[HN Gopher] The Secret Thinkpad Powerbutton Code to Bring Dead L...
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       The Secret Thinkpad Powerbutton Code to Bring Dead Laptops Back to
       Life (2007)
        
       Author : WayToDoor
       Score  : 22 points
       Date   : 2021-04-25 12:35 UTC (10 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.masnick.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.masnick.com)
        
       | SoiGubz wrote:
       | That Thinkpad is probably still working today. Typing this from
       | my trusty old T420.
        
       | throwaway823882 wrote:
       | Sometimes these magical sequences are really just a set of hoops
       | you send your users through so they will actually do what you
       | want them to do (unplug machine for 60 seconds, plug back in).
       | Otherwise they'll half-ass it and miss the simple fix.
        
       | camgunz wrote:
       | Yeah I've had desktops with this problem. It's not a magical
       | sequence, you just connect the power circuit and let everything
       | drain.
        
       | drannex wrote:
       | Amazing that in the comments (last one dated 2015) that this was
       | still the case up to (and perhaps exceeding?) the t410s. That's a
       | fairly recent device and wouldn't surprise me if this secret
       | discharge incantation was still on the books in later models as
       | well.
       | 
       | Is this specific order a thinkpad related order, or is this just
       | a generalized discharge reset? I realize that its fairly common
       | to need to discharge, but is the order (10 presses here, hold for
       | X amount of seconds there) important?
        
       | thatguy0900 wrote:
       | I was under the impression that pressing the power button while
       | unplugged was to discharge any electricity left in capacitors, to
       | make sure everything was completely depowered
        
       | Garvey wrote:
       | Did a stint at Tech Guys (Part of DSG) and this was taught as
       | what's known as an ATX-Reset, basically clears out any left over
       | electrical charge iirc.
        
       | petemc_ wrote:
       | Sounds the same as what Dell call a flea power drain.
        
       | raylad wrote:
       | I had a similar issue with my Apple Watch.
       | 
       | One day the screen went black and stayed that way. Hard reset did
       | nothing. The screen didn't turn on when charging, but the watch
       | got warm. Apple tech support said it was a hardware problem and I
       | would need them to service the watch.
       | 
       | This is a 1st generation watch though, and their nearly $200
       | service fee seemed excessive. So I just let the watch sit around
       | for a week or so. Then I tried charging it again and it worked!
       | 
       | What must have happened was that it was either a really bad
       | software issue of some kind or an intermittent hardware issue
       | that prevented the watch from working or rebooting, but when the
       | power gave completely out and it was recharged, everything was
       | set back into a functioning state.
       | 
       | The watch has worked perfectly (or as well as it ever did) for
       | weeks now.
        
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       (page generated 2021-04-25 23:02 UTC)