T42 Fingerprint and RADEON 9600 questions...

[simms]

I bought a T42 off eBay.

Right off the bat, it should have a RADEON 9600 card, listed on the auction specs and via Lenovo. But drivers installed detect it as a 7500, along with Lenovo's diagnostics.

Secondly, the system seems to artifact severely after 30 minutes of usage. This is most certainly not an OS problem because I formatted my system and the problem also shows up in the BIOS and BIOS boot screens. I did a temporary fix using ATItool to lower the Core and raise the Memory frequency so that it wouldn't artifact (for now).

1) Could it be possible that I really have a 9600 but it's showing as a 7500? Or did someone pull a switch-er-roo on me?

2) What's causing the artifact problem? Are there any other documented cases on it, and how was it fixed?

Lastly, I can't get the fingerprint reader working - I installed the drivers but I can't seem to enrol anything. Do I have to install the Client Security Soln for it to work?


The laptop is covered by On-site, NBD warranty till 2008, so it's covered quite well.

Thanks!

[EOMtp]

Re: ATI Video
If you want physical confirmation of the type of video, then remove the keyboard and look at the fan. If the heatsink has a protrusion 1"x1.25" at the bottom right, then it is the "long" fan, and the "long" portion rests on top of the ATI chip. If it's one chip -- and it should be if you have the long fan -- then it is NOT the 7500. It may be the 9000, or the 9600, or the Fire GL, but it is not the 7500 (the 7500 forms a cluster of 3 small chips).

Re: Fingerprint
It may be that if the video chip is wrong because the motherboard is wrong, then the motherboard may also be lacking the fingerprint chip. Go into the BIOS and check if you have a setting for "Fingerprint" options. If "Fingerprint" does not appear anywhere in the BIOS, then the motherboard is not what you think it is.

[simms]

Interesting. I checked and compared with my T40 which has a short fan and 7500... While the T42 I have has a long fan, it is, indeed, a 7500! I pulled up the heatsink and shined light behind it to see the "7500" on the chip. I couldn't pry it off enough to see 3 distinct chips, but with enough to see the writing on the chip and the same partial layout as my T40, I was convinced.

On top of that, there is no fingerprint section in the BIOS, the TP configuration program. When I run the fingerprint software, it says

Cannot enroll user. Cannot find fingerprint sensor device.

But the sensor is right there underneath my palm. I could check the connection but there's a lot of work and now I don't know what to do..Everything clears out, the sticker, the warranty, even the other specs of the system. Battery is virtually brand new, LCD has no dead pixels. I don't get it.. If I call IBM about these issues, would they replace my motherboard (which seems to be the cause of these problems?)

[EOMtp]

Everything "checks out", except that you have the wrong motherboard! You won't see anything under the palmrest; don't bother removing it. If the palmrest has the fingerprint scanner, then the rest is (i.e., should be) up to the motherboard and ON the motherboard.

Let's see if there is a FRU# for the motherboard. Remove the SODIMM memory cover from the bottom of the machine, remove the SODIMM strip (if installed), and look for the small sticker with the FRU# of the motherboard. Then check the specs of that FRU# or post the FRU# here and we'll determine what your motherboard has on it.

[simms]

There is an FRU on the Mobo: 39T5400.

There is a P/N underneath the FRU sticker, but it looks like the FRU was placed on top of the P/N and some other numbers with no previous attempt to unpeel it, so I did not peel it.

But the FRU is 39T5400. Is there anything I can do to solve these problems?

Thanks!

edit: To my dismay, a simple Google search pulls up this information!

39T5400 T 40 Sys Brd 32MB ATI Radeon 7500 Gigabit Ethernet 91P7716 91P7998

It looks like a T40 with a 32MB 7500 has been put in it's place?! Will IBM do anything about this?

[christopher_wolf]

It looks like a T40 with a 32MB 7500 has been put in it's place?! Will IBM do anything about this?

If you can show them that it really is in error; which looks like it is going to be pretty easy.

It might have been that either a sevice center or the user put a different mobo in it when it was being serviced.

[simms]

I have the printouts and invoices from eBay showing I bought it, and the system specs, warranty coverage, etc.

So I should call Lenovo, explain my situation and hope that they'll give me a replacement? It seems really generous considering that a T42 could just "happen" to be in a T40.

[EOMtp]

"Explain my situation and hope" does not sound to me like a plan for success. Please check your private messages.

[zverg]

I have the printouts and invoices from eBay showing I bought it, and the system specs, warranty coverage, etc.

So I should call Lenovo, explain my situation and hope that they'll give me a replacement? It seems really generous considering that a T42 could just "happen" to be in a T40.

I know this thread is kinda old but did they replace your motherboard? I'm guessing whoever owned the laptop previously didn't realize that IBM did this to them. When my laptop was at the Solectron facility back in December 2004, they replaced my 9600 equipped motherboard with the crap 7500 one, even leaving the long fan on like they did in your case. It took weeks of complaining and asking to speak with managers, but I finally got them to send someone on-site to swap motherboards and have been blissfully back with my 9600 ever since.