Top 10 IBM ThinkPad T41 Notebook Questions & Answers

I'm sure you could get these hinges from IBM, but no idea as to their cost. They are available on e-bay for $8-$35 (depending on whether you want 1 or a set) plus $8-$10 shipping.

As far as replacement. You will have to remove the Top cover assembly from the base of the PC. If you need help with that, just let me know and I'll talk you through that.

To replace the hinge, you will have to disassemble the Top cover assembly.The screws that you will need to remove are covered by small black adhesive covers. There are 3 round ones along the bottom of the bezel, 2 square ones up at the top of the bezel (to the left of the white LED keyboard light, and 6 (trapezoidal shaped) on the outside of the cover (3 on each side). Carefully remove those covers and the screws that are under the covers. Keep track of where the screws should go back in.

The actual bezel is held into the top cover with some internal snaps. Start at one of the corners, run a knife blade along the seam (between the cover and bezel) and you will hear each fastener "snap" as you slide the blade past it. Once the bezel is loose, lift it off of the LDC screen. There is one additional screw that is located up in the upper right hand corner. That one will need to be removed, also.

Gently lift the right hand side of the LCD assembly a couple of inches and place something of appropriate size to hold it in the raised position. You will see 2 additional screws that hold the hinge to the LCD assemble. Remove those and the old hinge will come right off.

Position the new hinge and replace the two screws that you had just removed. Reverse the removal sequence to reassemble the display.

Before you start snapping the bezel back into place, check to make sure that the two cover catches (those hook things, up at the top of the LCD assembly) are both operational. The link going to the left hand one tends to easily fall off.

This procedure should take in the neighborhood of 45 minutes to an hour.

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Thanks you, and have a super day!
Ron-

It's a common problem with flex of the unit causing the video chip to coming un-soldered from the motherboard. It's possible to repair but very difficult requiring luck and specialist equipment.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070710050433AAgGOTJ

Good afternoon!
From what you've described, I'd suspect that the video chip is starting to separate from the mother board. This is not an uncommon happening with the T41s. In fact, I have personally had it happen to me. So much for the sad story, but what do we do about it?

First, we do some diagnostics to verify that this is the problem. The next time this happens, try pressing down on the following location of the keyboard area. Place two fingers of your left hand on the keyboard cover, just below the left end of the space bar and and to the left of the red and blue mouse buttons. Firmly press down and see if it will start working again. If that doesn't work, try placing the thumb of your left hand in the area that you placed your fingers. With the fingers of your left hand, reach around and firmly lift the lower left hand corner of the laptop a little bit (maybe 1/8 to 1/4 inch). This will flex the motherboard and can cause the video chip to properly contact the motherboard.

If this works, you have pretty much verified that this is the problem. Also, if this seems to work, get back to me for a possible short term fix and what needs to be done to fix it permanently.

One other word of advice, if you haven't done it yet. Back up everything that you need to save, just in case.

Will be waiting to hear from you and have yourself a super day!
Ron-

There's a possiblility that you can still recover your files. Try to plug your hard drive to a different PC and check if it detects it. Otherwise, there's no hope but to buy a new hard drive.

Push down on the center of your computer and restart it

If I recall there are two types of wireless cards that are installed in the T40 series of laptops. Can't advise you which one is installed in your laptop. Download both of them and install one, it it doesn't work then install the other one.

Go to the IBM/Lenovo WEB site - support/download page and download the latest Windows XP or Vista device drivers for your model laptop,
You need to use a computer that has Internet access to download and transfer the files to your computer.

http://www.ibm.com/products/finder/us/finders?pg=ddfinder&cm_re=other-_-suprcn-_-download

Once you get the wireless card operation, you need a wireless router that is connected to a cable or DSL modem which is connected to an Internet Service Provider.
You don't need a wireless router if you only want to connect to the Internet using wireless Hot Spots in public locations or Internet cafes.

I don't have a solution to this problem but I know what the issue is because I have bought several of these unit and they all have one of two problems. 1 If they have the ATI X300 Radeon video then it is a GPU issue that has plague the T4x series and I believe it migrated into the T60 as well this is a very disturbing issue in the sense that IBM/Lenovo has known about this problem and won't take ownership and have a recall. The cost of these machine's are unbelievable when new and to have a problem like this it is unacceptable. The other issue is the Southbridge and it has the same problem as the GPU, which is a solder problem. The solder joints between the board and the BGA become cracked and cause intermittent issues such as freezing, HDD not to spin ETC practically everything runs through the Southbridge (PCI controller) even video control signals and USB. The cause is flexing of the motherboard over time Solution 1. Find a place that does this type of rework there are some companies offering this service but do your homework before hand I am in the process of getting one of these boards done but the cost is not cheap. I think it is cheaper then getting a new motherboard Solution 2 Get a new motherboard $400.00 and after three or four years have the same problem. I hope this helps. Dee

Go into Windows find language options and ensure the keyboard language is set to your country.

It is difficult to remove the Power On and BIOS password because the passwords are stored on an EEPROM chip.
For instructions on how to remove these passwords go to this link.
My Thinkpad - remove Power on Password
http://www.fixya.com/support/r4335050-remove_bios_power_password_thinkpad

Take a look at this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANZjUPUYE7s