T42p/43 cutting out during use

[ichhabegedroppen]

Hi there,

I was wondering if anyone had any knowledge on what could be the cause of my T42p badged, T43 motherboard, Thinkpad, cutting out.

I have a lot of T4x series Thinkpad and i have never had one that cuts out like this. It runs fine for maybe an hour or 2, then just turns off as if you held the power button down while using it. Its done this twice now with AC adapter plugged in and an extended battery installed.

any thoughts would be much appreciated, and as a side note, does anyone know quite whats up with the T42p shipping with a T43 motherboard? The motherboard model is actually called "Thinkpad T42p (Thinkpad T43)".

[RealBlackStuff]

It could be overheating. Try and refresh the thermal paste between CPU and cooler.

If you open the RAM door on the bottom, and remove the RAM (if there) you will find the motherboard P/N or FRU.
What is it?
You could have a T43 with the lid (or just the LCD-bezel) from a T42p.

[GomJabbar]

I agree. Sounds like overheating. Might need to replace the fan.

[ajkula66]

I've seen a T43p that behaved in a similar manner. We've changed *everything* (CPU, fan, RAM, cards, HDD, DVD...) and it was still doing the shutdown on its own only when it felt like it. In plain English, it was erratic and completely unpredictable.

To this day I'm not certain what the problem was. We swapped the board and the machine was fine ever since. My guess - both then and now - was a defective thermal sensor.

Good luck.

[ichhabegedroppen]

It could be overheating. Try and refresh the thermal paste between CPU and cooler.

If you open the RAM door on the bottom, and remove the RAM (if there) you will find the motherboard P/N or FRU.
What is it?
You could have a T43 with the lid (or just the LCD-bezel) from a T42p.

Hi there, thanks for the reply, the P/N of the motherboard is 39T04479 and that is a T43 motherboard. so i'm guessing it was swapped at somepoint in its life. I will replace the thermal paste when i take it apart to look for loose objects that could be causing a short. (i worked on a T40 that had a paper clip shorting out the docking connector, making it impossible to start.)

[ichhabegedroppen]

I agree. Sounds like overheating. Might need to replace the fan.

The fan sounds strong but doesn't do the usual rev up to the redline on startup like all my other T4xs do. i might try swapping a fan from my T40 to see if that has any effect on the problem. Thanks for the help.

[ichhabegedroppen]

To this day I'm not certain what the problem was. We swapped the board and the machine was fine ever since. My guess - both then and now - was a defective thermal sensor.

Good luck.

Hi there, i will swap the fan out as suggested above, and monitor THM0, THM1 while i run diagnostics on loop. Is your thought that the sensor is reporting a much too high temperature all of a sudden and the computer performs an emergency shutdown?

Thanks for the reply,

[RealBlackStuff]

Do NOT replace the fan with one from a T40, it does NOT cool the GPU!
You have a T43p motherboard with the powerful 128MB FireGL GPU.
Only alternative would be the fan assembly long (M10) 13R2657.

[ichhabegedroppen]

Do NOT replace the fan with one from a T40, it does NOT cool the GPU!
You have a T43p motherboard with the powerful 128MB FireGL GPU.
Only alternative would be the fan assembly long (M10) 13R2657.

Hi there, I just noticed that when i lifted the keyboard, completely forgot about the GPU. I believe that it is a thermal sensor fault. would you expect temperatures of 200'F 2 minutes after booting up from a cold system? I would't have thought so.

So thermal sensor problems = new motherboard? or does anyone know of any possible fixes?

Thanks for the help, much appreciated.

[RealBlackStuff]

Unfortunately repairs don't go down to that level.
You need a new mobo, anyone of these will do: 39T0477, 39T0480, 39T5637, 39T0466, 42T0073, 42T5417
Good luck finding a working one under $100.-

OT: where on earth did you get your username from?
Sounds like very bad German to me...

[Tasurinchi]

Sounds like very bad German to me...

Or a mixture of German and Dutch

[ichhabegedroppen]

Good luck finding a working one under $100.-

OT: where on earth did you get your username from?
Sounds like very bad German to me...

I will have to keep an eye out on ebay then i think, if i can keep the temps lower than 120'F it runs fine, and the username was an extract from an answer to a german exam from high school or secondary school as we call it in England.

a crude and incorrect translation of "i have dropped".

[RealBlackStuff]

the username was an extract from an answer to a german exam from high school or secondary school as we call it in England.

a crude and incorrect translation of "i have dropped".

"ich habe [etwas] fallen gelassen" should have been the correct answer if you meant "I dropped [something]".
"ich bin gefallen" if you meant "I fell down".
One may assume that you failed that exam?

[ichhabegedroppen]

One may assume that you failed that exam?

"I dropped" as in dropped the subject, was mainly a rant to the exam marker about the uninteresting scenarios from which you had to write a 2000 word essay in German.

However i did still achieve a B grade in the speaking part of the test.