IBM Thinkpad 600X erratic boot problem

[Bart Bervoets]

Sometimes black screen and no reaction when power button is pressed,
other times it boots fine, typically pressing the button 4 times will
boot and then the laptop can work fine for hours with xp, no crash.
Bios upgrade was no help, any ideas aside of bad caps (which i doubd as
i can rapidly press the button a few times and it boots, so no warmup
period.
Note that when the laptop does not boot the power led still comes on, so
no faulty power button.

Bart Bervoets

 

[Dave Saville]

Sometimes black screen and no reaction when power button is pressed,
other times it boots fine, typically pressing the button 4 times will
boot and then the laptop can work fine for hours with xp, no crash.
Bios upgrade was no help, any ideas aside of bad caps (which i doubd as
i can rapidly press the button a few times and it boots, so no warmup
period.
Note that when the laptop does not boot the power led still comes on, so
no faulty power button.

Maybe nothing but 600's can have problems with the little micro switch that
detects the lid closing. Give it a good jiggle, also give it a blow out if you
have an air duster.

--

Regards

Dave Saville

NB Remove no-spam- for good email address

 

[Ken]

Sometimes black screen and no reaction when power button is pressed,
other times it boots fine, typically pressing the button 4 times will
boot and then the laptop can work fine for hours with xp, no crash.
Bios upgrade was no help, any ideas aside of bad caps (which i doubd as
i can rapidly press the button a few times and it boots, so no warmup
period.
Note that when the laptop does not boot the power led still comes on, so
no faulty power button.

Bart Bervoets

Laptops are known for having such problems when the battery is poor.
You would think that it it was being powered by A/C, that it would not
care about the battery. Recently I encountered much the same problem on
one. If you can sub a battery pack it might answer that question.

Ken

 

[Bob Shuman]

Both suggestions are good (screen micro switch and the main battery), but as
another thought it also could be the BIOS motherboard backup battery is
dying (has died) as well. This machine (Thinkpad 600) is likely more than 5
years old so the battery has reached its useful life.

Do let us know what you find at the root cause and good luck.

Bob

 

[Clint Sharp]

Both suggestions are good (screen micro switch and the main battery), but as
another thought it also could be the BIOS motherboard backup battery is
dying (has died) as well. This machine (Thinkpad 600) is likely more than 5
years old so the battery has reached its useful life.

Could also be that if the machine boots but has no LCD display that the
CCFL backlight is failing, I've seen it a few times now where they need
a few 'prods' with current to get them going. Check if the system works
with an external monitor when the display is 'dead'.

 

[Tom MacIntyre]

Sometimes black screen and no reaction when power button is pressed,
other times it boots fine, typically pressing the button 4 times will
boot and then the laptop can work fine for hours with xp, no crash.
Bios upgrade was no help, any ideas aside of bad caps (which i doubd as
i can rapidly press the button a few times and it boots, so no warmup
period.
Note that when the laptop does not boot the power led still comes on, so
no faulty power button.

Bart Bervoets

Perhaps unlikely, but...reseat the HDD signal and power cables?

Tom

 

[Ken]

Both suggestions are good (screen micro switch and the main battery), but as
another thought it also could be the BIOS motherboard backup battery is
dying (has died) as well. This machine (Thinkpad 600) is likely more than 5
years old so the battery has reached its useful life.

Do let us know what you find at the root cause and good luck.

Bob

Good point, I had forgotten about that battery.

Ken

 

[Bart Bervoets]

Perhaps unlikely, but...reseat the HDD signal and power cables?

Tom

The bios battery is something i had in mind as well, where is this
battery located on this laptop, hard or easy to reach...?

Bart Bervoets

 

[Ken]

The bios battery is something i had in mind as well, where is this
battery located on this laptop, hard or easy to reach...?

Bart Bervoets

I don't know about your model, but one I had required the removal of
the plastic keyboard top. (Not easy to reach.) If my memory serves me
well, it was above the top row of keys and was not a standard coin type
battery. Good luck.

 

[Andy Cuffe]

The bios battery is something i had in mind as well, where is this
battery located on this laptop, hard or easy to reach...?

Bart Bervoets

It's located in the RAM compartment on the bottom of the laptop. This
laptop will give you an error code and refuse to boot if the CMOS
battery is bad.
Andy Cuffe

[email protected] <-- Use this address until 12/31/2005

[email protected] <-- Use this address after 12/31/2005