T60 Resurrection Project

[biovert]

I have a T60 that my 13-year old was using without trouble for a year, but now it's started to act up. We're approaching its repair as a project and are hoping forum members can help us. Initially, I loaded it up with Windows XP, then added Ubuntu.

Now, the machine won't boot to Windows and shuts down during the botting process. However, Ubuntu doesn't boot either. We get a screen that reads:
saned disabled; edit /etc/default/saned
tarting nanny (Parental Control Daemon): /usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/gtk-2.0/_init_.py:75: GtkWarning: could not open display warnings.warn(str(3), _gtk.Warning)
nanny.

I haven't yet looked into what that error message means but would be willing to swap out the drive for a clean install. Anyone have any ideas?

[Neil]

Hello there biovert, and welcome to the forum.

One of the first things I do when an OS (or 2, in this case) won't boot, is see what happens when booting from a LiveCD. If everything works OK from the CD, then you either have a faulty hard drive, or a messed up OS. If both installed OS aren't working, and a LiveCD does work, you're most likely looking at a bad hard drive. So boot up a diagnostic CD, and run some hard drive tests. Of course, you know this is all speculation at this point. We may end up going in a totally different direction later.

And, by all means, keep the forum updated on how the project goes. There are some of us here that enjoy trouble shooting ThinkPads for the fun of it. Insane? Probably...

[biovert]

Thanks Neil.

We went ahead and followed your advice, starting first with the built-in diagnostics, then using a Windows XP install CD. Here's what we found:
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Using the BlueVantage Button, ran the hard drive diagnostics program
Result: Error code 0000: Read verification failed
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We then booted from a Windows XP installation CD. It took a long time for Setup to load files.
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When it was time for Windows to load, got this message:
Setup did not find any hard disk drives installed in your computer.
Make sure any hard disk drives are powered on and properly connected to your computer, and that any disk-related hardware configurations is correct. This may involve running a manufacturer-supplied diagnostics or setup program.

Setup cannot continue. To quit Setup, press F3
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[ajkula66]

That sounds like a bad hard drive, given the read error.

Go into BIOS (press F1 on boot) and make sure that SATA mode is set to Compatibility and not AHCI, since that's a requirement for a "simple" XP install.

[biovert]

Thanks Neil. Windows is now booting. Could it have just been that SATA mode set to Compatability and not AHCI? What is the difference?

We're going to install Windows XP and updates, then tackle Ubuntu if that ends up working out.

That sounds like a bad hard drive, given the read error.

Go into BIOS (press F1 on boot) and make sure that SATA mode is set to Compatibility and not AHCI, since that's a requirement for a "simple" XP install.

[Neil]

What did you do to get Windows to boot? Is it a new installation, or the same install you've had all along?

My understanding of AHCI and Compatibility modes is limited, but compatibility mode allows you to install an OS, like Windows XP, that doesn't include SATA drivers. ACHI is what you want to use once the SATA drivers have been installed.

[biovert]

It booted from the existing install.

I went ahead and ran the XP updates and it seems to be working fine with the exception of sounds.

I noticed that sound issues associated with T60s have been discussed a lot in these forums, but I didn't have the time to delve into that. If you have a quick resource for taking care of that I'll refer to it.

Also, Ubuntu is still not booting, which is odd because for a while, that was all that would boot.

What did you do to get Windows to boot? Is it a new installation, or the same install you've had all along?

My understanding of AHCI and Compatibility modes is limited, but compatibility mode allows you to install an OS, like Windows XP, that doesn't include SATA drivers. ACHI is what you want to use once the SATA drivers have been installed.