u/BoringPea4706

So, I’m hoping someone here can help me out with a bit of a "dumpster dive" mystery. I recently salvaged a ThinkPad that I found sitting in a bin, and while the exterior looks surprisingly decent, I can’t get it to show any signs of life. I’ve tried the basics—plugging it into a known working charger and holding down the power button—but there are no status lights, fan whirring, or keyboard backlighting appearing at all. I’m wondering if these models have a specific "emergency reset" hole on the bottom or if it’s more likely a dead CMOS battery or a fried motherboard given where it ended up. Has anyone else rescued a dead unit like this, and are there any specific internal components I should check first before I call it a lost cause?