[ltp] What to do if I suspect I've got a lemon T60?

[SOTL]

Whil Hentzen wrote:

> Hi folks,
>
> I bought a T60 from PC Connection about a month ago. (Been buying from 
> them since 1982, never been unhappy with anything.) First thing I did, 
> natch, was blow away Windows and install FC5. Well, I tried to, that is.

Difficult to install on a laptop.

>
> After five or six days and perhaps a dozen attempted installs, I was 
> never able to get a complete installation to work. Several people on 
> this list suggested that perhaps the hardware was just a bit too new 
> for an OS that was delivered last winter.
>
> So then I tried installing Kubuntu 6.06 (Dapper Drake). Four days of 
> middling success: I got the initial install running, but the 
> networking never worked, and the machine kept locking up on me, say, 
> during an update, or when loading the system utilities.

If you got the machine working then box is not trash.

>
> Today I'm trying to install SuSE 10.1, and the damn box has locked up 
> 3 times today. Haven't even gotten past the initial install process.

Try something else. SuSE 10.1 is noturious for not installing.

>
> I'm starting to think that the box itself isn't up to par. And I'm 
> getting rather angry.
>
> This is my sixth Thinkpad in the last 12 years, so maybe I am due for 
> a lemon, but before I start screaming, I thought I'd ask. Although I'm 
> not sure what to ask. :)
>
> - Given Lenovo's recent announcement, I'd sure like to think that 10.1 
> will run on a T60 'out of the box'. Any feedback?
>
> - Given that I didn't bother to 'keep' my original system OS, 
> suggestions on how to get the vendor to see if the box is bad?
>
> Thanks,
> Whil

The issue could be your install medium.

Try to get IBM recovery disk from IBM.
Reinstall Windows this will give you a working internet connection.
Download the distribution of your choice and burn to disk.
Set up box as dual boot.
Install from disk you burned in your Thinkpad's burner.