Help Needed w/ IBM ThinkPad Spontaneously Shutting Down!!!

[rpr]

My T22 ThinkPad occassionally will spontaneously shut down (losing any unsaved documents I am working on), when it is plugged in and the battery is installed. IBM tech support told me all laptops do this due to the battery overcharging. The problem does not happen when I keep the battery removed when the unit is plugged in; however, I have never heard of this happening on any other laptop. I am really pissed that IBM has just shrugged their shoulders and said that this is a known problem with all laptops. I don't buy it.

Anybody else ever come across this or hear about this problem???

 

[rpr]

Anybody???

 

[dkozloski]

I think they are blowing smoke at you. I have never heard a cock and bull story like that one. I have been using laptops with the battery installed and connected to power for years without any problems. How do they expect you to use the computer and recharge the battery at the same time. They don't even sell a separate charger. You must have been talking to some janitor at IBM that was being a jokester.

 

[rpr]

I agree. Unfortunately, I got the same story from 2 different reps. Believe me, I gave them a hard time, but they stuck to their story. I still don't buy it, I just don't know what other options I have.

 

[Bovinicus]

Tell them that acknowledging the problem isn't good enough. Tell them to fix the problem, because it shouldn't be there at all. Tell them you will leave a burning bag of dog poop on the man's doorstep if he refuses to help you!

 

[Mltsao]

Yeah that is bull... i charge my HP laptop whenever i want and it doesnt shut down spontaneously.

 

[rpr]

I can be pretty tenacious, and I got nowhere with these idiots. Does anybody have any experience working their way through the various levels of IBM tech support???

 

[ojai00]

If you overcharge your battery, how would that cause your laptop to start shutting down out of nowhere? I'm not sure if laptops are the same as desktops, but could it be a heat issue around where the battery is located? Say if the battery is plugged in, your unit will get too hot and shut down. If you remove the battery, there is a place for the heat to cool off, and your laptop will work fine. That's just a thought that popped into my head. I'm not sure if is the problem. Hope this helps, and hope you get your laptop working correctly.

 

[andrey]

<< IBM tech support told me all laptops do this due to the battery overcharging >>



Huh? That's something new... 🙂
I've been using my Thinkpad T22 for some time now and never had a problem with spontaneously shutting down. Which OS are you running? Have you installed all the latest patches for BIOS, video, audio, etc.. from IBM's support website?

 

[HeinekinMan]

This is bull@hit. I've had several Thinkpads and I currently have a T21 that does NOT spontaneously shut down when plugged into AC with the battery in place!! Besides I never remove my battery (only have one). Mine came with Win98SE and I've since upgraded to Win2K Pro and have not experienced anything like what you're describing in either O/S. Maybe you have a defective battery? Although I can't believe that a battery would cause this (loose connection). This kind of sounds h/w related.

Have you played around with different settings (power management, CPU SpeedStep settings, etc)? Maybe try disabling all power management and running the CPU at full bore on battery and AC power...

Is it too late to return your unit to the retailer for a replacement?

 

[rpr]

Well, it happened again and this time I noticed I could still hear the slight whirrrr of a fan in the laptop. So I undocked it from the port replicator and opened the lid and the LCD was working. So it is a problem with the video out port on the laptop. The signal to the external monitor was being lost, the laptop was not completely shutting down. Triple checked all connections, no problems with any connections or cables. Sounds like I have to RMA this thing.