GREEN screen of death?

This is weird: The USB port that is adjacent to the hinge at the rear of my T400 -- the one that is behind the dvd-rom tray -- was not reading my wireless mouse receiver (other ports were). So I restarted and then it worked and then a few minutes later I got a green screen with vertical pinstripe lines. It's working now, but no idea what that was about. Also -- anyone know what the green light under that usb port is all about?

Thanks.

 

Actually, I'd like to know about this too. Why is that green light on at that USB port? What is its function?

 

that is the ultrabay status light not the usb light.

 

As lead_org said, the green light just says that the Ultrabay (which in your case is the DVD drive) is in use by the system. When you eject the Ultrabay drive the green light will go off, it's nothing to do with the vertical USB port in general.

 

So, that green light stays on even when the drive is empty. I would have thought it would come on if there is something in the drive no?

 

the light will go off without the ultrabay drive.

 

You mean if I remove the drive the light will go off. But if the drive is in place (in the bay, that is) but with no media inside, it will stay on? I am asking because that is what is exactly happening at the moment.

 

if you remove the drive then the light will go off, this light just shows the drive is active and connected. If you use Lenovo's thinkvantage power manager, you can deactivate the drive through the power stretch option.

Whether or not you have a media disc in the ultrabay drive won't affect the light.

 

And save a bit of power while on battery, I am guessing? However little that may be? One other question: Does this mean that if I switch off/ deactivate the drive using Power Manager, but later sometime I want to use it for some reason, I'll have to go back into Power Manager and reactivate it from there? Or, is there a more direct way to do it? Or, does it happen automatically when a media is put in the drive? Thanks.

 

you can control it in the Thinkvantage Power Manager, you can toggle the Battery Stretch feature on and off to activate or deactivate the optical drive.

 

OK. Thanks. Sounds good. Maybe I'll make that part of the routine so it'll become a habit.