T61p mysterious random crashes lately

Hello all,

For the past couple of weeks, I've had random crashes of my Thinkpad T61p which I suspect are due to hard drive issues. Let me describe two of the most recent cases...

1) Computer was working fine with very little load on it (was typing up a report while listening to music). The Thinkpad proceeds to show a blue screen out of nowhere, saying the computer needs to shut down. I was not quick enough to write down the error codes. When I try and turn it on again, the machine beeps once loudly and an error says something along the lines of "HDD failed to initialize". An hour later, I turn it on as normal with no issues.

2) Computer was once again working fine with little load on it (just surfing the web). The Thinkpad once again shows a blue screen, and once again I didn't get down the error code. This time, instead of a full power-off, the computer restarts itself. Once Windows loads, the following error message was given:

BCCode : 1000008e BCP1 : C0000005 BCP2 : AABB5038 BCP3 : B467CB40
BCP4 : 00000000 OSVer : 5_1_2600 SP : 3_0 Product : 256_1 ​

I have no idea what that error code means, but I would assume it's listing me as a Windows XP SP3 user, which I am. Any help is appreciated so I can approach Lenovo tech support about this issue (I have 4 year on-site warranty which I guess will go into good use). If anyone can confirm this is a hard drive issue, or if it's due to something else, please let me know. Vital stats for my Thinkpad are listed in the signature below if that helps. Thanks for reading

 

You hdd is on its way to god. Try backing up asap.

 

I too think you should back up immediately. Informally, I think your disk is going out. Do you have insurance?

 

Thanks for the confirmations about the hard drive issue. I'll proceed to back up immediately.

And yes, I do have a laptop warranty as a matter of fact. I just extended it for an additional three years with on-site service, no accidental protection a few weeks back when I started getting these symptoms. If I originally had the depot warranty, and upgraded to the on-site service, do I get the benefits of on-site service immediately or will I have to wait until the depot service warranty length runs out? Technically my depot warranty is until 6/2009, and the on-site runs out 6/2012.

 

I'm glad you have a warranty. The new warranty should be be exact as to when it begins and ends.
-Renee

 

You may want to do a memory test...

 

I agree with Mtnbiker, a memory test would be good but the real importance is in the dump you gave.

The error is an access violation (I think). It occured at address AABB5038. Check the dumper to find out which driver blew up. The next address is the 'trap frame' which I dont think is impotant.

-Renee

 

The Lenovo PC Doctor that is available for download on their website does not detect any memory problems on performing a memory test. But with that said, the program didn't detect any hard drive problems either so I doubt it's really effective. Are there better programs out there to detect these issues?

 

You did not specify which HDD you had, but many of the T61p's had Hitachi drives. You can download their disk tools here: http://www.hitachigst.com/hdd/support/download.htm. If it some other manufacturer, find their tools. Likewise, Memtest86 does a much better job of testing the ram, and is a free download from here: http://www.memtest86.com/download.html. The problem with disk testing is that a fault will not be detected until it happens. You may find evidence of previous faults, however, in bad tracks, etc.

 

Actually, I have a Western Digital Scorpio Blue HDD installed in my Thinkpad (model WD1200BEVS). I tried Memtest86 with no errors reported, and I also downloaded Western Digital's diagnostic software with no errors reported either. However, the crashes are still happening.

The Lenovo warranty guy I talked with on the phone pretty much told me the only way I can get warranty service is if I get error messages off of PC Doctor 5, which does not show anything whatsoever. Maybe I should try again some other time with a different agent and see what happens? Thanks for any other ideas you guys have