Help IDing off T42p - type 2379, FRU 13R2971 - does this thi

[nichevo]

Darndest thing - I am evilly fascinated by these eBay pigs-in-a-poke with people selling a lap for $20+S&H, question is does it work, LOL. Meanwhile this one seems impossible. It says T42p on the bezel below the screen but on the back it says type 2379 - no XYZ. it is evidently Australian, the labels are copyright 2003, it has FCC (?) sticker for an abg card, and has the FRU of 13R2971 which I can't hardly find anywhere.

The guy sent me more photos of the bottom and I can't see anywhere the type detail would go, no serial number either. Where would I look? He said it's not under the battery either. He has no power so can't boot it and see. He says it has 80GB HDD and a DVD-CDRW. If it IS a T42p it's worth it just for the parts but a plain T42 is totally surplus to my requirements.

Got a clue? I know, I should just keep walking. Well, I have an hour and 14 minutes to fish or cut bait. Man I got the itch.

[nichevo]

Went for $47.51. What the heck was that?

[rkawakami]

It appears you were looking at this: http://cgi.ebay.com/140546319345

The pictures show a T4x system (as compared to one of my T41s). The 2379 is on the large IBM label as it should be and is a valid TYPE number for a T42p. The Australian notice is a standard statement which does not mean it's only for Australia; merely that it conforms to Australia telecommunication standards. What's missing is the black and white bar code label that normally has the TYPE and S/N as shown here:

http://www.kawakami-ca.com/images/t41_type_label.jpg

[ajkula66]

Given the age of these machines, buying an untested one and hoping to salvage a motherboard is a huge gamble...GPU and SouthBridge failures are simply way too common, and in most feebay cases "not tested" = "not working"....

[nichevo]

You know, you mention "not tested = not working." Can you specify what you think is an appropriate test regimen? I would like to be able to "certify" my own machines at least to my own satisfaction.

[goofyGAguy]

I use the system stress test in the Lenovo ThinkVantage Toolbox.

[rkawakami]

The factory also provides PC Doctor which is able to test most of the hardware in the system. You can start here:

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

select the appropriate system and then look for the "Diagnostics" section. The program is usually available in both a DOS version and Windows version. I choose to use the DOS version as it does not rely upon having a working OS.

[nichevo]

Will this catch things like the bad southbridge with bad USB ports? I will need to have things plugged into them to check this? And or the LAN or other ports?

[ajkula66]

No, PC Doctor (which is an excellent tool that I use myself) won't catch a dying Southbridge, and on many occasions will pass on the faulty GPU as well.

It will properly test most of the components, though.

My first basic test is booting from a "live" Linux CD - testing wired and wireless LAN, BT, charging.

Then comes the PC Doctor for DOS - including the RAM test.

For machines with discrete graphics, I use this:

http://freestone-group.com/video-card-s ... y-test.htm

At least two hours of continuous testing with that and you'll see whether there's a GPU problem. A must for all ATi-based A3x, T4x, R5x and T6x ThinkPads in my book.

To test for an iffy SouthBridge, you need Windows installed. Plug something in the USB port and see what happens...that's for starters.

If the machine occasionally freezes at boot with no rhyme or reason and passes other tests, that's a SouthBridge problem.

Keyboard, LAN, wireless acting weird - the same thing.

"0200" error on boot with no hard drive installed (mostly on T43/p and R52) points to the same culprit.

Have fun.

[rkawakami]

PC Doctor will not tell you explicitly that you have a bad southbridge. I/O port testing coverage is also limited unless you have the proper loopback cables (quite rare to find ones for the USB and PCMCIA interfaces). What it can check is the following:

CPU
Motherboard
Memory
Video
Hard Drive
Floppy
Optical drive
Serial/Parallel port
Ethernet
Modem
Wireless
Keyboard
Mouse (Trackpoint/UltraNav)
Thermal sensor
Fan
Sound
and other items....