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Startup and hardware multiple problems

X60/X61 and X60t/X61t Series
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TonyC
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Location: Pierrerue France

Startup and hardware multiple problems

#1 Post by TonyC » Mon Mar 08, 2021 7:41 am

This is a long going saga
I have a X60 that is not in good health, with problems which I think are hardware/BIOS related.
So here we go:
1. Slow slow start up ( even when in the BiOS)
2. Seems to run hot (temp at the fan 66C)
3. USB problem "Device not recognised" error in win 10 but all 3 ports are working
4. Shuts down when booted to win 10 after a few minutes
5. Will not work on battery; fast orange flashing light when AC unpluged and X60 turned on. (I have 3 good batteries and 3 working AC units)
It is a 1707, X60 1.8 dual core 3 g ram 200 g HHD
I've tried lots of things but I now think I'm not consistant enough. I wonder are they individual problems or are they inter-connected.
I did take off the keyboard and palm rest to see if the charging wiring system was alright. There was no apparent problem and it all went back together again fine.
Any help would be appreciated

TonyC
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Location: Pierrerue France

Re: Startup and hardware multiple problems

#2 Post by TonyC » Wed Mar 10, 2021 6:43 am

I guess this is too complex a question since I I have no replies.
Can anybody tell me if the battery connection to the motherboard is a USB type connection?

axur-delmeria
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Re: Startup and hardware multiple problems

#3 Post by axur-delmeria » Wed Mar 10, 2021 9:34 am

TonyC wrote:
Wed Mar 10, 2021 6:43 am
I guess this is too complex a question since I I have no replies.
Can anybody tell me if the battery connection to the motherboard is a USB type connection?
1. It may be a number of issues piled on top of one another. i remember posting a reply but somehow it didn't stick. :O
Shutdown issue can be caused by the CPU overheating (you mentioned that issue as well), virus or other malware, issue with the power circuitry, or something else altogether.

The CPU temperature issue is generally due to dust buildup and dried-up thermal paste. That said, X60 models with Core 2 Duo processors are known to run hot. My aunt has one and I've had to undervolt the processor to keep temps in check.

Slowdown is usually due to the ragged old HDD, Windows 10 running really poorly on hard drives as a matter of personal experience, and Win10 being a memory hog (running WIn 10 on anything less than 4GB RAM is a bad idea).

Your battery issue is just a dead batt, that's all.

2. No. The battery has a much higher voltage than USB. Nominal voltage is 14.4v IIRC, max is 16.8v at full charge.
Planned Purchase: T480s i5-8350 FHD Touch
Impulse Buy: Thinkpad not named for safety reasons :lol:
RIP: X220 4291-C91 X61 7676-A24 760XD-U9E :cry:

davidgurvich
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Re: Startup and hardware multiple problems

#4 Post by davidgurvich » Wed Mar 10, 2021 10:31 am

I would emphasize what axur-delmeria wrote.
Slowdown is usually due to the ragged old HDD
The cpu temp is high but I've had issues like this with failing hard drives. Random things not working, really slow startup. Easy test is to pull the hard drive and see if you get to BIOS faster.
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TonyC
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Location: Pierrerue France

Re: Startup and hardware multiple problems

#5 Post by TonyC » Thu Mar 11, 2021 8:46 am

Thank you folks for the help and advice
I have spent the day with PC-Doctor and all the diagnostics have come up OK
I have erased the HDD because there nay be a problem in boot partition
And I will now do a clean install of windows 10.
Please tell me that my 32 bit x60 with 3 gb of ram will handle win10. I will only use this computer to view, file and do a little editing of pictures.
I have another X60 on win 10 for recording only and works well.
because of the two I have 3 batteries and 3 sets of AC leads all working well. So the flashing battery light is a lot more complicated I think

RealBlackStuff
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Re: Startup and hardware multiple problems

#6 Post by RealBlackStuff » Thu Mar 11, 2021 10:29 am

I doubt very much that it will run anywhere half-decent under 32-bit with only 3gB RAM.
Good time to start dabbling in Linux.
Lovely day for a Guinness! (The Real Black Stuff)
Lenovo: X240, X250, T440p, T480, M900 Tiny.

PS: the old Boardroom website is still available on the Wayback Machine
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Re: Startup and hardware multiple problems

#7 Post by davidgurvich » Thu Mar 11, 2021 10:42 am

The cpu upgrade isn't expensive if you want to use 64-bit but won't allow more than 3GB ram as that's a chipset limitation.
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Re: Startup and hardware multiple problems

#8 Post by TRS-80 » Thu Mar 11, 2021 1:19 pm

Have you tried replacing thermal paste? At the age I am guessing this machine is, it's probably all dry and crusty by now (and no longer doing its job of conducting heat).

If that makes things better, next step I would do is upgrade to SSD for what will likely be the most noticeable improvement.

As RBS said, might as well upgrade to GNU/Linux while you are at it. For the things you said you need to do, you will not even notice a difference (other than slightly different UI, and an increase in speed).
All good things are Wild and Free.

What is free software and why is it so important for society?

(2022) Actively on the lookout for for 15" T60 FlexView / Hydis LED displays and parts, for my own usage. Kindly PM me your demands if you are willing to part with anything. :D

axur-delmeria
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Re: Startup and hardware multiple problems

#9 Post by axur-delmeria » Thu Mar 11, 2021 9:45 pm

davidgurvich wrote:
Thu Mar 11, 2021 10:42 am
The cpu upgrade isn't expensive if you want to use 64-bit but won't allow more than 3GB ram as that's a chipset limitation.
The processor in the X60 is soldered to the system board, and cannot be upgraded without specialized equipment.
Planned Purchase: T480s i5-8350 FHD Touch
Impulse Buy: Thinkpad not named for safety reasons :lol:
RIP: X220 4291-C91 X61 7676-A24 760XD-U9E :cry:

TonyC
Posts: 29
Joined: Thu Dec 10, 2020 1:43 pm
Location: Pierrerue France

Re: Startup and hardware multiple problems

#10 Post by TonyC » Sat Mar 13, 2021 5:32 am

Thanks for all the wisdom folks.
I swapped out the HHD and clean install win 10 All is good now....except for the battery light.
I have another X60 with SSD running win 10 solely for recording purposes and it works fine. It also means that I know my 3 batteries and 3 leads are good.
Ye the X60 chipset only supports 32 bit 3gb ram; answer is to swap a X61 motherboard with T 7300 chip but that motherboard costs 50-70 euro a good X60 machine is just 120-170 euro...don't know?
Time now to get working and to stop playing with the toys. Any ideas on the batterie light?

Oh and a special "SHOUT OUT" to real black stuff hope you have a great St. Patrick Day on Wednesday enjoy the "Jiggery of Dancers and the "Battalion Cold Majorettes" in Wexford.
I guarantee you that here in France we'll "Down the Black and have the Crack and play the Squiddley Dee" Have fun.

RealBlackStuff
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Re: Startup and hardware multiple problems

#11 Post by RealBlackStuff » Sat Mar 13, 2021 6:30 am

@TonyC:
Thank you for the good wishes.
Unfortunately there will be next to none public Paddy's Day festivities.
But anyone interested can watch virtual activities here: https://www.stpatricksfestival.ie/events

As an aside: it's nearly all tourists that attend such parades etc., the Irish stay at home or meet with friends.
Unfortunately not much of that is even allowed this year.
(No) thanks to the UK-version of Covid-19, full lockdown in Ireland has been extended until the 2nd half of May!

But I digress.
The X60 lights are all on the inverter, and controlled by fuses F3, F4 and F5, left/below the LCD-connector.
Maybe one of those is gone?
Lovely day for a Guinness! (The Real Black Stuff)
Lenovo: X240, X250, T440p, T480, M900 Tiny.

PS: the old Boardroom website is still available on the Wayback Machine
.

TonyC
Posts: 29
Joined: Thu Dec 10, 2020 1:43 pm
Location: Pierrerue France

Re: Startup and hardware multiple problems

#12 Post by TonyC » Tue Mar 16, 2021 12:26 pm

OK
While I was trying to discover how to check your fuses with a multimeter on my X60 I ended up buying a X61 with win 10 very cheep (don't ask me how that happened ... at the same time time I ended buying an 1986 mini cooper s - all the bit but needing to be put together.....mad or what).
So the original X60 will go to hibernation now until the long nights of winter.
Question: can I swap out an SSD with Win 10 in a X60 to my new X61 without doing anything else?

RealBlackStuff
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Re: Startup and hardware multiple problems

#13 Post by RealBlackStuff » Tue Mar 16, 2021 12:42 pm

If the X60 W10 is 32-bit, it will have problems with the 64-bit capability of the X61.
I don't know if Micro$haft allows such a swap, just give it a try.
Most likely it will 'update' like mad, if it doesn't crash.
Lovely day for a Guinness! (The Real Black Stuff)
Lenovo: X240, X250, T440p, T480, M900 Tiny.

PS: the old Boardroom website is still available on the Wayback Machine
.

davidgurvich
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Re: Startup and hardware multiple problems

#14 Post by davidgurvich » Tue Mar 16, 2021 1:25 pm

Might work in safe mode but all kinds of issues with drivers. Clean install is required to change over to 64-bit W10. Cannot do an in place upgrade.
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TonyC
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Joined: Thu Dec 10, 2020 1:43 pm
Location: Pierrerue France

Re: Startup and hardware multiple problems

#15 Post by TonyC » Thu Mar 18, 2021 4:06 pm

Imagine my surprise when the new X61 arrived in the post on Wed last; when I opened it to find that I had actually bought myself a X61 Tablet -joy of joys, a real new toy for me. It's in good shape it needs a QWERTY keyboard which I think I can swap from the lesser of my X60s. Windows 10 is stable but the battery is original and only 65% capacity now (about an hour use now; it was only the small 2800 mWh originaly). I'm asuming removing and replacing keyboards is straight-forward. I can also swap out one of the 2gb ram cards from the x60 and replace the 1 gb card in the x61. That will give me 4 Gb of ram on the X61. Later I'll clone the 80Gb HHD and replace it with SSD. What fun I'll have now that the days are lengthenting.
Any one tell me how to set my multimeter to test the MB fuses?

TonyC
Posts: 29
Joined: Thu Dec 10, 2020 1:43 pm
Location: Pierrerue France

Re: Startup and hardware multiple problems

#16 Post by TonyC » Thu Mar 25, 2021 5:09 am

At last I have all my x60s and tablet X61 up and running on windows 10. The X60 is on 3Gb ram and 230 Gb SSD and is working fine; I use it for recording audio with light editing. The Tablet X61 has 4Gb and 250GB SSD and is very good and stable. my wife uses this for photos etc. At the moment she is doing guitar tuition with video and it's working perfectly.
So for all of you who are concerned. No problems with windows 10 and X60 SSD and very goods result for the X61 with 4 ram and SSD. I think I'll use Linux on the original X60 with 2GB ram and 300Gb HHD.
Thank you all for all the help and advice.

naomimini
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Joined: Fri Oct 08, 2021 10:13 am
Location: Pingdong, Taiwan

Re: Startup and hardware multiple problems

#17 Post by naomimini » Fri Oct 08, 2021 10:45 am

Hi. I also have my X61 tablet installed with Win 10. It runs well, but it seems that Win 10 does not support the drivers I found for my fingerprint reader, screen rotation, and screen buttons. I have tried to search and download a lot of drivers which claimed to solve the problems. Unfortunately, they just do not work. Much appreciated if anyone could kindly help me to get my X61 tablet to really work like a tablet.
Thank you and wish you all good health.
Chen from Taiwan (Formosa).
X61 tablet, X301, X201, X201 tablet, X 220 tablet.

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