URGENT HELP NEEDED! Major problem after Lenovo service!

I really need some help this time. Here is my story:

I have mentioned about my X61's tight PC slot here before on this forum:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=242433

Well, I finally decided to get it repaired now that I have some time. So, instead of sending it into Lenovo, I was told by the Lenovo rep that it would probably be faster to get it repaired by my local lenovo authorized repair depot. So that is what I did.

It turns out that the PC slot is on the system board so they had to replace my entire system board. They told me to deactivate all my passwords so I deactived my User password as well as disabled bitlocker.

I got my laptop back today and I have 2 major problems:

1) I can no longer output my display to my external LCD monitor. I uninstalled and reinstalled the latest Intel video driver but still doesn't work. When I press Fn+F7, my laptop screen goes blank like it should but nothing is outputted to my LCD monitor. I can see that the monitor is detected if I go to the Intel Graphics Properties and click "Information". It is weird that when I uninstall and then on the reinsintall of the video driver, my laptop screen will sudden turn off (system is still on). At this point I can't put my computer to sleep or hibernate or turn off so I am forced to power off by holding the power button. What does this mean? Unresolved

2) Because the system board was changed, I have a different TPM chip now. So when I tried to turn on Bitlocker, it told me I need to first turn on TPM. Okay so turned on TPM, the laptop rebooted, activated TPM in Bios, and when Vista restarted it proceed to ask me to create a password and to back up the password. At the very last step, I get an error message saying that the TPM already has a previous owner. So I went back to TPM Administration and and the TPM has now been turned on. I tried to change the TPM owner password and I loaded the password I just created today and it was denied so I tried the password I first created before I sent the laptop in for repair and it also didn't work. Resolved

I had called the technician that replaced the system board and Lenovo support. Both were next to useless. The technician told me to call Lenovo support. Lenovo support told me to search Lenovo website for the answer! I couldn't believe it.

Can someone please help me or give me some direction on how I can fix these two problems? I am so frustrated at this point right now and I don't know what to do.


EDIT: I think I got the TPM issue figured out. I was able to clean the TPM previous password (whatever that may have been) and put in a new password. It said I'll lose access to all encrypted files but so far things are okay. Maybe I didn't have any files encrypted with TPM (I don't really understand TPM fully)

But I really still need help with the outputing to my LCD Monitor.

 

Sounds like a serious problem..just keep bugging them about it sry.

 

1. Did you try different drivers from laptopvideo2go? The 'latest' driver might not necessarily be the best.

2. Can you do this in safe mode?

 

People say lenovo service is hit or miss but in my case it was always miss and that was one of the reasons of my moving to Apple due to their top-rated service.

Wish you best with getting your problems solved, try reinstalling Windows it helps sometimes.

 

Right click mouse on desktop, click properties, click settings tab, there are 2 monitors number 1 and 2. click the number 2 monitor and under there is a tab extend my desktop onto this monitor. Note: you need to adjust thru the slider your screen resolution to your desired monitor screen. Do you have presentation director installed?

 

Doesn't work.Tried that already. My external LCD still doesn't receive the signal.

I was wondering if it is driver related. What drivers do I need to reinstall after a system board replacement?

 

Download Lenovo System Update and update your computer. I'm pretty sure it's a driver issue.

 

Done that too. Didn't work either. I'm beginning to think it is a hardware issue related to the system board. I wonder if they actually replace with a new system board or a refurbished one. It would make sense if it was refurbished because that would explain why the TPM chip already had an owner and why my previous password did not work.

 

One last advice is to do a clean install operating system. clear up tpm on bios prior to installation of os. check video cable it might be faulty or loose connection. sometimes tech people when changing motherboards they are always in a hurry and they don't reseat the cable to motherboard. i had one incident from acer replacing my lcd,inverter,and motherboard and the monitor still flickers after several repairs. i opened the laptop myself and found out that some cables are loose particularly the video cable to motherboard.

 

I took out the keyboard but that is as far as I dare to go and I can't see anything wrong.

Another thing wrong that I just discovered was that if I disconnect the AC and battery (laptop in hibernate) and then reconnect the power again (either battery or AC) the Bios time and other settings get reset and I have to set the time and date in the Bios again. From a quick google search, this is usually a sign that the CMOS battery is dead or bad.

I'm beginning to think that the repair center put in a used/refurbished/defective system board.

This is based on the following observations:
1) The TPM chip already had an owner
2) Cannot output to Monitor
3) Bios resets when lose power.

 

Why not just have the system board replaced again?

DD

 

That is probably what I will have to do. But I have already spent so much time trying to get the PC slot fixed. It took 2 weeks just to get that fixed invovled 3 trips to the depot. My confidence in Lenovo has completely been destroyed in terms of their quality control. I really regret bringing in my laptop for repair.

 

send it in to their depot this time, I think you'll have better luck.

DD

 

I wasted way too much time on this already. I talked to Lenovo support and I asked that the least they can do is send someone to my place to repair the defective system board. I don't think that is too much to ask considering the amount of time I wasted already and the great inconvenience this has caused.

 

And they said?

 

tallshorty,

I've responded to your post over on the Lenovo forum..

Can you PM me your contact info, model & serial, and prior service case numbers.

I'll try to help.

Mark