Finally a new Intel Turbo driver for the T61 concerning BSOD

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-67820

Summary of changes
Version 1.0.1.1004-7.0.3.1001
(Fix) Intermittent blue screen system failure while the machine is carried.



Regards
Neil

 

Um, why would flash memory care when it is carried? I bet the active disk protection extends not only to the primary drive, but it was being applied to the Intel flash card as well. Doesn't really make sense to have active disk protection on solid state media. That's just a guess though.

 

Thanks for the notice.

 

I am in debt to you! thank you so much.

 

it isnt the active disk protection thats the problem. its the flash memory itself in combination with the ready drive/ready boost technology that is causing BSOD problems

 

But then why would the fix mention the machine being carried?

 

Thanks! I've got all my drivers bookmarked for when I do my clean install after I get my laptop. I had the intel.com driver site bookmarked for the turbo memory driver. I find it very strange that Intel provides an updated driver to Lenovo before they even update their own driver website. Perhaps this driver is specific to only Lenovo's product line.

 

so is this going to fix the freezing and the blue screen i am having?

 

There is only one way to know for sure....

 

I want to have a fix that that stops BSOD's when the t61 is drop kicked. Also how about one that causes it to purr when petted. Really how may hardware fixes have there been that relate to the physical state of the machine?

Now can they just come out with one that could make it charge a bit faster. I would even hug the t61 if it will help.

 

I know that I only have problems when my computer is unplugged. I never have any trouble when it is plugged in, but I get all kinds of lock ups, freezes, blank screens and self-reboots when I am on battery with turbo memory enabled. There's a thread where others have reported similar problems with their T61s when working on battery power.

It's only a guess, but I think when they say "carried" they mean away from an outlet working on battery power.

I'm certainly going to give the new driver a try - I think its exactly what I've been waiting for (hopefully).

 

I know I am one of those that the T61 will not work when running off of battery problem, and Lenovo is not acknowledging that turbo memory is the problem. I phoned today reporting my problem and without hesitation they said it was a faulty battery I have, and they are sending me a new one. So it will be interesting to see if it actually fixes things. If not I guess turbo memory is getting disabled.

 

Also just curious when downloading the new driver should I uninstall the old one first? Or just download the one in the link and run installation.

 

I was wondering, do they make you send your old battery back when they send you out a new one? Do you have any idea as to what the problem might be, is it the circuitry in the battery?

For reference, I have a 7-cell. Is that the type you're getting replaced?

 

Installed, no dramas

 

I just installed the new drivers but when I went into my device manager to check the version it says

Driver date: 5/4/2007

I followed the guide on the website step by step and my computer definately installed something. I restarted after install and then went to check, anyone else actually have this driver date change? The version is 1.0.1.1004 but I believe that was what it was before I installed as well.

 

when you "install" the driver, it doesnt really install it. all it does it unload the files into c:\drivers\vista\turbomem

goto that folder and then click the setup icon.

this should do the trick.

 

There's an easy way to reproduce the blue screen.

DL seatools software from seagate... run it.

Unless i disabled turbo memory mine got BSOD.



--

 

another easy way to reproduce it is by enabling ready boost and ready drive, going to youtube.com, play any random video and then physically move your laptop around a bit.

 

is this the BSOD you all are getting ?

http://tel3deal.com/pics/T61/IMG_3815.JPG

sorry for the flash circle...


Oh P.S i don't think its only an active protection problem...

i remember i installed vista without the active protection driver and it still BSOD.



--

 

I went through the entire setup and install procedure. In view of jd1010's message, I checked the versions on both the turbo memory and SATA drivers - both were exactly the same versions as in the update. I went ahead and completed the setup.

I just re-enabled readyboost and readydrive. Apprehensive isn't really the word for it; I'm expecting trouble. Considering that my computer crashed yesterday corrupting the boot sectors of the hard drive forcing a complete restore, I know this is a big risk. I already have return authorization from Lenovo, so I figure, I might as well give this a try before I send this thing back.

Prior to this update, with turbo memory enabled, my computer would freeze, lock-up, blank screen or self-reboot within 15 minutes while on battery power, so I guess I'll know shortly.

 

I wonder if this fixes the explorer.exe freezes when using battery mode...

 

....and firefox freezes dont' for get that

 

Well, I have a definitive answer (at least in my case). 8 minutes after enabling turbo memory and rebooting, my computer locked up while browsing with Firefox. This "update" did not fix the problem - I actually believe it is the same driver that is loaded through the regular lenovo system update.

Prior to installing the update and re-enabling ready drive & ready boost, my computer had gone about 10-12 hours without any problems (turbo memory off, battery power).

 

I have a 6 cell battery. They are shipping the new one via puralator, along with a return box. I then have 5 days to put my old battery in the box and return it to puralator. Just curious how do I disable turbo memory?

 

So is all this still happening after the driver update?

 

ar epeople having problems running clean OS intsalls? Ive had my T61 and R61's for a couple days now, and have not seen a single BSOD. The T61 has turbomemory turned on as well...but i dont move my machine around a lot, so if movement is a factor...i dont know

 

So these problems people are talking about only happens on battery power? I've had my computer for a week and explorer has froze twice causing my computer to not respond to anything. Both times was when it was on battery power. My computer has been hooked up to ac adapter 90% of the time I've been using it since my commutes to school have not begun yet. I'm starting to think that maybe I should just test it out on battery power to for a few days to see what happens.

 

Yeah, I only have problems on battery power. The "new" Intel drivers didn't fix anything for me. So far, my system seems relatively stable with turbo memory off on battery power. I haven't had any problems of note while plugged in.

I believe the problem is related to some combination of Vista, turbo memory and battery power.

I'm beginning to think that Lenovo knows something that they aren't sharing about the batteries - which they've offered to replace for some people. I'm not laptop engineer, but I could imagine that all the problems I've been having (freeze ups, blank screens, self-reboots) could be related faulty circuitry in the battery, or perhaps inconsistent voltage regulation.

After all the problems with the original T61 shipments, I really hope that Lenovo isn't holding anything back. If they know something, they need to come out and say it.

 

got a BSOD a few minutes ago while i was on AC power....even though I installed the new driver. I must say, its much better than before.

 

I know talking to a friend about the problems when on battery power he thinks it has to do with the processor not getting enough power. Which could happen in the power settings when running off battery (since that changes the processor might get shorted juice), or the battery is not giving power how it should. I have no clue if these assumptions are right or not (I am fairly computer illiterate in problem solving). All I know is the lenovo tech help took about 1 minute to tell me a new battery is on the way lol. There was absolutely no hesitation that was the problem so I am kinda curious to get the new one to see if it fixes things.

Just curious though how would I disable intel turbo memory?

 

Go to the start menu and find the intel turbo logic chip software...i unchecked the ready drive and ready boost and that disabled both. Don't know if it helps anything but it's worth a try.

Good luck.

 

The updated files are new versions, they are not the same ones as previously posted on Lenovo's site.

To see your current version, open device manager and check the following two devices:

IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers -> Intel 82801 HEM/HBM SATA AHCI Controller

and

Storage Devices -> Intel Flash Cache Logic Chip

Right click on each device, choose properties then click on the Driver tab.

The old versions are 7.0.0.1020 for the SATA controller and 1.0.0.1082 for the Flash chip.

The new versions are 7.0.3.1001 and 1.0.1.1004


Shardak

 

I don't get any bsod, but my computer interenet explorer windows have froze up 3 times already causing my whole computer to be unresponsive. The only way for me to shut it down is to hold down the power button which I'm guessing is not so good for the computer.

I know 3 times is not much but as I said in my previous post I haven't been using the computer on battery power much. Since last night though I have and it's already happened once. I'll give this a few more days, if it keeps happening I'm probably going to switch back to xp pro. I really see no benefits to vista for me and I can't have my computer freezing up when I need it most. I've never had these problems with xp. If explorer would frezee up I would shut it down through the task manager. In vista when these things happen I can't even get to the task manager.

 

So does turning off turbo memory actually stop these freeze ups when on battery power?

 

I haven't tried my T61 on battery since the update, the T61 is plugged most of the time at the office, Vista seems more stable on my T61, no more BSOD or crashes with desktop explorer.


Regards
Neil

 

Installed the new drivers, still get BSOD's with turbo memory enabled.

 

Yes, after installing the new drivers I still get lock-ups and freezes when turbo memory is enabled and I'm running on battery power.

For the moment, no problems when plugged in. No problems with turob memory disabled.

I get this feeling that many people have not experienced problems because their computers are plugged in all the time. I predict that in a month or two, as people start heading off to school and such, that we'll hear a rash of new complaints as people find that their computers lock up and freeze when on battery power with turbo memory enabled.

Don't know who's at fault, Lenovo or Intel, but we need a fix ASAP.

 

then try disabling the turbo memory...

 

Disabling turbo memory does not entirely solve the problem. My computer just blue screened while sitting there doing nothing - on battery power with turbo memory disabled. With turbo memory enabled, it locks up every 15 minutes. With turbo memory disabled it locks up every couple of hours. Compare this with my cheap @ss POS Acer which has never had a blue screen the entire time I have owned it, or the HP and Gateway POS systems which never had blue screens in the 3 years that I used them. Until I received this T61, I actually believed that BSODs were a thing of the past. I hadn't really seen one since XP SP2.

There is something else wrong with these computers. I haven't seen reports of other computers locking up or giving blue screens with Vista and turbo memory. T61s seem to be the only computers with these problems.

 

im not saying its the Turbo mem for sure, but you dont read about it on other machines because Lenovo is one of the few that offer it

 

Personally I think it's a comibnation of vista with the thinkvantage software. I think I'm gonna install XP pro and leave off all the thinkvantage stuff. I never needed it in the past, and as a grad student, I don't think I'll really need any of it in the future.

I'll have my recovery disks so that in the future when vista isn't a beta operating system anymore I can reinstall it.

 

The thing is, I haven't even heard of problems with other Lenovo computers. For example, the V200, R61 and X61 offer turbo memory and Vista right? I haven't looked all that closely, but I definitely haven't seen multiple threads with dozens of people have the same problems.

Don't get me wrong, except for the fact that it crashes all the time, I love the T61. Seriously, I wouldn't waste all this effort trying to figure out what the problem is if I didn't like the computer. Unfortunately, for my current needs, stability is really the most important thing. That's why I chose Lenovo - because of the reputation for quality, durability and stability. It really hasn't lived up to my expectations (I've had it for about 10 days now).

If Lenovo knows what the problem is, they need to speak up right away. If they don't know what the problem is, I need to return it because I'm not going to be able to live with 2 years of random lock-ups, crashes and self-reboots. I had a computer like that years ago in college and I survived, but this time around stability is critical for what I'm doing.

 

I agree with you completely. I bought a thinkpad over a dell or HP because I wanted quality. I wanted a laptop that would be able to handle 3 years of commuting to NYC everday by train and subway.

So far I've dealt with nothing but problems with lenovo. It took them almost 2 months to get me my computer and now that I have it, I can't run it on battery. Serioulsy, I've had this thing on battery for maybe 4 hours of usage and its locked up 4 times on me.

There is no doubt in my mind that I will keep the computer but I'm about ready to install xp and leave all this thinkvantage software behind. I'm gonna give it some time, try a few different things, and if they don't solve the problem then goodbye vista and thinkvantage.

Which hard drive does everyone here have? Maybe it has something to do with them. I have the seagate 100 GB 7200 rpm HD

 

I have had my T61 a week now and have been using it 10 hours a day for work, on battery and mains power. Not had one lock or BSOD, that with the seagate 100GB 7200 drive aswell.

Using Turbo Mem

 

do you use turbo mem?

 

you have turbo memory as well? You've been running on batter without any lockups?

 

Yes I have turbo mem.

 

I tried on my T61 on battery this morning and unfortunately it crashed again with the updated driver, but on AC the unit is stable. I am not an expert in this field but in the old days BSOD's were tied to memory problems, the added memory chip(s) could be at fault. I have ran Pcdoctor on my T61 to test the memory modules and it didn't yield any error. Does anyone know a utility that might be better at this task (ie testing the memory modules).
I am of the same opinion that I have bought Lenovo/IBM Thinkpads present and past for its reliability and these circumstances are not acceptable for such a brand name.

Regards
Neil

 

hardware problems are the least likely souce of problems. It is usually bad drivers resulting from a poor OS install or improper driver installations.