T61p auto shutdown.

I have thinkpad t61p that i bought on March 2008. I have rarely used it to play games, only to surf internet. Recently, I have been using my notebook quite heavily. Sometimes, I can open 50 tabs in firefox, VLC, google chrome, itunes, wmp all the same time.

I realized when i did that (obviously the system will be stressed because they take a lot of memory), it will eventually shut down automatically. I have also used HD sentinel to measure my temp (the max temp it measures is 52 deg, before it shuts down by itself). Recently I have also downloaded lenovo thinkpad toolbox. Did multiple diagnostics. Firstly, I did the system stress test and it went smoothly. 2ndly, I did the full system test and halfway through, my comp suddenly shut down by itself again.

My t61p Spec is:

Intel Core 2 Duo t9300 @ 2.50ghz
3.00GB RAM
Quadro FX 570M
Windows vista business 32 bit.

Any idea why? I have also recently updated by BIOS to the latest version. still the same problem. I am really confused now. Please help. Thanks.

 

download tpfancontrol, it is not possible that your laptop CPU will be running at 52 degrees when you have so many windows opened.

Then run Prime95 (download it from the web) and run it, see whether that can cause the laptop to do automatic shutdown.

Have you tried to open the laptop up by removing the palmrest and keyboard, then clean the laptop heatsink/fan.

 

Thank you for your reply!

I meant, it was running 52 degrees when I did the full system test from lenovo thinkpad toolbox. When I have a lot of windows open, it usually ran at 46 degrees.

I just downloaded TPfancontrol. this is what it shows.
1 cpu 80°C
2 aps 58°C
3 crd 52°C
4 gpu 76°C
5 no5 54°C
7 bat 50°C
9 bus 52°C
10 pci 63°C
11 pwr 72°C

Fan control.
State= Fan 7
Switch 80 deg
Mode: smart

I believe Prime 95 will cause the comp to shut down since it stress the system. I will download it now.

I have tried to open the palmrest, but i didn't clean the fan in the end since I have to first read online how to properly remove the fan. Maybe i should do that?

 

I just realized that tpfan shows the cpu is at 80 degrees even when im currently at idle mode now. Is this abnormal?

 

You don't need to remove the fan to clean it, you will be able to see the fan vanes when you open up the laptop.

Lenovo Support & downloads - Hardware Maintenance Manual - ThinkPad T61, T61p 15.4inch widescreen (type 6457, 6458, 6459, 6460, 6461, 6462, 6463, 6464, 6465, 6466, 6467, 6468, 6470, and 6471)

that is the hardware manual, which shows you how to pull the laptop apart.

If you have warranty then you should send it in to get the heatsink changed over, if the cleaning doesn't work. If you don't have warranty, then you could try to pull apart the fan, and clean it throughly by oiling the spindle with high quality sewing machine oil or WD40.

If that don't work then you could try to purchase a new fan/heatsink assembly from IBM parts.

 

Hi, thanks for your reply. My computer is already out of warranty. I just opened my computer and vacuumed the fan to clean it out of dust. Now when i switch my computer back on and use the computer normally (skype, windows live messenger, firefox), the CPU temp shows 63 degrees. Is it normal?

Thanks for your reply.

 

that still sounds slightly high..... try to reapply thermal paste on the heatsink and see whether that helps. For light use using the T9xxx CPU with the T61p, your CPU temp shouldn't exceed 55 degrees on average. Maximum temp should also stay below 85 degrees for ambient temperature of 20 to 25 degrees celsius.

Run the Prime95 for 30 minutes and report back with the temperature reading.

 

oh? hmm my thinkpad t61 (after repair) showed temp for cpu around 55 when I just turned it on... then it was a little higher than that but fan was not on yet. hot good?

 

Hot is okay if it is below certain temperature. Certain bios version have tendency to switch down the fan to decrease noise level and battery use. I remember one of bios update i applied on T60 that won't let the fan run till around 60 degrees (it was uncomfortable for use on the lap), which normally should start 48 to 50 degrees, so i had to revert back to an older bios version.

 

oh okay. i see. I think the t61 i have got hotter and hotter (until it died)
so right now i always keep it on top of a notebook cooler when I'm home.... it's around 60C right now and all other are lower.. I ran prime95 for 3-4 hours the other day and it didn't shut down.
so i supposed that should be ok?
sorry to spam this thread with the fan speed stuff

 

if you run the prime95 without any cooling assistance from the notebook cooler or tpfancontrol, then it is okay. If you are using either of these two tools while running prime95, then you are defeating the purpose of diagnostic test.

For a laptop returned from Depot that i suspect it having unfixed hardware defects, i would usually let the prime95 test run over night using bios thermal management.

Just make sure everything runs smoothly, and nothing surprising is going to crawl up in the near future.

 

I just did prime95 full torture test. after 30 minutes, my system seems to be running fine. Did not have any auto shutdown. CPU temp during the torture test was constantly 79-80 degrees.

I think i should be fine now?

Thanks for your reply!

 

Right now that seems to be normal, but you should follow this problem closely to ensure that it does not deteriorate any further.