Simple problem? Pls help: Thinkpad T410 boot error

[alkemisten4]

Dear fellow tech helpers ...
I have a Lenovo Thinkpad T410 which I left outdoors after a drunken BBQ... No rain but likely some humidity. This was 5 days ago. After that, the laptop doesn't start up properly.

What happened?
- No boot screen, no BIOS startup; The power button and battery light were lit, but nothing happened upon pressing the power button.

I tried removing:
- Battery, only running on DC-power
- HDD
- RAM x2
- DVD-drive
Also tried doing the reset suggested on various sites to discharge (or whatever) the power; To press the power button 10 times followed by pressing it for 30 sec... Same story...

What Does produce a response (actual startup with fan and BIOS) is to simply disconnect and re-connect the CMOS-battery. After doing this, I finally got an error message x2 followed by the BIOS setup.
I downloaded the service manual to look up the Error messages:
http://download.lenovo.com/ibmdl/pub/pc/pccbbs/mobiles_...

First one is:
0271
Date and time error—Neither the date nor the time is set
in the computer.
[SOLUTION]: Run BIOS Setup Utility to reset the time and date.

Second one:
0251
System CMOS checksum bad— Default configuration
used.
[SOLUTIONs]: 1. Charge the backup battery for more than 8 hours
by connecting the ac adapter.
2. Replace the backup battery and run BIOS Setup
Utility to reset the time and date.

OK, so the easy first thing now would be to simply reset the time and try that first, in the BIOS. However, nothing happens when I try going up and down between the options with the keyboard? I tried pressing many keys simultaneously, and I do get the familiar beep when you press a lot of keys randomly, so the keyboard is working fine (I believe).

Regards,
Dennis

 

[tsnor]

Suggest open the laptop. Dry it with hairdryer on air fluff. Something wet had to get into laptop to generate the symptoms you are seeing (or there are bugs inside. Suggest taking keyboard out following service manual steps as first approach or see videos on youtube..

 

[alkemisten4]

Suggest open the laptop. Dry it with hairdryer on air fluff. Something wet had to get into laptop to generate the symptoms you are seeing (or there are bugs inside. Suggest taking keyboard out following service manual steps as first approach or see videos on youtube..

Hi mate, thanks for your reply.
I would never use a hairdryer to dry it out, ive already used canned air however on the most crucial parts.
I have already opened up the laptop as you can see, including the keyboard (you have to detach the keyboard to get access to the CMOS and RAM etc.)... I don't know what bugs you are talking about? As in actual animals... haha?

More answers welcome please, or else I guess I'll have to get a new CMOS as per service manual

Regards,
Dennis

 

[alkemisten4]

UPDATE:
I can see the keyboard is somehow "locked" on to constantly pressing the [Fn]-button, meaning that this is the reason I can't move up and down in the BIOS. I noticed this because I could inrease and decrease the screen brightness and activate the keyboard light, which is done thro pressing this key...
So I tried cleaning the cable and contact for the keyboard, removing the keys CTRL and Fn... Still same thing.
I can verify that the fan is working though and CPU as well.

I think I might have to resort to buying a new CMOS?.....?

 

[tsnor]

I was thinking there was something physically wrong with laptop after the overnigher, not that bios had gotten messed up. Maybe reseat the cable for the keyboard? check for stuck keys?

 

[alkemisten4]

I was thinking there was something physically wrong with laptop after the overnigher, not that bios had gotten messed up. Maybe reseat the cable for the keyboard? check for stuck keys?

tsnor,
Thanks but I don't think the BIOS is messed up: as per the initial post and the manual for the laptop, the error should be solved either by resetting the date/time in BIOS or else replace the internal battery AKA the CMOS battery.

As you can read as well, I have already tried detaching the keyboard, the cable and stuck keys, I just wrote that in the last post.

Thanks a lot for your input though.
In the end, it might be a hardware error which is more serious, but I highly doubt it, considering the symptoms