ThinkStation

[#1]

Hi,

I have been experiencing the "noisy fan when waking from sleep" problem on my Thinkstation D10 (6427-46G).  OS is Vista 64-bit.  This problem happens when waking the computer up with the POWER BUTTON; wake via USB keyboard/mouse has been disabled at the OS level, but problem did occur also when waking via USB device.  The symptom is that one of the fans in the rear of the D10 DOES NOT throttle down to a lower speed when the computer wakes up.  The issue does not always occur, and can be rectified by putting the computer back to sleep and waking up again (which can take 2 or 3 tries), or by rebooting the computer.  Latest BIOS is installed; in fact, OS is completely up-to-date.

I logged a call regarding this problem with Lenovo.  After the silly question phase was past and diagnosics were run and uploaded to Lenovo, they asked if I had any non-Lenovo components installed.  All components were stock Lenovo, except for some ADDITIONAL RAM modules, which I had purchased from Crucial (micron).  Lenovo asked that I remove the RAM modules (2x 4GB) and then report back if the problem re-occured.  During a two-week period, the "noisy fan when waking from sleep" problem did not occur ; however, I was not working my computer that hard due to the reduced RAM (2GB instead of 10GB).  (Hey, you try running VMWare, Autodesk Inventor 2010 and other engineering packages in such a limited space!)

Lenovo would not take the problem any further and closed the call, but said I could re-open it if the problem occured without the Crucial memory modules.  (Somewhat upset about this; but that is not the point of this email.)  I have since added the 8GB of crucial memory back into the system and although it was fine for a couple of days, the noisy fan problem happened again today.

I am posting these observations in hope that it may help someone else with this similar problem; specifically, the suggestion that the problem could be related to foreign memory modules.  I am about to add a couple of Intel X25-M SSDs and upgrade to Win 7, so my system will diverge further from the stock Lenovo configuration, although I am somewhat mystified as to how a couple of RAM modules could cause such an issue.  I did "seat" them in different slots as a simple check, but the fan problem did occur regardless of where the modules were placed.

[#2]

memory modules are a core system component.   it's very likely that they could cause something like this and absolutely unlikely that a couple of SSDs ever would.

with that said, my fans did stick a few times when i used eight OEM micron 2GB FB-DIMMs but have never stuck since switching to four OEM samsung 4GB FB-DIMMs.   none of these modules came from lenovo.   instead, they were given to me by colleagues in the industry.

whether or not there is a correlation here, i can't say definitively since i no longer have the micron modules to test.   however, you may be onto something here.

there are requirements all of these memory modules must have in order to meet compatibility standards set by lenovo.   even though crucial (micron) states that your modules are compatible, they might be different enough in the smallest of detail to cause the fans to stick at boot or waking from sleep.

would you mind posting both the micron and crucial part numbers of your modules?   hopefully the micron number is still on the modules.   i'd like to start a list in the event that your hypothesis turns into theory.

thanks!

-erik

[#3]

Hi,

The part number for the Crucial 8GB kit was as follows:

      Qty: 1 CT787950 
      Part number: CT2KIT51272AF667
      Price: £150.99 (EX. VAT)
      Description: 8GB Kit (4GBx2), 240-pin DIMM  Upgrade for a Lenovo 
ThinkStation D10 System
      Line total: £150.99 (EX. VAT)

I took a picture of the module, if interested.  Not sure how to upload to this forum though!

Chris

[#4]

is there a part number on the individual modules besides the crucial kit number you provided?   most crucial modules come from micron (since micron is crucial) so i'm curious what the module part number is.

pics can be uploaded free to sites like tinypic.com or postimage.org.   if the image is over 50k, please link to it rather than posting it inline in your post.   some of us visit the forum on mobile devices and prefer not to wait forever on page loads.

[#5]

Here is a link to a pic of the modules installed in my workstation:

Crucial/Micron Thinkstation D10 4GB module

[#6]

On further thought, I would had purchased Lenovo memory modules if they were easier to come by in the UK.  Although somewhat better than in the past, the Lenovo UK online store does not has the same selection as the Lenovo US online store.  Specifically, although the 4GB D10 modules are available from the Lenovo US online store, only the 2GB D10 modules are available from the Lenovo UK store.  In today's "internet enabled" global economy this is simply unacceptable.  Companies such as Dell demonstrate that there are no such thing as borders when it comes to online shopping.  About 5 years ago it was simply not an option to purchase a ThinkPad directly from [when it was still] IBM in the UK, whereas the only sensible way to purchase a Dell in the UK at the same time was online.

I purchased the D10 memory kit from Crucial simply because it was easier than sourcing stock Lenovo 4GB modules in the UK.  I have since found the D10 4GB module available in the UK for £60/module (which is a better price than what I paid Crucial a few months back @ £75/module); however, most of the online computer stores use the same single supplier who reports only 1 module in stock, and I need 2.

If I can find a supplier with UK inventory at a good price (e.g. £60-£65) I will dump the crucial modules in favour of the Lenovo ones.   £130 is a small price for me to pay to solve the inconvenience of noisy fans.  Like most of us, I have a job to do and a family to feed and cannot waste any further time with such hardware annoyances.

- cormandy

PS I waste SO MUCH time on hardware annoyances!  I have had Lenovo service my laptop at least 4 times this year: 3 times relating to the screen.  Screen developed banding.  First visit resulting the engineer discovering the replacement screen was the wrong one; second visit was to install the correct screen.  Great, until I noticed "contamination" between the LCD screen and backlight (sealed unit, so could not be cleaned).  Not only were there "bits" of stuff sandwiched in the screen, one bit looked like a small hair or an eyelash!  Third visit just a few days ago finally put in a proper screen.

And don't get me started on my hp cp3505dn colour printer!   At least 3 on-site visits in the past calendar year.  It is now on its 3rd fuser, which now finally seems to work...   Argh...  Whinge...   Now back to my day job....