T420s issues - hardware or software?

[daniel996]

Hi All,

I am hoping someone may have a fix or other ideas for me to try for these two issues, before I invest time in a rebuild.

Issue 1 - Frequently (more than 50% of the time) when I put my ThinkPad into sleep mode when leaving a clients office, leaving my office etc, the next time I open the ThinkPad the system time and date reads the same as when I put the system to sleep.

Issue 2 - I only use the trackpoint, and the trackpad is disabled in BIOS. When moving the trackpoint around, I get random "mouse clicks" under the mouse pointer as it moves around. This is extremely frustrating, and some of the issues as a result of this are hitting send on emails before they are complete, moving the pointer to a different line in the email/document when I am typing resulting in text appearing in the wrong place, browser tabs and application windows being closed unexpectedly and so on. I have tried swapping the keyboard out with a brand new one I had access to (FRU 45N2211), with no result.

I have tried Lenovo support to see if they are known issues or not, the 15 year old in their call center immediately responded with "Sounds like a software problem" and advised they would not investigate any further unless I did a factory reset.

System Details - T420s model 4171, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD (plus OCZ SSD un ultrabay), WWAN, Intel 6205 wireless, factory Lenovo Win7 x64 preload with the usual bunch of apps and utils an IT engineer would use. BIOS and drivers kept up to date using the Lenovo System Update tool.

Regards
Dan

[Neil]

A simple way to determine between hardware and software issues is to boot using a live Linux CD. Then, you have completely different software from what is installed on the HDD, if the issues persist they have to be hardware, if they no longer manifest, they could indeed be caused by misconfigured software.

Another way to fix the UltraNav problem is physically disconnect the touchpad from the motherboard.

[daniel996]

Thanks Neil - good idea. Can a LiveCD be put into sleep/resumed?

Because the trackpad is disabled in BIOS I'd assume (perhaps incorrectly) that it's not part of the problem. The trackpoint is built into the keyboard and connected via the same cable so I can't disconnect it unfortunately.

Cheers
Dan

[Neil]

AFAIK, suspend to RAM works OK with most LiveCDs, especially so if the CD contains drivers for your graphics adapter. Definitely so with Intel graphics.

I guess I misread the part about the touchpad. I was thinking that while using the trackpoint, even though the touchpad is disabled in the BIOS, you were getting random "clicks" activated by palms resting on the touchpad buttons (or the pad itself). I was suggesting disconnecting the touchpad (part of the palm rest, not the keyboard). Of course you cannot disconnect the keyboard, but another test you could do is try using your current software set-up with an external keyboard and mouse, without touching the ThinkPad at all, to see if the software continues to cause random "mouse clicks" while using different hardware.

[daniel996]

thanks Neil,

I've been really careful about not touching those buttons or the trackpad itself and it still happens - but not with external kb/mouse (when docked).

D/L'ing a livecd now, will see how I go

Cheers
Dan