T61 BLack Screen @ Startup [ Edited ]

[hardlyworking]

@lead_org: Thanks for responding. Without the ram, there were 3 faint beeps (2 short, 1 long) . With the ram, there are no beeps other than the high pitched one when I manually shut it down. It's a 7664-16U.

[lead_org Microsoft MVP Contributor]

i will suggest that you try the laptop with an external LCD and see what happens. Also do you see any faint image on the LCD when you switch the laptop on?

[hardlyworking]

I don't see a faint image, it's just a blank/black screen. Does this indicate anything?

I will have to try the external monitor tomorrow so I will provide an update after I do.

[hardlyworking]

So I got an external monitor and it works. A screen pops up that gives me 2 options: 1) to launch startup recovery 2) to start normally. I selected 2 and the windows bar begins to load, after that, the screen goes black again and nothing happens. I tried restarting a few times and still the same result. I've popped in my rescue and recovery disc to save my files in case but is there anything I can do at this point that won't risk the loss of my data?

[lead_org Microsoft MVP Contributor]

i think most likely it is your gpu that is the culprit.

[hardlyworking]

What's the solution? Also, does this explain why the screen doesn't load past the windows load bar on the external monitor?

[lead_org Microsoft MVP Contributor]

so you are saying that the bios screen still load, and you can still see the Thinkpad icon during the startup?

If that is the case, try to do a hdd dignostic from the bios menu.

[hardlyworking]

I had initially tested with a crt monitor, and with this the graphics were a bit wonky (symbols everywhere on one screen, vertical lines on another screen) but the text appeared normally. This is the monitor that when I selected 2 to start normally, it would show the Windows loading bar (the Thinkpad icon which usually appears before the loading bar did not appear) then go black again. In the bios menu, the text was completely readable. After I selected hdd diagnostic test, however, the screen that loaded was a mess. Words and letters from words were cut off. I ran the diagnostic still, and while I was able to make out that it was complete, I couldn't even tell what the actual results were.

So I got access to an lcd and tested it. The error screen popped up again so I selected 2, and it did start up normally (Thinkpad icon, Windows loading bar, and welcome screen appeared). The graphics were normal (apart from resolution differences) and when it loaded the desktop, it prompted me about screen options. I selected mirror and my laptop screen turned on and the desktop appeared. In my excitement, I shut it down (forgetting to run diagnostics) and at home, I turned it on and the start up appeared normal and the desktop loaded. I was on there for about an hour when suddenly the screen turned black again. I waited 5 minutes then manually shut it down. When I turned it on, the graphics were wonky and it was like how it looked with the crt.  The error screen popped up and when I selected 2, it would not load past the loading bar. I manually shut it down. I waited 10 minutes and when I turned it back on, it was just completely black again. Back to square one.

So there's my little story for the day.......what do you make of it?

[lead_org Microsoft MVP Contributor]

either the LCD has the problem or the nvidia gpu.

[hardlyworking]

I tried it on a different lcd and the graphics appeared as I had mentioned previously on the crt. Even the diagnostics screen.

If it's the gpu that's the problem, why do graphics (however wonky) appear only on an external?

I was wondering if for this model the gpu is integrated on the motherboard (or how I would check to see if it is), and if so, if replacing the motherboard would wipe the stuff on my hard drive?