T61 and prior T series ThinkPad Laptops

[#1]

We have deployed roughly 20 new t61's over the last couple weeks. of these 6 of them have come accross an issue where they simply will not power up. There has not been pattern to when this happens, but it is always after the machine is shutdown then powered on later, say the next day. The resolution has been simply removing the battery and replacing it. The laptop is then able to boot up normally. We have tried replacing the battery we new packaged batteries, how ever the issue persists.

Any response as to thoughts or ideas of what is going on would be much appriciated.


Tom Otremba

[#2]

We ran into some similar problems with a similar large scale deploy.  In our case, we had machines with faulty connectors leading to the screen that gave us a black screen when we powered on.  But then again, in those cases, we actually had lights on all the indicators.  This problem also spilled over into a case where when we closed the lids while Windows was still running, and opened the lids, the picture would not come back.  We would have to "trick" the machines by opening and closing the lid in succession until the picture came back.

But I think in your case, you are probably getting no indicator lights when u power on? It might be something with the power supply itself.

[#3]

That's correct, we have no power lights or indicator lights at all.

[#4]

Having the same problem here as the company I work for standardizes on Lenovo T61 laptops. This is mostly on the 8897-XXX model. Removing the battery works. Please let me know what you find out.

[#5]

we have exact same problem on 7   T61s (out of 20) we deployed.  I called lenovo and spoke to at least 5 reps and none of them seems to have heard this problem or just playing dumb.  The "re-seat the battery" fix is easy but it's a stupid fix for a suppose to be high end business laptop.

please lets keep this thread alive and hopefully somebody finds a fix.

[#6]

We have the same symptoms on 2 out of 2 ThinkPad T61 6459 laptops.  The symptom does not occur every day.  Reseating the battery to is an annoyance to the end user.

[#7]

We've had the same problem on a small number of our T61's as well.  Are any of you using docking stations? 

I'm trying to figure out if that's the trigger for us (I noticed that in a previous thread).  For the machines I've looked at, it wouldn't power up when it was put on the docking station but it also won't power up if it's taken off and has power plugged directly in to it.  Nothing works until the battery is reseated.  We ended up sending a machine to Lenovo in NC to try to reproduce it but they haven't been able to.  When we sent it, I wasn't aware of the possibility that the docking station might be causing this in some way.  If Lenovo figures out what's going on, I'll let you know.

[#8]

Yes. Both of our ThinkPads use the Advanced Docking Station with a PCI-Express video card installed.  My two users have experienced the problem only when docking in the Advanced Docking Station.  Once the problem is triggered, it is as you described and the ThinkPad will not power up whether it is in the dock or out of the dock.  The fix is to reseat the battery.

[#9]

Yes, in my organization all of the laptops that experience this "power up" issue are used in conjunction with a docking station.

However, this doesn't mean that the docking stations are the cause of the problem. In the last year, we've probably handed over close to 100 T60/T61 laptops and only a few of the T61 laptops have this problem, so we're looking at like... 5-10%, or so... I don't recall any of the T60 laptops having this issue, only the T61s.

But, for your information, all (with the exception of a few) of our laptops are used with a docking station, so it's unlikely that this is the cause.

[#10]

The symptoms described in this post sound like they could be due to ESD (Electro Static Discharge).

In regions with less humidity, it is easy for a person to build up enough of a static charge that when they touch a metal surface they get shocked.  Now take that same scenario and add a laptop.  If a user has built up enough of a static charge and then attempts to either dock their system or plug in the A/C adapter without first grounding themselves, they could notice a few different symptoms:

 - Cannot power on without first removing the battery.

 - If the system had been suspended, it can power off.

 - If the system is running, it can become unresponsive ('hang' or  'freeze').

The easiest solution is to have your users first ground themselves against something metal before docking or attaching the A/C adapter.  Also, be sure your docking station has the rubber ESD caps applied.  Lenovo has a webpage describing these caps and diagrams on how to install:

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/MIGR-68946.html

Hope this helps!