T42p Fried USB Controller?

Message

1madman1 · #1 Post by **1madman1** » Fri Jan 05, 2007 5:19 am

My T42p's USB ports, fingerprint reader and Bluetooth wireless no longer seem to be working. The USB controller still appears in device manager, but it does not recognize any devices, nor does it see the internal fingerprint reader or Bluetooth radio.

The problem first occurred when a remote control with a USB interface (Logitech Harmony 880) was plugged into one of the USB ports. As soon as the remote was plugged in, the computer shut down completely. I had to unplug the AC adapter and pull the battery to get it started again. After restarting the system there was a faint smell of burnt electronics and all USB devices no longer seemed to work. The remote had previously been used with this system without incident and has since been tested and confirmed still functional on my X31.

I figured that the USB controller probably somehow fried and that I should back everything up in case something else goes wrong. So, I plugged in my Adaptec USB cardbus board and hooked up my external HD only to find that the USB ports on the card weren't working either. Again, tried the USB card on my X31 and it seems to be fine. Disabling the onboard USB controller didn't seem to help.

Could something else be wrong in addition to the USB controller? Is this repairable or would the whole system board need to be replaced? Will Lenovo cover this under warranty (about a year remaining)? If so, how does their warranty procedure work anyway?

egibbs · #2 Post by **egibbs** » Fri Jan 05, 2007 6:56 am

The T42p seems to have "weak USB ports" (paraphrasing Tom Hanks in the Money Pit when he said "we have weak trees.") It is covered by warranty.

Mine died in a similar manner when I turned off a camera connected by USB - computer just shut down and wouldn't turn on. In my case I wasn't able to get it back up and running - pulling batteries, etc. did no good. Unfortunately I was in the Philippines at the time, and although IBM PI did make an effort they were not able to get the system board in while I was there.

Once I got back to the States though things went very smoothly. Called EZ-Serv, they still had the ticket open, had a box the next day and shipped it off to them, had it back in 4 days and it's been fine since.

Ed Gibbs

1madman1 · #3 Post by **1madman1** » Fri Jan 05, 2007 11:14 am

Thanks for the reply! I hope it will go as smoothly for myself. My previous experiences with warranty repairs have been slow and tedious (with Sony holding the record for bad with 2 botched repairs, and nearly 4 months before I had a working machine in my hands). I'm guessing I'll have to pull the battery, drives and extra memory before I send it off...

egibbs · #4 Post by **egibbs** » Fri Jan 05, 2007 11:46 am

Absolutely pull everything you can off.

I've only had good experiences with EZ-Serv, but plenty of people have had nightmares.

You may want to take the machine apart far enough to take pictures of the system board. EZ-Serv seems to find a lot of "liquid spills" which invalidate the warranty - be good to have proof of how it looked when you sent it in.

Also be sure to check the FRU numbers of the system and video boards once you get it back - people have had their systems downgraded. Make sure they set the machine type and model in the CMOS, etc.

Good luck,

Ed Gibbs

whealey · #5 Post by **whealey** » Mon Jan 08, 2007 6:05 pm

I had the same problem after plugging a DDR pad into the USB. I had at-home service, but they had to replace the entire motherboard. USB spec calls for pretty rigorous over-voltage protection, so it seems to be a design flaw. Anyway, I haven't had any problems since.

1madman1 · #6 Post by **1madman1** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 9:12 pm

It's been a while now since I sent it in and haven't heard anything from them. So, I gave them a call and they tell me that it's been put on hold since the 17th, but they aren't sure why and for some reason they cant add any notes to the case. They told me to try calling back tomorrow. This cant be good...

1madman1 · #7 Post by **1madman1** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 9:32 pm

I called again today and now they say that the USB problem was due to a "liquid spill"! WHISKEY TANGO FOXTROT. It was no where near a liquid at the time and I'm 110% positive that nothing has *ever* been spilled on it (or anywhere near it). I even looked over the system board myself before I sent it out! Now they want $1200 to fix it. The thing probably isnt even worth that much on Ebay. Now I'm thoroughly [censored] off. (no I wasn't yelling at them, I understand the inspection and repairs are done by a 3rd party company)

egibbs · #8 Post by **egibbs** » Wed Jan 24, 2007 7:11 am

See some of the other threads about mysterious liquid spills. Tell Solectron to hold the machine while you complain to the company that hired them, then file a complaint with Lenovo (go as high up the food chain as you can).

Be sure to tell Lenovo that you've aware that Solectron claims liquid spill damage frequently, that you know for a fact there has never been liquid spilled on the machine, and you personally inspected the machines internals before sending it in and there was no liquid spill. If you took pictures provide them.

If you make enough noise Lenovo will tell Solectron to fix it free.

Ed Gibbs

1madman1 · #9 Post by **1madman1** » Wed Jan 24, 2007 10:23 am

Solectron? I'll assume they're the company IBM/Lenovo contracts their repairs out to.

I sent a complaint to IBM not long after I made the last post. With my luck it'll probably just be ignored though...

egibbs · #10 Post by **egibbs** » Wed Jan 24, 2007 10:33 am

Talk to Lenovo again. Ask them to have Solectron send the machine to Lenovo's tech support center in North Carolina for evaluation. NC does good work.

A warning - if you just tell Solectron to send it back there is a good chance it will come back disassembled, damaged, and missing parts.

Ed Gibbs

1madman1 · #11 Post by **1madman1** » Thu Jan 25, 2007 10:27 pm

Well, they sent my Thinkpad back along with a note stating the following: "While your computer was in for service, non-warranty work was required. You were notified of the total charges to have the system repaired, at which time the charges were declined and the system was returned."

Everything seems to be there and working, minus USB devices. As far as I can tell, all they did was clear the CMOS and put a little red arrow sticker (see pic here) pointing at a some sort of mark on the ICH (which happens to be the chip that the USB controller is located on).

ZPrime · #12 Post by **ZPrime** » Fri Jan 26, 2007 12:00 am

weird. I had the video on my t42p start to go out (corrupted display) and had the planar replaced. when i got it back, i found a few reworks around the USB ports; looked like someone had blown some surface-mount components and they were replaced with wires

the ports work fine though so who knows. *Shrug*

in your picture, what are those red dots around the gpu's base and the ICH? I don't remember seeing anything like those on my system...

1madman1 · #13 Post by **1madman1** » Fri Jan 26, 2007 12:22 am

I'm not quite sure what the red dots are, Ive wondered that myself.

#14 Post by **rkawakami** » Fri Jan 26, 2007 2:41 am

They might have something to do with this:

PDF file titled "Improved BGA shock and bend performance using corner glue epoxies"

It looks like something that is done to increase the mechanical strength of the bond to the printed circuit board. In other words, prevent broken connections due to board flection.

(edit: Fixed broken link)

Talon88 · #15 Post by **Talon88** » Fri Jan 26, 2007 4:12 am

:::

The link is dead.....

:::

Global SMT & Packaging
We're sorry but the page you requested could not be found.
Return to site

Error 404

#16 Post by **rkawakami** » Fri Jan 26, 2007 4:41 am

Sorry, you can stop

ing now... I fixed the link (dropped off the PDF filename extension)!

egibbs · #17 Post by **egibbs** » Fri Jan 26, 2007 6:48 am

I would have a hard time calling that a liquid spill - looks more like where the smoke came out or residue from the manufacturing process.

But then I don't get paid based on how many warranty claims I convert to customer abuse.

Ed Gibbs

1madman1 · #18 Post by **1madman1** » Mon Feb 05, 2007 10:34 pm

Not having much luck with IBM/Lenovo. I don't really have time to handle this properly right now unfortunately. Not being able to answer my phone while on the sales floor at work makes communication especially difficult. Luckily a friend has lent me her Powerbook G4 to use for the next month while she's on vacation (though not having a Trackpoint really sucks). I think I'll have to just dispose of the system on Ebay and let someone else deal with it.

egibbs · #19 Post by **egibbs** » Tue Feb 06, 2007 7:21 am

Score another victory for solectron in the battle to destroy IBM/Lenovo.

I understand your desire to just walk away. But before you do please send a nice email to Lenovo just to let them know exactly how they lost you as a customer.

Probably won't help you but it might help the next poor [censored].

Ed Gibbs

Eric Giles · #20 Post by **Eric Giles** » Tue Feb 06, 2007 10:21 am

Madman-

Very sorry to hear about your problems. My almost 3 year old T40 has about the same USB issue-won't recognize anything plugged into the port, and if it did it would completely lock the T40 up solid. Other problems were having to roll the AGP to PCI driver back to the Standard PCI (obvious video issues as now even Linux distributions won't properly load-it hangs at the video driver install), keyboard bezel was cracked, screen brightness was decreasing, and the female ac jack was loose.

I sent mine off on Friday and I am hoping for the best. However, after reading of your and other people's recent experiences, I don't have my hopes up too much.

I remember the good ol' days when you sent a laptop back to EZServ (which for me was hardly ever) they sent the machine back basically refurbished-if there was an item on the unit that looked worn, you got a replacement for free-and you didn't even have to ask for it! The machine would basically come back looking brand new.

I guess they could afford to do that with the huge profit margins they used to make.

T42p Fried USB Controller?

T42p Fried USB Controller?

Who is online