Re: [Thinkpad] Need help: Thinkpad Crashing

It is without a doubt a hardware problem, either bad memory (you can swap
those out to test) or bad video memory, which means a trip to Easy Serv for
a new system board.
You have done everything possible to test, other than the memory, so the
answer is simple
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jeff Wabik" <jeff@netstar.com>
To: <thinkpad@stderr.org>
Sent: Monday, September 29, 2003 1:23 PM
Subject: [Thinkpad] Need help: Thinkpad Crashing

> All -
>
> Help!
>
> I have a Thinkpad T22 running Windows 2000.. I have been trying
> to debug a problem with it for more than 2 years, and am now at the
> end of my rope. :) Any assistance you can provide is greatly
> appreciated.
>
> The problem seems a complete hardware crash -- not a Windows Crash: The
> T22 itself "resets" and goes from "fully operational" directly
> to the "power on" screen.
>
> What I know about the crashes:
>
> 1. Crashes can seemingly happy "any time", but most regularly happen
> while running some graphics-intensive application. This is especially
> true if the graphics application is also IDE-device intense [e.g. A
crash
> is guaranteed within 5 minutes if running something like Microsoft
> Flight Simulator; Within 30 minutes for some less-intensive graphics
> application or game. Probably once per week if I am just running
> normal windows applications -- recognizing that while windows itself
> is graphical, that the applications underneath are text based.. Like
> the MS-Office Suite].
> 2. Each crash is precipitated by about 500ms of system "lock up", followed
> by what sounds like the devices on the IDE bus resetting, (I believe
the
> sound is that of the heads on the drives doing a full
re-position/reset),
> then black-screen, then back to the hardware power-on screen. Never
> windows blue-screen-of-death or any software message - it appears to
be
> a hardware crash/reset.
> 3. Without a power-cycle, the system will never fully reboot. The reboot
> starts, but in "Windows 2000" terms -- will only get as far as the
first
> graphical "Windows 2000" screen with the cylon-like blue bar below
(that
> shows the boot is in process). Eventually the cylon bar stops, and
the
> system is locked and requires a power-cycle. So, the IDE devices
appear
> to all come back online and operate (enough to load the boot code, at
> least).. but at some point of the boot-time inventory things lock .
>
>
> What I have done to diagnose:
>
> 1. I have tried running these crash-prone applications on other
machines --
> and they run fine.
> 2. I have reloaded the OS from scratch several times, but the symptoms of
the
> crash are the same.
> 3. I have reloaded and updated every graphic and device driver that seems
even
> remotely associated with the symptoms I describe above, but the
crashes
> persist. I have also tried different versions of DirectX, etc -- no
change
> in symptoms.
> 4. I have booted the system having removed all IDE (and peripheral
devices)
> except
> the hard disk (obviously), but the crashes persist.
> 5. I have replaced the hard disk -- no change.
> 6. I have tried each hard disk in a different laptop (a Thinkpad 600E)
with
> the same applications, and it/they work(s) fine.
> 7. I have run the Thinkpad self-test hardware diagnostics -- all tests
pass
> successfully.
> 8. I've scoured the net looking for a similar story/resolution, but have
> found none.
> (Doing a search with "windows" and "crash" as keywords is particularly
> useless.) IBM's helpline wants me to "Click on 'My computer'", etc,
etc,
> bla, bla, bla.. You know where those attempts have gone.
>
> Hence, I have tried to isolate hardware and software problems by testing,
> new hardware, new software, etc.. but with no effect. I am now
officially
> completely baffled. My fears are that there is some "undetectable"
problem
> with the system board.
>
> Any guidance is appreciated. Thanks.
>
> -Jeff
>
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Received on Mon Sep 29 13:58:17 2003