what is happening to my laptop

[sncheong]

hi
it is a compal CL50 with a intel M cpu and it was running fine at 1.6G. suddenly, the speed drops to 600MHZ. i noticed that the laptop is not as warm as before and the voltage to the cpu is 0.9V i/s 1.4v.
can anyone help? tks

 

[Lemon13]

check speedstep settings in bios

 

[sncheong]

tks, lemion13 but there isn't any speedstep settings in the bios. the manual says that speedstep is done automatically. any other advice? tks

 

[IPTnewbie]

a voltage multiplier in the bios. something like that.

 

[macten88]

Is it a P4? I've read that if a P4 overheats, it will automatically slow down to protect itself from burning out.

 

[sncheong]

hi
it's a pentium mobile and the bios is very basic but it says it is supports intel speedstep.

i use pcwizard2006 to check the cpu's details.

another weird thingee is i can only boot the laptop without the ac power plugged in. sometimes, i have to try booting it a few times before it gets going. if i plug the ac power, it hangs.

any other tips i could try? many thanks.

 

[IPTnewbie]

bad battery or mobo

 

[BadBigBen]

Before jumping to conclusions that something is wrong here...

Speedstep is there to save the battery, and will throttle the CPU to a lower MHZ setting, when the CPU is idling...

knowing this, you could try to run a BENCHMARK program and at the sametime do a monitoring with your PCWIZARD2006... if the speed starts to go up then all is fine in that alley...

about the laptop locking up when you plug in the power, well this could indicate: a) a bad powersupply, b) a damaged power plug, c) wrong BIOS settings or CMOS corruption, or d) OS corruption concerning the POWER SAVING settings and corresponding system files...

Ben

"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."

 

[sncheong]

hi ben

i thought i replied but it didn't show up. anyway this is what i said:-

once the laptop is booted up, it runs fine apart from the reduced cpu speed.

i run the laptop with either the battery or the ac power supply alone for several hours without problem. so, i think the power supply and battery are fine.

i reflashed the older bios versions but that didn't help.

i can install w2000pro without a hitch but when i reinstall xpprosp2, it hangs at 34 mins or 9 mins remaining. then i have to wait for hours before i can boot the laptop again

maybe, i should take your motto advice - "If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."

but it is a damned good and fast laptop, and i hate to let it go without a fight....

thanks
sn

 

[BadBigBen]

Hola,

hmmm... if you can install w2k pro without problems, makes me believe that the Hardware is OK(!)...

is the CD you are installing from an original pressed media or is it a burned copy, with SP2 slipstreamed onto it? if it is the later, then it could be a bad burn or it was burned too fast (OS's or other important install medias should be burned at the slowest speed possible!)...





Ben

"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."

 

[sncheong]

sorry for late reply, ben.

both os are originals, and i have installed the xp sp2 to my desktop before.

over the week-end i had a flash of hope but it turned out to be "high hope". the cpu's speed restored to 1.6G for one boot and it was back to 598M ever since.

i vacuum-cleaned the laptop but it didn't helped.

 

[dementg]

http://www.bay-wolf.com/speedstep.htm#11

The speed throttling is frustrating for many laptop users. For whatever reason, the default power scheme for laptops in Windows will throttle the CPU even when it's plugged into the wall. The setting you probably want to use is "Home/Office Desktop". You can still change the various settings if you like, but your choice of power scheme also has some hidden effects on speedstep.

 

[cdogg]

sncheong,
Speedstep is probably working as designed here. Like dementg said, check the hardware power scheme. According to the bay-wolf site, make sure it is set to "Always On" (using "NEVER" for standby with hibernation disabled).

7 Q: Turning off SpeedStep in the BIOS seems to have no effect whatsoever upon the machine's ability to change the CPU rate. How do you disable SpeedStep? I am using WinXP.

[tab]A: You must have it turned off in the BIOS and in WinXP. If you go into the Power Applet in Control Panel and select the Always On option it will disable Speed Step. Right click your desktop > Click properties > Click Screen Saver > Power button > Change the Power Scheme to always on.

Also, the reason why it was staying at 1.6GHz in Windows 2000 is explained here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpeedStep

Under older Microsoft Windows operating systems, such as Windows 2000 and lower, a special driver and dashboard application was needed to control the processors. Intel's website specifically states that such a driver must come from your computer manufacturer and there appears to be no generic drivers available to enable SpeedStep for Windows 2000 versions and older if you cannot obtain a manufacturer's driver. There is no such SpeedStep driver available from Intel's website.

So after a clean install of Windows 2000, SpeedStep will be disabled until the driver and "dashboard" application is properly installed.

Again, I wouldn't worry about leaving SpeedStep enabled. It is there to preserve battery life and reduce heat when the CPU is idle. When Windows XP senses that your CPU activity is staying above a particular threshold, it will automatically increase the speed of the CPU until the activity dies down. So unless you check it at the right time, you're never going to see it running at 1.6GHz. That doesn't mean it never is.

If you have your laptop on a desk plugged in MOST of the time, then it might make some sense for you to disable it. However, it isn't really necessary.

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884

 

[sncheong]

thanks dementg and cddog

assuming the speedstep is fine .... why couldn't i install xpprosp2? in the first place, the laptop has xppro installed and the cpu speed's is 1600MHZ when i bought it.

i am already running the power scheme as "laptop".

it looks like i have to send it to the shop before the xmas break hopefully, you gurus have more tips for me to try over the week-end. tks.

btw, seasonal greetings to one and all.

 

[sncheong]

oops,
sorry, cdogg; misspelt your name.
my apologies.