OK guys, need laptop help. Dammit.

[AZhitman]

IBM ThinkPad T42. Used, abused, and used some more.

Periodically, when I'm using it, it'll freeze up... Not like memory freeze-up.

It's like there's no connection between the keyboard / mouse and the motherboard (or whatever it is that makes **** appear on the screen).

CTRL/ALT/DEL does nothing... cursor is stationary, no input from the touch pad, or keyboard. Even holding down the power key does nothing.

I have to disconnect cord and pull out the battery to turn it off and reboot.

What to do, fellow nerds?

[S13_love]

Buy a new laptop i guess.

You might as well pay for a new one than pay for that one to get repaired.

[AZhitman]

Not how I roll.

By that logic, I'd own 9 new cars and my old Datsuns would be scrap.

[S13_love]

Well, i cant even think what might be wrong with your laptop

For computers only, its probably the way to go imo

[MinisterofDOOM]

So the keyboard simply looses connectivity? Can you tell if the computer is still thinking when it happens, or does the entire system lock up? If it's clearly JUST the keyboard and mouse, there are a few possibilities: the keyboard itself is bad, the connections are bad, or the keyboard controller is bad. I'm not sure how IBM does their keyboard and mouse controllers on their laptops, but I assume it's not part of the keyboard unit, which means if the controller is shot your laptop is shot, too, unless the controller is easily replaceable. If you're lucky, it'll be a connection or keyboard issue.

I'd start by cleaning the keyboard ribbon connectors. The keyboard itself should be simple to remove (look for screws on the bottom labelled with "K" or a keyboard icon or something like that--keyboard screws should be labelled clearly from the rest of the screws somehow). Once it's unscrewed it'll just lift out as a unit and you can disconnect the ribbons cables. Clean the connections with isopropyl alcohol, then reconnect and reassemble.

A replacement keyboard should be easy enough to come by. Try ebay if all else fails. With my old Dell laptop, I got lucky and found a bad machine (with some good parts) at a used computer shop and bought them "as-is" for cheap. Turned out the keyboard worked, so I got a nice deal.

Not how I roll.

By that logic, I'd own 9 new cars and my old Datsuns would be scrap.

Old datsuns aren't made of super-integrated non-discrete parts like laptops. When parts on laptops fail, you usually can't just replace them. Unless it's a major individual component like the keyboard, monitor, or disk drive, it's likely going to be soldered to a PCB or integrated into the whole in some other way. Most of the time with laptops it's nowhere near as simple as buying a replacement part and slapping it in.

[AZhitman]

There's no evidence that the entire computer locks up... just seems to not recognize inputs from the keyboard, mouse, or even the power button...

Sound like the controller?

[marlin29311]

I have the same problem. Same computer too :-p

You're having a gpu lockup issue - do you have the radeon 7500?

There are two solutions that i have found to this problem - 1, send it to lenovo. I've not done this because I'm a cheap SOB and don't want to pay for repairs.

2) - turn off your hardware acceleration for your video card. I've done this and everything works the same, minus any directx application. You can watch youtube, videos, etc all the same.

[RCA]

Same issue happend to my Dell...

All I did was DL a "factory service manual" for my laptop and took it all apart. (Took about 15min)

I then proceeded to use the air in a can to blow away the MASSIVE amounts of dust. I re-pluged the mouse components and the keyboard components...The mouse was fine but the keyboard was shot.

Due to overheating by my CPU. My CPU sits right above my keyboard and there were black burn marks on my board in the shape of my CPU. CPU heated up because of dust trapped in my main air intake port of my laptop.

So I went on ebay and my keyboard sold for $20 shipped. Popped her in and tada! No issues.

Once I cleaned out my laptop from the inside out, the overheating never occured again!