T43 freezes when moved and usb devices "fail", hel

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darnoc · #1 Post by **darnoc** » Fri Mar 03, 2006 5:23 am

So here's my problem: My t43 freezes occasionally when it is moved and/or is sitting in a certain position. Sometimes it will freeze ond and off for 2 minutes, other times it will just freeze for a second or two, and once it a while it just freezes and I have to hold down the button and restart.

My first thought was the HD protection was going bad, but I turned it off and the problem still happens.

And I'm not sure if this is related or not, but my usb ports aren't very cooperative either. I have an external HD, an mp3 player, and a flash drive, and I get "device failed" messages for all of them sometimes, but other times they work fine, and sometimes they start working but then freeze up when attached. (I use them all on my computer at work, so I know they work fine.)

Since all of these problems started at once abouttwo weeks ago, I figured I'd just wipe everything out and start from scratch, so after backing up the files I needed, I fired up Rescue and Recovery and did that. So as of last night I have a "factory fresh" machine but already I've had to restart because of a freeze (among minor/annoying freeze ups now and then) and the usb problem happened once already. This leads me to believe that the problem is hardware, so does anyone have any suggestions?

-ry

lithium726 · #2 Post by **lithium726** » Fri Mar 03, 2006 11:51 am

sounds like a dying systemboard, call IBM ASAP and get it replaced.

they send you a box overnight and pay overnight shipping both ways. they also normally have a same-day turn around, i was without my TP for a whopping 3 days when the system board died.

darnoc · #3 Post by **darnoc** » Fri Mar 03, 2006 3:36 pm

The dying systemboard doesn't sound good.

I was reading an older post where someone had similar problems, and so I did what they did and reseeded the HD. And after a full day of use, the computer hasn't froze at all. I'm not an expert on hardware problems, but is it possible that the problem could have just been that the hd was just a bit "unconnected"?

chan_man · #4 Post by **chan_man** » Fri Mar 03, 2006 5:04 pm

As far as re-seating the harddrive, it could be possible but not likely, the drive bay is designed to handle variations between drive manufacturers but the pins have a long engagement length to handle this. It might be a coincidence that you have not had a problem after you unplugged and plugged the drive in. Is the drive full that the system is spending more time swapping, this can cause the system to look like it is frozen. Turn on your Task Manager and watch the Performance page to see what is going on. At times I have had Firefox take 99% due to a bad page, the response is quite slow and may not respond at all. Once I kill it, the system works fine.

darnoc · #5 Post by **darnoc** » Fri Mar 03, 2006 5:46 pm

Before I Rescue and Recovered, the hd was about half full (30 of 60 gb), but now it's pretty empty, with just XP, Office, etc. and not much else.

I have the performance monitor open, and cpu usage is running pretty low in general, and when I ran a few apps at once to push it (played a movie, ran a prgram in a statistical package I use for work, had Opera open and browsing) it got up in the 80% range, but there was no hint of a freeze up.

I'll keep the performance monitor open, and if/when things freeze again I'll see if there is a correlation with performance usage.

Do you think it is possible the hd was just coming out of its sockets, have you ever heard of this happening before? I lug my computer back and forth to school/work all the time, which includes a good deal of banging around (I walk and/or ride the subway). It's wishful thinking on my part that this is all the problem is.

bert · #6 Post by **bert** » Wed Mar 08, 2006 2:50 pm

My t43p also started to freeze recently after working fine for months. The problem seems connected to moving it from my desk to another location. Once it gets in to the "mode" of freezing, it happens again and again very soon after restarting it (by powering off). Once I get it to work it seems to work for quite awhile unless I move it. At first I thougt it had something to do with running on batteries, but the unseated disc theory sounds more likely. I will try that and report back.

darnoc · #7 Post by **darnoc** » Wed Mar 08, 2006 3:12 pm

Well, reseating the disk work for a day or so, but it was back to freezing up soon after. I ended up just calling IBM. The tech guy I talked to seemed to think it was the systemboard (he actually knew what he was talking about, which I never experienced in a tech support situation before, maybe IBM actually cares). I ended up just sending it back to them to fix.

They shipped me a prepaid DHL overnight box. which came the next day, and it sounds like I should have my machine back by Friday (I shipped it back to them yesterday). If your problem keeps happening, and if it's like mine it will have good days and bad days, you might as well just give up the fight and send it back for repair. I figured a few days without is better than fighting with it and getting frustrated for weeks just to end up sending it for repair anyway.

Just wondering, are you also having problems with your usb drives? When they started working about half the time, that's when I decided the problem was getting out of hand.

bert · #8 Post by **bert** » Wed Mar 08, 2006 4:36 pm

I just tried re-seating the drive. It looked promising. The screw holding it in place was loose. After re-seating the drive, the machine came up fine and I used it for a short while without problems. Then I decided to take it for a walk, just to test, and it froze.

I guess it could still be a problem with the drive connection, but just re-seating it does not fix it. But the test rules out a suggestion I found in another thread that the problem has something to do with disconnecting power to the wifi adapter.

Strangely, I have also had problems with USB. I got an error message that a (non-existing?) device had exceeded maximum power. I disabled the device to avoid getting the annoying error message. At about the same time bluetooth stopped working. Perhaps it is connected by USB? The finger-print reader certainly is. It stopped working when I disabled another channel.

The problem is definitely mechanical. I got a freeze when first writing this post just by hitting the Enter key a little hard.

darnoc · #9 Post by **darnoc** » Wed Mar 08, 2006 4:54 pm

That's the exact same usb error message I was getting.

I noticed that when sitting with the computer on my lap, say on the couch, if I squeezed near the finger scanner, which is where the hard drive is, it wouldn't freeze. But the IBM tech guy seemed to think the problem wasn't with the drive itself, but with the board. But regardless, it seems like there is a connection somewhere that either works or not, depending on movement/position/etc.

Looks like we probably have the same problem. Assuming I get mine back from IBM in the next few days, I'll let you know what they fixed/replaced on mine.

Website · #10 Post by **tfflivemb2** » Wed Mar 08, 2006 4:55 pm

The freezing is generally the result of flexing of the systemboard. You have to be very careful when carrying any laptop around (or tapping the keys too hard).

To be safe you should always pick up your laptop with two hands.

I sold a T23 to someone recently, and he just brought it back so that I can replace the system board. After talking with him, I had him show me how he carried the T23. He generally picked it up, opened, and carried it by either corner with only one hand.

I then showed him how to properly move the laptop around.

darnoc · #11 Post by **darnoc** » Wed Mar 08, 2006 5:07 pm

That sounds about right. I carried mine around one handed from time to time, but I would think that they should be able to handle that, considering the reason I bought an IBM was that they are considered the most durable.

And considering I lug it 30 blocks, twice a day, 5 days a week to work, I might be in real trouble! I will take your advice in treat it more gently. But I would be willing to bet the problem is mostly due to defective hardware, and being owned by a person that carries it around a lot just pushed things forward.

Website · #12 Post by **tfflivemb2** » Wed Mar 08, 2006 5:14 pm

IBM is one of the most durable out there, however, virtually every laptop is susceptible to the flexing issue, especially the heavier the laptop.

The flexing could have led to a hardware problem, by causing the hardware to become partially detached, or unseated, from the systemboard.

bert · #13 Post by **bert** » Wed Mar 08, 2006 5:54 pm

I often lift mine up by grabbing one corner. Always did, and I have by now had quite a few stinkpads. This is the first time I have had a hardware problem (of any kind). That they can take hard use is why I love them. The one I have now has been dropped about 4 feet onto a ceramic tile floor. Still worked. The only problem was that one of the hinges got bent so that the lid no longer closes completely.

There is a lot of flex in the bottom part of mine. Handling it puts very noticable stress on the area where the hard-drive connects. I don't see how this can reasonably be avoided by careful handling. After all the whole idea with a laptop is that you can drag it around. Perhaps the T43 case is too weak. They have changed the design in the T60.

Darnoc, it will be very interesting to see what IBM does to your machine and if it solves the problem.

bert · #14 Post by **bert** » Wed Mar 08, 2006 6:36 pm

This appears to be a common problem with the T4x series:

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=19339

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=20113

FreeSolaris10 · #15 Post by **FreeSolaris10** » Sun Mar 12, 2006 11:34 am

I had exact same problem..had ibm replace the systemboard and it's running fine now.
I also used to pick up my laptop by one hand...never do that again.

darnoc · #16 Post by **darnoc** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 1:00 pm

Just got my laptop back this morning. They replaced the systemboard. And I guess I won't be picking it up one handed anymore, since that seems to have deleterious effects, as everyone here can attest to.

chan_man · #17 Post by **chan_man** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 5:14 pm

Picking up any laptop by one corner with the screen open is not good. I had a A22M just die when I picked it up to move to another floor. It died half way down the stairs. From the looks of it, there was a short that caused the system to shut down. Since then I have set all of my laptops to do nothing when the screen is closed, this way I can just close the screen, move the laptop and then just open and keep on working.

eric530 · #18 Post by **eric530** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 1:05 am

is this problem common? I just had my systemboard replaced for this problem too. USB power exceeded messages a,nd the system completely freezing quite often requiring a hard shut down

T43 freezes when moved and usb devices "fail", hel

T43 freezes when moved and usb devices "fail", hel

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