T43 freezing - long post

[LongJohnDaly]

First of all, I'd like to thank the group for providing information in the past that I've used to improve the performance and security of my machine. However, I've come across a problem that I cannot solve, and I'm hoping someone can help.

Cpu - T43 type 2668 running XP - bought in summer 2005, been running smoothly until early this week.

What happened - I left my computer on overnight on Monday evening, playing music on a sleep timer. When I woke up Tuesday morning, XP had rebooted. (I have checked extensively and do not believe windows update ran while I was sleeping) I didn't use the computer intensively until Tuesday evening, when the cpu froze while I was browsing the internet (firefox). The screen stayed lit, but all processes froze. The only option available to me was a 5-second holddown reboot after which the computer would not turn on. After letting the computer "rest" it booted up, then froze after 5 minutes. At that time I replaced the battery with one I had previously purchased from newegg. Unfortunately the problem continued.

Over the past 4-5 days the cpu has frozen multiple times. Sometimes it will reboot without any trouble, sometimes it will only reboot after being left alone for a few hours. The computer has stayed on without freezing for a day and a half, and has also frozen before I could input my password to XP.

There is no set pattern to the freezes, but I believe I have identified the following things
- turning on the wireless signal will cause the cpu to freeze. Freezing has occured from as soon as I turn on the signal in the FnF5 menu to as long as a day and a half after turning on the signal.
- running a connection thru ethernet seems to have no effect on freezing. I have been able to run with the ethernet connected and wireless off without problems.
- it is possible that this may be related to overheating. A few times when frozen, the bottom of the laptop has been abnormally hot. On the other hand, freezing has occured without excessive heat building up.

I have run the following programs to check for problems
- pc doctor 5.0 - when checking the wireless, returns message NA
- adaware - nothing abnormal, a few cookies deleted
- spybot - nothing
- avg spyware - currently running, nothing has been found yet

I have updated the following drivers from lenovo
- BIOS
- ethernet connection
- hotkeys
- power manager
- update manager

I have physically opened the computer thru the keyboard and blown out dust (manually without canned air). I have also removed and reseated the RAM.

At this point I think I have a hardware problem. I think it would be related to one of the following things.

1. Wireless failure - maybe the card has failed??
2. Overheating - I plan to use canned air to do a total blowout under the keyboard tomorrow. I have also read of people having issues when the fan breaks.
3. Virus - I really doubt it. While I did not have anti-virus installed at the time of the change, I have not gotten a virus in the past. I use firefox, run multiple anti-spyware programs, and have windows firewall activated. I do not download attachments from people I don't know.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Phil

[mgo]

Phil

I didn't see it in the original post...is the fan running? Do you hear it running? The T43 fans is pretty easy to hear. Do you feel heat coming out of the port on the left side of the machine?

When you boot, does the fan sound increase for a moment and then drop off a bit?

[Stan]

I'd suggest downloading PCLinuxOS 2007 live CD and booting from that with the hope of excluding a problem with the Windows installation.

Within the Windows environment you could try "MobileMeter" to determine what the system temperatures are, as a less labour intensive alternative to the first suggestion.

Check that there are no "run away" processes in task manager, overheating isn't always the fault of broken hardware.

[Brad]

If possible you can remove the wireless card. The card is located under the palm rest.

If the trouble continues and the fan is running normally unfortunately I think your motherboard needs to be replaced.

Brad

[LongJohnDaly]

Thanks for the replies.

1. The fan is working - it revs up and I can feel air moving out of the left side.

2. I'll try the linux suggestions and let you know what happens.

3. I'm praying that it's not the motherboard. Hopefully a new wireless card could end my troubles.

Thanks again,

Phil

[Brad]

Phil,

Welcome to the forum!

If removing the wireless card solves the problem then replacing the card is very simple.

Hopefully the three year warranty is still available.

Brad

[underclocker]

Welcome to the forum.

I, too, have a 2668 model T43. It just came back from lenovo support with a new motherboard. It had the same weird symtoms that you seem to be having. At first I thought it was the wireless card, but it turned out to be the motherboard. I think it was a loose GPU, which is a problem with other T4x machines.

I was was finally convinced it was the motherboard when I found that pressing on the keyboard (between the spacebar and the mouse buttons) would make the machine work perfectly, even after the screen apparently froze.

You might try this.

Also, most 2668 machines should be under warranty because they were released around May 2005 with three year warranties.

Good luck.

P.S. Solectron repair was perfect, one business day to fix.

[Johan]

@ Phil: If not Ed (underclocker) had not already apparently diagnozed your T43-patient, I would otherwise have suggested that you ran an extensive RAM-test, to see if a RAM-block (intermittently failing) could possible have caused the symptoms of your patient? If you wish, you may download, and then burn and run (multiple runs!) a bootable CD-ROM with memtest86+.

Good luck with getting your patient back on his (or her?) feet; I will surely be following this professional doctoring project with intense interest... I mean, you who are on the way to become a "real" doctor surely have to be able cure the patient! And, hey, when the patient hopefully soon has been doctored, and afterwards perhaps needs a bit of additional nursing, well, then we are about 10.000 volunteer nurses here on the forum ready to help and hold your patient in his/her hands!

Good luck, Phil. Keep us posted.

Best regards,

Johan

[LongJohnDaly]

Thanks again for all the replies.

Since I've plugged in an ethernet connection and turned off my wireless card, the cpu has run without a problem. Twice I tested the system by turning on the wireless with FnF5, and the computer immediately froze. Pressing on the keyboard-mouse space didn't revive it. I'm convinced at this point that I have a faulty wireless card. It's still under warranty, so I'll be getting a new one.

I appreciate all the suggestions and certainly will try other approaches if a new wireless card does not solve the problem.

Phil

[Brad]

Great to hear. Please let us know when you are back running without any trouble.

Brad