VOGONS


First post, by Tyrant

User metadata
Rank Newbie
Rank
Newbie

Hi guys,

I've just been given an IBM 340 Thinkpad to play around with and I can't get anything on the screen working. I have the original adapter but no battery and the guy that gave it to me said he never had one but he could be wrong. If I plug it in and turn it on I can hear what sounds like a fan spinning and the only instrument light that stays lit is the very last one on the right that looks like a circle with a sidewards "z" inside of it.

Any help diagnosing please. Do I need the battery? I watched this video and his has a memory card that I don't, do I need one of those?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GVUmRbDWEg&a … =RetroSteamTech

Reply 1 of 7, by Bondi

User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie

Yout don't need a battery to run your laptop. The spinning sound you hear is most probably the HDD, not a fan. I don't think there is a fan in a 486 SLC 50 thinkpad.
Did you try to insert a boot diskette? Does it try ro read/boot?
The screen remains black, right? It can be a failed backlight or inverter. To check if it's the case you can use a flashlight to see if there is any image/characters on the screen. You may need to find the right angle to see anything. If there is no image then it could be bad cable. Further diagnostics will require an external display.

Edit. There is 4 Mb of memory preinstalled, so it should work without additional memory card.

PCMCIA Sound Cards chart
archive.org: PCMCIA software, manuals, drivers

Reply 2 of 7, by Tyrant

User metadata
Rank Newbie
Rank
Newbie
Bondi wrote on 2021-09-28, 09:03:
Yout don't need a battery to run your laptop. The spinning sound you hear is most probably the HDD, not a fan. I don't think the […]
Show full quote

Yout don't need a battery to run your laptop. The spinning sound you hear is most probably the HDD, not a fan. I don't think there is a fan in a 486 SLC 50 thinkpad.
Did you try to insert a boot diskette? Does it try ro read/boot?
The screen remains black, right? It can be a failed backlight or inverter. To check if it's the case you can use a flashlight to see if there is any image/characters on the screen. You may need to find the right angle to see anything. If there is no image then it could be bad cable. Further diagnostics will require an external display.

Edit. There is 4 Mb of memory preinstalled, so it should work without additional memory card.

I can't see anything with a flashlight and I tried plugging my Acer AL1711 into it via the VGA cable and it didn't pick anything up. I might try making a boot disc and inserting the floppy. Although do you think without a floppy I should see something at least on the screen?

Reply 3 of 7, by Bondi

User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie
Tyrant wrote on 2021-09-28, 09:15:
Bondi wrote on 2021-09-28, 09:03:
Yout don't need a battery to run your laptop. The spinning sound you hear is most probably the HDD, not a fan. I don't think the […]
Show full quote

Yout don't need a battery to run your laptop. The spinning sound you hear is most probably the HDD, not a fan. I don't think there is a fan in a 486 SLC 50 thinkpad.
Did you try to insert a boot diskette? Does it try ro read/boot?
The screen remains black, right? It can be a failed backlight or inverter. To check if it's the case you can use a flashlight to see if there is any image/characters on the screen. You may need to find the right angle to see anything. If there is no image then it could be bad cable. Further diagnostics will require an external display.

Edit. There is 4 Mb of memory preinstalled, so it should work without additional memory card.

I can't see anything with a flashlight and I tried plugging my Acer AL1711 into it via the VGA cable and it didn't pick anything up. I might try making a boot disc and inserting the floppy. Although do you think without a floppy I should see something at least on the screen?

Yes, there should be something. Usually if a thinkpad finds nothing to boot from it displays something like this.

The attachment 6iz1d7x0u9h31.jpg is no longer available

You may need to enable external VGA output by pressing some key combination.
Here is the manual for it for more details http://download.lenovo.com/ibmdl/pub/pc/pccbb … iles/tpvol2.pdf

PCMCIA Sound Cards chart
archive.org: PCMCIA software, manuals, drivers

Reply 4 of 7, by Tyrant

User metadata
Rank Newbie
Rank
Newbie
Bondi wrote on 2021-09-28, 09:23:
Yes, there should be something. Usually if a thinkpad finds nothing to boot from it displays something like this. 6iz1d7x0u9h3 […]
Show full quote
Tyrant wrote on 2021-09-28, 09:15:
Bondi wrote on 2021-09-28, 09:03:
Yout don't need a battery to run your laptop. The spinning sound you hear is most probably the HDD, not a fan. I don't think the […]
Show full quote

Yout don't need a battery to run your laptop. The spinning sound you hear is most probably the HDD, not a fan. I don't think there is a fan in a 486 SLC 50 thinkpad.
Did you try to insert a boot diskette? Does it try ro read/boot?
The screen remains black, right? It can be a failed backlight or inverter. To check if it's the case you can use a flashlight to see if there is any image/characters on the screen. You may need to find the right angle to see anything. If there is no image then it could be bad cable. Further diagnostics will require an external display.

Edit. There is 4 Mb of memory preinstalled, so it should work without additional memory card.

I can't see anything with a flashlight and I tried plugging my Acer AL1711 into it via the VGA cable and it didn't pick anything up. I might try making a boot disc and inserting the floppy. Although do you think without a floppy I should see something at least on the screen?

Yes, there should be something. Usually if a thinkpad finds nothing to boot from it displays something like this.
6iz1d7x0u9h31.jpg

You may need to enable external VGA output by pressing some key combination.
Here is the manual for it for more details http://download.lenovo.com/ibmdl/pub/pc/pccbb … iles/tpvol2.pdf

I can't seem to find any info on there about enabling the VGA port, I did inspect the ribbon and it seems to be ok.

Reply 5 of 7, by Bondi

User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie
Tyrant wrote on 2021-09-28, 10:00:
Bondi wrote on 2021-09-28, 09:23:
Yes, there should be something. Usually if a thinkpad finds nothing to boot from it displays something like this. 6iz1d7x0u9h3 […]
Show full quote
Tyrant wrote on 2021-09-28, 09:15:

I can't see anything with a flashlight and I tried plugging my Acer AL1711 into it via the VGA cable and it didn't pick anything up. I might try making a boot disc and inserting the floppy. Although do you think without a floppy I should see something at least on the screen?

Yes, there should be something. Usually if a thinkpad finds nothing to boot from it displays something like this.
6iz1d7x0u9h31.jpg

You may need to enable external VGA output by pressing some key combination.
Here is the manual for it for more details http://download.lenovo.com/ibmdl/pub/pc/pccbb … iles/tpvol2.pdf

I can't seem to find any info on there about enabling the VGA port, I did inspect the ribbon and it seems to be ok.

It's Fn+F7
See page 47(57)

PCMCIA Sound Cards chart
archive.org: PCMCIA software, manuals, drivers

Reply 6 of 7, by Tyrant

User metadata
Rank Newbie
Rank
Newbie
Bondi wrote on 2021-09-28, 10:15:
Tyrant wrote on 2021-09-28, 10:00:
Bondi wrote on 2021-09-28, 09:23:
Yes, there should be something. Usually if a thinkpad finds nothing to boot from it displays something like this. 6iz1d7x0u9h3 […]
Show full quote

Yes, there should be something. Usually if a thinkpad finds nothing to boot from it displays something like this.
6iz1d7x0u9h31.jpg

You may need to enable external VGA output by pressing some key combination.
Here is the manual for it for more details http://download.lenovo.com/ibmdl/pub/pc/pccbb … iles/tpvol2.pdf

I can't seem to find any info on there about enabling the VGA port, I did inspect the ribbon and it seems to be ok.

It's Fn+F7
See page 47(57)

I had a hunch that was it by the symbol on the keyboard, I tried that and it wasn't working

Reply 7 of 7, by Bondi

User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie
Tyrant wrote on 2021-09-28, 10:23:
Bondi wrote on 2021-09-28, 10:15:
Tyrant wrote on 2021-09-28, 10:00:

I can't seem to find any info on there about enabling the VGA port, I did inspect the ribbon and it seems to be ok.

It's Fn+F7
See page 47(57)

I had a hunch that was it by the symbol on the keyboard, I tried that and it wasn't working

Then it's probably bad mobo or video chip...

PCMCIA Sound Cards chart
archive.org: PCMCIA software, manuals, drivers