Desperate for help A20M Rebuilt. BSOD's

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Twizted · #1 Post by **Twizted** » Fri May 13, 2005 10:15 pm

OK... So here is the short of it.... My friend got a load of IBM laptops in to there Computer shop and he decided to put a few of them together scavenging parts as needed as they all had issues which is why he ended up with them...... He has build atleast 6 from them ... various A20 models... I happened to get an A20M 2628-31U... After getting various missing parts for them i.e. Combo Card, HDD, Memory.... He got it all together... loaded Windows 2K on it and sent it to me.... once I got it, it worked fine... the only things I am missing are the CD-Rom Plastics and a Battery....

Well... later the same day I received it..... I was at a friends house and it BSOD's on me.... And for the past several days it does it... sometimes it just locks up and reboots but usually its a BSOD... sometimes the LCD goes to Vertical lines and then simply freezes up or reboots and in all cases if it reboots itself it never makes it past the Win2K logo screen (with the loading progress bar and what not)...

I am curious as to why he never had any issues while it was in his shop but now there are... I have though of various things... which is why I am writing this post to get the communities ideas on it as I am sure most of you have alot of experience with this...

My first idea was that I could have hosed Win2K when I put a wireless G adapter in the PCMCIA and loaded a loopback driver like a noob cause I have never used anything like this.. Its my first laptop... I have tried running a repair install on Win2K but it still seems to do it...

My second idea was possibly heat... but it does this even when its in a 70F room with air blowing over it...

My third was possibly the CPU as it was originally a Celeron 500MHZ and he put a P3 500MHZ in it but still.. it was fine when he had it.... I have since replaced the Celeron to no avail.... And also switched back to the P3 which the system currently holds...

My fourth though was possibly come kind of loose connection.... I watched a movie and then played music on Winamp 5 all night last night up until noon this morning without a problem.. but... It was never moved or touched... I have noticed sometimes when I move it is when this happened... and I know your saying "Well DUH That's what it is.." but it still has done it before without having been touched lol.. so....

Last but not least... I have though it could be a power issue... As I don't have a battery.. I run it off a AC Power Supply which is my only means to power it right now because I don't have the $65 for a new battery and I am not sure I want to buy a battery as yet since it has issues....
Since none of the laptops came with a PSU unit we have put some together from other laptops the one I have is from a WinBook which I simply replaced the end on with one compatable with the Thinkpad..... The specs are 19VDC @ 2.6A.... would that possibly be an issue??

Please I need some help... I really want to get this baby working smooth... especially since I am going to need to rely on it for GPS when I make my trip to Wisconsin in July...

PLEASE HELP!!

Deb Suran · #2 Post by **Deb Suran** » Sat May 14, 2005 8:20 am

See the first "sticky" at the top of this forum.

Twizted · #3 Post by **Twizted** » Sat May 14, 2005 11:43 am

I totally missed that thread....

I have just done the suggested all but battery.. since I don't own or have access to one.... and CMOS battery since I don't have one to replace it with... I have already reseated the CPU a few times when changing it... and I just now reseated the Ram (reversed there positions also and the Mini PCI combo card for good measure...

As a note... I was watching a movie on it last night and happened to get three BSOD's within a 10 minute period...

There were:

Kmode_Exception_Not_Handled - Win32k.sys
Kmode_Exception_Not_Handled - ntoskrnl.exe
Driver_IRQL_Not_Less_Or_Equal

Those are the usual culprits... There are a few others but I cant seem to recall them.. I will note them down if it happens again but with any luck it wont.. but.. I am a unlucky person

Thanks for the info though.. any further help would be tremendous

Twizted · #4 Post by **Twizted** » Sat May 14, 2005 1:26 pm

Just an update.... Approx 1hour 40 minutes after reseating the Ram and Mini PCI... I got a BSOD while watching a movie... "IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL - ntoskrln.exe"

so...... back to square one....

Puppy · #5 Post by **Puppy** » Sat May 14, 2005 6:19 pm

Have you tried to run a standalone memory testing software like http://www.memtest86.com/ ?

Twizted · #6 Post by **Twizted** » Sat May 14, 2005 7:16 pm

No... not yet...

I took one stick of the memory out... down to 128mb.... and I havnt had any issues yet.... other than a noteable change in system speed..... so... I am going to continue to use it as is until tomorrow and see if anything happenes... and I will prolly put the other stick in by itself tomorrow to see if any issues arise from it so I will know what the problem is.. but... I am working on a deal right now for a Dell Inspiron 4100..... I am going to trade a P4 2.2Ghz Desktop system for it...

Twizted · #7 Post by **Twizted** » Sat May 14, 2005 8:13 pm

ok.... Just ran into a BSOD with a single stick of memory... Which was a new one actually... it was "MEMORY_MANAGMENT 0x0000001A"

I have swapped the other 128mb stick in to see what comes of it...

shadynet · #8 Post by **shadynet** » Sun May 15, 2005 10:11 am

it might be the PS, i think most TPs use 16Volts, somewhat around 3.36Amps, so the 19V PS might have done something, but don't kill me if I'm too stupid to know that an A20 needs 19V

Twizted · #9 Post by **Twizted** » Sun May 15, 2005 1:13 pm

I have also thought that the PSU could be the problem... but... not sure yet.... I am going to try to get an actual A20 PSU asap but as I dont have much money to throw around it will be a while...

The system seems to be running on the other stick of memory decent.... time will tell.. but it was on all of last night from approx 12 midnight until 1:40pm today with no problems... watched another movie, listened to Music and generally opened everything I use on it to try to induce a failure and its still ok... The PSU is about 4.36 watts short of a A20 PSU so I am not sure if that could be the problem with it... I am more in the notion it is the other Memory module...

loopback · #10 Post by **loopback** » Mon May 16, 2005 2:51 pm

I HAVE THIS PROBLEM!!!

My thinkpad a21m only recently started to have problems, and im almost positive its a CPU/Heat issue. it crashes randomly, sometimes within 10 minutes of boot, sometimes 2 days. there is no warning, although cpu strain has alot to do with it -

after reading this forum its a common problem, it just sucks as theres nothing you can really do. i get those EXACT SAME error messages, ntoskrnl and IRQ LESS EQUAL etc, along with some other ones that randomly appear. [censored] annoying

Deb Suran · #11 Post by **Deb Suran** » Tue May 17, 2005 8:46 am

I believe both of you have toasted motherboards. Everything you're both reporting I've gone through with an A22m: BSODs, random crashes/restarts, working for up to two weeks after trying something new only to start having problems again, etc. Yes, it is terribly frustrating, I'd love to find a source for new or refurb mobos for these machines at a decent price.

Twizted · #12 Post by **Twizted** » Tue May 17, 2005 11:23 am

yeah... it would be nice.... I have just about reached my wits end with it.... I am currently offering a P4 2.2Ghz system for a good Laptop... know anyone interested?

Desperate for help A20M Rebuilt. BSOD's

Desperate for help A20M Rebuilt. BSOD's

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