!!URGENT!! X200 Mysteriously turns itself on and off

[mooingmooseman]

Hi all,

I have a new x200 but have witnessed this occurance three times already:

I put the computer to sleep, everything is off, moon is lit. In a few minutes, the computer MYSTERIOUSLY turns itself on. Screen stays black (if you touch mouse it will display the login screen immediately). If left alone, the computer will sleep on it's own again in ~2 minutes.

Just FYI I've only seen this happen when plugged in. My friend's T61 also seems to do the same thing but she has never witnessed it. People have just seen her AIM sign on/off throughout the night mysteriously (which I infer is the same issue). My power settings does not allow for computer to automatically sleep EVER when it is plugged in.

Anyone know what is wrong??

[Ritual]

Who you going to call?

GhostBusters!!!

Is your PC set to "Wake on network activity". Not exactly sure how to check that setting but I do know that setting exists.

[Harryc]

It's on the wireless adapter/properties/power management tab in device manager. Uncheck allow this device to wake the computer. Also make sure any 'wake on' options are disabled in BIOS, .e.g. Wake on LAN.

[mooingmooseman]

Thanks for the replies, I will definitely check when I go home.

[blackomegax]

my X61s did this if i left the bluetooth mouse on.
movement would make the mouse wake the computer up.

[mooingmooseman]

i found and turned off the wake up on lan activity. didn't find anything else that had "wake up", was hoping there'd be one for wifi since i never connected by ethernet. but we'll see! didn't notice it wake up last night (but i also turned off the beep so hard to tell)

[archer6]

i found and turned off the wake up on lan activity.

I've noticed that this is set by default with both my new X301 and X200s, therefore I had to go in and change it. After that all was well.

[martin255]

Sorry to hijack your thread, but I have a similar problem that I don't fully understand and you guys might be able to help. There was a power failure at my place today while my X200s was running on AC without a battery. When power came back, there was a message asking me to set date and time in the BIOS, which I did. At the following boot, there was another message telling that no supervisor password was set. I did not pay attention to it.

Since then, the laptop periodically reboots when idle (if I leave it alone for 10 minutes or so, it shows the Windows login screen when I come back) AND it systematically reboots immediately after being shut down, wether it is running on battery or on AC. If I try to hibernate, it reboots. The only way to shut it down is to remove the battery while it is unplugged.

The strange BIOS messages about the supervisor password reminded me of a known issue in the latest X200s BIOS ( http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-70347 ), but I updated the BIOS weeks ago and had not had any issue before today. I checked wake on lan: it is disabled both in the BIOS and in the Windows driver. I also tried resetting the BIOS to default values but the options were not reset (I got the message about supervisor password again, though) which is really strange.

It seems like the problem is with the BIOS, so the next thing I am going to try is to flash it again. Any other suggestion would be greatly appreciated.

[edited for spelling]

[Marin85]

Since then, the laptop perdiocally reboots when idle (if I leave it alone for 10 minutes or so, it shows the Windows login screen when I come back) AND it systematically reboots immediately after being shut down, wether it is running on battery or on AC. If I try to hibernate, it reboots. The only way to shut it down is to remove the battery while it is unplugged.

Did you actually see your laptop rebooting when on idle? I´m asking because there are different scenarios when Windows login screen may appear including display is powered off as part of your current power management profile or when "resuming" from screensaver. Maybe a long shot, but as for hybernation did you check out the key assignments (including those from start menu -> check also advanced settings in Lenovo Power Manager)? Did you try to shut down your laptop by pressing and holding the power button of your ThinkPad? (sorry if these questions sound too obvious, but we have to exclude it if it´s not the case)

Marin

[martin255]

Thanks for the quick reply, Marin. I am positive the laptop reboots when idling. I saw the Thinkpad logo and the Windows boot animation several times. It does not reboot after pressing and holding the power button, so it really seems like a software problem. And yes, keys are assigned correctly (lid closed / Fn+F4 = sleep, power button = shutdown, Fn+F12 = Hibernate)
After fiddling a bit with power settings, I realized that the laptop reboots when trying to enter sleep / hibernation. So now my problem is figuring why it reboots when entering a low-power state.

I found people with similar problems on other machines, apparently clearing the BIOS fixed their problems, so I will try that tomorrow. Thanks again for your help.

[martin255]

Hi all,

Just wanted to let you know my problem is finally solved, in case someone comes here with a similar one: it was indeed the BIOS who became corrupted somehow during the power failure. Downgrading it then flashing the newest one again did not work, so I cleared the CMOS by removing the backup battery (thanks to Lenovo for providing the HMM!), and that did the trick.

[Marin85]

Glad to hear your problem got resolved BTW, just one question: I´m not very much into these BIOS things, is this procedure safe (for the laptop)? Is there any danger to void the warranty by doing this?

Thanks,

Marin

[martin255]

I don't think clearing the CMOS would void your warranty: the procedure is detailed in the hardware maintenance manual and after all, all it does is restoring the factory settings of the BIOS. That being said it is safe, but not foolproof: when opening a laptop, you should know what you are doing and be careful not to touch anything unless you really need to. If there is any static electricity on your hands and you get too close to the components, you can kill the motherboard - as I painfully learnt when I was a teenager fiddling with my first computer...

Frankly I did it myself because I was reluctant to send the laptop for repair. As my only computer running Windows I need it for my work, my warranty is dubious at best (bought the laptop in the US, live in France), and I was almost sure I had the problem figured out. My advice is that if your laptop is under warranty and you can live without it for a few days, it's better to have a qualified professionnal take a look at it than doing the repair work yourself.

[Marin85]

Thanks for the advice! I have onsite warranty that covers Germany as well and it has already happened that technicians have come to check out a few things... So, I guess letting them do any repair (<knock on wood>) won´t be a problem at all. Besides, they all seemed to understand what they were doing

Marin