IBM Thinkpad x20 freezing problem

[evanwhitneyx20]

hello i just currently bought a x20 thinkpad off ebay and i installed a ibm travelstar 60gb hard drive and threw windows xp pro sp2 on it. i kno 2000 pro would run better but i perfer xp. my laptop currently has 320mb of ram. i am very computer savey but i was just curious to kno if anyone esle has run into this problem before? if so i would like some direction into what i should do to fix it and also i was on ebay and noticed they had mini pci wirless cards internal and it said it would work for this laptop is that possible because my research said no also the x20 i have is the type 2662.

[tomh009]

Evan, welcome to the forums. Can you provide some details on your freezing problem -- how often does it occur, what are the symptoms, how long does it last etc?

I'm not aware of anyone getting a wireless MiniPCI card working on an X20; I think it only supports Ethernet and modem cards. Maybe it's possible but your safe choice would be to use CardBus (PC Card) 802.11 card instead.

[evanwhitneyx20]

Evan, welcome to the forums. Can you provide some details on your freezing problem -- how often does it occur, what are the symptoms, how long does it last etc?

I'm not aware of anyone getting a wireless MiniPCI card working on an X20; I think it only supports Ethernet and modem cards. Maybe it's possible but your safe choice would be to use CardBus (PC Card) 802.11 card instead.

i do use a belking 802.11g card works ok lol i miss my usrobitics, the problem occurs if the laptop sits after a while just at idle also occurs about and 1 hour of surfing on the internet, it just locks up and you can't do anything about it but turn off the laptop and turn it back on, and thats obvs bad for the hard drive... i never had much luck with laptops and the reason i bought this one is for the weight and portability its one of the best ibm thinkpads ive used in a while apart from the freezing.

[tomh009]

Sounds like the entire system is frozen -- no mouse, caps lock light doesn't work, either, right?

If the problem only occurs after an hour of running, I would be suspicious of a heat-related issue. Can you install TPFanControl and use it to monitor the temperatures? It shouldn't be overheating but the behaviour is suspiciously similar ...

[evanwhitneyx20]

yea whole thing locks up can't do nothing, i thought of it as being a overheating issue, was that common on the x20 and where can i get that program, i'll google search it, i feel dumb lol i have all these certifications in computers lol

[evanwhitneyx20]

any more suggestions help please laptop temp 68c

[tomh009]

Sorry, I missed your request earlier. You can find TPFanControl here:
http://www.staff.uni-marburg.de/~schmitzr/donate.html

You can find discussion about it in the ThinkPad Utility forum ...
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewforum.php?f=27

[evanwhitneyx20]

thank you very much if i decide to put thermal paste on my cpu anything i need to kno before hand when taking the x20 apart?

[thebigarniedog]

Your problem might be the travelstar HDD you added to the machine aka the IBM Deathstar. You might want to ask the lad on ebay whether the system was prone to freezing with whatever HDD they were using prior to selling it to you.

[tomh009]

The "deathstar" reference actually was generally applied to the IBM/Hitachi DeskStar 3.5" drives, not the 2.5" TravelStar models. The DeskStars went through a rough patch of reliability a few years ago.

I have no hesitation using TravelStar hard drives, though, and have not seen any failures on those from the numerous drives and systems we have had.

Still, a drive problem is of course always a possibility, regardless of the type of drive. But since the symptom is always occurring after about an hour, I really suspect a heat-related issue.

[evanwhitneyx20]

the hard drive was bought brand new at a local computer parts store down the road for a mere price of $20 , i do suspect a heat issue, because the hard drive is not clicking if it was clicking then i would suspect a hdd issue, the laptop is really hot after it frezzes (after an hour) i pick it up, and also a computer an 1inch thick i would suspect a heat issue although pIII should not heat up that hot (68), also i would not hesitate to use a travelstar hard drive there very reliable! another note the system was pulled for a business that used it daily that upgraded to better systems. tomh009 i want to thank you with all your help we will still disscus this issue untill its resolved. also is there anything i need to kno before i pull this x20 apart, if possible i will make a theard on how to do this procedure.

[evanwhitneyx20]

^i just read the post in the other thread please disregard my last statement.

[evanwhitneyx20]

update: i took apart the laptop and got to the heat sink using the hmm and everything went smooth, the old thermal paste was shot and hard as a rock so i removed it and put a thin layer of arctic silver 5 on there put it all back together and now idle its at 35 and under a load no more then 46, if it frezzes its deffently the hard drive which is under warrnty, i want to thank everyone on this forum for you help its a great community i'll keep you posted if it freezes again... please dont' freeze i love this x20 alot !!!!!!!!!!

[evanwhitneyx20]

also on another note remember when using arctic silver 5 to place a thin layer of it on the cpu dieode if it gets anywhere else it can ruin the hardware or even cpu!