Hardware faults on my new W510

[mspacek]

I finally got my W510 yesterday (i7 820QM, 2x2GB, Seagate 500GB 7200.4 drive, FHD 270nit non-multitouch screen). I'm quite impressed by the screen and speed, not so impressed by Windows 7. So I wiped everything off the disk and tried installing Ubuntu 9.10, and then Ubuntu 10.04a2. At some point, with the battery attached and the machine plugged into the wall, I shut it down and close the lid. I come back a few hours later, open it up, and discover that the left side of the machine is really hot, just above the left speaker. So much so, that the plastic grille actually bowed up a bit, with some condensation on the screen where it had been touching. Plus, there was a smell of burning electronics in the air. Not impressive. I unplugged it from the wall (think I left the battery in) to let it cool. After a few minutes, the heat eased off and the plastic grille returned to its normal shape, so I plugged it back in and turned it on. I had no more heat problems after that, but I discovered that the left speaker no longer worked any more. Joy! Headphone audio still works fine at least.

So, I guess the left speaker shorted out somehow.

I'd had some problems getting Ubuntu 9.10 and then 10.04a2 to install, rather random lockups. So I left memtest86+ running overnight, and lo, in the morning there were lots of memory errors reported. Maybe this is damage from all that heat, although I've run memtest86+ (both 2.xx and 4.00) a few more times since then, and each time I'm getting fewer and fewer errors.

I also had one stuck blue pixel (when it should've been black), but that seems to have resolved itself.

I call tech support, they don't even have my serial number in their system yet. I'm told I need to send proof of purchase to some email address, then they'll give me a DOA number, which I can then take to customer service to get a replacement machine shipped out. What a headache. It's like dealing with 2 (or 3 if you count sales) different corps, instead of just one.

As far as the machine goes, I guess this is what I get for being a guinea pig. Sigh. The big visaperks.ca discount I got at the end of January still sort of makes it worth it though. I wonder if they'll even be able to replace my machine with the same specs, seeing as there are reports now that the W510 is no longer being offered with the non multitouch FHD screen.

By the way, 10.04 seems to be working with the latest updates. Like others have reported, screen brightness doesn't actually change, although Ubuntu's status indicator for it does. And I can't seem to get suspend or hibernate to work in either 9.10 or 10.04.

[Oliver26n]

That sucks. I guess the quad core Nehalems are pretty toasty. I did hear elsewhere on the forum that the FHD 95% gamut option without touchscreen was temporarily removed from Lenovo's site, possibly to take advantage of the profit opportunity in forcing people to do the $450 upgrade for the FHD screen. I was told that it was still available without touchscreen thru the academic portal.

[Jih]

Hmm, just got my W510 with the same CPU. So far running Win7 and it is cooler than my T61p after running it for a couple of hours + updating etc. Sort of scared to try closing it and letting it run now that you mention this though

[QFoam]

Are you sure it was completely shut down before closing the lid? You say that suspend and hibernate don't work properly (no surprise, as no one had probably yet tested the Ubuntu drivers fully with the machine, plus it's using a new architecture).

I'm wondering if it was still shutting down when the lid closed, at which point it went into some sort of suspended state in which the electronics were still on but the software controlling the fans was no longer running. If that were the case, I'd expect to see exactly what you saw.

In any case, when the new machine arrives, I'd probably run temp monitoring software for awhile under Ubuntu, to make sure the drivers controlling the fans are running properly during normal operation. In installing a new OS on the machine, especially one in which the drivers have not yet been adequately tested with that computer, I'd want to make sure that at least the fans are running properly and doing a good job of controlling CPU/GPU temps. That, in itself, can be a cause of random errors/lockups/shutdowns.

[mspacek]

Yeah, I'm sure it had completely shut down. When I tried suspending or hibernating in Ubuntu, it obviously wouldn't shut down, backlight wouldn't turn off for any length of time, LEDs stayed on, password prompt came back on mouse movement, etc.

I think you're right about Ubuntu not being quite on par with Windows in terms of power management, especially on something as new as the i7. The fan runs noticeably louder in Ubuntu than in Windows, but overall the system remains cool. Keep in mind that it was just the spot directly above where the left speaker sits underneath the left speaker grill that got hot. None of the rest of the left side of the machine felt hot. It stopped when I pulled the plug (yet left the battery in, I think) - or maybe it had finished shorting out by then and was already cooling down on its own. Anyways, it hasn't happened again. I think it was just a short in the speaker. Bad luck.

If it was only the speaker, I might consider getting it repaired locally. But, memtest86+ is still giving me memory errors. I don't like that

[QFoam]

A different user is reporting what appears to be the same problem, in the Lenovo forums:

http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/W-Series-Th ... d-p/203530

[mspacek]

There are some similar reports now for the T410:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpos ... tcount=199

[QFoam]

mspacek, were you able to get your problem repaired, and have you had any recurring heating of the laptop when it's turned off?

The T400s has also had an almost identical problem. Lenovo issued a BIOS update to address it, but several people have had the problem occur after installing the BIOS update:

http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/T400-T500-a ... d-p/153003

[mspacek]

I did a return. I'm still waiting to get a replacement machine. Latest they tell me is a ship date some time in May. I might just cancel the whole thing and give up for a while.

As for the explanation out there that the speaker might melt because its wires touch the heatsink, that makes sense. What doesn't make sense in my case, and in many others it seems, is why the CPU/GPU were generating any heat at all when the machine was off, but plugged in. After the speaker melted, I never had any other incident where I noticed heat coming from the system while turned off. It's a bit mysterious.

Martin

[QFoam]

Sorry to hear that it's taking so long, Martin. If you're able to wait until May, then you deserve sainthood for your patience. They should give you a free upgrade to 8GB of RAM, at the least.

Best of luck.

[mspacek]

Funny you should mention that. I've already been promised an extra 135W power supply, and just a few days ago I asked them to give me an upgrade to 8GB as well. They said they'd get back to me. I'm not holding my breath

[QFoam]

Actually, waiting until May may have certain advantages. For instance, people who had their T400s laptops repaired for the similar problem, then had a recurrence of that problem in the repaired machines. And Lenovo's BIOS update to prevent that problem apparently didn't (always) work.

So Lenovo may not yet understand the problem, or may not yet understand how to fix it. Maybe they'll figure it all out by May. They are stunningly silent on these issues over in the lenovo.com W-series forum, which I suspect means that they don't know what to do, and therefore, they don't know what to say.