random interruptions, sudden freeze ... any ideas?

[maxx]

Hey everybody...

I am new here and have been using my T43 for a year now. No problems whatsoever... up until now.

From one day to another my computer reacts as if there was a loose connection or something. It suddenly stops working and resumes as soon as I am touching/pressing a spot on the palmrest next to the touchpad and just below the Alt Key on the right side.

At best I have to touch this spot a few times a minute, at worst no startup is possible unless I maintain the pressure, increase or decrease it.

When i removed the keyboard and opened up the laptop, I noticed the little Li-Ion battery and some wiring right underneath the spot i am pressing on. I don't know if there might be any correlation to my problems. I also tried pressing down at different other locations with the keyboard removed (e.g. Cd drive) and this also worked and confused me at the same time...

Any ideas what this could be? Anybody heard of similar problems?

Thanks for any comments

Max

[christopher_wolf]

Any ideas what this could be? Anybody heard of similar problems?

Thanks for any comments

Max

Yeah, sadly.

That sounds, and I am pretty sure of it, a hardware problem with the planar where it will freeze if pressure is/is not applied in a certain area. It is, in general, caused by picking the Thinkpad up and carrying it by the corners, which causes undue stress in areas that aren't designed for such.

A search of the Forums will turn up similar threads.

Is the Thinkpad still under warranty?

[maxx]

Sounds a lot like you're right. I am indeed picking it up by the corners...

I've read that people are having trouble with cracking sounds and flexible palmrests but never heard of this problem before.

My warranty expired about three days before this occured first

So I would need a new mainboard, pretty much?

[christopher_wolf]

So I would need a new mainboard, pretty much?

For the most part, yes; I would first try to call up IBM/Lenovo and see if you can get them to do a quick fix even though it *just* popped out of warranty. If that doesn't work, you can get the HMM and then do a planar/mobo replacement yourself with a known-working board you purchased somewhere or happen to have.

[maxx]

Thank you! it looks like IBM/Lenovo is going to help me out on this ....