ok. what is going on here. I have a t42 that I typically use in my lap on the couch. It just started to randomly turn itself off, if I move it slightly. It will restart fine when it is on a table. after it is up and running if I pick up a corner of the laptop it will go to a black screen and will restart. Any ideas? It is 2 years old and I only purchased a 1 year warranty on it. what will it cost to send it in to be fixed?

Probably something wrong with the harddrive.. Try scanning it with the harddrives manufacterur's scanning program.

Having had a very similar issue with my T41, it is quite possibly your motherboard. Crack, cold joint, or similar problem. Without a warranty, it will be expensive (unless you can find a board on eBay and replace it yourself). ... JD Hurst

I have just had the same problem, but it rapidly deteriorated into the computer shutting down after a couple minutes and then rebooting. When it reboots it report an error caused by the ATI graphics driver.

One of of my colleagues has a similar t42 and i can use my hard drive in her machine, and mine has the same problem of shutting down and rebooting, so it must be hardware, i guess either the graphics controller or motherboard, i'll try and see the service technician tomorrow.

Thanks for the updates. I feel lucky that I backup up most of my important things on cd a couple of weeks ago.

if it is a driver issue I would think I could reinstall XP and it might fix it? But If I'm timed at lik 3 minutes before it happen I think I might never be able to reinstall windows ....

I developed a distinctly similar problem after accidentally leaving my laptop on and getting it up to 88C in a fitted neoprene case. At first it looked like a video issue, but it was actually more of the whole motherboard. You could attempt memory tests and it would fail flakely. Swapping DIMMs would sometimes help for 5 minutes more, then go wrong again. I would have to say with a pretty high confidence level that your system board is shot. Bummer on not getting the extended warranty. IBM charges relatively little for them and at least you know for the future that it might be a good idea to get one. Best of luck on resolving your problem on the cheap.

So far I'm about 1 hour into the reinstall of XP. No issues to report as of yet.

We wait to hear from you.

1. On a very, very old 7K hard drive, one quit on me (permanently) when I put the machine down. That was the big air-bag debacle, and is not likely the problem at this late date. In any event, there was no restart for that issue.

2. Otherwise, quit on moving the machine has not been a software problem in my experience, but rather a hardware problem.

Let us know in due course. ... JD Hurst

well here is an update:

The install went smooth. Didn't die went fine.

I then started to install things like norton, zonealarm and .... then it happen ... video was lost, but the hard disk kept on buzzing along ....

So I turned it off. I then yanked the hard disk and then plugged it back in and then started it up again. It was then fine for about 5 minutes. I could pick it up and shake it a bit no issues. So I started to install the XP updates .... then it happened again ..... blank screen but the hard drive kept on installing the updates.

So then I got a little crazy. I stripped it down so I could unplug the monitor ribbon and reinstalled it and put it back together. Now for the last 1.5 hours it has been (sitting still) downloading and installing the xp updates.

I'm guessing that I have fixed nothing.

Tomorrow I'm planning on discussing with my boss on them purchasing me a new laptop (unfortunately a Dell). And if I fail their the other boss (my wife) has told me to say merry christmas to me and buy a new laptop (I'm leaning towards a refurb dell to get their 3 year warranty).

I'll update again if things change....

Well I have completed more windows updates, installed a couple more programs (firefox) and ran the IBM thinkpad resource to look up driver updates. The first time it started to look for drive updates and screen went blank. The second time I installed a bunch of updates including one for the graphics card. No issues yet.

I have now tempted fate and have moved it to my lap and have move it around and it has not lost the monitor yet......

Well about 5 minutes after I typed the last post it started again. Sometimes it will kill the screen and reboot and the error report says that there is an issue with the video card drivers.

Also when I grab onto the upper right corner of the screen the it will blank out.

So I think I will be putting it on ebay soon.

Simple suggestion: I don't have my T42 handy but just check the lid closure switch.
Cheers

And check whether there is still a (faint!) image on the screen. It's indeed starting to look like a display problem ... and if that the case, it may be a relatively easy cure. And surely preferable to getting a Dell.

It could be just the display in which case you could try an external monitor.

By "restart" does the machine reboot or does it look more like a resumption of a machine put into standby/hibernation/sleep?
Cheers

The switch is good.


No faint image on the screen.


I've tried plugging in an external monitor and the same results occur. That is when the lcd turns off so does the external monitor.

The other times it completely restarts. And other time I can push the on button a couple of lights lite up and no noise and other times it gets to the starting windows screen and then it dies.

The error message is that there is an issue with the video driver.

There is a new driver that was available 15Nov2006 but I'm having issues using ATI install software. It asks me to install a VGA port (no clue what that means).

I'm going to give it a couple more tries and then it is a door stop.

I know it's supposed to be a laptop but these machines can't be designed to take a lot of flexing from a wobbly lap on a comfy couch. OK, I don't think this is just a simple case of wayward ATI drivers. It may be a contributing factor but it looks like there are hardware issues as well. Before you chuck it I'd try taking off all devices, leave one memory card (but reseat it first) and see if that helps. Check and reseat the harddisk as well. If that fails, you will need to strip the machine and reseat all internal connectors including CPU. If that fails, then only would I think about parting it out.

Ah yes, and in preparation for the new laptop I'd suggest you get braces for you lap, a firm table top attached to the lap and sit on a hard surface. There...that should fix it!

Cheers

Thanks for the input. I have taken most of it apart and put it back together but no luck.

here are the error messages I get when running the ATI catlysist software:

1. INF error video driver not found.

2. Try to setup your display adapter with a standard VGA driver before running setup.


and here is the error message from microsoft:

Error caused by ATI Graphics Driver: no specific solution found

Thank you for submitting an error report.

Problem description

An unknown error occurred in ATI Graphics Driver, created by ATI® Technologies, Inc.

Recommendations

ATI® Technologies, Inc is currently not aware of a specific solution for the problem that you reported. Below is a list of recommendations to take that may help prevent the problem from recurring.

1. Download and install an updated ATI Graphics Driver from one of the following locations:

Microsoft Update

ATI® Technologies, Inc
2. If an updated driver is not available, check with your computer manufacturer.
3. If you are running the latest version of ATI Graphics Driver, please contact ATI® Technologies, Inc for your support options.

Additional information

* If this problem continues to occur with the latest product updates for ATI Graphics Driver we highly recommend you obtain assistance and troubleshooting information directly from ATI® Technologies, Inc.
* If you are not familiar with ATI Graphics Driver and you are questioning how the program was installed on your computer, it is possible that the program was installed with another program. If you do not know why ATI Graphics Driver is running, many programs configure themselves to start automatically every time you turn on your computer.

does anyone have a pdf file of where the chips are on the mother board?

The chip is next to the CPU.

But, read and weep: ATI BSOD
Looks like you're not alone...

Cheers

Make sure your motherboard is all right. I just replaced my T42 motherboard 1 month ago. The problem just like you described above. I am sorry saying that but it may something happened on your motherboard.

bin.dong,

If you click on the "ATI BSOD" link in my post it will take you to a discussion of similar problems others have had. At the bottom of that set of posts there is a reference to a company that can apparently fix the issue with the graphics chip. It could be just a matter of resoldering those tiny feet??
Cheers

Thanks for the link.

I emailed the company looking for a quote.

Everything that it describes is exactly what is going on with mine (fine when cold, but once it warms up forgetaboutit).

Ok.

I contacted the company in the link and for 99 bucks they are going to do a 3 way shipment (they ship me the box). This will overnight the box to them and in 2-3days they will give me a cost estimate of what it is going to take to fix it. I'm hoping they can just solder the chip back in. When I know more I'll report back.

i (among a whole heap of people) am VERY interested in hearing what this company say about the problem and how they solve it!

The verdict is in!

They said it needs a new motherboard.

595 for the board +labor.

No thanks!

So it looks like I'll part it out here then.

I replaced a keyboard bezel for the T23 and I had the same issue - if you moved the laptop it would turn off and restart - I realised that I had replaced the keyboard bezel incorrectly and it was touching the power switch so any movement reset the switch - maybe you need to look at the power switch...

at present i don't even have the bezel on the laptop, and it still jams when tilting the display. from this form and the above linked on technotaste it (unfortunately) seems to be related to more serious problems.

this is definitely a crappy situation to end in! the thing that annoys me the most is that i bought an ibm from the believe that i wouldn't have to worry about issues like this!

thats depressing news

So should I part it out or sell it whole (here or ebay?). If someone has a used Mobo it could be an easy fix and then they could toss it up on ebay to resell it (it has a fresh install of XP pro and office on the hard disk).

heh, why dont you see if you can find a used mobo first yourself? youll probably loose a lot of $$ selling it in this condition. so unless you seriously need money, i would try to fix it myself first.