I think I damaged my ethernet port

[tom101]

My T41 got pretty hot yesterday because it was left in an enclosed space with the power supply next to the network port, now it seems the connection has become unstable. Windows keeps reporting it connected - disconnected - connected - disconnected at 100Mb/s but at 10Mb/s it is stable. I have tried different cables, checked that the router is OK with a different laptop and reinstalled dirvers but the problem persists. I will probably buy one of those USB to ethernet dongles but is there anything else I could try?

Thanks,

Tom

[killer]

Try running PC Doctor tests on the Ethernet connection and report back with any information.

[tom101]

Thanks, but where do I get it? A google search reveals a few 'pc doctors' I'd like to use the right one.

Edit: I think I found it, it's this one right?

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... 46258.html

[poshgeordie]

You're right Tom

You want the bootable CD version here.

to turn it into a bootable CD, run the .exe file and save to a convenient location.

If you don't know how to burn a bootable CD, the easiest way in Windows is to use this program which makes it an almost one click process.

[killer]

Yes, that's the right place to download it. You need PC Doctor for Windows (if you are using XP or 2000). I thought most IBM/Lenovo machines have it preloaded. If I go to 'Start' then 'All Programs' it is there in the list.

[RealBlackStuff]

It's best to have an independent PC-Doctor on a CD, so no OS can influence the outcome of the tests.
Windows-versions are eye-candy if you ask me.

[tom101]

Well now I am confused. I tried PC doctor (boot from CD) and when connected to my router the link test fails. I tried three different cables to be sure but same result each time. I have a Dell laptop so I connected the T41 and it together via ethernet and the test passed.... every time! I connect the Dell laptop to the router and it connects and the link is completely stable. Two days ago my T41 could connect to the router at 100Mbps.... now it can't, it can only do 10Mbps.

It's a riddle, anyone have an answer?

[poshgeordie]

What result do you get when the port isn't connected to anything? I usually run PC Doc that way.

Also, did you run the full suite of PC Doc tests as well to make sure there isn't another problem anywhere? Could be worth doing since a failure in another area could give a clue.
Since there was an apparent failure due to temperature, run the 10 minute system test (not sure oaf the extact name but it's there somewhere).
Also maybe do memtest on the disc (yeah I know shot in the dark but it does no harm)

When running the tests disconnect all external cables etc too.

[tom101]

Hi Poshgeordie, with the bootable CD I can't run the network test without connecting to a LAN, it's a prerequisite of the test. Also when I try to run a 'normal' test from the diagnostics menu it says I need to insert a floppy disk, something which is of course physically impossible. And I cannot find the ten minute test you spoke about. Am I doing something wrong? Have I definitely got the right version? I downloaded the file from the link you gave.

[poshgeordie]

Try running the quick test (the one below the 'normal' one).
On the other hand if you go down the list of tests in the first menu, you are doing the same thing.

I haven't got either a working laptop or the PC Doc disc here to check for the exact menu location and name, but if you go along the menu it's under one of those listed towards the middle and is called something like 'system test'. Under that you'll see listed the 10 min or 5 min version.

Take your point about the LAN port, but I usually run it with nought plugged in and the electronics are tested rather than the link.
I then do a connection test to the router, but that won't help you (!).

I've checked to see if you can run a Linux Ubuntu Live CD and test the port that way, but whilst you can connect to the Internet in the usual way, there are no preinstalled port speed tests.
However if you want to give it a go use Ubuntu version 8.10 rather than the latest which doesn't support ATI cards. The Live CD allows you to run Ubuntu without installing it first BTW.

[tom101]

I'm starting to think this is more likely to be a problem with the router rather than the T41. I connected the T41 to the Dell and the ports auto-negotiated to 1Gb/s and I copied a 1GB file from one to the other in a time that seemed fast enough to truly be 1Gb/s. As I said before, the dell can connect to the router at 100Mb/s no problem though so I really don't know. I will try to borrow a different router and test with that. Thanks for the help so far.