longer resuscitate ThinkPad by removing CMOS battery, laptop batt, AC adapter

Post by pepperminty »

The power button is on the keyboard. If the keyboard is unplugged, powering on or off is definitely not gonna work. :)
michael louwe

Re: Can no longer resuscitate ThinkPad by removing CMOS battery, laptop batt, AC adapter

Post by michael louwe »

@ pepperminty, .......
pepperminty wrote: Sat Apr 21, 2018 10:49 am Let me be clear.I hear no beeps before this problem, and even now.
.
What do you mean by the laptop died on you.? It can no longer power on.? It can power on but cannot boot into the OS.? Did you receive any error message before the problem started.?

Can you boot a Live LM 17.x/18.x DVD or USB.?

Usually, it's the hard-drive that failed.
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Re: Can no longer resuscitate ThinkPad by removing CMOS battery, laptop batt, AC adapter

Post by catweazel »

pepperminty wrote: Tue Apr 17, 2018 7:13 pm What could be the problem? WHy doesn't my previous solution work anymore?
<Star Trek voice on>
It's dead, Jim.
<Star Trek voice off>
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Re: Can no longer resuscitate ThinkPad by removing CMOS battery, laptop batt, AC adapter

Post by Neil Edmond »

pepperminty wrote: Sat Apr 21, 2018 10:49 am Let me be clear.I hear no beeps before this problem...
Well, of course not, under normal operating conditions you wouldn't. But now something is certainly different than before, right?
pepperminty wrote: Sat Apr 21, 2018 10:49 am ...and even now.
Does that mean now that you have removed the RAM and all other peripherals it still does not beep? If that's right, then there is no doubt the system board is dead.
MintBean

Re: Can no longer resuscitate ThinkPad by removing CMOS battery, laptop batt, AC adapter

Post by MintBean »

Sounds like it's been dying for a while and is now in fact dead.
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Re: Can no longer resuscitate ThinkPad by removing CMOS battery, laptop batt, AC adapter

Post by catweazel »

MintBean wrote: Sat Apr 21, 2018 5:47 pm Sounds like it's been dying for a while and is now in fact dead.
<Monty Python voice on>
'E's not pinin'! 'E's passed on! This parrot is no more! He has ceased to be! 'E's expired and gone to meet 'is maker! 'E's a stiff! Bereft of life, 'e rests in peace! If you hadn't nailed 'im to the perch 'e'd be pushing up the daisies! 'Is metabolic processes are now 'istory! 'E's off the twig! 'E's kicked the bucket, 'e's shuffled off 'is mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin' choir invisible!! THIS IS AN EX-PARROT!!
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Re: Can no longer resuscitate ThinkPad by removing CMOS battery, laptop batt, AC adapter

Post by Joe2Shoe »

Replace the mobo.
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hrmcrm

Re: Can no longer resuscitate ThinkPad by removing CMOS battery, laptop batt, AC adapter

Post by hrmcrm »

Unplug the AC adapter and take out the battery. Push the power button 10 times in a row at one second intervals. Next, push and hold the power button for 30 seconds. Put the battery back in and connect the AC adapter and push the power button.

It sounds bizarre, but it has revived many ThinkPads, one of mine included.
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Re: Can no longer resuscitate ThinkPad by removing CMOS battery, laptop batt, AC adapter

Post by pepperminty »

Neil Edmond wrote: Sat Apr 21, 2018 5:19 pm
pepperminty wrote: Sat Apr 21, 2018 10:49 am Let me be clear.I hear no beeps before this problem...
Well, of course not, under normal operating conditions you wouldn't. But now something is certainly different than before, right?
OK. I was just stating this clarification to say that I hear no beeps now (laptop not working) and no beeps before (when laptop was working).
pepperminty wrote: Sat Apr 21, 2018 10:49 am ...and even now.
Neil Edmond wrote: Sat Apr 21, 2018 5:19 pmDoes that mean now that you have removed the RAM and all other peripherals it still does not beep? If that's right, then there is no doubt the system board is dead.
By peripherals, you mean stuff connected to the laptop like a mouse, printer, etc., yes? If so, the answer is that I don't use peripherals. And still no beep.
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Re: Can no longer resuscitate ThinkPad by removing CMOS battery, laptop batt, AC adapter

Post by pepperminty »

Joe2Shoe wrote: Mon Apr 23, 2018 10:53 am Replace the mobo.
If the mobo needs to be replaced, I'll just get another laptop. This laptop cost me $180USD when I bought it in Summer 2017. I hear a mobo could be half htat price, and who knows whether a replacement mobo will last
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Re: Can no longer resuscitate ThinkPad by removing CMOS battery, laptop batt, AC adapter

Post by AndyMH »

I'd get another T430, don't think they can be beaten on price/performance/reliability. And they can be upgraded easily. Get one with a 1600x900 screen if you can.
Thinkcentre M720Q - LM21.3 cinnamon, 4 x T430 - LM21.3 cinnamon, Homebrew desktop i5-8400+GTX1080 Cinnamon 19.0
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Re: Can no longer resuscitate ThinkPad by removing CMOS battery, laptop batt, AC adapter

Post by Neil Edmond »

pepperminty wrote: Tue Apr 24, 2018 4:56 pmBy peripherals, you mean stuff connected to the laptop like a mouse, printer, etc., yes?
No...I mean RAM, wifi card, optical drive, HDD, WWAN card (if you have one), really anything that can be removed from the system board. If you get beeps from the system board alone, those beeps means it's still alive. Then you can start adding parts back in one at the time until you identify the component that is giving you trouble.
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Re: Can no longer resuscitate ThinkPad by removing CMOS battery, laptop batt, AC adapter

Post by pepperminty »

I have an update.

Last Wednesday, I got some tech people to help me with this problem. They got me to replace the CMOS battery. They had a container full of CMOS batteries taken from other laptops. I put one of these other batteries in. I also tried to be mindful of several things:

--shut down computer after use. (In the past, I just closed the lid, placed in my backpack, and left it like this overnight.)
--be more gentle in putting the computer in my car/trunk.

For the first 2 days, there were no problems. I was pleased.

On the fourth day, I powered it on without issue. But after about 10 minutes, it died on me. I took out the laptop battery and AC adapter, held down the power button for a few seconds. It didn’t start up on the first try. After about 10 minutes I tried again, and the laptop powered up. The laptop kept the time (in other words, the CMOS battery was not a problem).

But then the computer died on me again after 20 minutes. I repeated the same thing, and it then started up again.


Yesterday is Day 5 and today is Day 6, and there haven’t been any problems.
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