R50e - Fails to show post screen / boot after Win7 installation

[R50e-dgs]

Thinkpad R50e -- 1834-BWG

Upgraded to 1 GB of memory

R50e was working fine with WinXP but I decided to install a retail version of Win7. (In the meantime I see that Win7 is not supported for R50e, I guess I should have stayed with WinXP).

Initial Installation of Win7 worked fine, then connected to Internet and Win7 began downloading/installing a large batch of updates.  During that installation the screen went blank.  After waiting awhile (about 15 minutes), I shut down and restarted.  Win7 booted and showed a screen stating that updates had failed and were being de-installed (I did not write down the exact message).  After awhile the screen went blank again.

I shut down and powered-on but the system did not re-boot.  Since then the symptoms when I power-on have not changed: no beep,  power-on indicator and battery indicator are green (but no other indicators light up, HDD does not blink), can hear the fan running but not HDD .  No post screen -- the screen shows no sign of life (no light), no opportunity to enter BIOS.

Tried the following:

1.   removed battery pack and ac-adapter and then reconnected (once with and once without battery pack).

2.   removed system board battery for about 5 minutes, also checked that memory sat properly

Above symptoms remain.  Any ideas?  Does Win7 mess with BIOS or power management in a way that could have damaged BIOS or system board?  If the system board or hardware has failed, it seems like a strange coincidence that it occurred during Win7 installation of updates.

Thanks to those who have read this -- I appreciate it! 

DGS

[tanujhanda Retired Partner]

Hello R50e-dgs and welcome to community,

As per the symptoms of the issue the system board goes faulty.

You may get the part from Lenovo service center, to get thde details please contact the support center.

Country or Region	Language	Telephone number	Hours of operation
Germany	German	07032-15-49201	9 AM - 6 PM Monday - Friday
		01805 - 00 46 18 (Warranty service and support) (Land line: 14 ct/min; Mobile price max: 42 ct/min)	9 AM - 6 PM Monday - Friday

Best Regards,

Tanuj

[Mornsgrans]

The R50 is too old to get more support from Lenovo.

Because it is a R50e it is very difficult to get a replacement system board on the "free market".

I recommend to test it with a Windows XP - installation again to validate the issue.

[R50e-dgs]

Thanks for the responses

 Since the R50e doesn't even reach the post screen, it won't boot from an installation CD or my old 40GB HDD, so I do not see a way to test whether the computer would work with Windows XP(?)  Is it possible that just the BIOS could have been damaged, and if so, is it possible to replace/reset the BIOS without replacing the motherboard?

Another question: In looking for a system board replacement I found the P/N 39T0336 in the Hardware Maintenance Manual for the R50e but the letters in my particular model number 1834-BWG are not shown.  Is that a problem or am I missing something? 

Thanks for the great help!

[Mornsgrans]

It does not matter. There are not all Thinkpad models mentioned in the parts lists.

[R50e-dgs]

Just as you wrote in your earlier post, finding this system board on the market is not easy (IBM in Germany no longer keeps it in stock).    I will take it to a local shop that sells/services Thinkpads to see if they have any interest in fixing/trading for another computer.   At age 6, the R50e may have turned into a leftover for "Bastler" as they say in Germany.

Thanks again for the help.