Network Hub Fails -> Damages Network Card -> Resolution

[ethink]

On Monday there were very intense lightning storms in my neighborhood. My home never lost power. There is a surge protector on the electrical service panel. My ThinkPads were all turned off.

Later in the day, I found that I could NOT boot up my T42p (Win XP SP3, in a 2877 dock and connected to an external digital monitor). The T42p would NOT go beyond the ThinkPad splash screen.

I removed the T42p from the dock and I was able to successfully boot into Windows and get a wireless network connection. When I attempted to put the T42p back into the dock, I would experience problems booting; sometimes it worked and some times it did not.

I later tried connecting to my home LAN via wired connection. This did NOT work as both Win XP and my ThinkPad SW did not see the Intel Pro/100 Network connection. I then noticed that my home office NW Hub was fully lit up even though on 2 of the 4 ports were connected. It appeared the the NW Hub had also failed.

I checked my wife's ThinkPad A31p which had been connected to the NW Hub. The A31p had also lost it's wired network connection.

It appears that the failure of the NW Hub caused a failure in the network cards of my A31p and T42p. Since the T42p LAN connection was via the docking station, it is possible that the docking station was also damaged.

Can anyone provide any additional insights into this situation?

Thanks,
Steve

[Harryc]

My guess that is despite your utility panel surge protection, current from the electrical storms in the area somehow got onto your network wiring and took everything out with it. Events of this nature are not uncommon, and it sounds like your conclusion is the same. So, what advice were you looking for?

[ethink]

My guess that is despite your utility panel surge protection, current from the electrical storms in the area somehow got onto your network wiring and took everything out with it. Events of this nature are not uncommon, and it sounds like your conclusion is the same. So, what advice were you looking for?

This is the first time I have experienced this problem. So I appreciate your confirmation of my conclusion.

Much as I really like my T42p, it looks like I will need to upgrade to a T60p since I do want to stay with a Flexview Screen.

Thanks again for your response to my posting.

Steve

[ajkula66]

Do the BIOS pages of T42p and A31p still show the MAC address or not?

[ethink]

Do the BIOS pages of T42p and A31p still show the MAC address or not?

I checked the BIOS pages for the T42p and A31p; both show "Not Applicable" for the MAC address.

[ajkula66]

Well, that confirms the damage done...

You can swap the card on A31p but not on the T42p, since the latter is an onboard one.

A good PCMCIA card and you'll be back in business...until you locate the T60p of your dreams...

Good luck.

[ethink]

Well, that confirms the damage done...

You can swap the card on A31p but not on the T42p, since the latter is an onboard one.

A good PCMCIA card and you'll be back in business...until you locate the T60p of your dreams...

Good luck.

The 11a/b/g Wireless LAN Mini PCI Adapter II still works and I am currently using this for a network connection.

I tested a wired connection using an IBM EtherJet PCCard; this install and worked fine.

However, something else seems to be damaged on the T42p Systemboard because the Dock II (2877) no longer works reliably with my T42p. I tested the Dock II with a T23 and this combination works reliably.

Does anyone have an idea on "why" I am having problems with the Dock II?

Thanks for the replies to this topic.

[RealBlackStuff]

The Southbridge chip on the T4x mobo controls the ethernet port amongst other things.
My bet is that that SB chip was also damaged, meaning you now may have flaky hard disk, floppy, CD, modem, USB slowdown or failure, etc.
The dock only 'sees' what the laptop 'passes on'.
A replacement mobo is your best bet.

[ethink]

The Southbridge chip on the T4x mobo controls the ethernet port amongst other things.
My bet is that that SB chip was also damaged, meaning you now may have flaky hard disk, floppy, CD, modem, USB slowdown or failure, etc.
The dock only 'sees' what the laptop 'passes on'.
A replacement mobo is your best bet.

RBS:

Thank you for answering my post about "why" my T42p was not behaving well with my 2877 Dock II.

I now have a better understanding of what happened and what is causing the problems with my T42p.

So far (4 days and counting), the "only" problems are the lost Intel Pro/100 Network and the problem with the Dock II.

I back my data up daily to an external HD, so I will try to prepare for a more serious problem in the future.

[Brad]

What type of internet service do you have?

I have sometimes seen similar outages through your internet service and not from your electric service. Cable internet comes to mind or any other copper service into the house that may not be grounded properly including telephone service. It would surprise me though if whatever service the surge came through is still working like a cable or DSL modem that passed the surge to the now non-working parts.

Brad

[ethink]

What type of internet service do you have?

I have sometimes seen similar outages through your internet service and not from your electric service. Cable internet comes to mind or any other copper service into the house that may not be grounded properly including telephone service. It would surprise me though if whatever service the surge came through is still working like a cable or DSL modem that passed the surge to the now non-working parts.

Brad

I have cable internet (Optonline from Cablevision).

Here is a simple schematic:

[Cable]->[Cable Modem]->[Wireless Router]->[Wire in-house]->[LAN Hub]->[TP A31p + T42p]

No damage: Cable Modem, Wireless Router
Full damage: LAN Hub
Partial Damage: TP A31p, T42p; both lost Intel-based NICs (not seen in TP BIOS)

[ethink]

I recently acquired two new pieces of HW to compensate for the loss of my Dock II with my T42p.

External USB 2.0 power Hub with 10 ports:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00483WRZ6
I am using this with an IBM 1312 Laser printer, a HP G4050 Scanner and a (2) IBM Portable USB 2.0 HDs

PS/2 Keyboard to USB adapter
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BSJFJS
I am using this with my "classic" IBM Keyboard (KB-8923)
http://geekhack.org/showthread.php?1518 ... 3-keyboard

I am looking for a replacement Systemboard for my T42p
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=97004
Although this is 6+ year old machine, almost all of the common HW failure points have been replaced over the past three years including HD, Keyboard, Fan and LCD Screen. This ThinkPad is too nice to scrap or part-out!

[ethink]

The Southbridge chip on the T4x mobo controls the ethernet port amongst other things.
My bet is that that SB chip was also damaged, meaning you now may have flaky hard disk, floppy, CD, modem, USB slowdown or failure, etc.
The dock only 'sees' what the laptop 'passes on'.
A replacement mobo is your best bet.

RealBlackStuff helped me obtain a replacement motherboard for my T42p.

Here is a link http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... 99#p644399 to the resolution of this problem.

My T42p is now fully operational and working in the Docking Station. Even though I now own a T60p with a 15" Flexview screen, I still really like this T42p. I will be passing it on to my wife who had been using a ThinkPad A31p also with a 15" Flexview screen.

Thanks to all for their helpful advice.