R60 random lock-ups - suspect h/w issue

UPDATE: Problem solved - it was a faulty battery

My 2-year-old R60 freezes up at random intervals in WinXP. Mouse pointer stops moving, CTRL-ALT-DEL doesn't work, num lock is unresponsive.

I've booted a few linux LiveCDs but the issue is there too. So it's not an OS specific problem.

I re-seated and swapped around the ram sticks, I also ensured internal cables were plugged in tight, used air blower on inside, etc.

I ran full Lenovo diagnostics, everything (including ram test and CPU load test) was fine. There was a bad sector on the hard drive, so today I bought a new drive.

I put in the Rescue and Recovery DVD with the unformatted HD installed, and the thing locked-up on the first rescue and recovery screen!

Now I've unplugged the touchpad cable, and I'm using a USB mouse - so far the Rescue and Recovery is proceeding okay (no lock-ups yet)

As you can see, I've eliminated OS/driver issues, and most common hardware problems, so finally... my question: Is it possible for a touchpad hardware issue to cause random lock-ups ?

 

When you said freeze up, it made me think hard drive protection. Since you've tried everything I can think of, a new palmrest with touchpad like the next logical step. You might be able to pick a cheap used one in the Marketplace forum on ThinkPads.com. Good Luck.

 

Thanks for the reply.

I'm almost convinced it's the touchpad at this stage. It ran for 3 hours with the touchpad disconnected and no freezes, as soon as I reconnected the touchpad it freezes on the WinXP login screen.

The funny thing is, that the trackpoint has the same issue. If I disable the trackpoint it's fine, if I enable it and touch it then it freezes.

So now I'm thinking that the touchpad and the trackpoint are connected through the keyboard? Or perhaps they're connected to a common circuit on the motherboard which is faulty?

Anyway, I'll leave them disconnected and use the USB mouse, it seems to be working fine. Very weird problem though.

 

Does disabling the touchpad via BIOS stop the issues?

 

Hey all,
I had the same problem with a customers laptop. Both the touchpad and trackpad(mouse in centre of keyboard) causes the system to freeze. After reading Arti's response i disabled the mouse in centre of keyboard and the touchpad works fine.

Happy days and thanks a million.

 

Just to update this thread for google.

I discovered after a couple of months that the problem was actually a faulty battery. When I removed the battery everything worked fine.

Strange that a battery issue caused these types of lock-ups, but that's what it was.

 

god thank you.

I had this exact problem with my R60...screen would lockup after moving pointer for 2-3 seconds (no matter via USB mouse, touchpad, or the red trackpoint dot in the keyboard).

My battery had been dead (almost 3-yr old laptop) for a while and then one morning after having my laptop off for the night, i booted it up and this problem all of a sudden reared its ugly head and has been aggravating me for almost a week now.

again, THANKS!! =)