new T42 has locked up 2x during only four uses

[Matt_]

Regarding a 2373-CWU laptop:
1.8GHz Dothan, 80GB 5400rpm hdd, IBM a/b/g wi-fi card, bluetooth

I hope someone will be able to help.
After many weeks of researching the laptops and choosing the right one and after about two weeks of spending time understanding on here how to set it up properly, I was ready to turn on the laptop for the first time last Sunday.
I completed the steps where you have to agree to the license agreements and where you have to assign a computer name, a computer description, and also a User Name. I decided to decline for the time being to register the laptop with IBM&Microsoft and also to do the (if I remember correctly the name of the step) the Microsoft Activation -- in other words, I skipped anything related to having to be connected to the internet because I thought it would be safer to wait until after I had things like a software firewall and spyware protection in place.
Windows then told me that I was finished, and it then proceeded to go through the booting up process. It booted up, and when I saw the hard-light activity light go off I assumed that the boot-up process was through and that I could proceed. Then Start Menu appeared by itself and then a split-second later without any warning everything completely froze -- the computer wouldn't respond to any button & mouse presses.
I called tech. support -- he had me hold the power button until the laptop turned off. When I turned it on again, it booted up fine and during the next two hours that I had it on, there were no problems. The tech. didn't have an explanation for what occured.
On Monday I turned the laptop on and for the next 30 minutes was using Notepad to type some notes. Suddenly the laptop locked up with no warning at all. Again I called tech. support and again I had to hold the power button to shut it off (During this phone call I was put in touch with two different tech's. The first one had me do the following: He wanted me to reboot the laptop and then wanted me to press "F8" and then "F8" again and then move the up/down arrow so that "Last Known Good Configuration" was highlighted. Then he said "press enter".) And again after I turned it on it ran fine for the next two or so hours that I had it on. And unfortunately the tech. guy didn't have an explanation -- all he could suggest was that I run PC-Doctor.
I ran just about every test, and it reported everything was fine (with one exception: in the test "Video > Video Device > ATI Mobility Radeon 9600" it reported "Started 2-D Line Draw Test of pcdr2d3dvideo module, version 4.2.30.1069 -- PCDr2D3DVideo (156) : Couldn't set the display mode to 1400x1050x16. Direct Draw Error:No Error; Started 2-D Polygon Draw Test of pcdr2d3dvideo module, version 4.2.30.1069 -- PCDr2D3DVideo (156) Couldn't set the display mode to 1400x1050x16. Direct Draw Error:No Error ")
I haven't installed any software, haven't installed SP2, haven't partitioned, haven't changed *any* settings except to disable "Hibernate mode", haven't changed/deleted/installed any patches and drivers, and haven't connected it to the internet yet -- in other words, I haven't touched/altered a single thing from the state that it arrived in with the exception of turning off "Hibernate mode".
I'm very disappointed that during only four uses a brand new laptop has locked up twice without any warning at all; it has shaken my confidence in what the reliability and stability will turn out to be. I would hate to think that I would have to be constantly saving my data because of the fear that another inexplicable lock-up could strike without warning at any second at any time during the future life of this laptop.

Does anyone have any suggestions ? Is there some other test that I should try running ? Could it be a virus or spyware ? (The reason that I ask this is that I remember that when my family bought an R50p, after all those steps of the license agreements and computer naming were done but before the laptop was ever connected to the internet, the pre-installed Norton Antivirus reported a detected virus/worm. I think I've read that when the laptop is at the factory and the computer is connected to the internet to install anything, there is an opportunity at that time for some virus/worm to download onto the computer.)
I read these two threads (1 and 2), but I don't know whether or not the suggestions in the replies would apply to my situation.

Thank you for help

[sktn77a]

Bummer! I'd do a re-install of the software from the hidden recovery partition. Press the blue access IBM button when you turn on the computer. This will give you the option to re-image the computer to factory specs. If that doesn't work, then it's probably a hardware problem - return it for a new one before the 30 day period is up.

[Matt_]

_.

[egibbs]

I'm not sure that you can run a computer without an internet connection anymore - MS may not have anticipated that scenario...

Seriously - the lockups may well be network related even though you are not connected - something may be trying to connect. Check all your network settings, including WiFi, 802.11, etc.

You could also try connecting it to the network to see if it still freezes, but do it behind a firewall or it will be likely be wormed or trojaned before you can finish downloading all the updates.

Ed Gibbs

[Steve007]

Does anyone have any suggestions ?

Sounds like a faulty memory module to me.....

[Matt_]

Thank you all for replying and for taking the time to try to help me.
Unfortunately, last week by the time I was nearing the end of the week I was faced with the fact that I was only a few days away from the 30 return period expiring (Yesterday was the last day).
It was hard to do, but given the fact that I didn't know precisely what caused this and whether it would develop later on into bigger problems, I decided to return the laptop and to purchase another 2373-CWU after the credit card is credited (in ~ 8 days according to the person in the return department).
There are two things that puzzle me.
I had ordered this at the end of August and received it almost at the end of September.
The last thing that a support tech had had me check as another possible cause were the versions of the bios and embedded controller.
The one was 3.06f (and dated 06-18-04) and the other, 3.02.
He suggested that something called a "system board" along with these being out of date could be the cause.
Even if I had had more time to play with, this seemed like it would be unlikely because if this could be the case, then surely there would be many many reports from other 2373 owners with bios and embedded controllers that are several months out of date.
The other thing is that the keyboard was the Chinese keyboard. Now, I was suprised, given the negative reaction on this board, that it wasn't too bad. The R50p that my family has has a Thai keyboard. Although close, the Chinese just felt a little "off" in terms of touch and response.
Anyways, I thought it had been speculated on here that the Chinese keyboards were being phased out and replaced by the Thai keyboard. And also taking into consideration that I had a bios (and who knows what else) dating back to June, given the date I ordered and when I finally received it I had had the expectation that I was going to be receiving a recently put-together laptop with up-to-date drivers, etc. -- Instead, I wondered if I got something that had been sitting around somewhere since June.

[ian]

I have the same model and suffered a similar experience when Bill sent it to me in late June. A subtle difference in the setup is the fact that I ordered a second 512Mo memory module which Bill included in the shipment - I installed this in the memory bay underneath the machine and then my problems started - the machine froze just as you have described.

I removed the memory and everything was fine - Bill mailed me another memory board and there's been no reoccurrence since. Sadly I have only just noticed this thread - could have avoided a return - that said, the CWU is great.

To regular readers - I'm BACK! After stints in Paris, London and our local hospital, I'm back home and finally in an area with Internet...

[Matt_]

Thank you ian for your reply. I was wondering about something. In your situation you were able to zero in on the source of the problem right away because the problems started and stopped right after installing/removing the second memory module. Supposing that you had instead been in the same predicament like myself of that faulty ram already being in place when the laptop arrived, would a test like memtest86 (here & here) likely have picked up on it ?
(Unfortunately I only learned about it recently, but when I order another 2373-CWU this week and it arrives, I'll run it to be on the safe side.)
Also, when RAM is faulty and it causes the computer to not act correctly, apparently these instances won't always be accompanied by an error message of some type ?

[Steve007]

Also, when RAM is faulty and it causes the computer to not act correctly, apparently these instances won't always be accompanied by an error message of some type ?

No, it will often just freeze usually a minute or two after the machine has booted up. It's 100% gurenteed that's it's a faulty memory module. To confirm this, remove the faulty module and boot the machine up again (assuming you have 2 x modules to start with).

[elvisjohndowson]

Hi,
I have a 2373-HTA which is equivalent to the 2379-DYU but with a 60GB 7200RPM driver and 1GB memory pre-installed.

I too had the same problem, with the laptop unexpectedly hanging, forcing me to reboot. Then someone on the forum told me that the wireless network adpater sometimes starts looking for a network connection and can possibly lock up the computer for more that 120 seconds !! It used to happen randomly atleast once every day or two during the first week of operation.

I then proceeded to disable the Intel 2100 3B Mini PCI Wireless adapter on the laptop, since I dont use a wireless network connection, and the laptop has never hung since then !! Its been over 4 weeks now.

Its worth a try.. do let me know if this works.

Best regards,

Elvis Dowson