T42-2378 FVU shuts down automatically during the boot up

[trulytrojan]

Hi All,

I have T42 running windows XP.

It shows me "fan error" right after IBM logo when I boot up the laptop! However, I get by that by immediately pressing ESC key and moves on and normally starts my laptop.

Now, today after researching on google I decided to open up my laptop and clean the fan to see if that takes care of problem. After taking it out carefully and cleaning little bit I gently put it back. I turn the laptop on I still get the "Fan Error" BUT strangely after couple of seconds it shuts off on it own!! I tried it several times and does NOT boot up all the way.
It shuts of in a blink as if someone pulled the plug on it. No error message..No nothing on the screen.

I thought it might be battery or direct supply so I tried to take them away one by one and tried to see if it works but no luck!!!

sometimes I was able to get to a point where it presents "start in safe mode", "start normally" etc etc options. It even died at this point so many times as well. After many many attempts I was able to get through "safe mode". Although i was getting lucky randomly.

Biggest question, what could be wrong? It shuts off while its in the middle of booting up! rarely does it start in safe mode. I think this tells me that hard-drive, RAM, MB are good cause it would not have started in "safe mode" otherwise.

Is there any I could Fix it hopefully without going to "backup data", "restoring to factory using recovery cds" route?

My gut feeling says it's more of an OS related problem, I could be wrong!! Is there anyway to fix up the OS via "access IBM" button or any other way? Am I even on right track about fixing this bizarre problem!

Any Ideas could be of great help!

Thanks,

TT

[Harryc]

Make a list, you are going shopping. First at RadioShack pick up a tube of Arctic Silver 5 thermal compound. Next stop, the drug store. Get a bottle of Isopropyl alcohol. Back home remove the fan again. Clean off every bit of old (white) thermal compound from the heatsink/fan and from the CPU with the alcohol and a lint free cloth. Do not remove the thermal tape from the GPU if you have the long fan. Apply a paper thin layer of AS5 to the CPU core using a credit card. Reinstall the fan. Next, order a new fan from Lenovo or find one on EBay.

[SMA]

You cannot, and should not try to, continue normal operation after having bypassed a 'fan error'.

The option to ESC out of a fan error is for diagnostics purpose only.

What may seem to be occuring randomly, is not that random. It is just because the machine will heat up again very quickly when you are trying
several times in a row.
If, taking out the battery or something else, seems to make a difference, then it is not because you have taken that thing out, it is because
you have spent some time doing something, thereby letting the machine cool down a little bit more.

[dr_st]

I have a 2373-F7G with the Fan Error (discussed in T42 Fan error - fan or motherboard?). The fan does not spin at all.

I am currently waiting for a replacement fan, but in the meanwhile I had to get several gigs of data off the computer, so I pressed Esc to bypass the fan error and booted up normally. Immediately upon boot, CPU temperature was at about 50C (remember this is without the fan spinning). As I started copying the files, it gradually increased to around 55C, at which point I started blowing onto the fan with compressed air to make it spin, which gradually brought the temp back to 50C. I repeated the cycle a few times, during the copy process, and the temperatures never rose above 55C.

I am not trying to suggest that it is OK to run the PC without the fan working. In fact I wouldn't dare do it over time, or run any CPU/GPU-intensive tasks while doing so. But there is no reason that it would overheat so quickly to shut down already during boot, if the problem is only in the fan motor. Now, if there is a problem with the heatsink contacting the CPU/GPU, then it can happen.

[trulytrojan]

Thanks for the replies folks!
After posting the original message I kept browsing posts on this GREAT forum and I followed something from the following link http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... +turns+off

Whatever I tried, I had not put the laptop back together meaning after putting the fan back I'd just plug in the keyboard and go from there....now the above mentioned post gave me a hint about loose GPU(although mine is not) so I thought I should put everything back properly including every single screw and wallah it came back on!

dr_st, you are right! I am not going to run my laptop without fan working! BTW, how do you check CPU temperature!?

Harryc, I will try to fix the fan and see how it goes

Thanks once again!
TT

[dr_st]

dr_st, you are right! I am not going to run my laptop without fan working! BTW, how do you check CPU temperature!?

Notebook Hardware Control. Displays the temperature in the system tray and updates it very quickly in real-time (more so than Everest, for instance).

[sktn77a]

I don't think your computer will boot with a "Fan Error". It shuts itself off to prevent damage to the CPU. Is the fan spinning when you switch the computer on? If it is, The computer isn't getting the signal that it is. That could be a bad fan, or a bad motherboard. I'd start with the fan!

I don't think your problem is the loose GPU - that doesn't give the fan error and most T4x computers don't have that problem (despite what you read, I think it is still a pretty small percentage).

[dr_st]

I don't think your computer will boot with a "Fan Error".

It does. If you press Esc quickly enough. As mentioned, you can do this for diagnostics or for some emergency task, but it is definitely not recommended for a way of life (unless you want the life of the computer to be short).

[sktn77a]

It does. If you press Esc quickly enough. As mentioned, you can do this for diagnostics or for some emergency task, but it is definitely not recommended for a way of life (unless you want the life of the computer to be short).

Interesting. I forgot to plug in the fan power connector once when I was upgrading the CPU from a Banias to a Dothan and the computer stopped with the "Fan Error" - wouldn't boot. When I checked and found what I'd (not) done, and plugged the fan in, it worked fine. This was on a T41 but I would imagine it would be the same on a T42(?) Maybe I didn't press Esc quickly enough? In any event, I wouldn't recommend running the computer without a fan - that's why I asked if the fan was spinning.

[trulytrojan]

Hi Harryc,

I was able to find the fan on eBay so I have replaced the fan as you suggested!

I started the laptop after that and there is NO "fan error" message! but that was just it! I get "fan error" message again almost all the times. I made sure that I applied the heatsink compound properly but no luck. I hit the ESC key and the bypasses the message and laptop starts normally but I am still afraid that "fan error" message is not a good sign!

not sure where to go from here!?

Thanks,

TT

[dr_st]

Is the fan properly connected to the board? Does it spin?

[trulytrojan]

Yes, it is properly connected and yes it does spin! although it doesnt spin constantly(and I guess thats intended).
I did notice the laptop getting frozen several times!
could it be because of "fan error" message.

Please help

Thanks,
TT

[tarun]

I had my T41 not spinning fan so i took ti out to see if i could clean the fan.
Oh thisis how i started
i saw that the base was sealed so i drilled a hole in the center to get to the fans center pin
i used isoprpol to clen the fans center pin and then put oil into it
and then i used home alluminium foil and forcepushed it thugh the hole. this is important beuse t 41 42 fas i have seen are pushed upward so when u drill the center theny come down and make noise in running so push compress some alluminium foli and tape seal the bottom

there we go absolutely new working fan.

[trulytrojan]

tarun thanks for the reply!

I already put in a new fan which I bought from eBay.
I notice that my laptop runs on high temperature even though I am not running many things(just the browser as I write this. CPU load aprears to be less than 20%).
I am using NHC(Network Hardware Control Pre-Rel 06) to measure the temperature. I have not changed anything in this tool and running it as is. while playing around with this tool under "ACPI control system options" --->"Notebook Fan Control" the option "Enable" is checked.
and one of the field is "Actual Fan-Speed: 0rpm".

why is that? does it mean that the fan I just plugged is not coming up even though temp is higher than 77C? I do get "fan error" when start my laptop.

Please help!

Thanks,
TT

[sjthinkpader]

There is a tachometer in the fan. When the fan speed does not meet the preset value, the BIOS reports a fan error. This can be a wrong fan, a bad fan or problem on the MB.