Strange shut down T42

[jsmit86]

I just had a very strange thing happen on my T42.

It suddenly shut off with absolutely no warning.

NO lights, nothing.

It would not turn back on. I disconnected the battery and power supply, held the power button for about 15 secs, reconnected the power supply and left the battery off, and I was able to power it back up.

I then reconnected the battery, and everything seems to be normal at this moment. Any insights?

[Plinkerton]

I have heard that this can happen when something inside the computer feels a strong static charge or something along those lines. The computer will shut down immediately so there will be no damage to the computer.

EDIT: Here's the thread. Maybe this is happening to yours:

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?p=26672

[jsmit86]

Well... it happened again!

This time I had just turned in my office chair, and touched my Microsoft USB mouse. I am assuming that this may have had something to do with this issue. Static perhaps, although I never felt anything.

I was able to restart with no apparent ill effects after removing the battery, and going through the power button 10x thing and holding it on the 11th time.

Is there any other documentation on this isse? I am probably not going to use the mouse any more for a while, but I am not certain if this was the cause.

[Marc_G]

One thing I've had trouble with is old power adaptors. After a year or so of heavy use, the connection near the plug that goes into the thinkpad gets frayed. When this shorts out inside the adaptor cable, it turns off the computer instantly.

In the first case it took me a couple weeks of increasingly common shut-offs to track down the culprit and get a replacement adaptor from big blue. The second time I started having the problem, I recalled my earlier problems and called right away.

If the problem never happens when the AC adaptor is plugged in to the computer, this may be your problem.

Marc