Purchased T40 - Is this the GPU Prob?

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lynnja · #1 Post by **lynnja** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 9:06 am

I bought a used T30 a couple of years ago for my husband, and it has worked great- no issues.

I decided to buy a used T40 for myself. Thinking it being a bit lighter was a nice feature. But after reading up in this forum, I am wondering if I should have went with the T30 again...more reliable??

Anyway, its working fine--but while in hibernating mode it went to a screen that said "operating system not found" . I tried to reboot several times and it would say "operating system not found". I continued rebooting and finally it booted to Win XP.

I am not sure what caused this. I have read about the common prob with the GPU and wondered if this is that prob??

Also, the AC Adapter fits really loose?? I even tried another adapter, still loose. Is this another thing about the T40's? The connection is so loose that it beeps off an on as it becomes disconnected and then connected.

Brad · #2 Post by **Brad** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 9:29 am

Lynn,

Welcome to the Forum!

Congratulations on your new to you ThinkPad.

The OS not found error usually relates to a hard drive issue and not the GPU issue. I would make a backup and then run diagnostics on the hard drive.

Brad

amdaman · #3 Post by **amdaman** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 10:00 am

check the hdd is seated correctly.

visionviper · #4 Post by **visionviper** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 10:38 am

check the hdd is seated correctly.

I second this. When I replaced the hard drive in my T40 it took me a few tries to get the hard drive seated properly and detected by the computer.

frankiepankie · #5 Post by **frankiepankie** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 11:16 am

Can you hear the harddrive spin up, if you power the system?

I am sure this is an HDD issue.

pianowizard · #6 Post by **pianowizard** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 11:20 am

frankiepankie wrote:I am sure this is an HDD issue.

Or HDD controller. I had a 240 with this "operating system not found" error and it was definitely not caused by the HDD. So, the controller was the likeliest culprit. Sometimes I could boot into Windows, but after a while (anywhere between minutes and hours) I would get the Blue Screen Of Death.

lynnja, I hope the hard drive is giving you this problem. Otherwise, it would be quite difficult/expensive to fix.

lynnja · #7 Post by **lynnja** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 12:36 pm

[quote="frankiepankie"]Can you hear the harddrive spin up, if you power the system?

Yes, I do hear the harddrive spin up for a few seconds when I power on the system. Good or bad thing??

I forgot to add: the guy I bought this from said to just press f11 to restore operating system.

I have to figure out if I really have a possible problem as I have to return this machine within a few days .

~

#8 Post by **Kyocera** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 12:47 pm

If you can boot up and press f11 and start the restore process you may get lucky. But it does sound like you have a HD problem so most likely this won't be an option either.

#9 Post by **carbon_unit** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 3:32 pm

As for the power plug being loose, try this: http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... 164#231164

lynnja · #10 Post by **lynnja** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 9:01 pm

Well I ran HD diagnostics and they all passed. The operating sys not found message only happened once. I just am wondering if I am in the clear. I can send this back for repair, but if its not happening at the moment--might be hard to diagnose...?

SlamX · #11 Post by **SlamX** » Sun Apr 06, 2008 6:16 pm

Sorry this post is a little late. Hibernate mode can cause problems so best to use standby mode. The hibernate mode actually writes data to the Hd which can corrupt the master boot record and file system tables. So avoid Hibernate.

Sounds like the laptop is ok if you got it for a good price. the loose power connector is an easy fix. Either loose hold down screw or cracked jack. The jack is easily replaced and you can do it yourself if need be. No soldering to motherboard needed.

Purchased T40 - Is this the GPU Prob?

Purchased T40 - Is this the GPU Prob?

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