freezing

[mrbojangles]

hi guys (an gals)

just trying to get a better idea of the fault with my T4 1.5 centrino

it boots up ok to xp, but as soon as i move it or use it it just freezes up and will do nothing, and sometimes the screen will flicker or go off and then come back on, also does this in safe mode, seems like the southbridge or gpu? i cant get it to run long enough to get any error codes so this is all i got to go on i was gonna scrap it but happy to send it to reflow repairs to get it fixed if this is the fault, i have tried putting some pressure on the plastic top case around the chips and this has not helped...............any ideas

[poshgeordie]

Hi there!

I've just found your post - I'm Nick (from Reflow Repairs) and I'm really sorry to hear of the freezing problem with your Thinkpad.

From what you're describing the fault could be either chip. Normally once the video goes off it's quite rare for it to return if the GPU chip's unsoldered but we have seen it on a couple of occasions.
I suspect it's more likely to be the Southbridge chip but we'll be able to properly diagnose the fault once we'd had a look at it.

If you haven't already seen it, you might want to watch this YouTube video which shows the chip being reflowed (soldered) onto the motherboard after we've reballed it, and was recorded with our in-house designed Macro Camera system.

If you'd like an official quote, please could you email me on nick@reflowrepairs.com. I'll confirm the various options in the quote for you as well.

[mrbojangles]

Thanks Nick

you did a quote for me yesterday, just sending out the feelers to see if im any where near in my rough diognosis, would hate to send it to you just to find it was some thing silly but looks like it will be heading north just as soon as i get a decent carton to ship it in

[poshgeordie]

Sorry about that!

That's fine and we'll keep in touch through "normal" channels.

[mrbojangles]

Well my trusty old T40 is heading to reflow repairs, for a spot of major surgery, im sure nick will perform his magic and bring the old girl back to life....i need my T40 for my astro imaging

[poshgeordie]

im sure nick will perform his magic and bring the old girl back to life....

We don't offer THOSE services up here

[mrbojangles]

well got my T40 back from nick at reflow repairs, 24 hours on and its holding up well, had a little hicup with the repair but nick dealt with it very professionally and all i can say is "first class service" many thanks nick

[poshgeordie]

Many thanks indeed BJ.

The problem was that when we returned it, almost straight away it stopped working again.

BJ returned it to us and we found that the Southbridge chip had not been soldered properly in one corner - yes even we make mistakes sometimes!

It shows that we have to be more and more vigilant when doing our work and to learn from any errors we make. We now include an extra visual inspection which would have clearly shown the problem in the first place.

Good luck with watching the stars!

Nick

[mrbojangles]

I thought it might be an idea to update this old thread, more than 18 months has passed since the reflow repair, still going strong, but looking like its time for some thing newer

[poshgeordie]

These old Thinkpads are very "repairable" and yours, like my own just keep on going despite the abuse heaped upon them - talking personally about mine!

Good to hear from you too and hope you enjoy whatever one you go for.