Gripes about IBM ThinkPad R40

IBM has two naming schemes for their laptop computers. The name for public marketing of the machine in question is an R40. The internal machine type/model number for this machine is 2681-3UU. The hard disk is a Hitachi Travelstar model number IC25 N040 ATCS04-0. The hard disk is also known by IBM as FRU p/n 92P6332 and ASM p/n 92P6331. The operating system was Windows XP Professional with all patches applied.

Disgraceful Technical Support

For the first time, I used a CD-RW disc with this computer. Every time the disc was inserted in the computer, it generated a program failure. One time, evern Dr. Watson failed - it's the program that analyzes failures of other programs. Then whenever Windows was shut down, it Blue Screened with a stop error of x"50" a page_gault_in_nonpaged_area. The offending driver was drvnddm.sys which a net search determined was part of IBM's DLA which is really from Veritas.

I didn't recall the exact model number, so I tried to use a feature on IBM's web site that automatically detects your computer. It didn't work. The ActiveX started to install and then nothing.

IBM seems to have a poor man's version of Windows Update - software that checks around your computer and determines which of their software needs to be updated. Sounds great. It's not.

There is an ActiveX version of their updater program. As before, it starts to install, I give it permission to run and then nothing.

There is also a downloadable version of the updater program. What's the difference, if any, between this and the ActiveX version? They don't say. I installed this version and it listed about 15 IBM programs in need of update. I chose a few, but after chugging away for a while, it refuses to install the updates because I first have to un-install about 5 programs. After un-installing a re-boot is required.

Losing faith in the updater program - which did NOT provide an update for the problematic DLA software - I try to download just the DLA software. It's not hard to find, now that I've figured out the exact machine type.

The updated DLA software is only for certain CD burners and there is a list provided by IBM. Of course, the list is totally useless. It provides IBM part numbers and no instructions on how to determine the part number of the CD burner in your computer.

I try to install the updated DLA software. No dice. It fails because it can't find a valid version of the software to upgrade. Never mind, I started by giving them the exact machine type. It's all I can do not to throw the machine out the window.

Second Failed Hard Disk

September 7, 2005. Windows XP won't start up, it dies with the Blue Screen of Death on a STOP error about un-mountable boot device. It turns out the second hard disk has also been corrupted. The latest version of Drive Fitness Test from the hard disk vendor found a corrupted sector. Fortunately it fixed the problem and Windows was able to boot up again.

Of course, because this is the second hard disk, there is no IBM rescue and recovery partition because they don't restore that partition too with their rescue CDs. It only restores the Windows partition.

Failed Hard Disk

June 2004. After using the machine for about a year, one day Windows XP would not boot. The blue screen of death reported an unmountable_boot_volume. Microsoft says that you can probably fix this by running chkdsk /p or chkdsk /r. Another recommendation, not from Microsoft, was to run chkdsk /F. Of course, if Windows XP won't boot, this is not an option.

Microsoft also suggested using the Recovery Console to run a fixboot command. However, the Recovery Console was not installed to the hard disk and IBM does not ship ThinkPads with Windows CDs so the Recovery Console can't be run that way.

System Restore was enabled and it can be used from Safe Mode. However, Windows XP was so badly damaged it could not even boot to Safe Mode with Command Prompt (that is, with no GUI at all).

IBM has a number of utilities installed in a hidden area of the hard disk, among them a diagnostic utility, PC Doctor. I ran the hard disk diagnostic in PC Doctor and it reported

I also ran the Hitachi Drive Fitness Test from a boot floppy disk (version 3.5 from July 2003). It reported “1 or more corrupted sectors found” and offered to repair them. The Technical Result Code was 70 00 0F 0D (all zeros). The Failure code was 0x70 defective device. This means it found a Corrupted Sector.

I called IBM and they sent a new hard disk, which was fairly simple to swap with the old defective one. They also sent a set of recovery CDs.

Recovering Windows

FYI: The IBM Product Recovery program version 5.8 is really PowerQuest Easy Restore v4.0.

FYI: The first recovery CD had a file called values.txt in the \MFG directory that contained what seems to be self-identifying information:
Date: 5/27/2003 12:56:27 PM CD P/N: 01R8537 OS: XP-P FRU#: 01R8517 MS Date 1981-2001
Type: 2681,2682,2683,2722,2723,2724

I have yet to see recovery CDs that actually explained what they do in terms of hard disk partitions. That is, I wonder what happens if you try to recover on a machine with multiple hard disk partitions. Before the IBM recovery utility runs it says it will "delete all files from the operating system partition of the hard disk". I doubt it is smart enough to detect an OS partition from a data partition.

In addition to recovering the hard disk image from a bunch of CDs there are also three utility programs included with the IBM Product Recovery program. One utility displays information about your computer. It doesn't work. After selecting this, it started to un-compress a version of PC-Doctor but then garbage characters scrolled on the screen and the computer started beeping. I had to turn off the machine and start over.

While the recovery program was processing CD number 2, the screen went black. I touched the cursor up key thinking it blacked out to save battery (even though it was plugged into the wall) and I was prompted to "Insert IBM Product Recovery CD 1". When I did, the computer re-booted. I assumed there was an I/O error on the second CD. The main recovery file on CD number 2 is CM1PBUS.002. To insure it was readable, I scanned it with Norton Anti-Virus on another computer. NAV ran for only a second which is very strange for a 370 MB file on a CD. Still, I could browse the files on the second CD on another computer without incident so if there was an I/O error, its not obvious. After re-inserting CD 1 as per instructions, then CD 2 again, the recovery was now unzipping compressed files rather than running Easy Restore. It seems the recovery program is running as it should. IBM says nothing at all about what to expect which is disgraceful.

The new hard disk was initially empty, totally devoid of any data or partitions. Soon after using the recovery CDs to rebuild Windows, I tried to again invoke the built-in diagnostic utilities by pressing the blue Access IBM button during startup. Nothing. There are no built-in utilities any more. The recovery CDs did not recover them, they only recovered Windows. After the machine was given back to its owner, I called IBM about this. The IBM technician said that the hidden diagnostic utilities will only be installed to the hard disk by the recovery CDs if, in the BIOS, the boot order is set to

Sounds like baloney to me. However, if it is true, then it's disgraceful that nothing from IBM mentions this. I read all the instructions along the way (see links above). I'm now worse off than before.

Update. November 4, 2004. A reader of this page wrote that he had a similar experience with a hard disk in an IBM ThinkPad. After getting a new disk and running the recovery software, there was no diagnostic partition. This means you can't go into the Pre-OS diagnostics via the "Access IBM" button. When he complained to IBM, they offered to have the machine shipped back to IBM where their techs would restore it.

Another fallout of this partial recovery by the Recovery CDs is that, despite the fact that the BIOS tells you to hit the blue access IBM key to interrupt startup, it no longer does anything. How to get into the BIOS setup program? IBM said F1 works.

IBM sells ThinkPads in part based on their extra fancy recovery options. One is an option to park a hard disk while the computer is in the process of falling off a desk. Another is something called Rapid Restore that is designed for just the sort of problem I experienced. I don't know much about it, but I think Rapid Restore keeps a hidden log of hard disk updates so that when files get corrupted you can restore them from the Rapid Restore cache and bypass Windows. One of the hidden utilities that was not restored to the new hard disk was Rapid Restore.

Two gripes: (1) Rapid Restore was not installed on the computer when IBM shipped it. (2) When I called IBM and told them of the defective sectors, the knee-jerk reaction was to send a new hard disk. It was a very quick phone call. Nothing was said about Rapid Restore at all. I can't tell you how much time and effort I put into diagnosing this problem and copying important files off the computer. All that might have been prevented with Rapid Restore, which seems to be a sham.

Returning The Bad Hard Disk

Instructions from IBM about mailing the bad hard disk back to them are for using Airborne but the shipping label was for DHL Express. Turns out they are now the same company. Who knew?

When IBM sent the new hard disk, they included a shipping label and three other pieces of paper, each with many numbers on them and none with any identifying information as to what it was. I called IBM and asked which, if any, of these papers they wanted returned with the hard disk. The technician on the phone couldn't figure it out either. I Xeroxed them, kept a copy and returned a copy.

When you call IBM for hardware help, there is no phone menu option to call back on an existing problem. The closest choices are to report a new problem or check on the status of an existing call. Reporting a new problem works for call backs on existing problems, I found out by trial and error. The option to check on the status of an existing call does not get you to a technician. Also, the telephone prompt for this asks your for your machine type, not for the existing case number, which you obviously must have.

The amount of numbers involved in this is staggering. For my records, IBM advises keeping track of the tracking number, claim number and the order number before mailing back the defective hard disk. I had to call IBM to finding these numbers.

Minor Stuff