Laptop fails to boot.

Question

Ok now this doesn't happen all the time but it's getting to be more and more frequent that my IBM thinkpad t21 just fails to boot. heres what I can read on the screen:
TCP reno registered
checking if image is initramfs... it is
Freeing initrd memory: 1441k freed
Simple Boot Flag at 0x35 set to 0x1
IBM machine detected. Enabling interrupts during APM calls.
apm: BIOS version 1.2 Flags 0x03 (Driver version 1.16ac)
apm: overridden by ACPI.
VFS: Disk quotas dquot_6.5.1
Dquot-cache hash table entries: 1024 (order 0, 4096 bytes)
Installing knfsd (copyright (C) 1996 [email protected]).
io scheduler noop registered
io scheduler anticipatory registered
io scheduler deadline registered
io scheduler cfq registered (default)
Limiting direct PCI/PCI transfers.
isapnp: Scanning for PnP cards...
Switched to high resolution mode on CPU 0
isapnp: No Plug & Play device found
Serial: 8250/16550 driver $Revision: 1.90 $ 4 ports, IRQ sharing disabled
serial8250: ttyS1 at I/O 0x2f8 (irq = 3) is a 16550A
ACPI: PCI Interupt Link [LNKC] enabled at IRQ 11
ACPI: PCI Interupt 0000:00:03.1[A] -> Link [LNKC] -> GSI 11 (level, low) -> IRQ 11
Does this mean anything to any of you?
Anyone know how to get this hunk of junk working again?

Answer 1

Sorry to resurrect this old thread, but after searching the forums, I find that this problem is almost identical to the issue I am facing.  I have a T22 Thinkpad, on which I was hoping to install Archlinux.  After reading the many positive reviews and exploring the wealth of documentation available, I was really looking forward to the Arch experience and education.  It seems like a good match for this Laptop and a chance for me to expand away from the "point-and-click" distros that I have been using.
However, I find that I am having difficulty much sooner than I expected.  The install CD stops booting  at the same point every time, just as indicated in the first message of this thread.  I have tried all manner of boot parameter codes as listed in the "Beginners Guide" without success.  I have even attempted to modify IRQ assignments in the BIOS, and still no luck.   
This problem seems to be prevalent among the IBM T2x series of Thinkpads, and it effects are not limited to Archlinux installation problems.  Of the many Distros that I have tried, many will abort at this exact point in the CD boot process.  Others will complete the install without issue.  For example:
PClinuxOS 2007 (a 'known good' CD used to install on several machines) will not boot on the T22.  It fails just as listed above.  PCFluxboxOS (a minimalistic derivative of PClinuxOS) will consistently boot from the CD without problems.
If nothing else,this at least is indicative that there is a solution to this issue.  I'm just not knowledgeable enough to sort it out. 
Any suggestions would be much appreciated.