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IBM thinkpad t23 doesn't load O.S

T20-T23 Series and T30. NOT for T25-Retro.
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the_rastaman
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IBM thinkpad t23 doesn't load O.S

#1 Post by the_rastaman » Thu Jan 26, 2012 2:44 pm

I find this old laptop in my house and everything just look find but after select the boot device to load O.S, i have already try boot from HD and CD, the screen just get black and nothing more happens, BTW the BIOS works fine.

Laptops info, i believe you would need.

BIOS version: 1.01b (1AET38WW)
BIOS date: 2001-7-27
CPU type: Mobile Intel Pentium III processor-M
CPU speed: 1133Hz
Installed memory: 256Mb
I believe the O.S installed is windows xp.

Neil
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Re: IBM thinkpad t23 doesn't load O.S

#2 Post by Neil » Thu Jan 26, 2012 4:07 pm

For a T23 that doesn't appear to boot from either HDD or CD-ROM, my first suspect would be loose inductors on the motherboard: http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=21979
Collection = T430 - T500 - R400 - X300 - T61 (14" WXGA+) - R61 (15" SXGA+) - T60 - X40 - T43p - T43 - T42p - A30P

the_rastaman
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Re: IBM thinkpad t23 doesn't load O.S

#3 Post by the_rastaman » Thu Jan 26, 2012 5:06 pm

Neil wrote:For a T23 that doesn't appear to boot from either HDD or CD-ROM, my first suspect would be loose inductors on the motherboard: http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=21979
thanks for your quick answer!! nevertheless just for curiosity, why did you suspect would be loose inductors on the motherboard?
another thing i noticed is that the battery won't charge at all, and sometimes the brown and green batteries indicators flashes simultaneously and if i pull or push the laptop screen, the laptop starts to make a constant beep and if a loose the screen, stop beeping.
Last edited by the_rastaman on Thu Jan 26, 2012 5:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.

RealBlackStuff
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Re: IBM thinkpad t23 doesn't load O.S

#4 Post by RealBlackStuff » Thu Jan 26, 2012 5:18 pm

Would 'experience' satisfy you?
Lovely day for a Guinness! (The Real Black Stuff)
Lenovo: X240, X250, T440p, T480, M900 Tiny.

PS: the old Boardroom website is still available on the Wayback Machine
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the_rastaman
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Location: Guatemala, Guatemala

Re: IBM thinkpad t23 doesn't load O.S

#5 Post by the_rastaman » Thu Jan 26, 2012 5:31 pm

RealBlackStuff wrote:Would 'experience' satisfy you?
yes it would satisfy me. if i asking you why is because first, i don't have much experience repairing laptops and it's kind of an odyssey to me disarm one so i just want to be sure, and second i just want to learn.
Thanks for your time and your experience. :D

the_rastaman
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Location: Guatemala, Guatemala

Re: IBM thinkpad t23 doesn't load O.S

#6 Post by the_rastaman » Thu Jan 26, 2012 10:06 pm

Neil wrote:For a T23 that doesn't appear to boot from either HDD or CD-ROM, my first suspect would be loose inductors on the motherboard: http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=21979
i check the inductor there was nothing wrong with them, and take me all the afternoon and part of the night to do it (T.T). based on your experience if i can load a O.S booting from a usb,would this mean that the hard drive and the CD-ROM are malfunctioning? or can be another thing?

sorry if i make a mistake writing, the English is not mi language. :D

Neil
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Re: IBM thinkpad t23 doesn't load O.S

#7 Post by Neil » Thu Jan 26, 2012 11:15 pm

Sorry to lead you down the wrong path....taking a ThinkPad apart down to the bottom of the motherboard is no small task! I know I've done it many times (usually to solder those pesky inductors back on). There was a time, seems not too long ago, when I had to do it so often that it only took about an hour.

So, you can boot from USB? I guess that rules out a system board malfunction. Before we decide the HDD and optical drive are bad, let's run some tests. Try booting a few different CDs. If you have any factory pressed CDs, they often work better than CD-R or CD-RW disks in these older drives.

If you can indeed boot from USB, I would boot Linux from a USB flash drive and run some tests on the HDD to see how it's health is. It might be OK, or it might not.
Collection = T430 - T500 - R400 - X300 - T61 (14" WXGA+) - R61 (15" SXGA+) - T60 - X40 - T43p - T43 - T42p - A30P

rumbero
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Re: IBM thinkpad t23 doesn't load O.S

#8 Post by rumbero » Fri Jan 27, 2012 1:34 am

Another option might be running a suitable PC-Doctor for DOS to do a complete hardware check.
There is an official floppy version and, based on these floppies, an unofficial custom made ISO image.
See forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?p=297950#p297950 for suitable download sources.
A few 14.1" and 15" T61+ Frankenpads and one T480

the_rastaman
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Re: IBM thinkpad t23 doesn't load O.S

#9 Post by the_rastaman » Fri Feb 10, 2012 5:15 pm

ok finally i got the time to reassemble the laptop but, the problem remains.
in the Bios, in the startup options, i change the boot mode from quick to diagnostic and then restarted the laptop, and then i noticed this:

Code: Select all

CPU= Intel(R) Mobile Mobile Intel(R) Pentium(R) III Processor-M Processor 1133 Mhz
638k System RAM Passed
254M Extended Ram Passed
512k Cache SRAM Passed
System BIOS shadowed
Video BIOS Shadowed
UMB upper limit segment address: DC00
Fixed disk 0: FUJITSU MHS2030AT
Mouse initialized

Code: Select all

System BIOS shadowed
Video BIOS Shadowed
i assumed that if doesn't say "passed" something has to be wrong but, what is wrong? and what is the meaning of this 2 lines?

P.S. I haven't try the USB Boot.

Neil
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Re: IBM thinkpad t23 doesn't load O.S

#10 Post by Neil » Fri Feb 10, 2012 5:30 pm

Well...I don't see anything wrong with your P.O.S.T. results. I thought from you original description that the machine would not boot and the screen would stay blank, but if you are able to read the POST info, then the issue must be with either the HDD or the optical drive, or both, or the MBR has become corrupt, or the CD you were using is not bootable, or something else entirely.

So...what kind of CD have you tried? Does it boot on other computers?
And, please try to boot from USB before we decide the T23 has issues.
Collection = T430 - T500 - R400 - X300 - T61 (14" WXGA+) - R61 (15" SXGA+) - T60 - X40 - T43p - T43 - T42p - A30P

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Re: IBM thinkpad t23 doesn't load O.S

#11 Post by RealBlackStuff » Fri Feb 10, 2012 5:45 pm

Shadowed means exactly that: the BIOS is copied from slow eeprom to fast RAM, so it will react faster when accessed by the operating system.
It's perfectly normal. You just wouldn't see the message if you have Boot mode = Quick.
Lovely day for a Guinness! (The Real Black Stuff)
Lenovo: X240, X250, T440p, T480, M900 Tiny.

PS: the old Boardroom website is still available on the Wayback Machine
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