Strange issue, buttons + keys stop working until reboot

[Georgeolivergo]

I've had a strange problem with my x41t, Windows XP SP 2, for a while now and after much searching I'm stumped. Maybe someone here can see what's going on.

A little while after a reboot (within a day?), the browser back/forward buttons, the hardware volume buttons on screen display, and the ctrl-alt-del combination stops working.

The hardware volume buttons still control volume, but the on screen display stops showing up.

The alt-left-arrow and -right-arrow combination still works for back/forward in the browser and file explorer, but the dedicated back/forward buttons stop working.

Sometimes maximised windows will cover the task bar (which is set to always be on top). Sometimes this problem fixes itself. Sometimes maxed windows will cover the bar, and then when I click in my second monitor extended desktop, the task bar on the laptop will reappear. Then when I click back on the laptop, the window hides the task bar again.

There definitely could be several problems here all working at once.

Restarting TPHKMGR tends to fix the volume button on screen display problem temporarily.

Only a reboot returns things to normal.

So...any ideas?

[RealBlackStuff]

Try un/re-installing the graphics driver.

[keithsketchley]

I have a different problem but also in the freezing category:
The computer freezes with blank display, not responding to keyboard input that would normally bring it out of standby.
I have two suspicions:
- not responding to the keyboard (I replaced the keyboard on one).
- has entered hibernation (sometimes there is sporadic drive activity and after a few minutes it comes alive with the password entry dialogue box, but sometimes nothing).

It occurs when on AC or DC (vehicle) power – I have it set not to hibernate except when on battery, when on the Internet or not. Computers have all Microsoft updates and applicable Lenovo updates (I will double-check that, they were loaded separately and have different applications. (E.g. one has Microsoft Office and Adobe Acrobat Full, the other much less. The only common applications besides Windows XP Pro/3 are Vuescan, different versions of PKZip, different versions of RecordNow, and Adobe Acrobat Reader).

[keithsketchley]

...continued..
I’ve gone through settings, and changed screen saver to show something other than blank (so I can see its activity if any). I have a password set for screen saver plus standby (is single PW with XP Pro).

I've re-installed keyboard and graphics SW. (Beware there are two display/graphics software pieces on Lenovo's website.)

One problem is the combination of BIOS, Windows, and Lenovo power management features – having three people’s fingers in the design is a recipe for trouble, and getting all of them set appropriately is a task.

[keithsketchley]

One the computer I most often use portably, I found the Hibernate setting to be 5 mins, apparently the default value.
That means it will go into hibernation quite often, as it may well take more than five minutes to get to a conference room or vehicle and re-establish external power.

So I set time for hibernation and a few other things like turn off disk drive way up, and will see if that helps.

[keithsketchley]

As for graphics drivers, there are at least three:
- Display Driver, aka Graphics Accelerator, aka Graphics Media Acceleration Driver, aka Video Driver. (The latest install file I have gives version 6.14.10.4631.)
- Monitor file, to adjust colour settings (The latest install file I have gives version 2.0.0.)
- System Interface Driver, which affects some display functions (The latest install file I have gives version 1.01.0907 BUT Hotkey Features Integration gives later version.)
-
Confusion factors is that Hotkey Features Integration also installs the SID, so it is possible to unwittingly over-ride a later version of SID installed by HFI with an earlier version of SID, since Lenovo supplied that as its own file. Sounds like an opportunity for problems.
There is a table in the text file for HFI identifying driver versions, and the installation routine gives a list of what was installed then what is installed at the end. (Running Setup.exe from C:\DRIVERS\WIN\HOTKEY will give the dialogue box to display driver versions or install the software.)

(Driver versions listed in the installation/status box are on-screen-display (of Fn key status, briefly), fullscreen magnifier (which includes both a projector aid and a zoom feature), SID, auto scroll utility, and Lenovo Patch Utlity. The ReadMe file for HFI lists versions of OSD, FSM, SID, DU (Display Utility which facilitates setting colours), ASU, and LPU. The latest HFI installation file I have is 3.70.003. The Patch item is incorrectly explained in the Lenovo download page for HFI, the original separate distribution of the patch says it adds a file HKVOLKEY.DLL to prevent crash of TPOSDSVC.EXE, whose Properties say it is “On screen display message generator for Think” – note the OSD driver reference above.)

Another complication is that there are at least two LCD panel identifications, one with TFT prefix (T for Twisted I presume, a later type of LCD display). I know there are two brands of display panel for the basic x41, and that whatever is in the Tablet had a reputation for being a great improvement over the original x41’s display. It seems as though the installation chooses the correct driver, but I am not sure. Swapping HDDs between x41 may add to the confusion.

Thinkwiki.org has a couple of articles addressing unexpected display blanking, short on details but one is based on reports from users of the Ubuntu small o/s.

[keithsketchley]

I suspect hardware problems as the cause of some cases.

In particular, the x41 seems to get an intermittency in the palmrest area, especially if grabbed by the right front corner which is weak.

I'll dig into connection of the fingerprint reader (though I do not use it I presume it would lock the keyboard). The keyboard itself, including mouse buttons and scroll button, is not connected in that area but well forward.

[keithsketchley]

I've now seen the phenomenon with Ubuntu, but have limited experience with it. That suggests either a hardware problem, or a BIOS-driver mismatch (on the theory that Windows and Ubuntu use some of the same driver features deep down), or perhaps common power handling for energy saving.

Monitoring continues. An x41 will run for days doing a loooong task, but another time will hang after a half hour without any handling other than using the keyboard.

It appears from the reaction of USB-connected HDDs that the computer is going into Standby or Hibernate, rather than simply not responding to the keyboard, but cannot be woken up through the keyboard.

[keithsketchley]

Does anyone know how Windows XP Pro would respond to loss of connectivity with the HDD?

(I've seen the phenomenon from the very beginning of boot (key icons flash as normal but no IBM splash screen) to well into normal bootup of Windows.)