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Thread: IBM Thinkpad T43 Harddrive Issue

  1. #1
    Did someone said Pizza :) FanacooL's Avatar
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    Angry IBM Thinkpad T43 Harddrive Issue

    Hi : -
    I have bought a new hard disk (Hitachi) for my Thinkpad T43 but when i install Windows XP during the installation and sometimes even in the begining i get the error message with Blue Screen stating something like "A problem has been detected and windows has been shutdown.... remove any newly installed hard drives ...."

    I am really in a mess and need to overcome this issue please help me out.
    One machine can do the work of fifty ordinary men. No machine can do the work of one extraordinary man!

  2. #2
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    "A problem has been detected and windows has been shutdown.... remove any newly installed hard drives ...."
    did you happen to format the new drive after installing it? Maybe download a live cd and use the live cd to format the drive, then try doing the windows install again..?

    also have you checked your BIOS settings? Is the hard drive properly connected etc etc.?

  3. #3
    Senior Member nihil's Avatar
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    Yes,

    Please make sure that your BIOS is up to date and that the HDD is recognised correctly...............in that respect, what drive letter is it assigned? sometimes that matters, and you have to correct things.

    What BIOS and release?
    What model of T43? (detailed numbers please)
    What Hitachi HDD?
    Is this a replacement or a second drive?


  4. #4
    Dissident 4dm1n brokencrow's Avatar
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    Thinkpads are a nightmare to customize. I'm in the middle of rolling out a handful of T60's and they are almost impossible to image. Lenovo's somehow tied in the partitioning scheme with security. The first one I did, I wiped out both partitions, the primary which had Windows installed and a hidden restore partition. After that, I simply couldn't get ANY kind of bootdisk to recognize and/or mount the hdd. Not PE. Not Linux. Not even an XP cd. Changed nothing in the bios. From what little research I was doing Friday, they've got some hybrid SATA setup. I've got instructions for restoring both partitions but haven't had time yet.

    I'll probably call Lenovo this week. I've got four that need an image, and 50 on the way. I have imaged T43's but did not create that image. My predecessor handled it and I'm not sure what he did yet. I'll have a T43 on my desk come Monday a.m. and will try to post later in the day.
    “Everybody is ignorant, only on different subjects.” — Will Rogers

  5. #5
    Dissident 4dm1n brokencrow's Avatar
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    Ugh, took a bit longer look at this T43 I'm typing on now. The more I learn about Thinkpads, the less I know.

    Booted this one up with a DSL cd and UBCD (both live linux). Ran fdisk in DSL and it couldn't find the hdd despite it having XP installed on it. Booted UBCD and ran a hdd utility called Active Partition Recovery. It sees the hdd, but no partitions. Booted into Insert (linux) from the UBCD and fdisk finds the hdd and one partition. Ran an hdd utility from Insert called qtparted (v0.4.4) which showed two very small hidden partitions and a primary NTFS partition.

    Then went and perused the bios. "Config" has no hdd settings, save for something under "Network" enabling/disabling HDD DMA. The IBM Security Chip is disabled on this unit (also in the bios). IBM Predesktop Area has 3 settings: Secure, Normal, and Disabled. "Startup" should show your hdd.

    A couple of suggestions here:

    a) This is a newer piece of hardware (the live cd's don't find a nic!), so run an XP SP2 cd.

    b) Try toggling the IBM Predesktop Area setting to disabled. You can always restore the defaults.

    c) Anything you find out, let me know. These things are a bear.

    I'm still going to call IBM for support and will let you know.

    Back to the grind...

    edit -- here we go, this explains quite a bit:

    http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=27721

    another edit -- a wee bit more...

    http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic...84430cb274dc29
    Last edited by brokencrow; November 27th, 2006 at 03:25 PM.
    “Everybody is ignorant, only on different subjects.” — Will Rogers

  6. #6
    AOs Resident Troll
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    Quote Originally Posted by brokencrow
    Thinkpads are a nightmare to customize. I'm in the middle of rolling out a handful of T60's and they are almost impossible to image.
    I think thats why they have the nickname

    "Stinkpads"




    MLF
    Last edited by morganlefay; November 27th, 2006 at 04:04 PM.
    How people treat you is their karma- how you react is yours-Wayne Dyer

  7. #7
    Dissident 4dm1n brokencrow's Avatar
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    ...you're not helpin', MLF.

    “Everybody is ignorant, only on different subjects.” — Will Rogers

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    We use t43's as our primary workstations. Overall I think it is a pretty nice machine. You do have to understand how to work with the recovery partition, but they can be easily customized once you know how to use their software.

    It's not any different than having to use something like compaq/HP smartstart to setup an old compaq or newer HP computer and setting up a recovery/system partition.

  9. #9
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    Sorry bout that....

    I think you are on the right track....working directly with IBM on this....

    MLF
    How people treat you is their karma- how you react is yours-Wayne Dyer

  10. #10
    Dissident 4dm1n brokencrow's Avatar
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    Don't get me wrong; ThinkPads are outstanding units. The accompanying software's a bit overengineered (or so our users complain). Their uniqueness is causing me problems, but I think I got the T60's figured. Toggling the bios SATA controller mode gives the XP cd what it needed to recognize the hdd so we can do our own image on our own license.

    I have not yet found a suitable workaround for the T43. "Config" in the T43's bios has no, or few, hdd settings from what I can tell. Mohaughn, what's your experience with customizing T43's?

    Ugh, I'm finding out IBM's idea of working with their customers is sending your unit back to them.
    “Everybody is ignorant, only on different subjects.” — Will Rogers

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