Solved Thinkpad's power switch will not start

bookwormep

bookwormep

It was a dark dreary night, and Thinkpad would not start. Hit the power switch once, then harder, and then repeatedly, but it seems to be dead in the water. So, in this interim, I ordered a used one.

I installed FreeBSD-12.1-RELEASE on it and am typing this post right now.

Does anybody have some tips or hints to get the old Thinkpad to start? One hopeful sign, is that the battery light is still working!
 
  • Which model? Download the Hardware Maintenance Manual from IBM or Lenovo; while you're at it, also do this for your "new" one.
  • Visit the ThinkWiki, search & ask for help.
  • If the HDD LED indicates activity, the system starts but the display is dead. Connect an external monitor.
  • Maybe the HDD is dead? Set up an USB thumb drive to start from. Optionally get console output at boot from the serial interface (RTFM boot.config(5)).
  • Connect the HDD as external drive to your new system, and search the logs for any hints of hardware failure.
  • Some laptops have a hole at the bottom to reset the BIOS etc., you have to stick in a letter clip.
  • For your "new" laptop, make shure you get the password for the management engine (ME) from the previous owner! ("Press CTRL + P to enter Intel management console") Remember you can switch off AMT, but you can't switch off the ME...
Good luck!
 
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