Re: T400s random shutdowns

jsperson3 · ‎10-21-2009

Sorry all to report that today, with BIOS 1.11 and Intel video driver 8.15.10.1855 installed I had a random shutdown. My computer was unattended at the time and I had my Firefox browser open, but no other applications that I recall. So the 1855 driver doesn't seem to solve the problem with this BIOS version. Merry Christmas to all. Lenovo, you get a lump of coal.

jsperson3 wrote:
Ok, I was able to uninstall some more recent versions of the video driver including 1986 and 1872. Each time I'd uninstall and restart, the computer would automatically reinstall an earlier version that was on my computer. After it auto-installed 1749, I was able to manually install 1855. So now I have BIOS 1.11 and Intel video driver 1855 installed. I'll let everyone know if I get any more random shutdowns.
houtsma wrote:

jsperson3 wrote:
For those interested, my shutdowns with BIOS 1.11 and video driver 1986 are averaging once a day.
So you are an ideal test case to see if it's really the video driver only that causes these shutdowns. Interesting because with BIOS 1.11 you still have these shutdowns daily. So if you succeed in downgrading the video driver and your daily shutdowns do stop then we can really identify this video driver as the reason of this problem.

Let us now! Thanks,
Jan

houtsma · ‎10-21-2009

jsperson3 wrote:

Sorry all to report that today, with BIOS 1.11 and Intel video driver 8.15.10.1855 installed I had a random shutdown. My computer was unattended at the time and I had my Firefox browser open, but no other applications that I recall. So the 1855 driver doesn't seem to solve the problem with this BIOS version. Merry Christmas to all. Lenovo, you get a lump of coal.
That sucks. So what did others (and i) change that caused the shutdowns to stop? I didn't change any BIOS settings. Only updated the BIOS (running 1.12 now btw) and the graphics drivers. Sudden shutdowns are mostly related to battery problems. But in my case i didn't change anything there as well.

--- Lenovo Thinkpad: t400s-2808-CYG ---

ultrafunkula- · ‎12-24-2009

ultrafunkula wrote:
I would like to add some notes on t400s

I have had random shutdowns ( mostly right after waking up from sleep ) and BSODs that refered to realtek drivers and something else...while doing core dumps.

I had bios 1.09 and 1.07, no intel wifi, and still faced crashed two-three times a day which was annoying as hell, considering it's a month old laptop. Also noticed was overheating sometimes around where the CPU is located ( left/top )

today i downloaded the latest bios 1.12, installed and rebooted.
also used lenovo thinkvantage updates to download latest 'Access Connections 5.42' wifi management software..this is something that i had initially removed from my laptop because it was slow and i prefered the windows setup.

so far in the last 6 hours of usage and lid-closures the laptop has not crashed once. I am being hopeful that it's all fixed.

on a side note, this laptop was sent in to lenovo support in canada to fix a broken touchpad button when it was shipped newly.. when the laptop came back it felt much less sturdier, still squeeks in certain places. almost feels like the premium i paid for a t400s is not there anymore because of a sub-par repair job. How does lenovo guarantee the sturdyness of this sort of work on a brand new laptop that had to go into the shop? i'm almost curious if they did something wrong because the cpu overheating is more often now than it was back then.

I still had two crashes on the same day after upgrading the last time around, even with 1.12 bios and 1855 video driver, even after upgrading the access connections manager to latest.

i searched a bit and found that i could debug the crash dump files with windbg from microsoft, and following that i found the crash happening via the wireless lan card ( non intel ).. I updated from:

realtek 8192se driver version 2005.0.730.2009 date 2009-07-30

to driver version

2007.1.1002.2009 built by winddk, dated 2009-10-02 -- this was available on realtek's website but not via lenovo.

so far the last two days have not seen any crashes at all, and sleep wakes seem to be faster.

i'd suggest people try it out -- to see if it helps.

the squeekyness of the built of the system has progressively gotten worse on the other hand

Sagar_C · ‎10-20-2009

Just had another shutdown. This is my first after getting latest bios 1.12. I was just browsing using Opera 10.10 in windows 7. I am so delighted that I still have shutdowns...... I think I have gone mad....what else could have happened?!!!..... I AM NOT GOING TO BUY ANOTHER LENOVO.........

houtsma · ‎10-21-2009

So it's not over yet!! Just a minute ago it happened to me again after almost two months without any poblems. I did have the laptop (on power) on my lap for about two hours or so (quite a long time) which i normally don't. When i run it at work where it's on whole day long, the laptop is on a table and the environment is much cooler than at home on my lap.

Usually these kind of problems are battery related. Now i am wondering and almost convinced that this has nothing to do with whatever drivers, bios version or whatsoever, but it's simply some kind of battery problem (sensors?) that causes the PC to suddenly shutdown.But this shouldn't happen!!

I did upgrade to bios 1.12 though when it came out. This is difficult to chase down. With 1.11 i never had a shutdown. But who knows i would also have had this one with 1.11? Who knows!?

--

jan

--- Lenovo Thinkpad: t400s-2808-CYG ---

houtsma · ‎10-21-2009

And there was the 2d shutdown. So now yday and today as well. With bios 1.12. After 2 month without probs. Only thing that has changes is the bios version now. And it's vacation so i have also used the laptop really on my lap for a lot of time i.s.o. on a desk.

So now i have downgraded the bios again to 1.11. I had the problem with 1.09 and 1.12. Not with 1.11. Very strange and i would be surprised if it has anything to do with it. But i am very curious if it will shut down on me again. If it does i will go back to the Lenovo shop and see if they can take it back in exchange for another type. Because this way this laptop is way too inreliable for work purposes!

--

jan

--- Lenovo Thinkpad: t400s-2808-CYG ---

davidmodic · ‎12-08-2009

... had a random shutdown yesterday after a few weeks of the T400s working fine with bios 1.11 and 1855 gfx drivers. The frequency has decreased dramatically but I am now again wary of doing any sensitive work on my Thinkpad.

Oh and btw, my wwan/GPS card seems to be absent from my system (win7 PRO x86) all of a sudden. Access connections can't turn the wwan radio on, GPS manager doesn't seem to be able to find it. It's as if it wasn't there.

My webcam also has a violet hue on the left of the output and a green one on the right. I'll just wait a while and then have everything fixed at the same time...

Anybody else experienced similar problems?

Cheers, David

houtsma · ‎10-21-2009

No. i don't. Only the shutdowns with all bios versions except 1.11 (in my case so far).

I am looking forward to bios version 1.13 that will fix *all* my problems *sigh*

--- Lenovo Thinkpad: t400s-2808-CYG ---

davidmodic · ‎12-08-2009

I upgraded the bios to 1.12 and now my wwan and GPS is back! Will post if crashes still occur...

RO-TPfor · ‎10-27-2009

Well, we still have the random shutdowns - and Lenovo remains totally silent, now nearly six months out.

Indeed, it appears Lenovo is simply leaving it to customers, on their own, to load and unload drivers, upgrade and downgrade bios versions, etc. - in hopes of stumbling by mere chance on a combination of OS, video drivers and bios versions that makes the T-400s stable and usable for serious work.

Is that our responsibility? Shouldn't we be able to reasonably expect that our Thinkpads will not simply drop dead periodically?

The people on these forums are technically savvy and willing - but we bought these machines to do work and a willingness to go more than the extra mile to help Lenovo engineers do THEIR work does not mean Lenovo is absolved from making these machines reliable business tools.

Now, the T410 and T-410s go on sale on January 7th.

http://www.engadget.com/photos/lenovo-leaks-thinkpad-edge-x100e-t410s-w510-t510-and-more-ahead-of-ce...

Given that the T-400s is absolutely not reliable enough for serious business use (is anyone with the shutdown problem willing to take the risk of using it for a PowerPoint presentation to 30 colleagues?), one wonders what "features" these new releases will bring.

I currently work with three Thinkpads and this T-400s is my 14th Thinkpad product. With Lenovo's total failure to come up with a fix for this problem, or even provide any meaningful communications to end-users on the status of that effort, the liklihood that I'll be buying my 15th dims.

Am I missing something? Am I being too harsh? Does anyone on this forum feel Lenovo has acquitted itself adequately in either addressing the technical problem or in communicating with customers?

It's been nearly six months.