IBM Thinkpad T22 - on its way out ?

[Dundee_Stokie]

I have a T22 laptop, and it has the following issues:

It first started losing its time and date settings, then these happen regular:

1 - Blue Screen of Death every now and again
2 - Wont come on when you press the power on switch
3 - Resets at ant given moment in mid surf or mid any prog
4 - Freezes at any given moment

Any one of these things can happen at any time, its normally the reset and cant get back on scenario. Could this be bad RAM ? or a dead CMOS battery ?

[Serunson]

On the BSOD, what error codes do you get? should be in the format of 0xXXXX last charictors of the code are what tell you what the error is, and that can be isolated down, and we can tell you what is wrong.
Also could you pelase tell us the specifications of the laptop, CPU speed, CPU type, Amount of RAM, etc. and how old the machine is.
With this information we can help you further.

[Dundee_Stokie]

The BSOD doesnt stay on long enough to note down the error codes.

CPU - Pentium III
CPU Speed - 900MHZ
RAM - 512MB
HDD - 20gb
Controller Type - IDE
OS - XP

I reckon this is a 2001 model

[Serunson]

Age isnt in its favour, RAM wouldnt suddenly go bad, could be the CMOS battery dieing, although without that BSOD error code, we can't pin point it down further that guess work.
Have you installed any new hardware or software recently? Often this is the cause of most BSOD's

[Dundee_Stokie]

Okay I've managed to get a snapshot of the BSOD

PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA

*** STOP: 0x00000050 (0xBD81442A, 0x00000000, 0xBD81442A, 0X00000002)

[Serunson]

"STOP: 0x00000050
PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA
This Stop error indicates that requested data was not in memory. The system generates an exception error when using a reference to an invalid system memory address. Defective memory (including main memory, L2 RAM cache, video RAM) or incompatible software (including remote control and antivirus software) might cause this Stop error."
Quoted from a website, that basically means that a stick of your ram is faulty. To try and determine which one it is, boot your laptop with only 1 stick of RAM in one slot, then move it to the next slot, and repeat with the other stick of RAM, to see which one is bad. If that's not the fault, then look at any other new software you have installed, and uninstall it, seeing as that may be causing the problem.

[Dundee_Stokie]

Okay, I have now removed 1 x 256MB stick and left 1 x 256MB stick in, its been working fine, and hasnt BS'd or frozen on me for at least 30 mins, it hasnt lasted this long in ages - looks like its a RAM problem.

Is it just a simple case of getting a new 256MB stick and slotting it in ? Or is it possible to put 2 x 512MB sticks in there ? I think 512MB is the max TBH.

[Serunson]

That would show that you have a faulty stick of RAM. What i would suggest is to use the Crucial RAM scanner : www.crucial.com : this website has a small scanner application, which will tell you what type of RAM your machine takes, and how much you can put into each slot. They also sell RAM directly and are a very reputable company.

[Dundee_Stokie]

The Great Lord Serunson - much obliged for your input on this, you didnt have to take the time to respond, it just shows you that there is good folk in this world after all.

[Serunson]

No worries, this is the only stuff i know alot about, so you got the right guy here :P
If your problem has been solved, dont forget to mark the thread as solved, so that people dont come back months later, saying the same thing :D

[Dundee_Stokie]

ALERT !! NOT SOLVED.

It started happening again !

Still running on one solitary DIMM 256mb, it seems to be lasting longer but eventually resets, and goes back to the boot screen. This tends to happen when I move the machine. Also the odd freeze but not as often as before.

[Serunson]

I would borrow / buy some RAM of the exact same type of yours, that you definatly know works, and try it. If that doesnt help, then it would be a more serious issue, for a IT tech to look at after taking apart the laptop. To see if something inside has broken.

[Dundee_Stokie]

Ive had 2 more BSODs:

***STOP: 0x0000007f (0x00000008, 0x80042000, 0x0000000, 0x0000000)

or this one:

IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

0x0000000A (0x00CACE44, 0x000000FF, 0x0000000, 0x805663EB)

I think its well buggered.

[Serunson]

The first BSOD has relevance to this article : http://support.microsoft.com/kb/137539 :

The second has relevance to this one : http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314063 :

The first link says about a faulty motherboard/RAM, the second also relates to RAM mainly. I personally would take the laptop to a Technically minded person who works for a computer shop. They would be able to test it for you, and find the direct cause of the problem, because it would be there in front of them, rather than fixing it without seeing it, as we are doing it here. Take it to a computer tech store, see what they say about it, after giving it a good check over, and go from there. Would appear that the problem is Motherboard / RAM based.

[jbennet]

Sounds like a bad CMOS battery

I would usually reccomend updating the BIOS I had an old R30 and the stock BIOS version was full of bugs. HOWEVER, i do not advise you try it on your machine as if it decides to crash during the flash process, it will kill your machine.

So for the time being, try replacing the battery

Use memtest86 to check the RAM too.

[Dundee_Stokie]

I ran memtest86 for 12 hours and no errors were picked up, its still running now at home, so I will see whats what when I get in, but 0 errors after 12 hours ! So it cant be bad RAM - although it does work better with one SODIMM installed and not 2.

[jbennet]

could try reinstalling windows. On bootup, its usually the Access IBM key or F11 to restore.
You will lose everything.

[Dundee_Stokie]

A PC expert says that this is a potential Motherboard problem, but doesnt seem 100% - I think he doesnt know !!

[jbennet]

I think it is almost certainly the CMOS battery

[Dundee_Stokie]

I have re-installed the OS and every time I pick the laptop up, it freezes, it will work fine if untouched on a desk, the minute you move it - Bang its frozen - I have taken bits out, it now has no CD ROM drive, no Wireless LAN card, no battery…..I will take out more bits and see if it changes.