New Thinkpad, big problem!

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CoolRunnings · #1 Post by **CoolRunnings** » Sun Jan 30, 2005 1:46 am

I just got a T42 the other day and it comes with the Radeon 9600 card in it. I tried running 3dmark2003 and 3dmark2005 on it and it locks up! In 2005, it locks before the first "game" and gives a kind of gradient and I have to physically power off the computer to get out of it. In 2003, it initially would go all the way through the first set of scenes, then it would get to the second and slow to a crawl. By the time it tried to do the 3rd, it too would give the same sort of gradient and lock up. Next I tried playing the demo mode of 2003. It got through the initial few seconds and then got stuck in a sound loop with the picture not changing and I had to reboot to get out of it. What gives? On my D600 I had to use SpeedswitchXP to keep it in high-performance mode to play games but it never locked on me like this. Is there some setting I need to change or something? Help!

Logi7 · #2 Post by **Logi7** » Sun Jan 30, 2005 4:07 am

reinstall drivers
and i hope youre not trying to overclock it

CoolRunnings · #3 Post by **CoolRunnings** » Sun Jan 30, 2005 5:11 am

Not a chance! I'm not overclocking a notebook! This is a 2 day old notebook anyhow... I tried it in a clean install on a new drive and get the same behavior so I'm thinking this goes back to IBM. Ugh...

dvorak · #4 Post by **dvorak** » Sun Jan 30, 2005 10:58 am

You can check ATI settings to see if the Power Management is active, that reduces the cards abilities and hence it's unbearable to do any 3d work if it's not in full power.

You can also try newer drivers, I myself used the MOD-Tool to install Catalyst 4.2 on to my t42 to fix some issues with some games that I was trying.

jeeva · #5 Post by **jeeva** » Sun Jan 30, 2005 11:38 am

Yes that could be the PowerPLAY, I have similar Probs with my Radeon 7500, when PowerPlay is active.

CoolRunnings · #6 Post by **CoolRunnings** » Sun Jan 30, 2005 12:02 pm

Update:

Ok I checked Powerplay and when I'm plugged into AC it's disabled. Next I've tried an external monitor to see if perhaps an unusual refresh rate was being attempted. Black screen there. Finally I tried a clean install of Windows XP Pro with a non-IBM CD and just loaded the video drivers and the benchmark. I got the exact same behavior. I have pulled my extra stick of RAM and that made virtually no difference to the situation. I ran the video tests from the Access IBM options on boot and they come back ok. Now here's the wierd thing, I can go through 3dmark2001 with no problem, but it's DirectX 8.1... For that reason I somewhat doubt it's an overheating issue. The only conclusion I've been able to come up with is a bad video card. That's pretty sad considering I bought this machine largely due to expecting a DX9 compatible card... If someone notices something I missed there in the checks I've performed, please do let me know. I'm planning to get this sent in for a new display adapter. I sure hope it's that simple!!!

dvorak · #7 Post by **dvorak** » Sun Jan 30, 2005 12:41 pm

CoolRunnings wrote:Update:

Ok I checked Powerplay and when I'm plugged into AC it's disabled. Next I've tried an external monitor to see if perhaps an unusual refresh rate was being attempted. Black screen there. Finally I tried a clean install of Windows XP Pro with a non-IBM CD and just loaded the video drivers and the benchmark. I got the exact same behavior. I have pulled my extra stick of RAM and that made virtually no difference to the situation. I ran the video tests from the Access IBM options on boot and they come back ok. Now here's the wierd thing, I can go through 3dmark2001 with no problem, but it's DirectX 8.1... For that reason I somewhat doubt it's an overheating issue. The only conclusion I've been able to come up with is a bad video card. That's pretty sad considering I bought this machine largely due to expecting a DX9 compatible card... If someone notices something I missed there in the checks I've performed, please do let me know. I'm planning to get this sent in for a new display adapter. I sure hope it's that simple!!!

Getting a replacement under warrany itself is simple, if just march in there/call and demand (incase they are not so eager giving you one). Regarding the replacement, the GPU is physically connected, so the whole board will be new.

The issue itself does seem like overheating, does the fan work when those tests are running?

CoolRunnings · #8 Post by **CoolRunnings** » Sun Jan 30, 2005 3:15 pm

Yes the fan does work during those tests. I bought the laptop through a seller on ebay, but it was brand new. Unfortunately it's 36 days from the time he purchased it so I may have to send it to the depot. IBM's site is a pain to find anything on so I'm not sure how to check and see what it would cost to upgrade my warranty to an on-site one. Can anyone give me any suggestions there? Also, anything I could use to test the GPU temps? Could anyone with a T42 that has a 9600 card in it run 3dmark2003 for me and tell me if it runs properly on their machine and if so, what settings were used? If you need to email me about it, you can reach me at info AT timodom DOT com. Thanks!!!

etherealtml · #9 Post by **etherealtml** » Sun Jan 30, 2005 3:49 pm

Did you check your device manager to determine if in fact it is a Radeon 9600 in your system, and not say a 7500 or something? The reason I ask is that many users here have reported IBM's disturbing "policy" of bamboozling their customers after they send their system in for repair by switching a high performance mainboard for an el cheapo.

CoolRunnings · #10 Post by **CoolRunnings** » Sun Jan 30, 2005 4:05 pm

Good point, but yes that's one of the first things I checked when I got the machine. It's going in for motherboard replacement tomorrow. I just pray that they don't put some wrong board in it or something and screw stuff up. That would be a nightmare best left to Dell instead of IBM...

Conmee · #11 Post by **Conmee** » Sun Jan 30, 2005 10:07 pm

Make sure you're using the latest DirectX9.0c install and apply the appropriate patches to the 3DMark03/05 (check my sig for the versions I used). I found that I couldn't run 03 or 05 all the way through until I used the latest DirectX and 3DMark patches. Of course I've got the FireGL drivers installed, but this was even the case when I used Catalyst drivers.

Daniel.

CoolRunnings · #12 Post by **CoolRunnings** » Fri Feb 04, 2005 2:06 am

I just checked and I have the very latest drivers and updates to 3dmark and DirectX 9.0c and I get the same behavior every time.

Any other suggestions?

dvorak · #13 Post by **dvorak** » Fri Feb 04, 2005 7:37 am

You said you got a motherboard replacement, didn't it fix the issue?
Perhaps you should try some games or other benchmarks to see if the issue is actually much of an issue.

zverg · #14 Post by **zverg** » Fri Feb 04, 2005 10:28 am

I have run 05 on my T42 no problem. I don't have 3dmark 2003 to do testing with, but I'll see if one of my friends will let me borrow it. It didn't run at all though when they tried to scam me out of my 9600 by replacing it with a 7500, those 7500s aren't DX9

I don't remember what my 05 scores were, but they were pathetic compared to my desktop but great for a laptop as I recall.

CoolRunnings · #15 Post by **CoolRunnings** » Fri Feb 04, 2005 10:35 am

As per my other thread, I had yet to recieve a box because the IBM techs I spoke with weren't setting things up like they said they were. I now have a box here so I'll see what can be done.

New Thinkpad, big problem!

New Thinkpad, big problem!

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