T41/T42 - GPU bonding issue

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serpico · #1 Post by **serpico** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 4:37 pm

Anyone care to hazard a guess as to the percentage of T41 and T42 laptops affected by this?

I'm thinking of buying a used T41/42, but as these are mostly off warranty now, I'm worried about this issue.

Are T40s affected by this as well?

ajkula66 · #2 Post by **ajkula66** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 5:33 pm

T40s are probably the most affected model of all T4x series...

Your safest bet...T43...different soldering technique (also applied on some late T42s) and most of them are still in warranty...

Also, T43s with integrated video are completely safe (models 18xx-xxx)...the other ones are 97% safe I'd say...

Just my $0.02...

asiafish · #3 Post by **asiafish** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 6:30 pm

What to look for on a T40? I just ordered one from the marketplace here and it was listed as working correctly (I have no reason to doubt this), but I want to know what early symptoms might suggest trouble down the road.

ajkula66 · #4 Post by **ajkula66** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 6:38 pm

Most common ones would include, but not be limited to:

- sudden freezing

- LCD shutoff

- garbled screen

- refusing to come out of sleep/hibernate

- blank LCD on initial boot from time to time...

This is just off the top of my head...I'm certain other people will chime in...

jimmy274 · #5 Post by **jimmy274** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 7:12 pm

I think I found out something - contrary to what people might think, I think that T4x with Radeon 7500 are much more likely to be affected by the GPU problems.
Reasons:
1. M7 is a 696 BGA package, while M9 is a 650 BGA package, thus the M9 has almost 10% "pins" less.
2. The M9 usually has a long fan which is further tightened with the screw that holds the keyboard.
3. I've seen a lot of T4x with M7 and GPU problems, while I haven't seen a lot of M9s go bad.
Yeah, you might say - "the M9 has a much higher heat dissipation", which is true, but none of the T4x with M7s have long fans, which means that M7 is left on it's own when dissipating power.
To further expand the theory - T42p with M10 also suffer from GPU problems - this is due to a much, much higher dissipation of M10s compared to M9s.
Guess, I might be right after all...

newmark · #6 Post by **newmark** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 7:14 pm

It seems that all the T4x models except for T43 used ATI graphics - am I right? If so, is there any way to identify a "late T42" that doesn't suffer from the loose GPU problem? I'm interested in buying one - is there any way I could know if it has a different soldering?

ajkula66 · #7 Post by **ajkula66** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 7:46 pm

T43 models coded with 26xx-xxx used ATi X300 graphics chip (64Mb), while ones with integrated video were coded 18xx-xxx. T43p machines used ATi FireGl V3200 chip (128Mb)...

In my experience, T43 is by far the most reliable T4x model, as loaded as it may be with some other potential headaches-none of which is as serious as this one...

As for "late" T42s, I'd be looking at production dates...later the better, and I agree that I'd be running away from anything with ATi 7500 card in T4x package...

asiafish · #8 Post by **asiafish** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 10:57 pm

Doesn't bode well for me then. My T42 has the 7500, as does the T40 that I'm waiting on.

ajkula66 · #9 Post by **ajkula66** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 12:11 am

Guys, no reason to panic, not all of them fail for crying out loud...

asiafish · #10 Post by **asiafish** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 1:14 am

Obviously not, my T42 runs great, and I'm sure the T40 will as well. Both came from good sellers right here on the forum.

Stargate199 · #11 Post by **Stargate199** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 10:20 am

I have a T41 with the Ati mobile Radeon 9000 chip, and it seems to do just fine. The chips I see with the soldering issue are the Radeon 7500 chips.

asiafish · #12 Post by **asiafish** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 10:30 am

Is there an easy fix short of replacing motherboards? What sort of failure rate (%) are we talking about?

Nick Y · #13 Post by **Nick Y** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 11:36 am

asiafish wrote:Is there an easy fix short of replacing motherboards? ....

Try sticky 't42 shuts down when i move it:' for details of shims.

#14 Post by **richk** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 12:21 pm

Just my 2 cents worth, I have seen lots of failures on the Redeon 9000 and I have found the highest failure rate on T41s. The point is that people shouldn't carry then flat (like a dinner plate) with one hand.

asiafish · #15 Post by **asiafish** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 2:05 pm

I seem to remember most T40 complaints about USB dropping to 1.1 and of T41 and T42 GPU issues. Still, anyone what the approximate failure rates are for various T4* models?

T41/T42 - GPU bonding issue

T41/T42 - GPU bonding issue

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