T42 - Sporatic crashing....help?

[uzs161]

Hello everyone! Been a long time reader here (great info!) but I never need to post until now. I recently picked up a "working for the most part" T42 (2373-4WU) that I wanted to clean up to give my aunt so she could get on the internet. I clean it up both physically and software wise, reformatting the HD and installed Win7 HP (which runs reasonably well as I have another T42 that has been running Win7 HP for a while).

I was told that this computer would sporadically crash before I got it but I figured it was probably a software issue. Basically, the computer will start up and sometimes, it'll work for a while (had it doing a battery drain/recharge and left it on overnight...at least 6 hours on) and then crash. Sometimes, it crashes within seconds/minutes of getting to the desktop. I know it's not this install of Win7 HP because I've actually put this HD into another T42 (my 2373-4TU which is identical setup except the WiFi card) and it works flawlessly. So I'm betting on it being a hardware issue.

When it crashes, the screen goes blank and all the status lights are still on. The HD is sometimes accessed and the WiFi LED will sometimes blink on/off (random it seems, no pattern) or stay somewhat solid...again, no pattern...then the T42 sometimes stays like that or (usually) restarts and when it comes up to the desktop, it gives me the standard Win7 crash window. Here's the text from three recent crashes...

Problem signature:
Problem Event Name: BlueScreen
OS Version: 6.1.7600.2.0.0.768.3
Locale ID: 1033

Additional information about the problem:
BCCode: 100000ea
BCP1: 85D07D48
BCP2: 85D695E8
BCP3: 85D82418
BCP4: 00000001
OS Version: 6_1_7600
Service Pack: 0_0
Product: 768_1

BCCode: 100000ea
BCP1: 86920A50
BCP2: 86085410
BCP3: 86082418
BCP4: 00000001

BCCode: 100000ea
BCP1: 85D88A20
BCP2: 85A2B908
BCP3: 85BC9010
BCP4: 00000001

BCCode: 100000ea
BCP1: 862548A8
BCP2: 85B85558
BCP3: 85B61598
BCP4: 00000001

I ran MemTest86+ and the RAM is fine. I also ran the ISO version of PC Disk Doctor (recently downloaded from Lenovo's site) and it also checks out fine. It ran the tests (I did a few "complete" test with PC Doctor) without a glitch. I tried booting into the OS with just the HD, so no CDRW/DVD drive installed and it didn't make a difference. I tried a different battery and no battery (just the wall plug)...no difference. I also took apart the T42 and cleaned the LCD cable connector contacts, etc., etc. I tried putting pressure on the ATI chip (with the keyboard and palmrest in place and taken off), again, no difference. I also tried putting pressure on the CPU and Southbridge (or is the Northbridge? It's the big chip under the trackpoint with no heat sink over it.). I also tried physically "flexing" the T42 by grabbing the corners of the T42 and bending it and that doesn't seem to make a difference (so I'm guess it's not a ATI/Reballing issue).

Based on what I've read, I'm going to guess that it needs a new mobo but before I try that, I wanted to see if anyone else might have some ideas...

[uzs161]

Ok, here's an even more odd thing...so the T42 started blacking out more often. I could get it to black out by just touching/flexing it pretty much anywhere and at any point in the boot sequence from the initial BIOS splash screen all the way up to the desktop in Win7. I started thinking maybe it is the ATI chip so I pressed a little harder by the trackpad/trackpoint area. Since there is a fairly large gap between the trackpad/trackpoint area and the ATI chip, I doubt it did anything to the ATI chip but now it seems to be running just fine!

I even tried flexing the T42 much harder than before when it was blacking out (which only required a light touch to induce). I also re-did my previous test on the ATI chip by running the T42 with the palm rest and keyboard off and physically trying to lightly move the ATI chip platform. I pushed on it from the left, right, top (towards LCD), bottom (towards palmrest) and even pressed directly down on the chip. Plus I tried to "lift" it off the motherboard.....nada. It's still running fine. I have FireFox open on DrudgeReport.com (it's auto-refreshing on its own) and I'm running iTunes online radio with the Classic Visualizer on (with frame rate turned on) and so far, no issues. So I think that definitely takes out the ATI chip from the potential problem list.

Now I'm wondering if it's the WiFi card since that is directly below the touchpad. I wonder if it's shorting out or something. It's DEFINITELY seated properly (I just checked it) and the antenna connectors are in firmly. Maybe I should put a barrier between it and the trackpad or do you guys think maybe the WiFi card is bad/going bad?

http://i46.tinypic.com/2uti8tf.jpg

Admin edit: Removed large (>50KB) inline image (user edit: Sorry about that!)

[RealBlackStuff]

You could always try a PCMCIA wifi card and see if that improves things.
Also, STOP flexing the darned thing, unless you are craving for a reballing/reflowing.

[uzs161]

So my guess is that the original WiFi might have some issues or it just didn't want to stay seated since I know I seated it properly when I had previously re-installed it. I tried two different things...First, I reseated the original MPCI WiFi card and put a small Post-It note to cover the antenna connectors on the WiFi card and ran the computer for a few hours without a single blank BSOD...and yes, I tried flexing it! (I'll stop now doing that, I promise...I just needed to make sure that the contacts weren't the problem)

So after a successful run with the original card (yeah, I guess I am a sucker for punishment), I decided to get adventurous and I installed a different MPCI WiFi card...a non-IBM/Lenovo 802.11BG card by Intel, that I pilfered from my "had happier days" Fujitsu P7010, and along with the jmp1802 program, the T42 has been running flawlessly. Also a bit faster since it's a B/G card (the original card which was a B-only). The only downside is that my wireless indicator light doesn't come on anymore...which I'm guessing is probably a side effect of the way the jmp1802 program disables the WiFi check at boot or maybe the non-IBM WiFi cards don't put out the necessary indicator signal for the T42. I'm going to test that by putting in the old card to see if the light comes back to the life. So I guess "long term" testing will be necessary to see if the WiFi card was the culprit...(in which case it will be take out in the backyard and summarily shot...twice.)

[RealBlackStuff]

Its the non-IBM/Lenovo wifi card that causes the LED not to light.

[uzs161]

Ah, thanks for that bit of info.

Speaking of jmp1802, I learned something new today...when you reset the BIOS (and I assume when you re-flash it), it makes the jmp1802 mod go away. I had to uninstall the card, run jmp1802 and then reinstall the card. I'm actually happy to know this so if I ever get IBM branded WiFi card for the second T42, I can undo jmp1802.

That aside, it turns out that the T42 is still blacking out but not as often now...very sporadic. Sometimes the unit will run for days and then sometimes it'll just go wacko. I even tried to "stress" the system by running the long Passmark test and it didn't seem to affect it. Any ideas folks?

I think when it goes into one of it's fits, I'm going to try to hook it up to an external monitor to see if it's that blanks out too.