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T60 graphics card seems to have died. How to make sure?

Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2011 12:42 pm
by polar_foxx
Hello!
all of a sudden my Thinkpad T60 screen started going bananas. It doesn't even run properly in safe mode.
I think the graphics card is dead, but I need to make sure first.

My google search revealed that there's a program called PC Doctor for DOS. Unfortunately the download link to that program is dead and I couldn't find it anywhere on the new Lenovo website.
Does anyone know a working link to the ISO of that program?

Also, if it comes to the worst and my graphics card really is dead, then does anyone know of a linux distribution that doesnt need a graphics card to run?

Thanks in advance and I'm really looking forward to your answers!


PS: My graphics card is the ATI X1300

Re: T60 graphics card seems to have died. How to make sure?

Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2011 1:06 pm
by ausmike
hi Polar*
sorry to hear about your issue....
I have a T60p (wide series model 8471 series) and sometime ago it went crazy suddely (not sure why or HOW!)
( it could see the power and HDrive lights turn on and stay on ,,,, but NOTHING on screen)....so
I tried these steps...

>remove battery and disconnect from power
> press POWER ON button ( press and release) 30 times (count 30 times)
> than pause ( dont press anything- count of 10 )
> than press POWER ON button 10 times

Than plug power source ( leave battery out) and...
PRESS POWER ON button

>>> not sure why my t60p die on me , but these steps - made it alive again

(( someone told me my 'internal battery' - cmos battery is dead!!) which seems weird as my t60p laptop is never unplugged NOR is it ever 'switched off or restarted manually 0 apart from reboot due to MS Updates...Currently running Windows 7 Enter x64 and connected to an EXTERNAL Hi-Def Display with external keyboard and mouse !)

Also; currenty most of trhe SUPPORT PAGES from lenovo is being moved from IBM webservers; so there are lots and lots of OUTAGES , so you might want to retry again later. I couldnt get to my system Update to work. PC Doctor (DOS) is/should available from lenovo website - AFAIK. Just goggle it or search in lenovo support pages


Hope it works for you

Re: T60 graphics card seems to have died. How to make sure?

Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2011 3:06 pm
by polar_foxx
Hey!
Thanks so much for your quick reply! :)
Unfortunately giving my laptop CPR, like you've suggested, hasn't worked.

I've tried out a Kubuntu Live CD, but the screen problems still persist. Must be a hardware issue indeed. Dang!

For now, I'll post a short question on the Lenovo forums to see what advice they have to offer.

Thanks for the support so far!
I'll post the updated PC Doctor (DOS) link here, if I find it!

Re: T60 graphics card seems to have died. How to make sure?

Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2011 3:13 pm
by RealBlackStuff
Go here http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/detail. ... PAD-MATRIX
Pick your type (T60) and follow the links for PC Doctor.

WARNING: Lenovo is the slowest, crappiest website on the planet at the moment, it SUCKS with a BIG S.

Re: T60 graphics card seems to have died. How to make sure?

Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2011 4:37 pm
by rkawakami
Support site seems to be down at the moment. I have a copy of the T60 PC Doctor for DOS install program up on my site:

http://www.kawakami-ca.com/ibm_pcdoc/1ety48ww.exe (Install program; 49,713,704 bytes)
http://www.kawakami-ca.com/ibm_pcdoc/1ety48ww.txt (Release notes)
b0b0974a75ed036f74f86cc27a277512 (MD5 checksum of 1ety48ww.exe file)
6bf7855bc9f329aa2c1e1ad762a7c16e (MD5 checksum of 1ety48ww.iso file; 70,068,224 bytes)
Software name      PC-Doctor DOS CD
                   (ISO image file for bootable CD)

Support models     ThinkPad A30, A30p, A31, A31p
                   ThinkPad G40, G41
                   ThinkPad R40, R40e
                   ThinkPad R50, R50p, R50e, R51, R51e, R52
                   ThinkPad R60, R60e, R61, R61e, R61i
                   ThinkPad T30
                   ThinkPad T40, T40p, T41, T41p, T42, T42p, T43, T43p
                   ThinkPad T60, T60p, T61, T61p
                   ThinkPad X30, X31, X32
                   ThinkPad X40, X41, X41 Tablet
                   ThinkPad X60, X60s, X60 Table, X61, X61s, X61 Tablet
                   ThinkPad Z60m, Z60t, Z61e, Z61m, Z61p, Z61t
                   ThinkPad Reserve Edition

Operating System   Not applicable

Version            2.0.1816
I'm not sure if it's the very latest but I downloaded it about two weeks ago. Also note that this file may disappear in a few months if I happen to upload a newer version.

edit: Support site is back up as of 2200 GMT. Version 2.0.1816 is still the latest release.

http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/downloa ... MIGR-56222

Re: T60 graphics card seems to have died. How to make sure?

Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2011 7:17 am
by polar_foxx
Wow, thank you very much for that!!

I burnt the CD and managed to run the program. I ran the video tests available and here are the results

Video Memory - Failed
Video Pages - Passed
ATI RadeonMobility 2D Test - Failed
ATI RadeonMobility 3D Test - Failed
ATI RadeonMobility Memory Test - Computer Froze
ATI RadeonMobility Quick Test - Failed
ATI RadeonMobility PCIE Test - Passed


Unfortunately, I couldnt figure out how to get a more detailed log of these tests, and that's partly because my computer screen doesnt show the whole picture. It looks like this, even when running the text-only PC Doctor DOS!
http://i.imgur.com/2hL5N.jpg

Any ideas on what I could do next?

Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2011 7:39 am
by Johan
Suggested solution: Get a "new" (used!) very cheap replacement motherboard!

Go grab e.g. this T60 motherboard from ebay.de and replace your apparently defective mobo (assuming that your T60 is having a 4:3 sized form factor).

By the way, what is the specific type/model number of your T60... e.g. 2007-FVG or something similar? (see either the BIOS or see the labet at the bottom).

Johan