Laptop shutsdown exactly after 30 minutes

[chosescurieuses]

Hi,

I own a Thinkpad W520 that as started to shutdown after exactly 30 minutes.

It does it under the OS on the HD (Windows 10) and under an OS booted by a USB key (Ubuntu).

It is not hot and no error messages are written to the Windows logs. I cleaned the fans and cleaned the dust of the motherboard.

It does not do a proper shutdown. It just stops as if the plug was pulled. It does it on batteries only and on the PS. The battery is fully charged and functional.

I am stumped.

Anyone has an ideal or is it good for the garbage heap? It is a good PC but 4 or 5 years old. I do not intend to spend too much money trying to fix it.

Tanks in advance

 

[chosescurieuses]

Thanks TechNeeedQ but it is not the problem. The laptop is not overheating. When it stops, I reboot it immediately and it will stop again in 30 minutes. If it was heat related, it would shutdown almost right away but I keep restarting it with no problems and it run 30 minutes and them, off.

Really frustrating.

 

[RARRAF]

start/control panel/power and sleep just a thought

 

[chosescurieuses]

Thanks RARRAF.

All done, as much at the OS level than at the BIOS level.

 

[Sneezer]

Looks like you got a dud of a laptop.

I did a quick search on Google and it looks like the issue you're having is widespread for that machine.

https://www.google.com/search?q=Thinkpad+W520+randomly+shutting+off&rlz=1C1VFKB_enUS629US636&oq=Thinkpad+W520+randomly+shutting+off&aqs=chrome..69i57.2984j0j4&sourceid=chrome&es_sm=93&ie=UTF-8

It looks like it's been an issue with that model for years and there's not a single specific issue that causes the results - there are many.

I've read about overheating due to no thermal paste being used, problems with faulty memory sticks, and faulty motherboards.

Long story short, if you can still return it, I would. Even if you get Lenovo to fix it, you still have a poorly designed laptop.

Sorry you're in this situation. I sympathize with you and hope you get a good solution quickly.

 

[chosescurieuses]

Thanks,

It is fixed somehow (for at least). After reading up on Sneezer's suggestion I realized "I was not alone". I didn't follow the Golden Rule and I made a few changes all at once. I reseated a RAM module and I deactivated Power Saving in the BIOS. I then restarting the laptop and it has been running non-stop for a few hours. I am imaging the drive while it is up.

What was the problem? I don't know. Possible faulty code in the Power Saving module in the BIOS since the shutdown occurred under different OS booted from USB keys and the local drive. Deactivating that functionality may have fixed it. I downgraded the BIOS and the problem was still there,


I may go back to Windows 7 to regain some control over my OS.

I have had this laptop for about 5 years and it has always been flaky but it is an i7 Quad CPU with 12 GB of RAM, a 256GB SSD drive and a 750 GB SATA drive. It cost a lot of money and I would find it a waste to put it aside since I still can get some good use out of it. Better a devil you know than a new one. I also own a Dell M3800 and it is not paradise with that one either. Already had to replace the motherboard and the USB works not so good.
So, the W520 is now working. For how long? Who knows.

It would cost me (I'm in Canada) between 1,5K$ and 2K$ (with taxes) to replace this PC and I think that, at that price, a laptop should last longer than 4 years.

Thanks to you all that helped with suggestions.