T400 Screen turns Black/Gray and System Freezes.

[400]

My screen turns black or gray and the system freezes.
The only way to fix it is to restart the system by opening all forms of power supply (adaptor and the battery).
Sometimes it works fine for a day or two, sometimes only for a few hours.

I think the problem has something do with my graphics drivers or some other driver from Lenovo.
I have used Lenovo Thinkvantage Toolbox to check for hardware errors and it shows that everything is working fine.
I have updated all drivers but still the problem is there.
I still have warrenty period left.

I bought my system 2 years ago and have never had any problem untill this one.

My system specifications are given below.

• Model: Lenovo Thinkpad T400 2764 CTO
  
• BIOS version (Latest?): 3.18 (latest)
• OS loaded (ex. Win 7 64bit): Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
• Lenovo default OS: Microsoft Windows Vista Basic 32-bit
• Updates from TVSU completed? Yes.
• Updates from Windows Update? Yes.
• Power Manager Version: 3.25
• RAM installed (brand and 1 x 4gb, 1 x 2gb, 2 x 2gb?) 2 x 2 GB
  
• Model of discrete card: ATI Mobility Radeon 3400
  
• Any error notification? No
• 3rd party application installed for the graphic card? No.
• Any particular application which is running on the time this issue arises? No.
• Running on battery? AC? Docked on station? Error occurs in any state.
  
  Any solutions?
  Anyone had similar problems?
  
  Thanks.

[400]

My screen turns black or gray and the system freezes.
The only way to fix it is to restart the system by opening all forms of power supply (adaptor and the battery).
Sometimes it works fine for a day or two, sometimes only for a few hours.

I think the problem has something do with my graphics drivers or some other driver from Lenovo.
I have used Lenovo Thinkvantage Toolbox to check for hardware errors and it shows that everything is working fine.
I have updated all drivers but still the problem is there.
I still have warrenty period left.

I bought my system 2 years ago and have never had any problem untill this one.

My system specifications are given below.

• Model: Lenovo Thinkpad T400 2764 CTO
  
• BIOS version (Latest?): 3.18 (latest)
• OS loaded (ex. Win 7 64bit): Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
• Lenovo default OS: Microsoft Windows Vista Basic 32-bit
• Updates from TVSU completed? Yes.
• Updates from Windows Update? Yes.
• Power Manager Version: 3.25
• RAM installed (brand and 1 x 4gb, 1 x 2gb, 2 x 2gb?) 2 x 2 GB
  
• Model of discrete card: ATI Mobility Radeon 3400
  
• Any error notification? No
• 3rd party application installed for the graphic card? No.
• Any particular application which is running on the time this issue arises? No.
• Running on battery? AC? Docked on station? Error occurs in any state.
  
  Any solutions?
  Anyone had similar problems?
  
  Thanks.

[lead_org Microsoft MVP Contributor]

does this problem occur under the intel gpu?

[400]

I use the ATI gpu all the time so it occurs when using that.

[lead_org Microsoft MVP Contributor]

try switching to the Intel GPU mode, and see whether this problem occurs.

We have to rule out the LCD and its connecting cable as the cause of this problematic behaviour. If this problem doesn't occur under the Intel GPU, then there is a high likelihood of the ATI GPU and its associated electronics and circuitry that caused the problem.

In which case, then you would need to seek warranty support, as it is a hardware problem.

[400]

Trying it out.
Will keep you posted.

Thanks.

[divzero]

My problem seems to be similar. Sometimes my screen also turns black unexpectedly and the notebook freezes completely! In some cases I see a bluescreen of death and in some very few cases it restarts automatically. If it does not restart automatically I have to hold down the power button for some seconds to turn the notebook completely off (so that the "power on led" left to the "battery led" is not illuminated any more). Thereafter it is possible to start the notebook again. So unlike user 400 I do not have to remove any connected power sources.

The issue seems to occur out of nowere and seems not to be related to the use of a specific software. My system is up to date with lenovo drivers and windows update, exept the BIOS, which I updated the system two times since the problem exists since more than half a year!!

I also give my system specifications below:

• Model: Lenovo Thinkpad T400 2767 WC8
• BIOS version: 3.16
• OS: Windows 7 Professional x64

• Updates from TVSU completed? Yes. (exept newest BIOS)
  
• Updates from Windows Update? Yes.
• Power Manager Version: 3.25
• RAM installed  2 x 2 GB (bought and placed by loenovo reseller)
  
• Model of discrete card and integrated card: ATI Mobility Radeon 3400 and intel mobility 4 chip
  
• Any error notification? yes, entry for bsod or kernel-power-issue in the system protocol (but no specific error)
  
• 3rd party application installed for the graphic card? No.
• Any particular application which is running on the time this issue arises? No.

I use my notebook with AC connected, with battery and most of the time in the advanced mini dock! Since a few days the error never happened when the notebook was docked! So I thought it is a power issue or has something to do with the graphics card.

But now I found out, that the issue might be related to the wlan card! This is because I never had a wireless lan connection when the notebook was docked, since I use a LAN cable. But a few days before I had to use the wlan while my notebook was docked and the error occured after some time. Furthermore, as far as I remember the issue never occured when the wireless lan was switched off and not docked, but I will check that again.

The issue also never occured when I booted windows in safe mode.

@400

Maybe you can check if it is the same for you with your wlan? Maybe together we can find out what the exact problem is. I want to find out what is the problem to get it fixed by lenovo. Until now they alwas said, that they had never experienced such an error.

Please keep on reporting.

Thanks for any help

[divzero]

sorry i forgot something

@ lead_org

For me it does not matter if I use the discrete or the integrated graphics card and I am almost convinced that the issue is not related to the graphics card.

[400]

I have always used the wireless connection and have used the lan only a few times.
I am certain that in my case atleast,  it is not the wireless causing the problem.

I also feel that this is not a hard ware issue as my graphics cards are both functioning well even under stress (ie when playing games).

[lead_org Microsoft MVP Contributor]

the only way to make sure that it is not a hardware issue, is to reinstall the OS from scratch, if the problem re-occurs then most likely it is a hardware issue.

[divzero]

The issue with the system freezes on my computer started more than half a year ago. That time I had a normal Windows 7 Pro x64 (no OEM or reseller edition) installed. First I thought the problem is caused by ZoneAlarm or AntiVir but later that does not seem to be the case. So just like you Ifound out, that it may be related to the graphics card and I did lot of testing with the integrated and the discrete card. I thought it was graphic card related due to entries in the system protocol like "Display is not active". Theese are issues related to the ATI card and the driver amdkmdag. I tried to solve the problem by playing around with theese drivers but it didn't help at all. I have also been in contact with my Lenovo reseller and service partner but they could not help me eighter. So we decided to install an original Lenovo recovery system (Window 7 Pro x64). It was a fresh installation (completely wipeing the harddrive) that was also proposed by user lead_org. As I found out later that did not help eighter!

After having a fresh windows causing the same problems I was absolutely unsure what to do. The only configuration were the Error did not happen for sure was inside the docking station. I thought because of different way to get the system power into the notebook.

But a few days ago I even got the issue inside the dock btu I noticed that I had disconnected my Lan cable and switched on my wireless lan. That was the first time the error happened in the dock ever and I use my notebook docked a couple of hours each day!

That makes me strongly believe that it has to deal with the integrated wlan card. Whether its driver- or hardware-related I am not sure right now, but I think we should give it a try.

What I will try to do now is to reproduce the error and I would ask user 400  to even do that!

Thanks