Lenovo Thinkpad T61p Wont Start Up

Feb 4th, 2009

It seems about once a month, I try and turn on my work computer, a Lenovo Thinkpad T61p, and it won't start. I hit the power button and nada, zilch, nothing. No lights come on, it doesn't even attempt to boot up. Then I go through the ritual of resetting the transitor (I think that's what this does....):

  1. Take out the battery
  2. Hit the power button 10 times in a row
  3. On the 10th time, hold the power button down for 30 seconds
  4. Put the battery back in and start it up!

So if you find yourself with a T61p that won't start, try the above steps and let me know if they work.

Update:Looking at the comments, it seems a lot of people are having the same problem. The solution sounds ridiculous, but believe me, it works. When I called the help desk at the company I worked for, and they suggested the above solution, I figured they were playing a joke on me. In the past two years I have to do this about once a month.

Posted In: hardware

Commentary

Chris Carroll 2009-08-02 16:40:05

Wow! It worked! No idea what exactly this process does to the laptop, but it DOES work. Thanks!

S. Sekar 2009-12-09 19:32:33

Good Gravy, this process solved the issue. Thanks Robert, if you can enlighten us to how you learned of the ghost in the machine.

nicknovember 2010-02-25 08:12:23

OMG! yes this worked!!! mine is a ibm thinkpad r61i and the same problem u guys described mine was having. i did the trick on here and it works. beer4uguys!!!!!

zeejaydub 2010-04-14 06:27:28

I can't believe it, but this actually fixed the issue I had with my R61i Thinkpad. This is some premium computer voodoo that saved me a potentially costly trip to the computer repair shop. Thanks!

JeffM 2010-06-06 04:15:35

This was the stupidest sounding fix I've ever heard of. Kind of like turning in circles and chanting some incantation. But, since I was ready to drop it off at the local computer shop an pray I could get my files off, what the hell. Somehow, for some reason (that makes no sense) it worked. God bless the internet and this site. PS. I'm backing up all my files right now!!!!

Martin L 2010-12-01 16:09:36

I just had this happen to me for the first time on my 2 year old T61p (unable to power up, no lights, etc). Followed the 4 step procedure above and it miraculously came back to life. Makes no sense, but it works! Thanks!

ElleJ 2010-12-15 12:41:29

Wow! It worked! Merci tons!!!!! We were laughing when we were following your instructions until the computer started up and made believers out of us!

NK 2010-12-16 01:23:44

Wow! This is amazing - I can't believe it worked. I had pretty much given up. Thanks!

Bart 2011-02-05 16:36:42

Thank you for this!!!! you're my hero.

Champpilot 2011-02-07 23:09:43

As I'm following the directions, I'm thinking someone is having a good laugh at my expense. Amazingly, it worked!!! Thank you.

Anonymous 2011-03-25 18:59:28

Worked for my r500 too. Thanks!

JE 2011-04-03 01:48:01

Thank you! Thank you! Happened upon this advice as result of a google search. Laughed the whole time I was doing but it worked like a charm!

GratefulDad 2011-04-28 02:18:34

Wonderful! Weird, yes, but wonderful all the same...thanks!

Anonymous 2011-04-28 20:26:00

Hi. I have the same problem with my 3.5 year old T61p. I have no lights and no beeps. I have swapped batteries and power cords. I have tried various versions of ESD multiple times. Are there any other techniques? Is there a place I can attach a ground wire to be sure the transitor is reset?

Ben 2011-05-16 18:57:16

Wow, that actually worked...

Aatish 2011-06-01 18:45:57

Can't remove the battery in my Thinkpad, but just hitting the power button repeatedly managed to fix it! Thanks!

Anonymous 2011-06-21 15:48:44

It really works thanks!!

selena 2011-08-16 12:55:43

help! i tried this and it didnt work. i dont understand as i have never had problems with my t61. I have had it less than a year. No lights come on and nothing happens with ac and or the battery. any advice?

Tim 2011-08-24 12:35:45

you have got to be kidding me. Had I not seen so many replies, I would not have tried this. IT WORKED!!! Thank you!!!!

Anonymous 2011-08-29 12:42:39

Worked for me as well. Thanks

matt j 2011-08-30 21:22:16

Yes, It just worked for me too, this laptop says its a lenovo SL500. Many Thanks!

Anonymous 2011-09-02 02:05:54

you are amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! you just saved me so much heartache

nrl0929 2011-11-08 13:06:42

Reading all the comments gave me so much hope until I tried it.. AND IT DOESN'T WORK. Faaaaaantastic.

Anonymous 2011-11-18 20:55:27

This works, saved my day.

Anonymous 2011-12-07 23:35:07

Ok , I need to admit I was skeptical. But found a similar fix referenced on another site, so figured it was legit. Would love to understand reasons behind this

Anonymous 2011-12-08 04:31:30

that is so crazy, but it hey it works...i was panicking for the last hour figuring what to do!

Anonymous 2011-12-10 03:59:45

This worked for a Lenovo Thinkpad W500 that I thought had bricked! Thank you so much!

Anonymous 2012-02-03 20:18:33

I eas woundering if any of you that experienced this problem had it start after a Thinkadvantage program update. This startup problem is happening to my R61i after I returned my hard drive to factory and updated the Thinkadvantage programs.

Anonymous 2012-02-17 14:54:56

GOOD JOB!! this is what lenovo support told ,me