Recurring problem

[Blze001]

Hey guys, I'm having a recurring problem with my Thinkpad T61p.

About the middle of May, my Thinkpad threw up a BSOD while in class. I restarted, it worked fine, I put it to sleep and it never woke up. So I sent it in for a warranty repair, where they determined the motherboard was fried. I got it back, it worked great for about a week, bluescreen went up, then it proceeded to start just fine boot to windows and then the system would lock up. Sometimes it would last for 10 minutes, sometimes it would lock the instant I pressed the button. Sent it back, replaced the motherboard again, got it back. Worked great for over a week, got two nearly back-to-back "nvdklm.sys" blue screens, a system lock, a generic bluescreen, another system lock and another bluescreen. It seems to syslock or BSOD faster if I'm using a web browser, but it'll still bugger if I switch the wireless off. I tested it with a Linux partition and a Linux live-CD, both of those syslocked too.

Obviously, whatever is busted isn't being fixed. But it's passing all of their tests and a week of use before dying. The last time, they said my HDD was bad but, since it's not supported, they couldn't replace it. My questions are twofold:

1. Could the HDD be what is constantly breaking and when it dies, it take the MoBo with it?

2. If not, what could be broken that would cause the week of working fine before death? Bad power supply maybe?

They tested my non-Lenovo memory and battery in their systems, both of those worked perfectly.

[lead_org Microsoft MVP Contributor]

sounds like your motherboard's nvidia GPU, you need to send it in for a new motherboard.

[O8h7w]

I have to doubt two replacement motherboards in a row would have the same fault that occurred on the original one after years of use... but it may very well be three different problems.

Anyway, due to the randomness of the problem I'm guessing there's a bad or loose connection somewhere. I had similar problems on a desktop computer, the problem turned out to be the molex connector delivering power to the HDD.

Or maybe the discrete GPU somehow ruins the onboard GPU? I have no idea how that could happen. A bad PSU, on the other hand, should be able to damage almost anything in the system. As far as I know, which is not very far.

Wish you luck in hunting down the problem, O8h7w

[lead_org Microsoft MVP Contributor]

because the replacement motherboard is a refurbished unit, so it is not a new one. I have seen a person sending in the laptop for three times to get a replacement motherboard that did not have this problem.

[Blze001]

So it's just bad luck and I keep getting bad motherboards?

[ajkula66 Guru]

T61/p was probably the most problematic line of ThinkPads in recent history. Thank you, nVidia.

Given the subdued prices of T400/500/W500 generation which suffers from none of these issues, you may want to just put that T61p to rest and get one of these...

My $0.02 only...

[lead_org Microsoft MVP Contributor]

not sure if it is bad luck, or whether the QC on these refurb motherboard is nowhere that it should be.

If i am you i would call back and ask for a new motherboard, and specifically request that these machines are extensively tested to ensure the GPU won't prematurely fail again.

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=93357&start=150 have a read of this thread.

[Blze001]

I would get a new computer, but I'm in college and I can't afford $500 for a new box.

Are they re-using motherboards with the bad nVidia chip in warranty repairs?

[lead_org Microsoft MVP Contributor]

they are refurbishing motherboards, theoretically they should be using motherboard with non-problematic GPU.

If i am you i would call up again, and ask them to do the repair again. Then sell the machine, and use the money for the new laptop or something.

[goretsky Community Moderator]

Hello,

Although I think the GPU is the culprit, have you tried using the system with a different HDD and power supply just to rule out those parts being the issue?

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky