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Re: Thinkpad R51 not posting

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On 20-Jun-23 2:22 PM, justaW wrote:
> On 20-Jun-23 7:36 AM, psvrh wrote:
>>    Welcome!
>>
>>    Does it beep at all?  There's a lot the system can tell you, even 
>> if the display doesn't function.
>>
>>    Have a look at 
>> https://thinkpads.com/support/hmm/hmm_pdf/39t6190.pdf, specifically 
>> page 59 (beep codes and no-beep symptoms).  That'll get you at least a 
>> direction to go in.
>>
>> On 2023-06-19 3:07 p.m., justaW wrote:
>>> Since I've joined usenet I figure I might as well ask.
>>>
>>> I own a R51 for a very long time. When I got it, it worked flawlessly 
>>> (about 10 years ago, the battery even worked).
>>> However a few years ago I wanted to try to have it boot from a CF 
>>> card instead of the slow IDE drive.
>>>
>>> When I tried to boot the device, it never passes through post. The 
>>> system fans spin up to max, the power LED lights up, but it never 
>>> progresses through boot. I can't even access the bios.
>>>
>>> I recall seeing something a long time ago on a forum that this model 
>>> might be suffering from a poor solder somewhere on the mainboard, but 
>>> I haven't the slightest idea on where I might need to look for that. 
>>> I don't even think that site still exists. I didn't think anything of 
>>> it at the time, because my device worked, but now that I have it 
>>> sitting on a shelf collecting dust, I still want to try to salvage it.
>>>
>>> Does anyone know anything about a bad soldier on the R51? The model 
>>> number fully is R51 2889-CTO.
>>>
>>> I've done everything short of disassembling the device, but it will 
>>> not post regardless of if there is or is not the hard drive, battery, 
>>> or CD drive connected.
>>>
>>> Thanks
>>
>>
>>
>>
> Sorry, initially posted to the first group, then I saw the second and 
> sent it separately there.
> 
> The device doesn't post at all. No beep codes, no display on the screen. 
> However it sounds like the hard disk and cdrom spin up, but there's 
> nothing to indicate that the device is even trying to post.
> 
> I'm going to try to disassemble it fully this weekend and see what might 
> be it. I don't think I'll need a service manual because these old 
> devices are so incredibly easy to be serviced that it makes more modern 
> laptops look shameful.
> 
> Will post an update on if it works. It might be the ram, as I can only 
> access one stick of it on the underside. The first slot is under the 
> keyboard so they'll need disassembly to get to.
> 
> Thanks

I didn't think that just reseating the memory modules would be it, but 
it's working now. The memory is tested good, too, so I'm not sure what 
the cause of it was. Now the only issue is that the cmos is dead and I 
need to get some electrical tape to put a new one in.

Nuts to see that the laptop can use both of the CF cards, 32GB each. 
Thing has never ran faster! But the tray for the CF cards doesn't fit 
nice with the HDD door, so it isn't screwd into it. Need to use a bit of 
tape to pull out the tray, but I'm not intending on needing to do that 
very often, so it is working well enough.

Cheers

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Thread

Thinkpad R51 not posting justaW <justaw@noreply.invalid> - 2023-06-19 15:07 -0400
  Re: Thinkpad R51 not posting not@telling.you.invalid (Computer Nerd Kev) - 2023-06-20 09:00 +1000
  Re: Thinkpad R51 not posting psvrh <d_spam@generaleclectic.org> - 2023-06-20 07:36 -0400
    Re: Thinkpad R51 not posting justaW <justaw@noreply.invalid> - 2023-06-20 14:22 -0400
      Re: Thinkpad R51 not posting justaW <justaw@noreply.invalid> - 2023-06-25 11:32 -0400
        Re: Thinkpad R51 not posting psvrh <d_spam@generaleclectic.org> - 2023-06-26 08:25 -0400

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