Why oh Why?

Hey everyone, I'm feeling very frustrated at the moment. I just want a machine which I can take around all over the place, which will run XP well and will standby / hibernate / resume with no issues. I had a Dell C640 for ages and had zero grief with it, ok Windows would get its knickers in a twist after several months of being used / hibernated / used etc, but then it was time to reboot. Then I had a HP DV6000 (AMD) and that was terrible stability-wise with XP. Would lockup in the middle of things, random BSODs, wouldn't come out of hibernate stating the hiberfil.sys was corrupt, etc etc etc. Now I have a lovely T61, which seems very stable (only had it a week)! Runs VMWARE well, nice quick little machine, overall very happy with it. EXCEPT.... resuming from hibernate or standby will screw up within a day. Done it 4 or 5 times today and it's been great! Which is after the latest BIOS update I applied last night. Turning on tonight, it loads the hibernate file, looks like it's about to switch to graphics mode then just reboots. Yesterday (before BIOS update), resumed from Hibernate at a client's premises (after telling them how great my ThinkPad was) and it BSODd with NMI / Parity error. I really hope someone can tell me which driver / etc is causing this because it drives me nuts this. I had some things open which I would really have liked to continue with this evening (like I used to do with laptops from 1999 until this year).

I'm an IT consultant as well which makes it all the more frustrating when solving others' problems!

Thanks for any advice. Who has reliable Hibernate and / or standby with their T61?

Dan

 

I have HORRIBLE experience with lenovoT60ps.

--- Got my new t60P and loved it very much. A week later it wouldn't turn on anymore. Had to get the mobo replaced.

---2nd T60p came back and all was good in the neighborhood for a few weeks. i noticed my screen has unevenly lit (not the worst thing...it did take me like 3 weeks to notice) but when i finally saw it....i was very distracted.

--the keyboard was HEAVNELY. except for the "P" and "Z" key which felt very cheap, almost glued on, very wobbly.

---The t60p would seemingly become very hot (i didnt put it under much load) and then it would randomly shut the operating system down and go off.

---the same thing happened when i tried to play counter strike. the computer when just go off after 30 mins of gaming.

---I was told 4gigs of RAM was my problem by lenovo support. Uhhh why did you let me spend $500+ on it then *******s?

---Then i said OMG i hate you lenevo and got some of my money back minus a restocking fee and such

 

Why don't you try running memtest86 to confirm that it's not bad memory sticks.

 

Hey f4ding... I'd happily run MT86 and I will do that, but it doesn't seem like a mem problem, as I said, runs fine and is still doing so, except the hibernate / resume seems messed up.... I can run virtual machines / prime 95 / whatever all day and there are no issues, so I don't think it's memory related. I have clean-installed XP-Pro SP2 onto a new 7K200 HD and installed all relevant drivers from Lenovo's site.... and it runs GREAT! ... :-( Apart from the resuming issue and funnily enough I put it in Standby earlier and have just noticed the 'moon' LED still on! I would really hope this can be sorted... Next step (sigh) is to waste more time trying some different operating system....

Dan

 

Hey TheSavageMac,

Sounds like poor quality technicians at work... That's why I'd hate to send mine in for repair, I'd only accept advanced replacement I think. I LOVE my ThinkPad and the only physical build quality issue I've got is the right bottom of the keyboard rattles when typing, easily fixed I think. A shame the support have been so bad to you!

Dan

 

How about disk problems. If it's not memory... and it won't wake up well from hibernate... maybe it's a marginal hardrive?

 

I'm sorry to say it is NOT HDD problems - this drive is perfect - believe me on this ---- are you saying wake up from hibernate or standby is perfect for you?

Thanks!

 

wakeup from hibernate and standby is perfect for me. how do you know its not the drive or the memory when those are the two mains things involved in bringing your computer back from hibernate?

 

Hey Braddd would you be willing to work with me with this? If you have the identical machine it would be great... the Hibernate (can't include standby) does normally work, but 1 in 6 attempts results in some sort of ****-up... Thanks forever if we can solve this!

 

I'm always willing to help, just tell me what kind of help you need.

My system:

T61, T7300, 80GB Seagate HD, 1Gig of Lenovo ram, 1Gig of Corsair Ram, 14.1" standard screen.

I think the first thing you should try is to run memtest86+ to rule out your memory first, but thats just what I would do.

 

do you have turbo memory? or APS? both?

 

I have the T61 in my signature, and haven't rebooted it in like 3 weeks. I hibernate nightly, and bring it back in the morning, every day. If you have any questions as to driver versions, etc, let me know.

 

I guess the first question I would ask are you fully updated on drivers and your bios updates? That is the first thing I do, and I have never had a problem with my T61 or X61.

 

djt205, what is your current bios version? Lenovo’s web site is slightly messed up and the driver metrics page shows version 1.21 as the latest one, while the latest one is 1.26.

Version 1.26 fixes a few problems with hibernation / standby resume, you can find it here:

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/si...cid=MIGR-67988

Or in iso format:

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/si...cid=MIGR-67989

 

Hi djt205, I'm having exactly the same problem as you. Reboots and NMI Parity errors when I resume from hibernation.

Did you manage to fix it?

 

Have you ran memtest86 yet? If not, please do so. There is nothing worse then trying to help someone who is reluctant to run the most basic of tests.

 

Esp an IT consultant

 

"Originally Posted by Renee
How about disk problems. If it's not memory... and it won't wake up well from hibernate... maybe it's a marginal hardrive?

I'm sorry to say it is NOT HDD problems - this drive is perfect - believe me on this ---- are you saying wake up from hibernate or standby is perfect for you?

Thanks!"


Absolutely. I rarely boot and almost always hibernate and have no problems at all.

 

Ugh. I'm having the exact same issue with my brand new R51. Were you ever able to get this working?

I've run memtest86+ overnight with no errors reported.

Thanks
-Dan

 

Do you have the latest BIOS version?

 

As far as I can tell, yes. From the BIOS config screen, I have BIOS v2.07 (embedded controller 1.08) dated 2007-12-06.

-Dan

 

I have also read that the problem can be from the wireless adapter. Which wireless card do you have?

 

Intel 4965AGN, driver version 11.5.0.36.

Thanks
-Dan

 

And your operating system?

 

XP SP2.

I've found that it fails to come out of hibernate about 10% of the time, but it's very intermittent, so sometimes it will work many times in a row, and then fail once, and sometimes it will fail many times in a row.

In an attempt to diagnose the issue, I just restored the system to "factory fresh" and I'm running it through hibernate/un-hibernate cycles to see if I can still reproduce it. We'll see what happens...

-Dan

 

OK, my system is now running a 100% stock system disk just as it arrived from the factory. I've gone through the initial XP welcome screens, and configured the wireless settings, but done nothing else. No software installs, no driver updates, no microsoft update.

Unfortunately, it still can't reliably hibernate. :-(

So far, I've seen the following failure modes coming out of hibernation:

1. right before it switches from text mode to graphics mode it simply crashes and restarts
2. NMI: Parity Check immediately before switching to graphics mode
3. Random characters appear on the text screen (i.e. memory corruption) immediately before switching to graphics mode and then it restarts

After restarting, XP tells me the system restore data is corrupt and offers to delete it.

I ran PC Doctor and it says the graphics card is fine. I ran memtest86+ overnight and it says the memory is fine. Sigh...

This is a 2 week old laptop. My previous laptop (an R51) has been hibernated several times a day for the last 3 years without incident.

I think I'm about ready to call Lenovo for on-site service.

-Dan

 

Read through this thread, I think it might be your wireless card.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=201034

 

The NMI parity errors were a horror on the T60's and I hope its not comming back on these machines. There were 2 reasons for the NMI errors on the T60's. First was a conflict between the PC card slot (with WIFI card in it) and the planar. The second was diagnosed as planar FRU's in a specifi range caused it and had to be replaced with new planars from a different FRU range.

I would consider it a planar failure if you have done the BIOS update, video driver update, intel turbo ram update, intel matrix update, and disabled hybrid disk under power options.

 

I had similar problems on my T61p. I did a memory and hard-disk check and that reported no problems, but I received NMI: Parity Check when resuming from hibernation (as well as the other errors you report). These things only ever happened when resuming from hibernation, never any other time. I also had problems resuming from standby.

The situations that I think caused it were:
1) Having the Active Protection on and moving the computer when hibernating (i.e. when its storing everything onto disk before shutting down)
2) Having "Always on USB" (BIOS setting) and having different usage of USB before and after hibernation (e.g. unplugging a mouse before resuming)
3) Closing the screen while it's hibernating.

Given the intermittent nature of the fault, it was difficult to test, but I found that pausing active protection, not unplugging/plugging any USB devices and leaving the screen open seemed to result in a fault-free hibernate & resume.

I've since downloaded the latest BIOS update from IBM (2.07) and it seems to have fixed (1) and (2). Now I'm finding that I can hibernate fine as long as I don't close the screen. Closing the screen seems to give me (but not always) the NMI arity Error. However, with the intermittent nature of the fault, that may not always be the case. Sorry I can't be of more help.

Good luck!

 

BINGO!

I tried testing this on my (now) factory fresh R61 and I was able to reproduce this instantaneously. However, instead of an NMI error, it gave me a stop 0xEA in nv4_disp (which is the video driver).

I tried again (after a fresh boot) and it did the same thing.

Try #3 - boots ok.

Try #4 - fails to boot w/ a "delete restoration data..." message

Try #5 - fails to boot with corrupted video display

This is now extremely reproducible on a factory fresh system, which is wonderful for debugging purposes. (I *hate* intermittent failures!)

Thank you; Thank you!

-Dan

p.s. I already have a case opened with Lenovo. I'll let you know how it goes...

 

What is your setting for when you shut your lid? I noticed that if shutting the lid conflicts with a manual sleep or hibernation, it will mess up the process

For example, if I click the windows orb and click sleep, while I have "sleep" for what to do "when closing lid" it causes problems

due to this, i have set my closing lid option to do nothing. I manually shut it down, hibernate, or sleep, this way I can shut my lid while it still in the process of shutting down or hibernating without messing anything instead of waiting and then shutting the lid

 

I have "close the lid" set to "do nothing," so it shouldn't be interfering...

 

hmmm...that is weird then....I always shut the lid after hitting the shut down or hibernate button without letting it do its' thing without having any issues

 

I too have "close the lid" set to "do nothing", and yet I get this problem when closing the lid during hibernation. (Note that I never have any problems when I just "shut down" and then boot up normally).

I tried a couple of different versions of the graphics drivers but its always the same problem.

 

Yup. I've done that for 3 years on my old R51 without any issues, so I know it's *supposed* to work!

-Dan

 

Ashers, you have a T61p, right? With Nvidia graphics? Have you seen this thread?

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=47755&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0&sid=64657180d551500fc8bd21de872be88f

Apparently, there was a batch of bad T61p motherboards which caused 3D graphics problems, among other issues. (I now suspect I have a bad motherboard on my R61 as well.)

Have you tried running 3DMark06 or the BioShock Demo? (I tried both and they both worked OK for me...)

Someone also suggested running BurnInTest (which I am about to try now...)

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=2626674&postcount=129

-Dan

 

I do have the T61p with nVidia Graphics.

Many thanks for the info. I haven't tried 3DMark06 or the bioshock demo, but I did give the burn-in test a go. Tried with a number of resolutions, and it didn't crash in the way described in the post.

I've never had a BSOD (or similar big crashes) except after resuming from hibernation (and going to 'sleep' mode), which makes me think that maybe it's a driver issue (having a problem restoring the screen after hibernation) rather than a hardware one.

 

Lenovo posted a new nVidia driver. I tried it, but unfortunately it does not fix the problem for me.

From reading the release notes, it's interesting to note that they are definitely working on power management and hibernation issues.

Also, I started a thread on a T61 forum asking for help in attempting to reproduce the problem, but no one has replied yet. It might be helpful if you went over and chimed in as well -- maybe just to say that you are also seeing the problem and asking if anyone else does as well?

I'd love to understand if this is a widespread R61/T61/T61p issue, or it's really just us.

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=55780

Thanks
-Dan

 

The problem of closing the screen when hibernating causing BSOD may be fixed by the Microsoft update that you pointed to in your other thread:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/917332/en-us
hotfix available here:
http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=10761
I installed the hotfix and not had the problem for the last day or so.

 

Weird. I already have hotfix 917332 installed, so that's definitely not my problem. I just tried installing hotfix 923232, which is the one that's linked in that thread (videoprt.sys dated 8/3/2006), and that didn't make it any better either. :-(

Also, since I wrote my last post, I've gotten a replacement R61, so I'm now sitting here with a 2nd brand-new R61 laptop and it too, unfortunately, is exhibiting the exact same behavior.

What version of the nvidia driver are you using? And what is the date on your videoprt.sys (in \windows\system32\drivers)?

And do you still have "close the lid" set to "do nothing" in power management?

Thanks
-Dan

 

As I was reading this thread, mainboard issues came to mind as well. Intermittent problems sure do suck, as someone mentioned a page or 2 back.

I feel your pain as I have a T61 on its way to me. Thing is, I have never ever trusted Hibernate on ANY computer I ever had. I am just beginning to "trust" sleep, but not too much yet. I am sure this comes from the old days of 95 98 ME where none of this stuff ever worked reliably. I really need my computer to work when I need it to work so have stayed away from hibernation.

That said, it does seem to work fine for some, if not many.

So, other than mianboard as a possible culprit, I do not have much else, except that someitmes the drivers that initially come with the laptop are unstable or unnecessary. I wonder if AV could be a factor? Anyways, this thread caught my eye and I wish you all the luck in solving this. Thanks, Dave

 

Sorry to hear you still have problems. Sounds like it's not a hardware problem given it's the same issue with your new R61 as it was with your old R61 (and I have a T61p).
To answer your questions.
- I still have "close lid" set to "do nothing"
- videoprt.sys is dated 8/3/2006 (5.1.2600.2967)
- nvidia drivers are 6.14.11.5685 (i.e. the latest one from lenovo)
- bios is the latest from lenovo 2.09-1.08 (7LETA9WW) - note this bios update seemed to help the other crashing problems I had with the hibernation

I have hibernated a number of times closing the screen at different times during the hibernation process, and no crash so far. I can't guarantee that I didn't inadvertently change something else around the time I installed the videoprt.sys (though that was pretty much the only significant change I did then), but it seemed to be after that change that it stopped crashing. Though maybe I've just been lucky recently! I'll post if it crashes again.

I hope you have success. On my last PC, while always saving before hibernating, I used to get a crash on resume very infrequently. There's no reason why it shouldn't be the same on the Thinkpad.

 

Check, check, check, and check. This matches my configuration exactly (well, my bios is 7KETA9WW (2.09-1.08), which is the latest bios for my R61.)

Sigh... I'm still working with Lenovo. I'll keep you updated...

-Dan

p.s. Have you changed any of the nVidia settings?

 

Sorry, no, not that I can remember

 

One more question: Did you do anything to alter the timing (performance) of your system -- like switch the bios from AHCI to IDE compatibility mode? Or switch from 2 DIMMS to 1 DIMM? I've found that both of those things reduce the likelihood of (but don't eliminate) the crash...

 

Not changed to compatibility mode and still using the 2 DIMMS that came with the PC. However, I put in hibernate and it crashed (BSOD) for the first time for a while, so while it seems a little better, it's still not fixed.

I also got a different crash that I've had in the past, which is when I standby (Fn-F4) and then close the screen, it looks like the system is going into standby mode, but it reboots instead (so when I open it up, it's displaying the login screen). Have you had that crash too?

 

I never use standby, so, no, I haven't seen that one, but I'll give it a try and see what happens...

-Dan

 

So Dan, I've got a friend who has the exact same issue with his T61P. Did Lenovo ever come through with a solution?

Thanks.

 

Grasping at straws here, maybe a bad battery?

 

I think you may be

Have a spare battery and have the same problem with both, so it's not that.

From more experience it seems to be when you close the screen. If you wait until you see the low-res "hibernating" screen (with the progress bar) and then close the screen, it seems to be ok. I've found that it's only if you close it before you reach that screen that you get the crash.