R500 bought as "Intermittent freezing"; bent USB pins as a cause?

[glossywhite]

Just bought this as a keyboard/hinge donor for my recent purchase of another, working R500 (apart from a faulty keyboard and VERY slightly slack hinges - not too much of an issue with the hinges):

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/152290444088

What are the odds that this "Intermittent freezing" is caused by the USB port pins shorting to ground, due to the infamously shoddy USB sockets?

Paid £19.99, so I'll get a new keyboard and hinges out of it if nothing else.

Thank you

[excal32]

If I were you I'd swap the mobo from the bad kb/slack hinged R500 into this one. Keep the other R500 around for parts if & when you need a replacement for any.

[glossywhite]

If I were you I'd swap the mobo from the bad kb/slack hinged R500 into this one. Keep the other R500 around for parts if & when you need a replacement for any.

For what reason?

Thanks

[excal32]

If I were you I'd swap the mobo from the bad kb/slack hinged R500 into this one. Keep the other R500 around for parts if & when you need a replacement for any.

For what reason?

Thanks

Scenario 1: Disassemble both R500's to get to the motherboard, swap them, at the same time investigate the board from the freezer R500 for exposed USB pins which might cause a problem. Re- assemble the good R500 with the new keyboard. Done, and the hinges are solid.

Scenario 2: Do everything in scenario 1... except also take apart the screens and frames completely to swap hinges... and risk them being put back in loose?

I mean, if you want it to be a longer project, it's your R500 and your time so feel free to swap hinges if you want to. So, it seems like a lot of unnecessary work to me, personally, if the hinges on the freezing R500 are in good shape.

[Cigarguy]

Could be a bad USB but I doubt it if only a bent pin with either cause a short or it won't. Fortunately USB ports are easy enough to check. I would look at bad RAM or the CPU not seated properly.

[glossywhite]

Could be a bad USB but I doubt it if only a bent pin with either cause a short or it won't. Fortunately USB ports are easy enough to check. I would look at bad RAM or the CPU not seated properly.

Thanks!

Sadly the seller, as many do, has neglected to include closeup/high res images and/or the serial no of the machine; this crappy JPEG will only zoom SO far. I am trying to detect the exact build of the machine to ascertain whether it's a 1680x1050 model (it has no LCD), because if it WAS, it would have the correct cable... and I have a 1680x1050 panel upstairs...

[kfzhu1229]

I had the intermittent freezing issues on a non-intel GPU computer and it was the GPU throttling but when I realized that the VRAM already desoldered itself and ends up in intermittent garbled screen and bluescreen
Also for the hinge thing I used to have a 770ED which if you lift the laptop by the hinge (you are not supposed to do that anyways) it 100% goes bluescreen and everything is safe and sound after reboot

[Saucey]

A broken USB port may stop it from booting up.
Pull apart the pins and see if the issue still arises.

[glossywhite]

A broken USB port may stop it from booting up.
Pull apart the pins and see if the issue still arises.

Thank you, will do that.

[jaspen-meyer]

Insufficient ram, plus no swap disk, can cause "Intermittent freezing".

[kfzhu1229]

If it freezes and then unfreezes check GPU
If it tends to freeze until reboot/shut down then check CPU

[glossywhite]

Well folks, as you can see, the USB sockets are all A1 condition. In fact, this machine looks barely used!

https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5624/3039 ... 4f67_c.jpg

MOD Edit: picture WAY too big! Tags removed. Please read the Forum rules, especially Section 5.
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=14339

[ajkula66]

So what are your initial findings now that the machine is in your possession?

[glossywhite]

So what are your initial findings now that the machine is in your possession?

I haven't had a chance to look at it properly yet. I have put its pristine, new condition keyboard into my existing R500 (2714AAG), and my typing experience has been transformed! My next plan is to move the hinges from the new donor to my existing R500 as the hinges are a little floppy - not too bad, but I want as good a machine as I can get. Bear in mind that my TOTAL expenditure for TWO R500s is a mere £40, and one of them is fully working!

[glossywhite]

UPDATE:

For those who are interested, I have now completed my parts transfer from the donor R500 to my main R500, and what I have moved from the donor to the main machine, is below:

~ Keyboard (FAR superior, mint condition - non "swiss cheese" keyboard.)
~ Keyboard surround/bezel and speakers (my old one had a few miniscule paint flecks, but I thought I may as well have a pristine one.)
~ Hinges: the old ones were quite slack, although not awful, but there was around ~1" of play at the top edge of the screen when pushed. The new hinges move about 1/3r of that, nice and tight.
~ HDD caddy & rubber runners - my machine had a loose drive with just the rubber runners, so putting my SSD in a proper caddy with proper plastic pull tab is better.

Someone previously suggested that I might put my main R500 motherboard in the donor chassis - since that would cause a serial # mismatch I didn't go down that path - that and my main R500 has a Windows 7 Pro COA sticker which I want to keep intact.

[ajkula66]

Someone previously suggested that I might put my main R500 motherboard in the donor chassis - since that would cause a serial # mismatch I didn't go down that path - that and my main R500 has a Windows 7 Pro COA sticker which I want to keep intact.

You do understand that neither of these issues is really problematic, right?

[glossywhite]

Someone previously suggested that I might put my main R500 motherboard in the donor chassis - since that would cause a serial # mismatch I didn't go down that path - that and my main R500 has a Windows 7 Pro COA sticker which I want to keep intact.

You do understand that neither of these issues is really problematic, right?

Of course, but there's something about having things inside that don't match - even if no one else knows - that drives me mad! I may forget what was put where and from where, in the future, and get confusing and conflicting results when looking up my machine on support etc... no... just no, that's not me, I like everything to be matching up, traceable, straight and clear. Additionally, there is NO reason for me to put the guts from mine into the donor - the underside casing and magnesium roll cage and internals are immaculate on mine - there's nothing to gain by doing so.