S7010 problems

Hi all,

I recently got a Fujitsu Lifebook S7010 from a hospital that was throwing it away. They didn't know what was wrong with it (at least the person who let me have it) so I assumed it worked fine.

I managed to install XP on there but during the process of installation and even when using it, it will freeze up or the screen will go blank and the entire laptop will become inactive.

I tested several different things on it and I can assure that it's not the RAM nor the hard disk. I believe it to be the CPU causing the laptop to freeze up or become inactive.

Does anyone have an idea why it would do this?

Thanks very much!

--Todd

 

What makes you say that?

 

I believe it to be the CPU since it will sometimes turn on but not take me to the BIOS. It'll just sit blank and inactive as the fan turns on. Plus I ran Memtest and it told me that my RAM had errors but I swapped it out for working and non-defective RAM and it tells me there are errors on that too (on different sectors of the RAM).

Also in my discoveries while taking it apart, the part near the heatsync where there'd normally be heatsync compound, there is burnt compound into the bottom of the heatsync from where it would've once been. There isn't any heatsync compound which might lead me to believe the CPU is damaged or overheating.

Any thoughts?

 

Is the fan always running quite fast and blowing out cool air?

If yes, this would that the heatsink is not properly seated on the CPU. The CPU temperature will trigger the fan operation gut the cooling system isn't disposing of the heat.

John

 

The fan turns on for roughly 5 seconds when I turn it on and usually stays off. The CPU is a Pentium M (1.7 GHz) and while taking it apart, it doesn't have any visible apparent damage (like burn marks, etc.).

Would you think it might need heatsync compound or a better cooling system? After roughly 5 minutes from turning it on and booting up, it'll just become inactive and freeze up or it'll restart itself.

 

As an added FYI, whenever it is moved around, it seems to freeze up then too. I know Lifebooks come with sensors to help protect it from non-sensitive movement but this is very strange. What might be causing this to happen?

 

Shutting down after a few minutes might be a cooling problem. I'm not sure where the thermal sensor would be on that hardware. On recent CPUs there is one in the CPU itself so the fan should respond to increasing temperature.

Freezing while moving suggests a connector problem somewhere. They can work loose after a few years of use. Movements sensors for the HDD should freeze the rest of the computer.

It might be interesting to try to undervolt the CPU. The old Pentium M's usually undervolt quite well and that would delay the heat build-up. You can also see what is reported for the CPU temperature. Another utility which will show the temperature is MobileMeter.

However, I think notebook will benefit from being stripped right down, cleaned and reassembled (including new heatsink compound). This process will also sort out any looseness or bad connections. Take photos at each stage to help guide the reassembly.

John

 

Thanks I'll try that. I think it might be a cooling problem because I had it almost completely assembled except for the keyboard (which covers the CPU and heatsync) and it seemed like the fan started to kick in when I was running some memory intense games and the variability of the fan's speed increased as I played them more and more. It lasted quite a while until I placed the keyboard back on it and a few minutes later it froze.

I'll try taking the whole thing apart since the motherboard is somewhat tricky to pull out and I didn't bother taking it out of the case entirely.

I'll try checking all the wires and connectors and I'll definitely perform an undervolting on the CPU. There's also SpeedStep built into the CPU which is supposed to help reduce power and clocking speed at idle time and less intense programs but that still has no positive effect on reducing heat.

Thank you and I'll post what happens.

 

I replaced the CPU and it seems to work fine but there's a loose connector some where. Whenever I move it slightly, it seems to either short out, go blank, or freeze up again. I think it might be the sub board controlling the hard disk and external peripherals.

When I had it apart the other day, I tapped the sub board and it just went blank and when I took it out, I moved my laptop and it didn't freeze up or stop.

Do you think it's the sub board or the hard disk itself? It's not the CPU since I replaced it and tested it and it works fine. Thanks again!

 

I think it's unlikely to be the hard disk. Howevr, you can use software such as Active SMART to read the HDD's internal diagnostics and see if it has problems (better still is the HDD manufacturer's diagnostics).

It's more likely to be the board or one of the connectors. Possibly a joint that is working loose (it might not have been soldered properly) or even a ribbon cable that is fracturing. You might need a magnifying glass to look at it properly.

John

 

I'd imagine it's the bridge connecting the sub board to the motherboard. It's probably a weak connection and I suppose the CPU has a trip circuit that if the hard disk is pulled out or disconnected, it will just lock up or stop. So I'll try replacing the sub board if I can find the part.

Thanks for all your help John and everyone else.

 

Look very hard at the connectors particularly where they are soldered to the boards. Good soldered connections are shiny silver, bad ones are a matte grey.

Any break in the connectivity could easily cause the computer to stop.

John

 

may i ask a question here?

i am using lifebook s7010 as well
and i hv got a similar problem,
with the notebook getting the "blue screen" (and restart) after full loaded for 30 mins
eg: playing movies
i believe it might be a heating problem cos the fan is always running

also i would like to know wt ram is it using?
i want to add it up to 2GB or 1GB ~

thx

 

If overheating may be the problem then it's time to open it up and clean it out.

Crucial thinks the S7010 can handle up to 2 x 1GB. Use CPU-z to check what RAM you at at present.

John