T42 turns itself off - anybody seen this?

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awolfe63 · #1 Post by **awolfe63** » Sat Sep 18, 2004 10:22 am

I have a strange problem with my T42.

Several times a week (I use it a lot), the T42 will just instantly turn itself off. Less than 1 second from working to completely off.

It always happens when running something compute intensive - a game, a large search, a big acrobat file, a virus scan, etc. It happens on battery or on AC, both with my 6 cell and my 9 cell installed, and both with and without the minidock.

Anybody seen anything like this?

#2 Post by **BillMorrow** » Sat Sep 18, 2004 1:03 pm

is there any error message presented when you power back up..?

have you run a memory test..?

USUALLY, this is an OS crash..
i have experienced this on desktops and thinkpads..
and usually on computers with flaky OS's..
i.e. windows..

did you make any change to the thinkpad just prior to the first occurance of this crash..?
new memory, new application..??

awolfe63 · #3 Post by **awolfe63** » Sat Sep 18, 2004 2:04 pm

morrow wrote:is there any error message presented when you power back up..?

have you run a memory test..?

USUALLY, this is an OS crash..
i have experienced this on desktops and thinkpads..
and usually on computers with flaky OS's..
i.e. windows..

did you make any change to the thinkpad just prior to the first occurance of this crash..?
new memory, new application..??

Everything is just peachy when I power back up - no errors.
I have run a few memory tests - mostly SANDRA - nothing found.
This is not a lock-up, it is a full power off. I've never seen that from an OS crash - but it is posssible.

I have added an extra 1GB DIMM - Infineon - right specs. I have checked to make sure that it doesn't happen when I use more than 512MB of RAM - that doesn't seem to do it.

Since it only happens every few days - it's hard to nail down.

mdarnton · #4 Post by **mdarnton** » Sat Sep 18, 2004 2:15 pm

My Compaq did that. Then (over about a two-month period) the shut-downs got nearer and nearer to each other, until finally the computer was shutting down in the first few seconds of booting up. After several trips "home", Compaq replaced the motherboard, and that was the end of it. I'd be inclined to say you should pressure IBM to do the same for you.

#5 Post by **BillMorrow** » Sat Sep 18, 2004 3:15 pm

awolfe63 wrote:I have added an extra 1GB DIMM - Infineon - right specs. I have checked to make sure that it doesn't happen when I use more than 512MB of RAM - that doesn't seem to do it.

Since it only happens every few days - it's hard to nail down.

have you pulled the new memory..?
have you reseated the new memory..?

awolfe63 · #6 Post by **awolfe63** » Sat Sep 18, 2004 4:04 pm

morrow wrote:
awolfe63 wrote:I have added an extra 1GB DIMM - Infineon - right specs. I have checked to make sure that it doesn't happen when I use more than 512MB of RAM - that doesn't seem to do it.

Since it only happens every few days - it's hard to nail down.
have you pulled the new memory..?
have you reseated the new memory..?

No that would make too much sense

Part of the problem is that I've been on the road since the day I put it into service - so I was hoping for some hints before I get into diagnostic mode.

I need to go buy a screwdriver before I can take out memory... That was my next step though.

Daniel · #7 Post by **Daniel** » Sat Sep 18, 2004 6:19 pm

That's a strange problem. I've had hot computers reboot, but never shut off. Same with memory problems.

The worse thing to happen to a computer is an intermittant problem that isn't easily repeatable. They might get your Thinkpad and send it back to you saying they found nothing wrong.

awolfe63 · #8 Post by **awolfe63** » Sat Sep 18, 2004 9:20 pm

Well - I think I know what it is.

Apparrently, when the CPU temp. hits 88.5C the CPU is supposed to drop to 600MHz. At 93C the OS is supposed to immediately shut doen the machine.

Any time I run something compute intensive - I can see the CPU temp shoot up to 90-91C in about 40 seconds then the CPU speed drops. I think that sometimes it must overshoot to 93C.

Does anyone else's T42 run this hot?

sktn77a · #9 Post by **sktn77a** » Sun Sep 19, 2004 12:30 pm

Not sure, what program are you using to measure temperature?

awolfe63 · #10 Post by **awolfe63** » Sun Sep 19, 2004 1:27 pm

MobileMeter version 0.3.1.0

none · #11 Post by **none** » Mon Sep 20, 2004 12:00 pm

I agree with awolfe63, sounds like a preventitive security measure more than anything... But from what you've described you aren't really running anything intensive (with the exception of games, depanding on which games). Your computer shouldn't do this with a simple virus scan or file search..

Maybe it's not working properly, or maybe the temperature points that invoke slowdown and shutdown are set too low (if there is a setting for such things). I would try flashing your BIOS.

I previously had Command & Conquer Generals: Zero Hour installed on my T30 laptop. That game is technically way too advanced for a T30, but I was able to play just fine against up to 4 computer opponents. When I tried to add any more though, I got an error that booted me out of the game and said the machine is running too hot. The error was probably displayed by the game, not Windows or IBM software. But the point is if my T30 can do that, then your T42 should DEFFINETELY be able to view "big Acrobat files" without overheating

The other alternative is, of course, that your problem is not temperature related. In which case, my whole reply is useless

awolfe63 · #12 Post by **awolfe63** » Mon Sep 20, 2004 12:19 pm

I've checked the Dothan data sheets. 93C is not too low for shutdown.

I think it is too high for normal operation. I hit 88-90C every thime I run up to 100% CPU. I get 68-70C at 1.7GHz even when nothing is running.

Anyone else seeing temperatures this high?

Humpa · #13 Post by **Humpa** » Mon Sep 20, 2004 12:59 pm

awolfe63 wrote:I've checked the Dothan data sheets. 93C is not too low for shutdown.

I think it is too high for normal operation. I hit 88-90C every thime I run up to 100% CPU. I get 68-70C at 1.7GHz even when nothing is running.

Anyone else seeing temperatures this high?

That seems high for normal operation.

With nothing much running, my Dothan 1.7GHz is in the high 40's (about 46C).
I was just batching some tiff's to jpg's in Photoshop CS, doing a filesearch, browsing the web, and it never went over 60C.
So, for a test, I ran Doom3 for about 5 minutes (figuring this would be rather resource intensive) and the temp seemed to level off at about 71C.

awolfe63 · #14 Post by **awolfe63** » Fri Oct 01, 2004 5:47 pm

I sent the machine back to IBM and they replaced the fan. 50C-52C at 100% CPU - looks like that was the problem.

T42 turns itself off - anybody seen this?

T42 turns itself off - anybody seen this?

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