T43 Error Code 0200, Failure Fixed Disk 7

[asp]

I've got the following error code on booting:
0200 Failure Fixed Disk 7.

The bios setup doesn't see my hard disk at all. I can boot into Ubuntu using a live cd, and apart from still not seeing the internal hard disk, everything else seems to work fine, so it might not be a southbridge issue.
I have another T43 which I took the hard disk from and tried in the one producing the 0200 error and the same thing happens - so it's definitely not an issue with the hard disk itself.
What's strange is the "7", I've seen lots on google about disk "0" and disk "1" which I guess are the internal and ultrabay disks respectively.
If anyone has any clues or ideas to help me diagnose and fix this problem, I'd be very grateful.
Thanks.

[ajkula66]

The Southbridge chip on your motherboard has gone south.

Contact Nick (poshgeordie) to get it fixed.

Good luck.

[asp]

The Southbridge chip on your motherboard has gone south.

Thanks ajkula66, I thought that might be the case. But, could I ask how you can be so sure, other functions handled by the southbridge (eg. full usb 2.0 function) seem to be fine in Ubuntu Live-cd.
I'd happily send it to Nick (for the second time )

Edit: Forgot to say that pushing down on the southbridge doesn't fix the problem.

[poshgeordie]

Hi again Asp and also sorry to hear from you again!!

I've just replied to your email, but it does sound like the Southbridge chip has become unsoldered. This is becoming quite a common problem on T43's but a reflow / reball will fix it.

Also we usually see either only the USB or HDD not working with everything else fine, but have also seen the keyboard also not working.

I did have a pictorial diagram of how the different parts of the SB chip are assigned, and the various functions are grouped together. I guess the USB and HDD parts are just more suseptible to failure than the rest.

Anyway it's good to have a UK fan club of people who actually want their laptops to fail repeatedly so they can send it to me!!! Maybe we could see how many different faults one laptop can have and still be fixed...

For everyone else's information Asp's laptop's previous problem were blown motherboard fuses (not a reflow which has failed again).

[asp]

Thanks Nick.

Time to be honest so we can all have a good laugh about it, the first time I sent my T43 to Nick was because I blew a fuse trying a non-ibm compatible sxga+ 14.1" screen!
You'd think I'd have learnt not to mess about with my laptop, but nope, looks like this second time I'll be sending the same T43 in due to a botched attempt to add a southbridge-pcmica cage heat conductor.
To anyone thinking of attempting the southbridge cooler setup shown over on thinkwiki, it won't work on a 14" T43 with a finger print reader, this is because of some metal work on the uderside of the touchpad that descends closely down the backside of the pcmcia cage, not leaving any room for the copper. Unfortunately I found this out after the Arctic Silver Adhesive had set for 12hours.
Anyway, at least I had fun and I get to send my laptop of to Nick again, maybe I should open an account with him.

[poshgeordie]

Thanks Nick.
Anyway, at least I had fun and I get to send my laptop of to Nick again, maybe I should open an account with him.

I'm not sure about this thing with providing a heatsink for the SB - the problem I think is due to the unleaded solder of the balls gradually breaking down with the hot-cold cycles which we now sort out by reballing with "proper" solder balls.

BTW I've reserved the usual place on the repair shelf for your laptop!

You could always think about moving up to Newcastle permanently and save on carriage costs We could even set you up with your own desk and phone too!!

[shockbill]

i have just gotten this code, too. am totally NOT tech savvy, other than using Digital Audio Workstations. am in the middle of a big project, with a deadline, and a frozen machine is a BIG obstacle.

thinkpad is third-hand. i've had it about a year. taken care of, never fallen... have been pushing rather hard recently, but it's handled heavy work before and been fine.

recently bought a USB inbox, M-Audio, for running live instruments into machine. Box usurped onboard sound driver and has been a little inconsistent ever since. got a blue screen earlier today but didn't get enough time to read it sufficiently, let alone write down particulars.

of course, nothing recent is backed up. in danger of losing work, and money, if data cannot be retrieved.

is there any BIOS wizardry that can at least get me to a safe mode-type boot screen so i can pass files to my PC via network? at least if i can move them, and then have to replace the hard disk, then i can reinstall my DAW, with recent files, and continue work....

HELP!!!! DO I HAVE A CHANCE????

[ajkula66]

@shockbill:

Welcome to the forum!

Sorry to hear about your troubles. The best (and likely cheapest) thing to do in my opinion would be to get an external USB enclosure and use it to pull the data off your hard drive to a desktop...

Good luck.

[shockbill]

FIXED!!! problem wound up being a sour dvd drive. popped it out, got a new one coming via ebay ($30, thank you very much) and no data lost!

still, i need to invest in an external storage device in case something comes up again (which it will; just hopefully not for a little while!)

thanks for your suggestions, comments, and consideration.

b

[nikosmpairak]

The Southbridge chip on your motherboard has gone south.

Contact Nick (poshgeordie) to get it fixed.

Good luck.

But what is the problem and which is the solution for the problem .Iask because i face with my IBM T43 the same problem.I would also like to ask about the cost to repair

Best Regards ,
nikosmpairak