Thinkpad T42 is freezing very often

Message

Albatros · #1 Post by **Albatros** » Thu Apr 27, 2006 2:49 pm

Hi,

I have been a thinkpad user for more than 3 years starting with thinkpad x30,x31,T30,T41 and now T42

My thinkpad model number is 2373-4BI

My laptop is freezing a lot and does not respond to anything but I have to restart it pressing the power button for more than 4 seconds.

It can happen when browsing, watching movies, during word processing, etc. it can happen while doing anything.

Although it freezes I do not get BSOD, sometimes I get BSOD during booting mentioning the IRQ problem.

So far what I have done:

I have installed the os from the recovery partition, the problem happens
Manually installed windows, the problem happens
Changed the hard drive, it happens ( I thought that HD might be a problem I tried using different HD; no solution, installed the OS on ultrabay HD as secondary master and no solution
Changed the main memory module, did not solve

I have tried the eliminate the parts that might be faulty but none solved the problem.

Because it freezes there is no information in event log, sometimes upon rebooting it says system has recovered from serious error.

One thing I noticed that it happens more when browsing, also when it starts once, the frequency increases.

Sometimes upon rebooting it also gives as error message that display driver is causing the problem; but I am using the latest display driver from IBM (by the way I am using all the latest drivers)

I have tried to pinpoint the cause but I have not been succesfull so far.

I hope there would be some ideas that would help me to solve the problem

I also used PC doctor but it has not found any problems either.

Thanks

Albatros

Thinkpad T42 2373-4BI, 15"1400x1050, 64MB ATI 9600, 60GB 1.5GB Memory, upgraded with BMDC2, Using 60GB in ultrabay

raabjerg · #2 Post by **raabjerg** » Thu Apr 27, 2006 3:02 pm

On my T41p, I had a reoccuring bluescreen reboot while playing civilization 4 with the official ATI driver from ibm.

The problem was solved by installing the latest ATI omega driver from www.omegadrivers.net. Since the system tells you the display driver might be the cause, an alternative driver might be worth a try.

Website · #3 Post by **tfflivemb2** » Thu Apr 27, 2006 5:54 pm

It might be a heat issue. Do you have Mobile Meterrunning, or some program that can monitor the temp of your system at the point that the system freezes?

cmarti · #4 Post by **cmarti** » Thu Apr 27, 2006 6:15 pm

I am sure you will end up with a motherboard replacement I know cause same thing happened to me.

Sorry

Albatros · #5 Post by **Albatros** » Thu Apr 27, 2006 6:40 pm

Thanks for the ideas.

I have tried omega drivers and original ATI driver with a patch that allows you to install them but it did not help (tried couple of months ago).

I have not used mobile meter for the purpose of determining the heat issue during the freeze but I used it to see the temp. at the moment I am running mobile meter the battery is charging vlc player is working alongside with firefox and it shows
fan is constantly on I can hear it loud and clear (in fact my fan is nearly always on, I do not use fan control utility or such)
53 celcius
HD0 33C
HD1 32C

IBM power manager set to max performance
Wi-fi is on
BT is off

I am waiting for the ideas from the forum members and I think I will call the IBM soon.

Regards,

Thanks

#6 Post by **Kyocera** » Thu Apr 27, 2006 6:41 pm

Does the screen resolution change when it freezes?

Albatros · #7 Post by **Albatros** » Thu Apr 27, 2006 8:10 pm

The screen resolution does neither change nor flicker.

Unless you touch the mouse or keyboard you would not tell by looking that it has frozen, nothing moves no response not se ever but only to power button.

It froze again just a moment ago while browsing when the mobile meter was showing 53C

Regards,

Albatros

cmarti · #8 Post by **cmarti** » Thu Apr 27, 2006 8:14 pm

Call IBM now so they can send you the box tomorrow. Your lappy won't be fixed unless they replace the mobo.

Albatros wrote:The screen resolution does neither change nor flicker.

Unless you touch the mouse or keyboard you would not tell by looking that it has frozen, nothing moves no response not se ever but only to power button.

It froze again just a moment ago while browsing when the mobile meter was showing 53C

Regards,

Albatros

moccamachine · #9 Post by **moccamachine** » Fri Apr 28, 2006 9:52 am

It can be one of two problems

1) Video card driver. This happen sometimes on my laptop as well. Updating video driver might help.

2) Memory. I have a T40 that have 512MB Crucial stick in addition to the standard 512MB IBM stick. This cause the computer to crash periodically (ranging from just simply freezing to BSOD). I found Kingston ValueRAM 333MHz CL2.5 to be better than the Crucial in this case. So memory might be your problem.

MM

cmarti · #10 Post by **cmarti** » Fri Apr 28, 2006 3:29 pm

Did you get it get fixed?

Albatros wrote:Hi,

I have been a thinkpad user for more than 3 years starting with thinkpad x30,x31,T30,T41 and now T42

My thinkpad model number is 2373-4BI

My laptop is freezing a lot and does not respond to anything but I have to restart it pressing the power button for more than 4 seconds.

It can happen when browsing, watching movies, during word processing, etc. it can happen while doing anything.

Although it freezes I do not get BSOD, sometimes I get BSOD during booting mentioning the IRQ problem.

So far what I have done:

I have installed the os from the recovery partition, the problem happens
Manually installed windows, the problem happens
Changed the hard drive, it happens ( I thought that HD might be a problem I tried using different HD; no solution, installed the OS on ultrabay HD as secondary master and no solution
Changed the main memory module, did not solve

I have tried the eliminate the parts that might be faulty but none solved the problem.

Because it freezes there is no information in event log, sometimes upon rebooting it says system has recovered from serious error.

One thing I noticed that it happens more when browsing, also when it starts once, the frequency increases.

Sometimes upon rebooting it also gives as error message that display driver is causing the problem; but I am using the latest display driver from IBM (by the way I am using all the latest drivers)

I have tried to pinpoint the cause but I have not been succesfull so far.

I hope there would be some ideas that would help me to solve the problem

I also used PC doctor but it has not found any problems either.

Thanks

Albatros

Thinkpad T42 2373-4BI, 15"1400x1050, 64MB ATI 9600, 60GB 1.5GB Memory, upgraded with BMDC2, Using 60GB in ultrabay

Albatros · #11 Post by **Albatros** » Mon May 01, 2006 6:55 pm

Hi,

Thank you everybody for your posts and time.

As I have written I have tried different memory modules, used the latest vga drivers including the omega, but no solution.

Last friday (28th April) I talked to the IBM service centre here in the UK and arranged for a repair, it was a Bank Holiday here on Monday, tomorrow (tuesday) I will drop the laptop to the collection point of IBM warranty service.
I hope 4-5 working days later my machine will be back.

The tech service representetive told me that it might be motherboard problem, it was my susspicion too.

I will let you know the result of the IBM service

Regards,

Albatros

cmarti · #12 Post by **cmarti** » Mon May 01, 2006 6:59 pm

I told you.

Gustavo · #13 Post by **Gustavo** » Thu Jun 08, 2006 4:05 am

Hi I have the same problem with my X31 , freezes when ever she feels like it. But most often at booting but not until it gets to Windows. I have also tried everthing you have done to no prevail.
So its time to collect on that warranty.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
current own:
IBM T43, 1,5G Ram,PM2.0Ghz, 2668-97U, 80G 5400RPM
IBM X31, 768MB Ram,PM1.6Ghz, 2673-PXP, 80G 5400RPM,Extended life battery

ipark · #14 Post by **ipark** » Thu Jun 08, 2006 6:15 am

I've noticed that my T42 freezes very randomly as well. Sometimes when I am logging off or trying to shut down, it won't. Is it bad to keep my laptop on top of a huge mousepad? Could it be that the heat is not able to escape due to the spongeyness of the mousepad? I really hope my new t42 isn't a lemon.

fschwep · #15 Post by **fschwep** » Thu Jun 08, 2006 4:03 pm

ipark wrote:I've noticed that my T42 freezes very randomly as well. Sometimes when I am logging off or trying to shut down, it won't. Is it bad to keep my laptop on top of a huge mousepad? Could it be that the heat is not able to escape due to the spongeyness of the mousepad? I really hope my new t42 isn't a lemon.

Hm. My T42 is in repair right now for what seems like a mobo problem. It did not freeze often before it suddenly went dead, though.
Concerning the heat: I use Centrino software to 'downclock' the processor and control temperature (see the sticky post here), which seems to work; and on another note, having the TP on a minidock does make a difference to it heating up: the dock slightly lifts it off the table, and this makes a lot of difference. The big mousepad does not seem like a very good idea.

ipark · #16 Post by **ipark** » Thu Jun 08, 2006 6:00 pm

fschwep wrote:
ipark wrote:I've noticed that my T42 freezes very randomly as well. Sometimes when I am logging off or trying to shut down, it won't. Is it bad to keep my laptop on top of a huge mousepad? Could it be that the heat is not able to escape due to the spongeyness of the mousepad? I really hope my new t42 isn't a lemon.
Hm. My T42 is in repair right now for what seems like a mobo problem. It did not freeze often before it suddenly went dead, though.
Concerning the heat: I use Centrino software to 'downclock' the processor and control temperature (see the sticky post here), which seems to work; and on another note, having the TP on a minidock does make a difference to it heating up: the dock slightly lifts it off the table, and this makes a lot of difference. The big mousepad does not seem like a very good idea.

thanks

Bgradid · #17 Post by **Bgradid** » Thu Jun 08, 2006 7:13 pm

My t42p was having a huge freezing issue after I upgraded it to 2gB of ram whenever I moved it (flexing motherboard issue it seemed), but, it seemed to have solved itself after a few days.
Now from freezing every time I put it down on a table, it won't even freeze if I pick it up from the very far corner from the display (I know, not a good thing to do, but, i wanted to be sure the freezing/flexing issue was gone entirely)

wantathinkpad · #18 Post by **wantathinkpad** » Fri Jun 09, 2006 3:29 pm

Bgradid wrote: it won't even freeze if I pick it up from the very far corner from the display (I know, not a good thing to do, but, i)

side comment. I saw someone do this with a Dell Inspiron for about five feet. I wouldn't do this with a thinkpad. Crazy.

As everyone said probaly MOBo

carpenter · #19 Post by **carpenter** » Thu Jun 15, 2006 3:29 am

Having some serious issues with my t41 and having read the above posts think all my problems could be resolved by a new mobo. would be grateful with any clarification based on the faults.

- Takes ages to get it to turn on.....
all I get is a series of beeps, but screen stays black
- after about 50 attempts it finally turns on
- Freezing very often usually when touched or moved slightly
- Blue error reboot screen

(In addition as the kids also use it, there is a strong chance it may have been dropped atleast once)

tried re-installing OS twice, no joy.

Not the most technically minded so any advice would be well received

thanks

NS · #20 Post by NS » Thu Jun 15, 2006 3:34 am

I am not so sure but it sounds like hard disk and motherboard problem.

@Carpenter: Welcome to this forum!!!

Thinkpad T42 is freezing very often

Thinkpad T42 is freezing very often

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