iamaaditya

I have IBM 600X. (its urgent please reply)

One day system hanged. I restarted. And it never did.

Now the situation is it does not start.

1. Processor fan runs at high speed for few seconds then goes slow.
2. Power light and HDD light it alwasy on (green).
3. No sounds.
4. No display at all. Complete black. Not even backlight.
5. No display even in external monitor.
6. No display even without RAM, HDD, CMOS Battery.

Few findings when i opened it....( i have been able to solve few minor problems myself...so don't mind opening morover M BTEch Computer Engineering...)

When i opened it for the first time.
When i removed the Cmos battery ... then tried giving power.. suddenly displayed came and few error codes ..related to no keyboard.. no battery. no time and date (its obvious as these where out)..

then again i switched off.. now there is no display even without battery ( CMos) (also no display with all components).

then i proceded forward.. removed cpu fan.. again display comes back... but the same problem. from next time.. no display or even no activity after few seconds even without fan. ( here i didnot leave my laptop for longer time as there is risk of heat.. without fan)


i am not under any warranty.. so please don't suggest to take to IBM center.
NO other good repair centres here..
so please suggest few remedy..
M comfortable with any hardware fixings...
its urgent please reply

TheMatt

Hi, and welcome to TSF!

Sorry for taking a long time to respond. I have been on vacation over the weekend and am trying to catch up.

First, try clearing the CMOS by unplugging the AC power and battery, and then removing the CMOS battery for a half hour.

Then, inspect the motherboard for any capacitors that may be leaking.

Finally, try running the laptop with only one RAM stick, and then the other.

iamaaditya

Thank you sir for your reply..

i have done the CMOS thing.. not only half an hour.. i left it for a 6 hours.

I even measured its voltage its 3.5 V (dc). I don't know what is suppose to be its actual value.. since the laptop is atleast 4 years old i suspect it may be time to change the CMOS battery..(suggest if i should)..

Secondly is there any other way to clear the CMOS.. as m not sure if leaving the CMOS battery out must have done the task..

Thirdly When i open up.. i can open all the parts other than Processor... but i feel they must not have made the processor as fix.. i mean there must be some way to open it.. but i see nothing.. its embedded on motherboard as if rivets were fixed.. if you know any site which shows (diagramatically) how to open processor i would suggest...

About the CApacitor leakage.. i must pledge sorry i did not find any capacitor of size worth checking.. i mean.. are you talking about any specific capacitor or all those tiny capas..... please bear with my inocence and lack of knowledge.

Fourthly.. i also forgot to mention actually how and when the laptop got dead..... that day.. i was directly on AC and no battery.. i plugged into my friends room.. and horrifyingly that room (or house) does not have ground supply.. ( for you it may sound as aweful.. its a common in India.. no ground)... as usual there is a leakage current in the whole body of laptop.. tat day i could feel that.. when i touched the sides of my laptop.. moreover i kept my laptop on the naked ground.... ..... why i told you this long story is i suspect something with electrostatic current.. or anything of that sort.. in any case let me know if it could have cause any damage and what it could be.....

i appreciate that you have read till here.. this long message.. but please i am really in a need...

Thankyou once again.. please reply to all the requests...

yours sincerely
Aaditya Prakash

TheMatt

The CMOS battery should be around 3v DC. 3.5v sounds a little high, but this is probably because the battery is old. The battery is very inexpensive to replace, so it might be worth it. Usually type 2032 (CR2032) is what you need, so check the battery and get the correct replacement.

The processor is usually fairly hard to get out. It is under the heatsink, so you have to unscrew that to get at it. Don't worry about the processor now, though, we will get to it if necessary.

The capacitors can leak if they are using the old electrolytic type rather than the new aluminum capacitors. The newer ones are very stable, but the older ones can leak over time.

Here is a picture of a newer capacitor:


And here is an older one which can leak:


Quickly inspect all the capacitors you see for leakage if they are the old type. I will get a picture of a leaking capacitor in my next post, along with the rest of my reply.

iamaaditya

thanks for the reply. i will check for bulging or leaking capacitors and will reply you soon.. (you need not to post the photograph of it.. i have found it on net)...

will send you the feed back soon..

TheMatt

These are images of capacitors that have begun to leak:




Check for these.

If you have a multimeter or voltmeter, you should check the voltage coming out of the power adapter of the laptop. Make sure it matches what is printed on the power adapter.

iamaaditya

..

These are latest observations...

1. As you showed two kinds of capacitors (modern n old).. mines is modern.

2. The CMOS battery voltage is 2.93V ( i posted it as 3.5V last time. i don't know how but i must have mistaken or misread it from meter)...

3. As you suggested i used multimeter to check the power from adapater and its 16.5 exactly whats printed on the adapter.

4. Among the two photographs you showed for leaking capacitor i could apprehend only the first one.. can you tell me what is there in the second photograph.. i mean its leaking but what makes it out... tat is how to say whether modern capacitor is leaking...

5. i have 8 capacitor on board but on manual inspection it does not look leaking but i told you m yet not sure what to look for leaking capacitor.. bulging is too subjective based on individuals perspective...(rhyming not intended)

6. is there any technical way for checking the capacitor..

7. i could take the fan out.. (as you told the processor may be beneath the fan) but teh processor..still gives me trouble..

If you think i should post you the photograph of capacitors from my laptop, ok i wil just let me know which angle would be best . i mean birds view or angular..

and as usual thanks for the continuing support....

aaditya prakash

TheMatt

Check for the electrolyte leaking onto the board:



Also, you said you reseated the RAM. Did you try running with only one RAM stick, then the other?

After these steps, the next thing to do would be to reseat the CPU and apply new thermal paste.

iamaaditya

I did try using both the RAM sticks.. no help..

No leaking CApacitors..

I have managed to open the fan.. but processor seems to be stuck..
Please help on any tips to open the processor , since i don't want to apply undue pressure and cause more problems.

i have already bought the heat sink paste waiting for the processor to get out.

TheMatt

There is often a little lever that you have to lift up to remove the processor from the socket. If you can take a picture and upload it, then I could help more.

iamaaditya

ok.. i will upload the picture from various angles but for that please wait another 24 Hrs... my semester exams are gettin over by tommor afternoon.. then only i will be free enough...

And ya one more thing.. though now slowly it seems that my pessimism is taking over any strains of optimism left within me for the laptop... ( i don't know if you understood that....)..
but before i make a mind to spend atleast $100 (thats the least for laptop repair here).. actually wat made me think that i could by myself repair is that......

When the system went dead...
when i took the battery off (CMOS).. the system came back to life.. then i tried with battery but no activity.. but to my surprise second time when i took off BATTERY (CMOS) again no activity (and the conditions remain same)

Again when i proceeded forward..
When i took the processor fan out (for the first time) and tried running without the fan.. system came back to life... again but to my dispel.. no acitivity on subsequent removal.. i mean now even when fan is out no activity....

This made me think that the damage (or whatever) is not some thing more physical..i.e if a capacitor (or resistor or inductor or diode or IC etc) had gone then after the first dead instance it would not come to life as the conditions should have remained same.. i think you are getting what i mean..
that is if a capacitor had gone at first instance then how on removal of battery (cmos) did the system start.. do you mean tat then for once ( and only once) system bypassed the role of tat capacitor...
Since this is electronics and works on principles of physics, the rules and the governing formulas don't change...ie. a failed capacitor will not work whatever.. simillarly for others...

that is why i was hinting you towards some kind of electrostatic charge or stray current field which are not uniform and constant ( and its physics i don't understand much)..

so please before i invest such huge amount (in india its really huge amount) i need the answers of forementioned doubts...

please but do clarify as much you can.. ( i know i have been putting you on such gruelling task for alteast last 4 days.. but i thank you from the core of my heart)

thanking you
aaditya prakash

iamaaditya

I have uploaded all the photos at http://www.geocities.com/aadityainbox/images.html

All the Photos(19) will come in a page.. so keep scrolling.
Some photos (especially at bottom) are out of focus. M sorry for that.

I hope it suffices your request.. and please do something fast.. M in a time crunch.. i have just few days left to solve all the matter out.. i have to leave for summer vacation in another week...so if m not able to take my laptop with me.. its going to be the most boring summer vacation..

thanks once again

TheMatt

It looks like there is another heatsink over the processor. From what I can tell, you have to remove the screws over it to remove it. I am guessing the one with the diamond is the CPU. I will have a better look when I get home and I have access to a high resolution display.

iamaaditya

this is an IBM hardware maintenence manual file
ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pccbbs...es/09n8608.pdf

the worst thing is. even after reading this.. i could not find out how to remove my processor...
they say it comes out with fan.. but it does not.. i have shown you photo of fan and processor apart..

TheMatt

I was right, it was the one with the diamond in the middle. Take a look at page 57 of the manual.

iamaaditya

sorry for not replying for last two days.
Finally i decided to give my laptop to repair center.

i will let you know what happens then.
They have asked for a week time to resolve the matter.
anyways thanks

TheMatt

You're welcome. If they fix it, ask what was wrong.