Ibm Thinkpad T23 Boot Problem

My T23 is having the same issue. I took it completely apart and the piece you have pictured was lying on the bottom of the case. any idea on which side goes to which solder point, or does it even matter?

Also, if you say that your piece is tight I would still remove it and resolder it. Examining the solder points under a jeweler's loope I can see where there was still flux under the joint and this would prevent the solder for connecting even though it would look like it was.

Wonder if we can go after IBM for this? It's obvious there was a manufacturing defect when these boards were made.

Hi all,

I also own a IBM T23 laptop and have a similar problem. My T23 boots fine and works fine, but if you apply a little pressure to the memory's area it chrashes. Sometimes it crashes before BIOS comes up, other times during OS load or during normal operation. It can take 1 hour to crash or 10 seconds.
When it crashes it just have to shake it a bit, or apply pressure to some points and it is back again, till I move the PC or something that makes it crash once more.

I changed HD and memory, and I figured out that must be the motherboard. I suspect that could be broken tracks on the memory BUS, but can't tell for sure. Any suggestions ? Well, I'll try to take it apart and check all soldering points.

If anybody can help, please reply.

Best regards,

Pedro Cardoso

I registered just to thank twmspro for the solution to the no power / fan-pulse problem.

My friend's T23 died just like that and I took it apart (what a chore!) as per the IBM manual and sure enough the little bugger underneath the mainboard (hardest part to get to naturally) was partially severed.

I knew its probably a sensitive multilayered board so I took the mainboard to a tv repair shop and they soldered it back in place soldered another one also and put epoxy glue to hold them in place in the future.

The laptop works like a charm now.

Thank you!

Hi all,

I just recognized the same problem on my T23. Sometimes after a week or so it booted and worked fine - maybe for a week or more but then surely crashes again leaving the fan run up and down and nothing else.

After first observation of the mainboard there was no obvious problem as described above. But before I decided to reassemble all I used slightly more force on the "magnet part" which is an inductor from one of the many converters on that board, violá I had it in my fingers!

Inspection showed a electromigration problem which separates the surface layer from the copper thus loosing the part and/or blocking current occasionally.

After that I smoothly jiggled all three parts of the same kind and found another one on the upper mainboard side which also wasn't as fix as should be.

After bearding off the pins (until I saw pure nice copper) an soldering them back to the board - guess what - everything was fine again

Thanks to twmspro and all other to work out and report that problem here.

If anyone is interested in further details please pm me.

regards, tarabas

Hy to all,
After I read all the posts I realized that I have the same problem with my think pad T23 (fan run up and down and nothing else). I disassembled my laptop and I solder the "magnet part" to the motherbord.
Unfortunatly my laptop has the same problem.

I 'm afraid to not solder the "magnet part" on properly way.(+/-)

Any help will be useful. thank you.!

Thanks twmspro your solution saved my $$$

I never fix a notebook computer before, but when I found this topic from a search engine with keyword "cannot boot T23 fan", I am delighted at least someone is having the same problem as I encounter and I might have a chance to fix it instead of getting a new one.

I following instruction available in the following link, for R40, to disassemble my T23:
http://www.quepublishing.com/articles/a ... Num=3&rl=1

It is close enough to guide you through.

The problem component, magnet like thing (2R5 N24 for my T23), is at the back of the mother board. so you have to disassemble the whole notebook completely.......

After soldering back the "magnet" to the mother board, it works and problem resolved.....


Thanks again everyone.

When I solder my "magnet", the foot of the model number "2R5 N24" is closer to the mother boards edge.

I'm glad I could help you. The T23's are nice little laptops. Very sturdy seems like to me. Glad I could help.

Yeah thanks very much! Managed to fix my mates laptop using this useful info! Now working perfectly.
For those who are asking the part is a coil so it doesn't matter which way it is connected. Also the one that
fell off in my laptop was not the one featured in the picture earlier in this thread. It was very nearby on the
board and the coil looked exactly the same. So they obviously have a problem with poor solder joints on these
machines!

Thanks Again
Kev.

when i start mine up, it goes to this text screen saying "media test failure" and "operating system not found" and doesnt go anywhere after that. once or twice its actually gone to windows, but only lasted about ten minutes before going to a blue screen that says "beginning physical memory dump" and i didnt like the sound of that, so i shut the computer off, and after that it would go back to not finding my operating system. what the hell do i do?

Sounds like the hard drive is knackered! It is located behind panel that covers the jack plugs, held in by large screw underneath. Replace it but you will need to completely reload the operating system!

Thanks twmspro, I had the same problem (fan low/high and no boot) and with your help I have been able to run my old T23 again. I was thinking to sell it off ebay as a faulty laptop but now its all working. When I opened my laptop the magnet like part was completely detached and was lying in the casing. This is definitely a manufacturing issue and should be reported to ibm. Now I am thinking about buying similar laptops off ebay to make some money

Cheers!

Can someone post the pics again of what to look for once I disassemble the laptop and exactly where to look? Much appreciated.

This really is one great thread!

These pictures no longer load. Could someone post some new ones?

Thank you very much twmspro my t23 was doing the same boot problem i check the little magnet type and it fix my problem i weld it back.Its perfect............YOUR THE MAN