Known Problems

Information on known problems with certain ThinkPad models.

Display Problems

• Console unusable (models with savage video chipset: T2x, A22e)
• Dead pixels on TFT displays (all models)
• DVI throughput on port replicators and docks (models from 2000-2004)
• Problems with ATI proprietary fglrx display driver (ATI Radeon models)
• Garbled Screen (T40, T41, T42, R32, R40, R50p, R51, A30, A31, A31p)
• Inverter broken (all models)
• Key and Trackpoint markings on display
• Radeon 7500 "DynamicClocks" randomly hangs (TP T4x, Xorg-X11 bug report)
• Red shadow on display (TP T41p)
• Red tinted display (TP 23)
• Unmovable square black X in X (TP T2x)
• System Lockups related to video adapter (TP T2x)
• System Lockups related to video adapter T42 (TP T42, T42p)
• Video blanks after closing and opening lid (X41)
• System lockup soon after starting xorg 6.9.x (TP T4x)
• Video output switching
• Video brightness up keys don't work or cause crashes
• VGA-out will die and needs mainboard replacing (X61)
• Getting the most from your NVidia hardware on a T530 with Debian linux

Harddisk Drive related Problems

• APS harddisk parking (models featuring APS)
• BIOS hangs with harddrive sized over 8G (560)
• Clicking Hard Drive (models with Hitachi's 5k80 hard drive)
• Non-ThinkPad hard disks (T43, X41, R52)
• SATA and Linux (T43, X41, R52, Z60)
• SATA performance limited to UDMA 2 (A31p R32 T23 T30 X22 X23 X24)

Network Problems

• 3Com 10/100 Ethernet card not recognized (models with that card)
• "Unauthorized" MiniPCI Wireless Network card error (Error 1802) (Recent TPs)
• Cisco Aironet Wireless 802.11b fails to work with certain firmware versions
• Error 01C9: More than one Ethernet Devices are found (Atheros WLAN MiniPCI) (T23, T30, A31p, R40 and others)
• Problem with e1000: EEPROM Checksum Is Not Valid (T60, X60, may be others)
• Problem with e1000: 99.9% packet loss on 7.x drivers (Recent TPs)
• Problem with 3945ABG: Internal wifi cannot associate with AP (T60, probably others)
• Need to disable V90/V92/56K modem speed (BMDC-2 on X40)

Power Management, AC-adapter or Battery Problems

• 600 series Battery dying prematurely (TP 600/E/X)
• AC-Adapter damaged, plastic housing melted (240, 390, i and s models)
• ACPI suspend-to-ram (ACPI sleep troubles)
  • Blank display after resume (various models)
  • High power drain in ACPI sleep (various models)
  • LCD backlight remaining on during ACPI sleep (various models)
• Fan noise (TP T4x/p, TP R5x/p)
• Checking battery status causes mouse to jerk around (R31)
• Battery drains despite seemingly being charged (A/C adapter issues)
• High pitch noises (several models)
• CPU frequency scaling locks up when on AC power only (several models)
• Immediate restarts from suspend, hibernate, and halt (several models)
• Replacing your AC Adapter or AC/DC Combo adapter (many models)

Sound Problems

• Broken sound on ThinkPad 600/E (TP 600/E/X, 770Z)
• Audio jacks not working properly (TP T43)
• No audio heard with kernel 2.6.11+/ALSA (TP T43, T40)
• Audio clipping (TP T43, R52)
• No Sound on ThinkPad R60e and T60 (R60e, T60)

Misc Problems

• System randomly freezes and requires hard reset (X61s and all newer systems including X,T,R,Z series)
• Casing malformed by bending/twising (X41)
• Problem with failing memory slot (T30, some T2x and X3x models)
• Dock USB Ports (T30/X21)
• High-pitch noise from AC-Adapter (T60/p)
• lm_sensors kills ThinkPads (TP 570E, 770X/Z, 600E/X, 240, X20)
• USB 2.0 problems (T40/T41/X40)
• Firmware issues
• Problem with hot surfaces (T43)
• Problem with disabled VT (Z61t, X60, X60s)
• Unable to create recovery cds when another python is installed on the system (T43p)
• Problems accessing cdrom drive (T400)
• Overheating (X200)
• Problem with Overheating then reboot since Ubuntu 11.10 (T500)
• Problem with failing Zip drive (Zip 250 for Ultrabay 2000)