X61 Tablet SXGA+ model Wacom digitizer stopped diagnosis?

[milstein]

Dear Forum members,

The stylus function of my X61t stopped functioning mysteriously after I tried to swap out a problematic cable for the monitor. I didn't have time to figure out the reason and the unit showed some serious overheating and fan noise and random shutdown problems. Now, I have installed a new SSD with a new system, and a few times of fan cleaning, the unit seems to be working with occasional temperature at around 80°C.

In short, I don't want to give up this unit mainly because of the keyboard and the vertical screen resolution / real-estate of 1050 pixels. And I want to have the digitizer function back.
(Seeing the new keyboard layout, the new 'trackpad button' for the trackpoint)

Is there any quick method to check if the digitizer hardware is actually functioning?

Thanks in advance.

[ilakast]

You haven't mentioned what OS you used in the first place, so if you used Windows, try Ubuntu on a usb stick or vice versa.

[axur-delmeria]

If the Tablet functions stopped after you tried to yank out the LCD cable, then it's possible that it was damaged it during the attempt.

occasional temperature at around 80°C.

An X61 Tablet should not reach that temperature unless you're stress-testing it.

You may need to change the thermal paste between the heatsink and the processor.

[milstein]

You haven't mentioned what OS you used in the first place, so if you used Windows, try Ubuntu on a usb stick or vice versa.

This unit was a triple boot workhorse (OSX86, Linux Mint, & Windows 7), but I'm currently running only Windows 7 32-bits.
Thanks for the suggestion, I would try an Ubuntu / linux usb stick to test it.

[milstein]

If the Tablet functions stopped after you tried to yank out the LCD cable, then it's possible that it was damaged it during the attempt.

occasional temperature at around 80°C.

An X61 Tablet should not reach that temperature unless you're stress-testing it.

You may need to change the thermal paste between the heatsink and the processor.

I swapped the cable again carefully another time, but it doesn't do the job - there is no new hardware recognized in Windows 7 after an new hardware scan.
It also has the problem of booting into only generic VGA mode and not recognizing the SXGA+ for Windows 7: I have to swivel the hinge a few times and boot a few time to wait for it to boot into a full normal BIOS screen finally, and it will then have the SXGA+ resolution in Windows 7. For Linux, I can hard code that.

And for the thermal paste, I have changed the thermal paste two times (Arctic Silver 5, with the rice-bean grain press method, to both the CPU and the memory chip), but it still reaches > 70°C easily afterwards. Idling (with the dropbox, google drive, etc running in the background) temperature is at ~ 55°C, and right after booting up is at around > 60°C. It is unusable to watch any YouTube stuff as the temperature can go up easily to > 90°C, so my attempt is to rescue this unit for mainly taking research notes (OneNote) and programming and word processing.

What else can I do? Is there any other potential problem to this unit that I can check?

[axur-delmeria]

Regarding the CPU temps, it's possible that the heatpipe has failed. You may have to replace the heatsink.

Note: the X61s (slim) heatsink is identical to one on the X61T.

It also has the problem of booting into only generic VGA mode and not recognizing the SXGA+ for Windows 7: I have to swivel the hinge a few times and boot a few time to wait for it to boot into a full normal BIOS screen finally

Any of the following are possible at this point:
1. both cables are damaged
2. LCD cable is not plugged properly
3. digitizer had gone bad

[milstein]

Hi axur-delmeria,

Thanks for your answer --- and I saw your signature: "rebuilding x61t"! Mine is a 7767-96U model, one of those models with SXGA+ screen.

1. I hope I can rule out #1 cuz I bought and tried already 2 cables - those old used cabled I purchased from eBay;
2. This is what I am puzzled - do you or some other forum members have any good reference (with video or photos) on how the cable connections should be done? Because I always believe I am doing the right thing, at least I apparently haven't left out anything;
3. This is one thing that I want to test, but I haven't found any diagnosis on the internet.

Currently, this machine has only firefox with one tab running, but is already at 61'C. With the multiple boot I have to do every time I reboot it in order to get into a real SXGA+ mode (cuz it cannot detect the resolution) and with the non-working keyboard every time I put it into sleep by the lid unless I do a cold shutdown and reboot, and not to mention the bubbles on this replaced screen 2 years ago and the non-working Wacom and the auto-shutdowns at those really need to get the work done times --- this machine has been driving me crazy.
I really want to tame this non-cooperating x61t again --- at least I tried with my thermal paste attempts and the 2 new cables. I would jump into any machine that has: a trackpoint keyboard and with 1000+ vertical pixel, a VGA port, a modem, a LAN cable port, which can still be under 4 lbs. I consider the X220 series keyboard almost perfect (also T420s, however X220 has only 768 vertical pixels) and its combination with the trackpoint optimal. The current key design seems good but I don't like the keyboard layout, and the lack of a separate middle button for scrolling - the task won't be done as effortlessly in the new ThinkPad models (e.g. ThinkPad Yoga etc) as you have to use a point of your thumb to stick out and touch exactly the middle of the Trackpad (where the middle button locates).

If some forum members know the answers to any of the 1, 2, & 3 questions above, please let me know.
And please keep us updated about your rebuilding of X61t and share your experience.