Weird hdd/screen problems

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blackatom · #1 Post by **blackatom** » Mon Dec 26, 2005 7:54 pm

Ok, the first time this happened was on x-mas eve. If i moved my laptop even the slighest bit the screen would go white, invert the colors and the laptop would completely freeze. I can manage to use the laptop just fine if it's resting on a table where it doesn't move at all. I narrowed the problem down to movement around the harddrive, so on further testing i found out that slight tapping of my finger above the HDD caused the system to crash. I removed the hdd, shook it a little bit and of course it rattles. I did some more testing x-mas day and it ran fine as long as it was on a table. Today I went to backup all my files, but as soon as i did that it froze again, and now my screen is completely blank. I can hear fans running but i get no picture. Yesterday i jumped the gun and bought a 7k100 60gig from zipzoomfly and i'm waiting on that to come in. Since the screen is now blank and i dont' even get the [censored] bios to come up, i'm thinking this could be much higher than the HDD

I'm running solely gentoo and have been since i got the thing...it shouldn't have an influence on this at all. But you never know.

I have no files on it that arn't backed up on my desktop, i just wanted the gentoo installation to be preserved, becuase anyone who has installed gentoo knows the weeks it takes to get everything working perfectally.
I could careless about data, i'm mainly worried that it's not a HDD problem.

And yes, my warrenty has expired and of course i didn't renew, being a college student and all.

#2 Post by **GomJabbar** » Mon Dec 26, 2005 8:41 pm

Well, if you can't get into the BIOS even with the hard drive removed, that would seem to indicate that your hard drive is OK - unless somehow your hard drive shorted out the motherboard, which I consider unlikely.

You can put your hard drive in another laptop, or even buy a desktop IDE to laptop drive transfer cable, and clone your drive. If you put the drive in another laptop, I suppose there may be problems if the hardware configuration isn't the same. I am not really familiar with Linux, so I can't help there.

blackatom · #3 Post by **blackatom** » Mon Dec 26, 2005 9:35 pm

welp, it finally started beeping at me. I got one long and two short. Lenovo's website says that it's either the LCD assembly, the system board or a DIMM. So i tested the dimms by removing one, then the other, and switching around the slots...and i still got the same problems. I have no idea how to disassemble the lcd assembly to check the connections. If i let the laptop sit for a little bit it'll turn on and work for a minute or so. I'll usually get a full bootup and no crash until i start typing. Sounds kinda like a heat issue, but i doubt it since it only screws up when i get the impact from typing, even typing lightly.

Does anyone have any idea how i can check the lcd assembly?

my [censored] warrenty ran out in august, i doubt they'll let me renew this late.

#4 Post by **GomJabbar** » Tue Dec 27, 2005 1:11 am

You need to post the model of your ThinkPad to get more in-depth help. Do you have a T40, T41, T42, or something else?

ichoudhury · #5 Post by **ichoudhury** » Tue Dec 27, 2005 1:24 am

Wow, I never thought I would find somebody so quickly with the same exact problem!

....it is rather scary

On X-Mas day evening I got a blue screen and got into that situation. Unlike you, mine would go as far as Ctl+Alt+Del screen, allow me to enter password and then freeze up and later the screen goes white. I hear fan but nothing after that. I was able to select Safe Mode but it wouldn't go pass the initial process, I am not always able to go to BIOS (and even there it was froozen few times), I have also started reinstalling Windows but went blank after few steps in the process.

Right now, I get one long beep followed by two beeps and then I hear fan. I suspected the motherboard gone bad, but you gave me an idea about the RAM and LCD(I don't think so, cause you can sometime see display and not some other times). Anyway, we are probably facing a known issue or discovering something new with these system.

Mine is T41p ... what's yours

#6 Post by **GomJabbar** » Tue Dec 27, 2005 1:32 am

ichoudhury wrote:Right now, I get one long beep followed by two beeps and then I hear fan.

From the Hardware Maintenance Manual the above beep sequence indicates a problem with one of the following:
1. System board.
2. LCD assembly.
3. DIMM.

blackatom · #7 Post by **blackatom** » Tue Dec 27, 2005 9:36 am

i've got a T42 2378-FVU i bought it in august of 2004
one of the DIMMS is a corsair

i'm about to take this thing apart and check every connection.

Website · #8 Post by **tfflivemb2** » Tue Dec 27, 2005 8:12 pm

blackatom wrote:Does anyone have any idea how i can check the lcd assembly?

Your Hardware Maintenance Manual will help you get to the LCD, as well as check any of the Beep Symptoms that you might have.

JoeP · #9 Post by **JoeP** » Fri Jan 06, 2006 12:11 am

I bought the T40 2373 because these things suppose to be unbreakable!

Well, the first time it slipped off my lap to the floor (2 feet) a very small crack appeared on the screen case next to the hinge. No damage other than that.

What you are discribing here (18 months old now) is what I am having. Good thing I have the 3 year warranty. They picked it up today for repair.

From what I read here in this forum, this is a common problem/defect.

OUCH! This isn't suppose to happen to the Think pads!

Weird hdd/screen problems

Weird hdd/screen problems

Same problem here

Re: Same problem here

SAME PROBLEM WITH ME!

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