T60p problems

[marYn]

My friend bought a T60p (ATI graphics) off eBay and then problems started. It was not possible to install Windows 7 or XP, when when some graphics should have shown on the display, the notebook hanged up or rebooted. Sometimes it suddenly switched off. Ok we realized it is probably bad mainboard, so he ordered a new one.

I've replaced the motherboard and things got better, but there are still problems. When the laptop is turned off for a while, it's possible to install Ubuntu 10.10 and even run it for a longer time. Anyway if I restart the computer, it freezes before GRUB or sometimes after the GRUB. IF I leave the laptop to "cool off", then it starts without problems.

It's possible to start the installation of Windows 7, go through the install process, but at the final stage (when Windows shows a message, it's completing the configuration for the computer) it restarts and while starting up again, it hangs up at boot. It only shows Starting Windows and when those colorful things start to animate, it hangs.

Have anyone of you a similar experience? What do you think, what is the cause?
Thanks for your ideas.

[RealBlackStuff]

Sounds like an overheating problem.
The original motherboard might actually still be good!
Did you properly clean the CPU and cooler, and replaced the thermal paste with something like Arctic Silver 5?
If not, then symptoms like yours show up.

[marYn]

Sounds like an overheating problem.
The original motherboard might actually still be good!

Yes I was afraid of that the original motherboard might be good. My friend had this laptop in IBM service and they told him that previous user might spoiled some water on it. But nobody knows the truth for sure. That's why he bought a new motherboard.. :/

I'll try to clean the heatsink and make sure it has good connection to the graphics chip. Thanks so far!

[Harryc]

RAM can causes freezes and misc issues also. Try running memtest for a few hours.
http://www.memtest.org/

[antelope]

I have a T60p as well and I used to have problems with instantaneous shutdown, especially if I was running many programs at once (AutoCad + AcrobatPro + Outlook and other MS Office programs).

My problems went away when I had the "penny mod" done on the heat sink. The fix is detailed elsewhere on this site but the main link is the first one below.

I've also cleaned the fan a few times to make sure that doesn't have to operate under undue stress. I ended up replacing the fan about six months ago. It was starting to sound pretty scrappy and I worried about it going down. I run the computer almost 24/7 so it isn't so surprising.

References:
"Improving T60p Heatsink Performance", especially post by bmwman91 on pg 2:
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... ix#p368204
Also, this references the first link but is more recent:
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... ix#p561825

[marYn]

Hello everyone, thanks again for your help, I'll try to check the heat sink and fan. I'll let you know the result Thanks so far!!

[marYn]

So it seems the T60p doesn't boot properly even when left one day intact. I think it's not an overheating problem. My friend is going to take it to IBM service center.

When I have some more info, I'll let you know what was the problem..

[lmittell]

If you blow out the fan with compressed gas, make sure you keep the fan blades from spinning with a pencil tip or other suitable object. Otherwise, you'll overspeed the fan motor and kill it.

Larry