ThinkPad T21 Freezing

O

Oneos

Gawd
Joined
Sep 14, 2004
Messages
596
Alright, I'm finally getting around to attempting to resolve this issue. My laptop, which I use for programming, has had a few bumps and bruises in it's lifetime. Most recently, my cat knocked it off my end table which just about destroyed my wireless card (landed on it) and killed the hard drive. After that event I threw an older (1.4GB) hard drive I had laying around in it and continued on.

Problem: The laptop does not boot ~80% of the time (Will power on, nothing comes on screen, after a few times it'll post an go no problem).

Problem: Laptop freezes. Usually this happens in windows and correlates to me moving the laptop (leading me to believe it is the hard drive); however, it also freezes during POST and in BIOS setup while remaining completely stationary.

I've reseated the RAM, and memtest doesn't come up with any errors. Event Viewer doesn't report any System Errors. Any ideas what I should look for?
 
No beeps? Usually this kind of thing comes with beep code sequences to identify the fault on Thinkpads. Is the beeper working after the bumps and bruises?

My T43 will sometimes fail to post with black screen and beep out a code. I think it's a video card seating problem, it always works second try and only does it every couple of months, so I haven't bothered with surgery. (company PC)
 
No beep codes of any kind. The low battery alarm still functions (just tested it), so it should be able to give beep codes if it is trying to.

It also seems to have better success when it is plugged in without the battery inserted, but that could just be coincidence / not actually correct.

EDIT:

Well I can rule out it being the hard drive. I've got it open right now, hard drive removed. If I do a diagnostic boot (checks RAM and such) and then say, lift it up, tip it, it freezes up. Maybe it's actually just the video freezing? Doesn't turn off, CPU fan still going strong.

I did notice one cable seems quite pinched, its heatshrinked so I can't really look, but that could be an issue.

The heatsink does get quite hot. Could just be overheating.
 
May be too soon to speak, but I just reseated the heatsink with new paste and it seems to be going okay now.

What I believe was the actual issue however is that the connector for the emergency battery was in a little loose.
 
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