Logging off, streaming video problems (and maybe gmail)

[benz]

I bet these have been covered somewhere, but of course i can't seem to find the answers when I am in need of them....

Anyway, I have two problems with my otherwise flawless, brand-new 2373GVU:

1.) Sometimes (and I don't know what triggers it other than the fact that it always happens after I have had the computer on for longer than 5min) when I press the power button to shut down the computer, it will go to the "Logging off..." status in the little box that windows displays as it is shutting down. The rest of the screen is normal, and even that little colored bar is moving, but it will sit here (no HD activity, etc) for EVER. The mouse is responsive, but keys do nothing (CtrlAltDel, etc)...so I end up having to hard-shut down (hold power button for about 5 sec. I know this is bad because it never makes it to the "Saving your settings" status, so whatever settings it was saving are probably lost.

2.) I noticed that, when i clicked on one of those video streams from CNN.com, as soon as it started that info clip that preceeds the actual clip, the screen blacked for about a second, then came back on. Then, as soon as the info clip was over and the segment was about to start, it did the same thing again, as well as at the end of the segment.

Anyone have any similar problems, or better yet a solution to these? I've installed (and uninstalled) quite a few programs and done a lot of customization of settings over the last couple days, so there's no telling if there is a software conflict...but I am getting to the point with these two problems (esp the logging off) that I might have to restore to factory contents. Like i said they might have been covered before, but if so please drop a link.

PS - i will gladly give a gmail invite to the kind soul who can figure out the first problem for me...

[benz]

bttt...

and another thing...is it possible to turn off the cursor 'drift'? I read somewhere back that when you use the trackpoint, it utilizes "negative inertia".....but i am sometimes getting an annoying 'drift' of a few pixels sometimes when i move the pointer slightly. This is not helping me because sometimes i'll place the pointer on a button in the dialog box and once ive finished reading it the cursor has moved off the button/link. Is there a way to turn this off?

btw, gmail invite offer still stands...

[benz]

bttt, anyone have any ideas?? im about to reformat and start all over if i cant figure out whats wrong. again, the main thing is the logging off issue: i am able to adjust brightness and volume and turn on/off the screen...it seems to be some program in the background is not allowing the computer to get past this step.

come on people, i know you want a gmail account!

[eriqesque]

Question 1
In your power options in the control panel or through Battery MaxMiser
what is ?
When I press the power button, the computer will... set to

Make sure it says power off. Not, ask me what to do.

[benz]

It is set to power off/shut down in both control panels. now what?

btw, don't know if it is important, but i have set it to do nothing when i shut the lid of the computer...just thought id let you know.

[benz]

2.) I noticed that, when i clicked on one of those video streams from CNN.com, as soon as it started that info clip that preceeds the actual clip, the screen blacked for about a second, then came back on. Then, as soon as the info clip was over and the segment was about to start, it did the same thing again, as well as at the end of the segment.

UPDATE - I figured out what was causing this problem - apparently if i disable "Use Overlays" in the windows media player options settings, the problem is solved.

but the logging off issue is still giving me a fit

[mtj]

I had this problem on my new HTU and in my case it was solved by updating several of the drivers and IBM utilities (as listed in a post elsewhere on this BBS.) Others have solved the problem by updating IBM Access Connections.

[G-Man]

Benz,

What version of Access Connections are you using? The problem you described is very similar to the problem we had with AC 3.20.

Regards,
G-Man

[benz]

ah HAH! I have AC version 3.20....and upon checking the driver matrix for my machine, they are up to 3.21. Im about to do the update, but i see this "Critical info before installing"...some sort of table that shows what driver version you must already have for your wireless card itself? mine is the IBM a/b/g...and from the IBM software installed i have version 3.1.1.52, but theyre up to 3.1.1.5401...

so in summary, let me know if this is correct:

1.) install the updated wireless drivers (following all instructions etc...including uninstalling AC first apparently)
2.) install updated AC

gonna try it now....and if it works mtj you got yourself some gmail (i'd hook everyone up who replied but i dont have the invites yet...i'll keep you in mind though...)

[stinkyfeet]

I am seeing a similar problem. I just got my 2373-3VU and after applying a ton of updates from IBM and Windows XP, I've noticed that my screen blanks out when I start windows media player or try to watch the cool graphic on the active drive protection applet

That makes at least 3 of us so far :
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=1217

Although I think my problem is somewhat more serious since my screen keeps flickering atleast 4/5 times and not just once.

Access connections 3.21 did not fix the problem.

When I disabled overlay in Windows media player, half the problem does go away, but I still can't see the real-time status tab on IBM's active drive protection taskbar tool

IBM tech support has replaced the inverted card, and that's not helped either.

The video diagnostics on PC dotor do not reveal anything.

Here's my way of recreating it.

• Reboot the laptop. Videos run flawlessly.
• Leave laptop running for ~15 minutes with the lid open.
• Play videos again. No issue still seen.
• Hibernate. Wait for roughly 30 minutes again.
• Play the videos again.
• Screen flickers.
• Once this happens it always repeats until the next reboot.

Any suggestions? I'm currently pulling out my hair strand-by-strand.

[benz]

OK i just got a chance the other day to update AC to 3.21.....and it solves the logging off problem! this is great, but I still had that screen flicker problem. after disabling overlay in wmp and also wmp-classic (from the k-lite codec pack) it seems to work. I haven't tried what you did (rebooting/hibernate sequence). I'll try in a bit. but i am having another problem thats equally annoying (especially because i remember seeing in the list of fixes for some IBM update that this was solved) - my quick launch bar disappears after every reboot. any ideas how to solve this?

[G-Man]

Benz,

I guy had the same problem (and some TP users). Here is his fix: "FIXED--------DESKTOP.INI file in Quick Launch folder was removed. On reboot/startup quik launch bar shows." Have a backup of the file, just in case.

Regards,
G-Man

[benz]

Well that file is definitely in the Quick Lanuch folder.

Here are the contents, if it matters (don't know if its corrupt or something):

[LocalizedFileNames]
Launch Internet Explorer Browser.lnk=@xpsp1res.dll,-11003
Windows Media Player.lnk=@C:\WINDOWS\inf\unregmp2.exe,-4

btw, i have icons for MS Outlook, iexplorer, and AIM down there, nothing else.

Oh and another problem just came up (heh maybe i should name this thread "Help Ben fix his Thinkpad problems"): When I put the computer in standby, and leave it for a couple hours (after which its supposed to enter hibernation)...it will freeze up and show a blank screen (same problem byron described in this thread), never hibernating. I just found this out after i came home from work today, the stndby moon was blinking and a fan running, and after i hard-rebooted it had about 10% battery life....[/url]

[benz]

Dammit, just found out that I DO have the same problem as stinkyfeet, upon recreating his situation. That screen flicker is only once before and after the video plays, though...but its still annoying and is definitely a problem. I have the latest video drivers from IBM, btw. let me know if you find a fix.

[jephhy]

I just got my 23733UU and I do NOT have the screen flicker problem. The only updates I've applied so far are the critical Windows XP patches...I haven't messed with anything else.

Jeff

[stinkyfeet]

Benz, I did a complete factory re-installation and the problem went away. I even have video overlay enabled in WMP right now.

It's clearly some driver, and if jephhy says he's not seen it with any of the critical WinXP patches, i'm beginning to think it's one of the latest IBM drivers.

As far as I could tell. I saw this *only* if i'd hibernated for > 30 mins, and not if recovered from hibernate immediately. At this point i lost my patience and did a restore.

I intend to be very cautious with installing software, so I'll let you know if I can figure out at what point I see the flicker.

At this point i'm suspecting it's either the video drivers or the power management.

[jephhy]

I guess I'll hold off on upgrading my drivers for now...

BTW, I hibernate my machine and usually have it in that state overnight - another data point that might help solve the problem.

Jeff

[benz]

This might be a case of the IBM drivers conflicting with some Windows drivers/updates...and since I have installed [censored] near every update I can find from IBM I might have some versions that are too new for my system.

Anyway, I don't hibernate much, so its not really much of an issue for me. However, this quick launch disappearing is becoming an annoyance...

I just made the OEM bootable WinXP setup disk from my I386 files, so this with the original recovery disks should allow me to do a factory reset but with better control over what gets installed. I might get enough time to do it over this weekend, we'll see how it goes.