As ThinkPads go, the A31 
is a big machine – but I really like it. It was only replaced because of the (well-known) video chip issues – BGA device comes unsoldered, joints unreliable and cause intermittent video problems. ThinkWiki covers this issue in some detail. I tried the aluminium foil mask and heat gun approach but it didn’t make a lot of difference. These days, I find that two or three power cycles, gently thumping the bottom of the A31 about where the CPU and graphics card are, and on occasions removing the battery, will get the machine to start up in correct video mode and stay there all day. Good motherboards for A31s are rare and pricey (even on eBay).
Tags: A31, ThinkPad, Video problem
