T41 Screen Flicker, Then Laptop Freeze

[shakefoo]

i have a t41 which i bought used a few years back - so no warranty - and it's been running flawlessly since. that is until this past sunday when it fell from my desk onto a hard floor (i tripped over the AC cord!). the fall gouged the left corner of the laptop, but it turned on/off fine, seemed to be a-ok at the time.

later though while playing a video the screen filled with lines and froze - first time i had ever seen that!

and since sunday i get the occasional screen flicker followed by the PC freeze, but no BSOD. never seen that one.

on one occation i did get an error message, "ati2dvag driver has stopped working normally", but i have yet to see that again. and i checked the net and didn't find much on the message.

the reboots go fine - rarely does the screen not come on - and after a while of usage (sometimes 30min sometimes 90min) i get another flicker/freeze. but i can't seem to replicate it in any way. this freeze seems to really occur randomly.

i've read some of the threads about moving the laptop, or maybe it's running hot or the fan blew, but i've removed the keyboard and the fan works fine and according to speedfan i'm usually between 35c-42c, so i think the internal temp is ok.

as for as moving it, i've shaken it, dropped it (only a few inches onto the desk) and even hit it (screen, keyboard) in hopes of replicating the flicker/freeze, but no luck.

i checked out the software, ran a few anti-virus programs, but nothing. did the pc-doctor thing, nothing came back. haven;t done the memory swap/test yet.

i also took a quick glance at the cables inside and everything seems to be connected ok. with the computer on i've even tried poking and pressing on the gpu chip (ati radeon), but no reaction, nor does it feel loose in any way.

what i will say, though, is that since i've taken the screws off the bottom of the machine earlier today - and they remain off as i type with the keyboard being loose - the laptop hasn't crashed, and it's been on now for about five hours, probably the longest duration since the "desk dive".

maybe there's something to that, i don't know. I first took the screws off, inspected around a bit, then screwed the keyboard back in but still got the flicker/freeze. i then removed the screws again just too take another look, still saw nothing but without the screws in the machine hasn't crashed since. weird!

that said, my guess is that when the computer hit the floor something jarred loose or cracked on the motherboard, i just need to find out what/where and then maybe i can fix it. if anyone has any additional thoughts (or had the same/similar issue) on what i can do or what my problem might be, i'd love to hear them.

cheers!

[T23FUN]

If you've got the machine apart you might look for anything loose on the mother board. Since it works fine at first idon't think it would be a connection problem, but maybe a heat problem. If something came loose from a heat sink, that would do it. Take a magnifying glass and check the bigger components.
Good Luck

Also check this thread:
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=57021

[Harryc]

Loose GPU. Do a forum search for 'reflow'. You need to reflow the GPU or replace the systemboard.

[shakefoo]

thanks guys.

T23Fun, i didn't see anything that stood out. the connection from buttons below the spacebar to the mobo was loose, but that was about it.

Harryc, yeah, i saw that reflow video. not sure if i can pull that one off! a little to high tech for me perhaps.

what's strange is that since i unscrewed the keyboard yest the laptop has not crashed in 24 hours now. perhaps one of the screws was hitting the motherboard or something and causing the issue.

that said, maybe i should put the keyboard back together, one screw at a time and see what happens...

[T23FUN]

go for it! and if all works all the better.

[Harryc]

My theory - when you dropped the machine the board flexed enough to break the GPU contact with the systemboard. What might be happening now is that when you screw the keyboard to the machine it is flexing the systemboard just enough to break the GPU contact again.

[shakefoo]

ha! minutes after i posted that i hadn't crashed in 24 hours...I CRASH! that's karma for ya...so much for the screw solution...

anyway, Harryc, i tend to agree. clearly the fall damaged something, somewhere on the mobo.

would that "ati2dvag driver has stopped working normally" error i had shed light on anything?

[Harryc]

Yup, that's a common error that you'd get from the driver for an ATI GPU that is at some point disconnected from the systemboard.