T40 locks up

My old trusty T40 started to misbehave. It locks up after a few
minutes of normal work (sooner on AC, takes a bit longer on battery).
Does so in Windows, or on startup screen (if restarted by means of
power switch right after the lock-up), or even in BIOS setup screen -
so I think this time it's not Windows fault. Not even a trace of any
error in event log. Video keeps the picture as it was at the moment
of lock-up until the thing is turned off.

My guess - CPU gets overheated. The primary suspect - fan (it doesn't
turn on), after all moving parts are always less reliable than solid
state. However, before I take a screwdriver to the laptop, I'd like
to ask for second opinion - what else could go wrong? Any and all
help will be greatly appreciated.

NNN

wrote:
My old trusty T40 started to misbehave. It locks up after a few
minutes of normal work (sooner on AC, takes a bit longer on battery).
Does so in Windows, or on startup screen (if restarted by means of
power switch right after the lock-up), or even in BIOS setup screen -
so I think this time it's not Windows fault. Not even a trace of any
error in event log. Video keeps the picture as it was at the moment
of lock-up until the thing is turned off.

My guess - CPU gets overheated. The primary suspect - fan (it doesn't
turn on), after all moving parts are always less reliable than solid
state. However, before I take a screwdriver to the laptop, I'd like
to ask for second opinion - what else could go wrong? Any and all
help will be greatly appreciated.

It sure sounds like the CPU fan. Can't think of anything else that would
cause this.

Yousuf Khan

On Sun, 28 Oct 2007 19:52:46 -0400, Yousuf Khan
wrote:

wrote:
My old trusty T40 started to misbehave. It locks up after a few
minutes of normal work (sooner on AC, takes a bit longer on battery).
Does so in Windows, or on startup screen (if restarted by means of
power switch right after the lock-up), or even in BIOS setup screen -
so I think this time it's not Windows fault. Not even a trace of any
error in event log. Video keeps the picture as it was at the moment
of lock-up until the thing is turned off.

My guess - CPU gets overheated. The primary suspect - fan (it doesn't
turn on), after all moving parts are always less reliable than solid
state. However, before I take a screwdriver to the laptop, I'd like
to ask for second opinion - what else could go wrong? Any and all
help will be greatly appreciated.

It sure sounds like the CPU fan. Can't think of anything else that would
cause this.

Yousuf Khan

Thanks for the confirmation of my suspicion. Now, if I only could
figure out which one is the right one for me before opening it up.
There are at least 2 varieties, and Lenovo site is not of much help.
The only thing it could figure out by the serial number was that the
warranty expired long ago.
;-(
NNN

On Tue, 30 Oct 2007 23:10:02 GMT, "
wrote:

On Sun, 28 Oct 2007 19:52:46 -0400, Yousuf Khan
wrote:

wrote:
My old trusty T40 started to misbehave. It locks up after a few
minutes of normal work (sooner on AC, takes a bit longer on battery).
Does so in Windows, or on startup screen (if restarted by means of
power switch right after the lock-up), or even in BIOS setup screen -
so I think this time it's not Windows fault. Not even a trace of any
error in event log. Video keeps the picture as it was at the moment
of lock-up until the thing is turned off.

My guess - CPU gets overheated. The primary suspect - fan (it doesn't
turn on), after all moving parts are always less reliable than solid
state. However, before I take a screwdriver to the laptop, I'd like
to ask for second opinion - what else could go wrong? Any and all
help will be greatly appreciated.

It sure sounds like the CPU fan. Can't think of anything else that would
cause this.

Yousuf Khan

Thanks for the confirmation of my suspicion. Now, if I only could
figure out which one is the right one for me before opening it up.
There are at least 2 varieties, and Lenovo site is not of much help.
The only thing it could figure out by the serial number was that the
warranty expired long ago.
;-(
NNN

You should be able to get a PDF manual for the T40 from the Lenovo
site using the model type/serial number. Checking the fan can be as
easy as removing the keyboard and blowing it out with canned air (you
can probably also reseat the connector to test for fan failure other
than obstruction). If you want to reinstall the heatsink with new
thermal grease you might have to disassemble some more. To be sure,
Id run a test on the hard drive and reseat any memory, but it does
sound like an overheat issue. Good luck.

regards,


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fredman
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