Think I have a problem

I have a thinkpad t41 that's just been put through a total
overhaul/reinstall. Wiped the drive, reformatted, clean install windows
xp pro executive sp3, etc...

I did the work for a buddy, he takes it home, says it's freezing
intermitantly, usually while running photoshop.

so, I take it back, I work on it a while, run hardware diagnostics,
leave various diagnostic utilities running for days, etc..

I wipe the drive, reinstall, fire up photoshop and play with it a
little, do some processor and memory intensive tasks, runs fine.

I leave the machine up and running for four days on my desk, and let
photoshop and illustrator and dreamweaver run in the background.
Periodically I do some photoshop, or some illustrator. No crashes. no
freezes.

I give it back to him.

It crashes, it freezes.

Well, finally, the other day I finally got it to misbehave in front of
me. I'm working in photoshop, and it freezes. I check the log file for
windows (I think it's called event viewer, I am not a windows user
myself), and I find a bunch of alerts from ACPIEC, and after some
research find there are freezes and crashes associated with this module,
which apparently manages the embedded controller unit.

So, I search for fixes. A 2007 firmware upgrade, a 2004 ACPIEC driver
upgrade. I dl both from lenovo, install the firmware upgrade with no
hitches, thing still crashes, so I go to install the ACPIEC driver and
it's a floppy disk image! A FRACKING FLOPPY DISK IMAGE!!! From 2004!!
Can you believe this? The machine its an upgrade for doesn't even HAVE a
floppy disk drive.

So, what's my friends computer wizard friend (me) supposed to do?

Well, I decided to come in here and ask all you nice friendly thinkpad
aficiandos (definitely fine taste, ya'll. If I couldn't have my macbook
pro, thinkpad is what I'd want. Same fine attention to detail, same
built forever construction. Nice machine), how would you solve this? I
do macintosh and linux work for a living, but only occasionally work
with windows. I can't change his os, and there doesn't seem to be a
defect in the machine. I would love to solve his problem. I have a
memory stick, I thought perhaps I could create some kind of disk image
on the memory stick? IS there a freeware app that'll do that on a pc?

So, I beg your help. Thanks in advance for your generosity and patience.

Joshua

--
Your processes can run, but they can't hide.

google floppy drive emulator.

In article <>,
Marc Auslander <> wrote:

> google floppy drive emulator.

Thanks Marc!!! Found one.

BTW, I'm assuming that the driver issue is the source of the freezes,
but I'd be real, real grateful for the input of anyone in here who has
seen this kind of issue on thinkpads before and can offer enlightened
speculation as to the cause. It's a T41, and it's my buddy's beloved
little baby. I know how he feels, you can get real attached to a laptop.
I felt the same way about my Pismo Powerbook. Unlike the Pismo, which
tops out at Mac OS X 10.4.11, the T41 still has quite a bit of life left
in it. I'd be thrilled to keep it alive for him as long as it can be
kept alive. I miss my Pismo. I know he'd miss his T41. What a lovely job
of design.

Joshua

--
Your processes can run, but they can't hide.

Hope it helps - but I realize you may not be able to install firmware
from an emulator! I have a USB floppy drive. I just looked at ebay
and the first listing was 12.99 including shipping!

And I understand - as I'm posting from my trusty T40!

On 17.10.11 23:48, Marc Auslander wrote:
> Hope it helps - but I realize you may not be able to install firmware
> from an emulator! I have a USB floppy drive. I just looked at ebay
> and the first listing was 12.99 including shipping!

If I understood correctly, the firmware upgrade went fine but the
driver's the problem - using a floppy emulator should be sufficient to
copy the content of the image onto a stick, CD or maybe simply onto the
hard disk for installation.

On Sun, 16 Oct 2011 23:15:12 -0400, Joshua Whalen
<> wrote:

>I have a thinkpad t41 that's just been put through a total
>overhaul/reinstall. Wiped the drive, reformatted, clean install windows
>xp pro executive sp3, etc...
>
> I did the work for a buddy, he takes it home, says it's freezing
>intermitantly, usually while running photoshop.
>
>so, I take it back, I work on it a while, run hardware diagnostics,
>leave various diagnostic utilities running for days, etc..
>
>I wipe the drive, reinstall, fire up photoshop and play with it a
>little, do some processor and memory intensive tasks, runs fine.
>
>I leave the machine up and running for four days on my desk, and let
>photoshop and illustrator and dreamweaver run in the background.
>Periodically I do some photoshop, or some illustrator. No crashes. no
>freezes.
>
>I give it back to him.
>
>It crashes, it freezes.
>
>Well, finally, the other day I finally got it to misbehave in front of
>me. I'm working in photoshop, and it freezes. I check the log file for
>windows (I think it's called event viewer, I am not a windows user
>myself), and I find a bunch of alerts from ACPIEC, and after some
>research find there are freezes and crashes associated with this module,
>which apparently manages the embedded controller unit.
>
>So, I search for fixes. A 2007 firmware upgrade, a 2004 ACPIEC driver
>upgrade. I dl both from lenovo, install the firmware upgrade with no
>hitches, thing still crashes, so I go to install the ACPIEC driver and
>it's a floppy disk image! A FRACKING FLOPPY DISK IMAGE!!! From 2004!!
>Can you believe this? The machine its an upgrade for doesn't even HAVE a
>floppy disk drive.
>
>So, what's my friends computer wizard friend (me) supposed to do?
>
>Well, I decided to come in here and ask all you nice friendly thinkpad
>aficiandos (definitely fine taste, ya'll. If I couldn't have my macbook
>pro, thinkpad is what I'd want. Same fine attention to detail, same
>built forever construction. Nice machine), how would you solve this? I
>do macintosh and linux work for a living, but only occasionally work
>with windows. I can't change his os, and there doesn't seem to be a
>defect in the machine. I would love to solve his problem. I have a
>memory stick, I thought perhaps I could create some kind of disk image
>on the memory stick? IS there a freeware app that'll do that on a pc?
>
>So, I beg your help. Thanks in advance for your generosity and patience.
>
>Joshua

Hmmm. A floppy image is very strange. I would consider unpacking the
floppy image with linux (loopback mount) and writing the resultant file
system to the hard disk directory or a CD. If that doesn't get it, try
making an El Torito CD of the image file set.

?-)