T43 freezes with port replicator

[pipspeak]

It started to happen occasionally... now it happens within a minute of turning on my T43 when attached to the port replicator -- the computer just freezes. Cursor stops moving, keyboard stops working, all function keys die, and I need to press the off button for about 10 seconds to switch it off and restart.

My T40 works fine with the exact same port replicator, so I know that's not the problem. And the T43 works fine when not attached to it. Anyone have any idea where to start looking for the problem?

[jdhurst]

It could be the connector on the bottom on your T43. That would account for the symptoms as described. ... JD Hurst

[pipspeak]

The problem did not exist yesterday morning -- it has gone from never happening to happening within a minute over the last 36 hours, during which I've installed additional software. That makes me think it's a software problem rather than hardware.

I tried selectively disabling some of the software I installed/used and the machine ran for far longer (with FileMon logging its every move). But then it froze again, unfortunately when a window was obscuring half the FileMon window.

Last time it froze when Windows' services.exe ran some read requests. This time it seems to have frozen when Shell32.dll ran. Could be conincidental, or could be a software bug.

[jdhurst]

It is port replicator (and that's all). It is possible to imagine bad connectors. But I can't imagine software (except to the extent it is being affected by a connector problem). Your further description (it didn't happen, now it does) could also occur as the result of a mechanical defect on the bottom of the T43. Anything is possible, I suppose. ... JD Hurst

[pipspeak]

Okey dokey... off my new T43 goes to have the system board replaced. Not what I expect from IBM, but I guess some problems will always fall through the QC cracks.

Can someone confirm what the service rep told me... that replacing the dock connector means replacing the entire system board?

[pipspeak]

So here's another question... I've been playing around in an attempt to find a solution to the problem that does not involve the big brown EZserv box and discovered that no freezing occurs if the machine is booted in safe mode when attached to the port replicator.

Does this perhaps suggest a Windows problem?

Just for the heck of it I might try restoring the factory image over the weekend to see if that solves the problem. If not, then I'll ship it off with the hard drive (in case the factory image is screwed) on Monday.

[pipspeak]

So far so good with the restored factory image. Hopefully it'll still be running later in the day.

Edit: The problem appears to have been (you guessed it) antivirus software, in this case PC-Cillin. I think there was some strange conflict between the Windows firewall and PC-Cillin's version.