IBM Thinkpad Woes

[FourScience]

Hey all,
I have had a IBM Thinkpad T20 since July 2000, and it has been great. Sometime earlier this year, it finally stopped booting however. I wonder if anyone might have any ideas on what I can do to salvage this awesome laptop, the support site says that my error means either a problem with the DIMM or the system board.

IBM Thinkpad T20 specs: P3 700MHz, 14.1" TFT, PC100 SODIMMs. Tested 3 DIMMs (probably not the problem), tested without hd as well. I have the following verbose boot up and then it hangs:

CPU = Intel® Mobile Pentium® III processor  700 MHz
640K System RAM Passed
255M Extended RAM Passed
System BIOS shadowed
UMB upper limit segment address: E348

If I try entering BIOS or selecting a temporary boot device, it says that it is starting either option, but never goes anywhere.

I have wondered if maybe it's a dead CMOS battery... Before I couldn't boot at all, my BIOS made me re-input the system time, a couple boots previously. Next thing I know, no boot at all. I hope that's it... I'm reading the hardware repair manual.

Any ideas, thoughts?

These Thinkpads are the best machines... within the next year I'll probably by another T-series but I'd like this one to last a little longer.

[FourScience]

Also, off a DELL support page...

UMB Upper limit segment address: nnnn -> Displays the address nnnn of the upper limit of the UMB, indicating released segments of the BIOS which may be reclaimed by a virtual memory manager

Maybe this will give someone an idea...

In considering this, I wonder if maybe my CMOS battery died (without an explicit error, I add, but I never booted verbose until today), and then the ROM holding BIOS info died with it.

I also have a Compaq Presario 1700 I can cannibalize if necessary, as well as Toshiba Satellite whose hd failed (which I might just throw my IBM hd into).

[sK_Cookie]

Change your cmos battery and leave your laptop battery out of it when you boot it up. What may be the problem from what I have seen in the past is that when the laptop battery gets to low to hold a charge anymore, it drains too much power from the system and similar responses of system hangs and general failures occur.  Give those two a shot and hope that the MB didn't go to crap.

[FourScience]

Change your cmos battery and leave your laptop battery out of it when you boot it up. What may be the problem from what I have seen in the past is that when the laptop battery gets to low to hold a charge anymore, it drains too much power from the system and similar responses of system hangs and general failures occur.  Give those two a shot and hope that the MB didn't go to crap.

Oooo.... Good thought on the battery. This battery has been very dead... back in 2001-2002 I used it as a desktop and I didn't take care to discharge/recharge the battery.
Thanks a lot, will try.

[sK_Cookie]

did that work for you.

[FourScience]

Wish I could say it has. I don't have a CMOS battery replacement yet (no time to search and buy one). Thanks for checking up.