Thinkpads Forum

I have a W520 that locks up after 1-15 minutes running. The mouse does not move and Ctl Alt Delete does nothing. It normally runs W10. I ran Mint from a USB stick and same symptom. W10 also locks up randomly on boot up. I tried it in the docking station and with the 135W power block, same results.

I pulled the external RAM stick, no change. I will start pulling the other RAM sticks and see if that could be the problem.

Ran SFC/Scannow for w10 and did not help. Because it locked up with Mint I am assuming it is hardware.

Any other ideas?

Thanks,

Bruce

I thought I would try installing another OS on a blank SSD. W10 starts and then stops as well as W7.

Why won't it load? Seems related to the lock ups. ideas?

Thanks,

Bruce

Update, I pulled all the RAM except one stick, the ultrabay hd, and wireless card. It would install W10. I then started adding back these pieces. except the ultrabay. It continued to be able to install W10. I put in the original SSD and it started fine. I will let it run a bit and see what happens. If it is OK I will install the ultrabay and see if that was the problem.

Bruce

Unfortunately, back to the start. The machine ran for longer than previously but locked up again. I put the blank SSD and tried to install w10 again but it stalled out like before. So, I don't know what I did to get it too work briefly.

I might try another hardrive with an OS on it to see what happens. All very weird. All ideas appreciated.

Bruce

Could it be a temperature issue?

Finally got it to settle down by moving RAM sticks around. Thought I found a pattern of a bad stick then it works. So much for that idea. Then put it into the docking station and it locked up again. Pulled it out and powered it up and it locked up again.

I did check the temperatures early on and the cores were at 55degC.

Sure seems like connection issues. I cleaned the RAM with erasers but will go back with alcohol and see if that helps.

Bruce

Update, still locking up randomly. Tried again to boot Mint and it won't do that now. I am running Memtest86 to see if that finds anything. If it is not memory guess it is a system board issue.

Bruce

Make sure to run memtest at full duration.

I was going to run 1 pass, is that full duration?

Update, thought I would try another hard drive. I put a mechanical drive I had from a t430 into the w520. It was dual boot with w7 and w10. I chose w10 and it installed the drivers automatically for the w520 and seems to be running fine with no lock ups. I ran Passmark benchmark and it ran through all the tests with no lockup. I am typing on the W520 now.

The drive I had installed originally was Samsung 850evo. The blank drive was also a 850evo. Why would it suddenly cause these problems with the both these SSD's?

I will put the SSD back in and see what happens.

Bruce

I think the HD change was a red herring. I tried a couple of restarts and it locked up. I also plugged in the battery while running and that locked up too.
Not sure what else to do except system board.

Bruce

Have you tried another CPU?
When was the last time you refreshed thermal paste?

That's pretty much the last component. Unfortunately I don't think I have another CPU to try. I will pull the fan, reseat the cpu and repaste.

Thanks,

Bruce

Update: I pulled the fan, cleaned, re-pasted. It ran well for a few hours. I then moved it into the dock. It locked up again. Pulled it back out from the dock and it booted 1 out of 20 times.

I can get a cpu on Ebay for $20. Probably do it because if it does not work I can sell or giveaway. It would be annoying if I changed the MB and it was the cpu.

Bruce

Update: Put in a new used cpu and got 1-3-3-1 beep codes. Pulled ram from top bottom slot and move to top top slot and it booted. This worked with an of the 4GB sticks I had. Moving any RAM to the top bottom slot got me beep codes. computer booted with 4GB RAM fine. Then added two more 4GB sticks at bottom of machine got more beep codes. Removed one of those sticks and it booted to 8GB RAM fine. Tried a few more times and it locked up once booted. OK, did a search and yes with the dual core only two slots work. I thought I had the same processor in earlier as I had 12GB of RAM, guess not. I just checked the original cpu and it is a Quad core, that's why I was able to access 3- 4GB sticks for 12GB RAM.

It's all academic at this point as it still locks up after boot up. Guess it is a MB issue.

Bruce

Just a final note. Replaced the MB with a used one from Ebay, $50. Been running the machine for a few weeks and it seems solid. I have not been able to get the fingerprint reader to work. Tried lots of drivers and get close but not quite. I am sure I am missing something. Not that it matters as I don't use it anyway; however if I sell it I would like it all to work.

Happy New Year to all!

Bruce

Old thread, I recognize, but I wanted to share my experience in case it's relevant for future viewers:

I had plenty of issues on my W520, ranging from crashes to lockups, graphical issues, etc. Memtest and the like all checked out, yet I replaced the RAM on a lark, and it resolved all my issues, half a year later, things are still completely solid.

It is a bit frustrating, but it may be a good idea to swap DIMMS if you can, just to rule them out. Just because they work, doesn't mean they're good.