A31P weird symptoms. Hard drive going bad?

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XiP · #1 Post by **XiP** » Tue Feb 22, 2005 8:49 pm

Hello,

I have used my A31p since May 2002 with no problems at all. But recently (about the past week or two) my A31p has been acting very strange.

When I boot it will either:
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1) Screen come up with IBM logo and do nothing then I have hold power button and restart
2) Screen not come up at all and I have to hold the power button and reboot
3) Boot normally but then get a Windows blue screen of death

In the case that it does boot normally:
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1) If I move the laptop or bump it, it will lock up and I have to hold the power button and reboot
2) Will randomly lock up during usage
3) Randomly get Windows blue screen of death saying problems with ntfs.sys or other .sys files

I already ran CHKDSK and it shows no bad sectors on the hard drive, but I am not ruling out that my hard drive is going bad. Can anybody help diagnose the the problem (hopefully it's the hard drive since I know how to replace that myself)? Thanks in advance.

-Tyler

JHEM · #2 Post by **JHEM** » Tue Feb 22, 2005 9:40 pm

First thing, backup all of your files.

Then, get the Drive Fitness Test from Hitachi or similar from whomever your HD manufacturer is.

Sounds like a failing HD to me.

Also make sure the memory is stiill correctly seated.

Report back.

Regards,

James

friedrich-eugen · #3 Post by **friedrich-eugen** » Wed Feb 23, 2005 9:37 am

Hello,

I 'ld stress : check if all parts are seated as they should!!

XiP · #4 Post by **XiP** » Wed Feb 23, 2005 10:50 pm

Ok I backed up everything and ran the Hitachi Drive Fitness Test. Quick analysis, full analysis, and drive fitness test all worked fine and showed no errors.

I opened up the bottom compartments and everything still looks seated correctly. I'll recheck it one more time just in case.

This morning when I turned it on it said something like
"Error: Cannot find Operating System"

MobileGuru · #5 Post by **MobileGuru** » Thu Feb 24, 2005 12:10 am

I think you are going to find that you require a planar replacement. Off the top of my head I would guestimate solder fractures somewhere that are causing the intermittant problems .. especially if you are not getting drive errors during the test.

XiP · #6 Post by **XiP** » Thu Mar 17, 2005 11:08 pm

I just sent the laptop to IBM yesterday. I found out the connector between the LCD and the chassis was cracked and I'm not sure if that is causing the problem, but they said they will replace that and look for any problems. IBM service is so nice!

XiP · #7 Post by **XiP** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 12:09 pm

Just received the laptop. They replaced the motherboard and now it's working great. Cheers!

Nelix · #8 Post by **Nelix** » Sun Mar 20, 2005 8:09 am

Hello!

I´ve nearly the same plroblems with my A31:
One year ago I had display/pixel errors (at booting and during work), snt it to IBM and they changed the motherboard.

Now I have the same problems again and they are getting worse like the problems you had (no booting, system chrash ...)

But now the period of guarantee is over!

How much was the new motherboard? Or have they changed it for free?

Nelix

XiP · #9 Post by **XiP** » Sun Mar 20, 2005 11:22 pm

Mine was free because it's still in warranty. I'm not sure how much they would charge if it was out of warranty. Maybe I might extend my warranty now that you mention that your problems came back.

A31P weird symptoms. Hard drive going bad?

A31P weird symptoms. Hard drive going bad?

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