Thinkpads Forum

Hello everyone!

My X230 works great once I finally get into the OS. I run both Windows 7 and Linux Mint off a thumb drive. For the first 3-8 boots the computer will freeze up with scattered red pixels all over the screen.

I have no idea what could be causing this. Any ideas, recommendations on how to resolve this are very appreciated.

Looks like GPU issue. How old is it? Using standard VGA driver may solve the problem at the cost of losing GPU performance.

Welcome to the Forum.
You could have a wonky USB-port, are you talking about the USB2.0 or 3.0 port?
Have you tried the same, but booting from a HD/SSD instead?

nitrocaster wrote:Looks like GPU issue. How old is it? Using standard VGA driver may solve the problem at the cost of losing GPU performance.

I got it refurbished from Overstock only a few months ago. To try this out would I just uninstall the current driver from the Windows menu?

RealBlackStuff wrote:Welcome to the Forum.
You could have a wonky USB-port, are you talking about the USB2.0 or 3.0 port?
Have you tried the same, but booting from a HD/SSD instead?

Windows boots from the SSD and Linux Mint is run off a USB flash drive. Both do the same thing.

I usually have something plugged into a USB port upon boot (mouse, external hard disk). I will try booting a few times without having anything plugged in and seeing if that resolves the issue.

loveshisx230 wrote:I got it refurbished from Overstock only a few months ago. To try this out would I just uninstall the current driver from the Windows menu?

Yes, just uninstall it so Windows will use standard VGA driver from Microsoft.

RealBlackStuff wrote:Welcome to the Forum.
You could have a wonky USB-port, are you talking about the USB2.0 or 3.0 port?
Have you tried the same, but booting from a HD/SSD instead?

I'm on 8 shutdowns/start-ups into Windows now with nothing plugged in to the USB ports and no freezes.

I find it odd that once everything's up and running, and I plug in a USB device the computer doesn't freeze.

Now if these ports are wonky, how would I know? What should I be looking for?

I have a different take on this problem. From your description, it could be related to bad/defective memory when the system is cold. I would try the following:

1) Get a copy of memtest86+ from here. Recommend the pre-compiled bootable .ISO (.zip) version.
2) Extract the .ISO file and burn it onto a blank CD. Make sure that you use a program that can handle .ISO (image) files properly.
3) Remove all HD and USB thumb drives; no use confusing the system with attempting to boot from some other drive. I'm assuming that you have an Ultrabase. If not, use an external CD drive connected via USB. Mount the memtest86+ boot CD in the drive.
4) Boot the system, press F12 to get the Boot Device menu, then select the CD drive.
5) Watch and wait for any errors.
6) You could also "pre-stress" the memory module(s) by cooling them off before trying this memory diagnostic. That can be done by putting them into the fridge for a minute (or outside in the crisp Minnesota air ). Be careful that you don't get them too cold as condensation can form while the memory is warming up to operating temperature.