t42 RTC Accuracy Test

[keith5523]

A few months back, I received a lot of help from this forum's members getting IBM to replace a motherboard and internal battery on my machine that was 3 days out of warranty. It took a couple of weeks and many, many calls, but I finally found someone who understood the logic and reason of honoring the warranty. The MB replacement was the suggestion of the support guys in Atlanta after I told them that the motherboard RTC test in the Access IBM set of tools gave me an error code and failed test message. In fact, it was the ONLY suggestion. Shortly after the replacement, I started using an Viewsonic 902b external monitor. And shortly after that, I started having the machine NOT awaken after being left alone for a few hours - giving me a message about with a link saying this "this problem was caused by ATI Graphics Driver. This program was created by ATI Technologies, Inc.. ATI Technologies, Inc. does not currently have a solution for the problem that you reported.

So I started "updating" everything I could possibly think of through the ThinkVantage System Update. I had a lot of updates including some that mentioned the graphics driver, but I still have the same issue. By the way, I only mentioned the external monitor because my problem started about the same time I started using it. This problem happens with or without the external monitor being used. This is not EVERYTIME the machine goes to sleep, but 2-3 times each day. Here is another interesting tidbit - if I reach up to readjust the angle of the T42's screen, often times it will immediately go dark(machine does not lose power, only video) and I have to manually turn off the machine by holding the start button, and then reboot. And then I get referred by Windows to the error message about the ATI Graphics driver. I always seem to use my left hand to readjust the screen by grabbing the upper left corner of the screen.

During my updates, I also downloaded and ran the latest version of PC Doctor 5. Guess what, it gave me a FAILED TEST when it ran the RTC ACCURACY TEST. Basically the same failed test that started all of my T42 problems.

Now I have no idea if these two problems are even related OR even worse, I have no idea where to start looking. So here I am, on my knees looking for another holiday miracle....

Is my graphics card starting to fail? Is that a consumer replaceable part?

As always, your help and suggestions will be appreciated. I guess that if the MB and battery hadn't been replaced, I'd just replace the laptop at this point, but I sort of feel like with all of the replacements that I've got a new laptop now, and maybe just need some final tinkering.

Thanks,

Keith

[Harryc]

FAILED TEST when it ran the RTC ACCURACY TEST

Assuming that you've replaced the CMOS battery, call Lenovo back. The replaced systemboard should come with a warranty for a few months anyway.

[rkawakami]

I have seen an error related to the RTC in a T23 as documented here:

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=40648

Short story: a crystal on the motherboard had two cracked solder connections. Fixed by opening up the system and re-soldering.

Your T42 could have a similar issue. Run the DOS version of PC Doctor, select the RTC test by itself and press the F2 key. That will pop-up a menu where you can change the "Set Pass Count" value. Set it to 100 (that means the test will repeat 100 times), start the test and then move/flex the system in various corners and tilt the screen around. If you get intermittent passes and fails I'd be willing to bet that you have a bad solder connection somewhere on the motherboard.

[keith5523]

Ray, thanks for your suggestion, as it sounds like a good possibility. However, you've overestimated my computer literacy. I googled for PC Doctors DOS, and located a site that suggested downloading each of 5 individual files to separate floppies. I don't have floppies anymore. So I downloaded the files to my desktop, hoping to put them on a CD, but so far haven't been able to figure that out. Any suggestions? I apologize for my lack of knowledge. Thanks.

One other observation after reading your post regarding the soldering episode. That was how my computer reacted BEFORE the motherboard was replaced. Completely dead with no lights, nothing. My problem now is that I have no video ONLY. The lights are blinking and the computer acts like it is taking orders - I just can't see anything. And it only seems to occur when I go to awaken it after an absence or when I occasionally grab the screen. When the motherboard was replaced by the IBM contractor, would that not have solved the soldering problem?

Thanks for your input.

Keith

Keith

[rkawakami]

Sorry, but I thought you might have already downloaded PC Doctor for DOS. It's available from here for your T42:

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-56222

It's an image file which you burn onto a CD. If you don't have a CD writer, then the program is also available to be written on floppies:

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-43283

(Just wanted to make sure you got the correct program for your system.) You basically execute the individual file and it will create a bootable floppy set. Since you don't have a floppy drive, then of course, it won't work for you. Understand that you have a second motherboard exhibiting the same problem, but this is the only thing that I can suggest at the moment to diagnose the error.