T42p no USB

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Half-Saint · #1 Post by **Half-Saint** » Thu Sep 24, 2015 5:17 am

I just finished setting up Windows 7 on a T42p (Pentium M 1.8GHz, 2GB RAM, 160GB HDD) and installed K-Meleon 75.1 which works rather fast I must say. Anyway, everything seemed to work: wifi, ethernet, sound. 1600x1200 resolution is really sweet.

Unfortunately, when I connect anything USB, it doesn't work! I can see system USB devices in the device manager. I also tried booting from a live linux CD with same results.

Is there anything I can do? Would investing 5eur in a USB PCMCIA card help or am I looking at a timebomb? I do have a 2nd T42p partially disassembled which has a dead fan (fan error) so I could eventually swap motherboards but not sure, if the spare is problem free.

Cheers,
SainT

#2 Post by **RealBlackStuff** » Thu Sep 24, 2015 5:51 am

Try installing the Intel Chipset driver, even if it's from an older OS.
USB is 'ruled' by the Southbridge chip (Intel chip under the wifi card).
These have been known to frequently come loose over the years.
If that's your problem, reballing that chip or replacing the mobo is the solution.

Half-Saint · #3 Post by **Half-Saint** » Thu Sep 24, 2015 8:07 am

Well, the spare T42p at least has power on USB, haven't done any further testing as it'd require me to transplant the working fan from what is my main T42 right now. Will do that when I have more time.

axur-delmeria · #4 Post by **axur-delmeria** » Thu Sep 24, 2015 8:25 am

IIRC the USB ports on these models are susceptible to damage from ESD (electrostatic discharge).
I'm not 100% sure though.

Half-Saint · #5 Post by **Half-Saint** » Thu Sep 24, 2015 10:04 am

Unfortunately the spare thinkpad has a 'Fan error' which doesn't go away even with a known good fan so that's no good.

I'm thinking maybe I should remove the motherboard completely and see, if the USB fuse is blown... if everything else fails, I'm getting that PCMCIA card.

EDIT:
On 2nd thought, I really don't feel like taking the whole thing apart just to see, if the fuse is blown or not. I'm getting that PCMCIA card and we'll see where it goes from there.

EDIT #2: while mucking about with coolers, I upgraded the cpu to a Pentium M 2.1GHz. With 2GB RAM it's pretty much maxed out now.

Cheers
SainT

Half-Saint · #6 Post by **Half-Saint** » Wed Oct 21, 2015 4:10 am

The PCMCIA USB card finally arrived from China and it works like a charm. Windows 7 automatically installs drivers and everything just works.

I got this card: http://www.ebay.com/itm/171703409235?_t ... EBIDX%3AIT

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