The Secret Thinkpad Powerbutton Code To Bring Dead Laptops Back To Life
Two months ago, I got a new laptop. It’s a Lenovo Thinkpad z61t. I actually ordered a t61, but I accidentally got the z61 instead — and, I actually really like it. It’s quite similar to the t61, but a little smaller and lighter. I was worried that the smaller part would be a problem, but I’ve gotten used to it. I really like the fact that it’s much lighter than my old t42. It just makes it seem so much more usable on the go. Lugging out the t42 was always a chore.
Anyway, I was at the Office 2.0 conference today, where I was giving a little presentation on the Techdirt Insight Community, and about an hour before the presentation, I went to find a quiet place to practice the presentation… and discovered that my brand new laptop wouldn’t work. I knew something was wrong when the “sleep” light wasn’t lit. I started to get worried when I plugged in the laptop and the battery light didn’t light up. Then I noticed that even though the machine had been asleep, it was really really hot. Pushing the power button did nothing. No lights were on and nothing seemed to get them to turn on. I pulled out the battery and put it back in and that did nothing as well.
So I called up IBM support and explained the situation. The guy on the other end then let me in on the secret power button code to revive your dead Thinkpad. After assessing the situation (totally dead laptop) he warned me: “Okay, this is going to sound totally bizarre, but I want you to give this a try…” He then had me unplug the AC adapter and take out the battery. Then, you push the power button 10 times in a row at one second intervals. Next, you push and hold the power button for 30 seconds. Then you put the battery back in and push the power button… and she lives. The computer came back, good as ever.
I asked the guy what the power button pushing incantation did and he said “static discharge” so apparently there was some sort of static that caused a short or something. I tried to get the guy to explain in more detail what happened, but he said “dude, you know as much as I do… but your machine is working.”
And so it is.
So, if you happen to have a Thinkpad that suddenly drops completely dead for no reason, try the power button trick.
Forget up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A. This little code is now the coolest “cheat” code I know…
27 Comments
Rubber Chicken Tech Support at Churbuck.com on January 29th, 2008
[...] This morning I idly Googled “dead ThinkPad” and found one of the wackiest solutions ever seen proposed for reviving the dead. This was on Masnick.com “So I called up IBM support and explained the situation. The guy on the other end then let me in on the secret power button code to revive your dead Thinkpad. After assessing the situation (totally dead laptop) he warned me: “Okay, this is going to sound totally bizarre, but I want you to give this a try…” He then had me unplug the AC adapter and take out the battery. Then, you push the power button 10 times in a row at one second intervals. Next, you push and hold the power button for 30 seconds. Then you put the battery back in and push the power button… and she lives. The computer came back, good as ever.” [...]
armani on April 29th, 2008
That rocked, dude! I had almost lost hope. My laptop was plugged in and working. I put it in sleep mode. 30 minutes later it was dead as could be. I figured the power unit was blown and the battery had completely discharged. I tried the magic incantaction above and presto! Thanks.
Jhot on May 11th, 2008
googled dead thinpad. lead me here, and by golly, it worke. thx a million. Leaving on holiday for 4 weeks tomorrow, and need my lap with me.
Jim on May 23rd, 2008
No way! I can’t believed it worked. I thought this was a goof but it actually worked! Yesterday my x41 just went dead, no sign of life what so ever. I did this and it lives. Thanks.
gaby on July 8th, 2008
This happened to my laptop [not thinkpad] after a 2 week holiday. Thanks to this tip, my laptop is fully restored. A big thank you, saved me time and money
gmace on January 12th, 2009
My almost new T61 went dead for no apparent reason. I just spent the last several evenings getting it loaded up. Figured great! Have to send it back and start all over.
This tip worked and so far so good… it seems fine. Thanks for posting this!!
viji on February 3rd, 2009
yep! it worked for me too!! mine was a T60. i was carrying it from one room to the other without hibernating when it died on me.
David Martinez on February 16th, 2009
OMG, totally worked. My laptop just came back from lots of servicing at Lenovo (replaced HD, 1 piece of ram, and part or all of the video card). Spend the week loading it with all my fav programs and one morning it just would not charge or take on any LED lights with the power cord in.
…but SHE LIVES AGAIN! thanks mate!
catgrrl on April 11th, 2009
WOW! My T41 suddenly went completely dead today when I plugged in a new set of headphones. Completely dead, no battery light or anything. So I Googled “dead thinkpad” and found this page. I tried this and it WORKED! Thank you so much!
Wendy
adams888 on June 24th, 2009
The button pushing solution did not work for my T60p with this exact problem. It sounds implausible that it would work, but if all the posts are true, I guess it does for some people. In my case, what resolved the problem was simply removing the battery, diconnecting the power cord, and unseating and reseating the RAM memory. Once I plugged it back in it was as good as new.
Ian on July 10th, 2009
This has brought my x200 tablet back to life after trying just about everything else. Thank you! It really does work.
neotel on August 9th, 2009
It sounds really crazy, but this worked for me also!
Great work thanks a lot.
I have a t61 by the way.
jana on September 9th, 2009
Brilliant! My IBM t43 laptop just died, and I found this suggestion. Amazingly… it worked! Thanks a lot!
JJ on November 16th, 2009
This is NOT working for me… why oh why… anyone else have this fail and find another solution?
brainstorm003 on November 24th, 2009
Amazing, it worked for me. Thanks to your “state of art high tech secrete code”, my think pad is back to life. Thanks.
Believer on December 1st, 2009
Well, shiver my timbers, it worked! My faith in the internets has been renewed!
Amazed Tech on December 3rd, 2009
I cannot believe this worked
Great tip
sent to all my workmates as well
yul on December 7th, 2009
Whoaa!!!!! It worked. Saved my life. Thanks!
Andrew on December 16th, 2009
My t21 went dead on me. I had a deadline to meet. I tried everything i could think of. I went to sleep. When i woke up, it was still dead. I turned to google and stumbled on this weird solution. I was skeptical. So i read all the testimonials first. I then tried it and….It worked! Thanks for sharing.
Don on December 18th, 2009
Thank You Mike
Chris on January 3rd, 2010
Wow, this totally worked. I am so thankful!! I have so much on there that I could not afford to lose.
Thanks!!! :)
Eric on January 20th, 2010
My wife’s Lenovo T400 came back to life and I am a hero. Can’t believe it. Thank you so much for this great trick, Mike. Still works after all these years!
chewygood on February 16th, 2010
T42p dead and all of a sudden too! Tried this but no luck. Wonder, mine is all apart save for mobo, keybrd, basic necessities for it to at least power up. What dif would it make to put the wireles module, pcmcia, memory, heatsink/fan, HDD, cdrom unit all back in for this nutty tip to take off and work ? Again, I tired asis, no go!
oldbeechnut on February 21st, 2010
Grandkids spilled milk on the t43, totally dead..5 hours later tried reset, got flicker of dash lite. {one} 10 hours later, got all lites for 2 seconds…going for 24 hours…will let you know..Joe
oldbeechnut on February 22nd, 2010
Amazing it has worked! It has been 30 hours ago that the Grandson spilled milk on the laptops keyboard. It was totally dead but by pulling the battery, tilting the t43 to allow drainage of the milk, {which was about 2 ounces} Letting it dry out under a 60 watt lamp about 7 inchs from the keyboard, then doing mikes powerbutton code reset it has came back from the dead…with no data loss…I’m still in shock! Amazing, thanks Mike for sharing this great tip…..Joe/Obn
Alyosha on March 11th, 2010
Wow, first shot out of the box! I googled “dead thinkpad R61″ and got your blog. I thought my R61 had screwed the pooch, until I followed your revival steps.
Worked like a charm!!!
Thanks a million!
Za
David Churbuck on January 29th, 2008
worked for me and I work for Lenovo! Thanks