bz wrote:

Rick wrote in :

Morse wrote:

"Rick" wrote in message
...

snip

Nevermind. A second call to IBM confirmed that the first idiot I
spoke to at IBM gave me incorrect information. The 16 MB VGA version
of the main board isn't compatible with the display in this lap top.

Rick

Have they agreed to exchange the board for the correct one, Rick? I
imagine this is a frighteningly expensive item? Laptop manufacturers
love to fleece people for spare parts, which is one reason I'm
reluctant to replace my Omnibook 6100. It's been patched up a few times
with secondhand spares very cheaply, and bits are fairly readily
available on eBay for them. If I bought a new one I just know it'd fail
one day outside the warranty and I'd be left with a pile of junk!

Morse

Morse, you seen this one?

Got the replacement board, slapped it in and...

Dead. Well, let's call it barely on life support: The battery charge
indicator works and the battery seems to be charging. At least I know
the thing is getting power. But other than that, hit the power button
and all I get is a split second of the cooling fan doing a twitch and
the hard drive status LED flashes a split second - whether the hard
drive is in the bay or not. Nothing else. None of the other status LED's
light, no screen display - nuttin'.

So far I've reseated the cpu, reseated the mini PCI card, reseated and
then pulled the RAM, pulled the hard drive and CD ROM, pulled the
battery. No change.

I can't see how I could have introduced a short considering the way
ThinkPads assemble. There are only 3 direct board to board connections
and only one plastic insulation shield that goes under the keyboard. All
screws are accounted for.

Having pulled all components that the HRM said to pull and there is
still no change any other suggestions for troubleshooting this? Or does
it seem like a dead main board right out of the bag?

YEP. Other possibility is that 1) battery is bad, can't supply any
significant current AND 2) power adapter is bad, can't supply any
significant current. Try swapping with another unit if you can find anyone
that has one.

Hi

Actually I did - I have two ThinkPads that use the same battery and PS -
no difference.

After I sent this I did two other things I forgot about: Pulled the CMOS
battery. And tried the "secret" IBM trick to reset a stuck ThinkPad -
remove battery pack and AC power, hit the power on button 10 times.
Didn't help.

What this one is
doing is only slightly different than the won't power up problem with
the original main board that went bad. I'm a little suspicious of the
replacement board because it came with a CMOS battery and the mini PCI
cables already attached - not "stock" items to come with an IBM
replacement main board.

Even with NEW stock, chances of getting a bad replacement are significant.

Really? On new stock parts? See below about this particular part though:

[you ARE sure you reconnected all the cables, etc., correctly, right? ]

--
bz 73 de N5BZ k

This made me so paranoid I even checked to make sure I didn't insert the
"can only be inserted one way" cpu wrong. But thanks for asking. 8-)

For all the "chinese puzzle box" disassenbly/assembly procedures you
have to go through on ThinkPads there are next to no cables or
connections you can screw up. The only cable connects stand out -
because they have to be addressed in the disassembly/assembly. And those
are only a ribbon for the floppy (in this model), a ribbon to the LCD
display, a single cable for speakers and mic., and a cable to the mini
PCI card. All keyed, of course. That's it for cables. The only other
connections are 3 board to board snap in connections. All I'm saying is
that after you have done it once it's practically impossible to do it
wrong. But I checked anyway. 8-)

I think I got a dud board that someone returned for a refund when they
swapped it with their own defective board. (Not like that's ever
happened before...) I looked further at the packaging and it leads me to
believe it was a restock and not a direct from IBM part as promised. I
also checked the IBM part number on it and it's the same number as the
board I'm trying to replace. Which means it has the same inherent defect
that led my original board to fail. I already know IBM has a different
FRU number for the redesigned board.

Since I can't do much of anything else at this point, I'm going to drop
my original board back in just to see if all the peripherals are still
ok. That board will at least boot, it's just a question of how long it
will run before it locks up hard. (Lotso IBM ThinkPads out there with
this "feature.") So if it powers up with the old board I know they sent
me a dud.

Onto board number *three* when I call this place on Tuesday. In case you
missed it: Board #1 was ordered based on IBM saying it was compatible
with this model ThinkPad. It wasn't. Worked, but wasn't compatible with
the display. Board #2 - current dud. Board #3....?

I'm either persistent or insane.

Rick