Thinkpads Forum

T60 2007-73U 2.0GHz Core Duo 2GB ram

Was browsing the web w/Firefox, no other apps running when suddenly the blue screen of death appeared the computer locked up, and there was this message:

*** Hardware Malfunction
Call your hardware vendor for support
NMI: Parity Check/Memory Parity Error
*** The system has halted ***

I shut down with the power button, waited 30 seconds booted up and all is ok, then after about 45 minutes the same crash occured.

Any ideas?
Suggestions?

Thanks
Archer

Run memtest86, loop it for a couple of hours.

Harryc wrote:Run memtest86, loop it for a couple of hours.

Sounds like a great suggestion, Thanks!
I will run it and report back.

Cheers
archer

NMI is sing of a damaged or overheating memory so memory test is a good idea. But it may show that everything is fine. Simmilar crashes are happening to me from time to time without any clear reson. I cheked my memory using memtest and it shows that everything is fine but still.....

When those crashes become more frequient it always helped me restoring entire OS from an image i made some time ago just after i installed fresh system and all drivers, so it seems that software bugs may cause an nmi as well although it shouldn't be possible.

When those crashes become more frequient it always helped me restoring entire OS from an image i made some time ago just after i installed fresh system and all drivers, so it seems that software bugs may cause an nmi as well although it shouldn't be possible.

I totally agree as I have recently had similar experience. I have been receiving similar BSOD messages of hardware malfunction from time to time for the past few months, so I let memtest check the memory for a few hours, but it didn´t turn up with anything. I think the problem was in quite an old piece of freeware running under Vista because after uninstalling it I haven´t experienced a single BSOD yet. Also, the application was never running when Vista BSODed (I don´t know about the corresponding processes though).
@archer6: In case memtest doesn´t come up with anything, you may have to take a close look at your applications, particularly at those installed around the time when your ThinkPad started BSODing.

Good luck and keep us posted

Marin

Marin85 wrote:

When those crashes become more frequient it always helped me restoring entire OS from an image i made some time ago just after i installed fresh system and all drivers, so it seems that software bugs may cause an nmi as well although it shouldn't be possible.

I totally agree as I have recently had similar experience. I have been receiving similar BSOD messages of hardware malfunction from time to time for the past few months, so I let memtest check the memory for a few hours, but it didn´t turn up with anything. I think the problem was in quite an old piece of freeware running under Vista because after uninstalling it I haven´t experienced a single BSOD yet. Also, the application was never running when Vista BSODed (I don´t know about the corresponding processes though).
@archer6: In case memtest doesn´t come up with anything, you may have to take a close look at your applications, particularly at those installed around the time when your ThinkPad started BSODing

Thanks to both of you for the sage advice. I haven't added any software in the last year. The true problem I have is that I rely on my ThinkPad so much for mission critical work, that when this happened I'm sure I overreacted and have not been thinking clearly. Fortunately I have all of you on this great forum to think clearly and offer some solutions that I might otherwise think of but not under these conditions...fortunately I have another ThinkPad to use for work, but I've grown so attached to this particular T60 as I've got so much time in the setup, and customization that it feels like my only machine. I've not had time to download and burn memtest to disc but will do so over the weekend, then I will also wipe the drive and restore everything. I've already got current backups (daily) so wiping and restoring will be smooth and straightforward. Keep those ideas flowing in everyone... the suggestions are greatly appreciated!

Did you check the CPU and GPU temperatures? These could cause hardware problems (including memory chip failure).

sktn77a wrote:Did you check the CPU and GPU temperatures? These could cause hardware problems (including memory chip failure).

Yes I did, and it's been a long while so I don't have the numbers handy to post here. But I will say that I am fortunate to have a very cool and silent running T60. I'm very confident that it's not related to heat, that said I am very eager to sort it out and identify what it is. I will be reporting back as soon as I do.

Thanks for your suggestion.

Just checking in after running memtest, only to have no errors reported. So now that I have that test completed I'm going wipe the drive and start fresh.

I'm still eager to hear feed back from anyone who cares to comment on this issue.

Thanks!
archer6

Have you run PC-Doctor on the unit in question?

If so, what was the report?

Temetka wrote:Have you run PC-Doctor on the unit in question?

If so, what was the report?

Thanks for the reminder, actually I forgot about having that on board....

In the mean time, before wiping the drive I decided to run memtest again, for hours on end, on three separate occasions and it reported all ok in two instances and bad memory on one. So I bought new memory, 1GB, & 2GB modules respectively, and just finished intalling it. I've just booted up for the first time after the ram install, came here to report my actions and now I'm going to see how it performs. Hopefully this may fix it, in the event it does not, then I will certainly run PC-Doctor.

Thanks for your suggestion.

Cheers!

Having the memtest results in mind, you may want to run some memory burnin test (a program that would stress the memory in question by increasing the memory load for some time). If the memory is the problem, the test will fail (or even the system will crash). There are similar tests for the cpu and gpu as well, so you may also want to stress them too Such tests are usually performed to test overclocked components in desktop machines for reliability and the like.

Marin85 wrote:Having the memtest results in mind, you may want to run some memory burnin test (a program that would stress the memory in question by increasing the memory load for some time). If the memory is the problem, the test will fail (or even the system will crash). There are similar tests for the cpu and gpu as well, so you may also want to stress them too Such tests are usually performed to test overclocked components in desktop machines for reliability and the like.

Excellent suggestion!

Do you have the names of these test utilities to do this testing? Or suggestions on what keywords to Google to find this on my own. Any help is greatly appreciated. Frankly I'm eager to do a very complete test on the entire computer as it would give me peace of mind that everything is working properly if it is, or if not what I need to deal with.

Here's the update: After installing new memory in both slots today, I did five hours of computing, then the blue screen appeared again:

*** Hardware Malfunction
Call your hardware vendor for support
NMI: Parity Check/Memory Parity Error
*** The system has halted ***

So the questions I have are:
1) How did you identify or diagnose the problem?
2) Were you able to fix it?
3) What did you do to fix it?

I'm very eager to sort this out, and get it fixed. This is my favorite ThinkPad of all the ones I've owned. There must be something I'm overlooking. Your ideas & suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

What brand of memory are you using? I've only seen that type of error with faulty chips, never with software.

Faulty memory sticks may fail sporadically and can be very difficult to diagnose, which is why I try to stick to Crucial and/or Kingston which have lifetime warranties.

edcard wrote:What brand of memory are you using? I've only seen that type of error with faulty chips, never with software.

Faulty memory sticks may fail sporadically and can be very difficult to diagnose, which is why I try to stick to Crucial and/or Kingston which have lifetime warranties.

I have the same policy, I removed factory memory today and replaced it with Crucial ordered direct from them to me.

Here a link to PassMark BurnInTest. There is also a free version that is available for download from their website. Have fun
Maybe (and just maybe) your problem is not related to the memory sticks themselves but to the memory slots. I guess somewhat faulty memory slots could also produce errors like the ones you experience(d)

EDIT: Also, I forgot to mention that you would most probably have to let the burnin test run for several hours.

Archer, you could try using just one memory stick at a time when running tests in an attempt to determine if it might be a slot or stick that's causing the problem.

Also, you could try booting up a live Linux distribution and running their memory tests. Just to make sure it's not Windows or anything in your hard drive.

Marin85 wrote:Here a link to PassMark BurnInTest. There is also a free version that is available for download from their website. Have fun
Maybe (and just maybe) your problem is not related to the memory sticks themselves but to the memory slots. I guess somewhat faulty memory slots could also produce errors like the ones you experience(d)

edcard wrote:Archer, you could try using just one memory stick at a time when running tests in an attempt to determine if it might be a slot or stick that's causing the problem.
Also, you could try booting up a live Linux distribution and running their memory tests. Just to make sure it's not Windows or anything in your hard drive.

Very excellent suggestions thanks to you both. I must admit that I'm not thinking as clearly as I might as this is my "baby" to which I'm overly attached, (sic) so your ideas are priceless at this point. I'm going to try these and I will post back.

Thanks for the help....

Episode #11 in the continuing saga of what the heck is wrong with Archer's T60?..

For those of you who have not been keeping up with this thrill a minute adventure I will recap what's happened thus far. It all began while I was working away in normal fashion (In WinXP) , when the dreaded BSOD appeared. Now mind you this is my ThinkPad T60 which I purchased new in Feb 06. So we are not talking old and corroded here.. heh!
Furthermore it's important to know that I'm totally spoiled as ThinkPads have been my laptop of choice for years and as a result, I've enjoyed near perfect performance the entire time. I know, I know, cut to the chase... OK. The error message was:

*** Hardware Malfunction
Call your hardware vendor for support
NMI: Parity Check/Memory Parity Error
*** The system has halted ***

I posted here on the forum to reach out for ideas from fellow Padders. (word?) Thanks to all of you who contributed, I had a bunch of suggestions to try. I ran memtest over, and over, and over. Interestingly it reported no memory problems during two many test sessions to remember, where in each case I allowed it to run a minimum of four to twelve hours at a time. Based on the two reports of failed memory I replaced both memory modules. Booted up and within just five hours of work, the BSOD appeared again, with the same message. At this point I proceede to run every single test (see prior posts here) that was suggested to me. Nothing. Zip, Zero, Nothing reported as faulty, failed, or out of spec. Needless to say during this period I was racking my brain in regards to any changes I have made. I simply could not think of any largely because Murphy's Law gripped me until _after_ I had done all this, only to finally remember that at some point in the preceding months I had "upgraded to SP3". Upon remembering that I proceeded to wipe the drive, start from scratch and Install Win XP Pro with SP2. While I'm far from knowing for certain (it's only been three days since I wiped and started fresh) if this indeed took care of it, I wanted post an update just in case some of you are following this thread because you are dealing with the same issue.

So far so good, it's only been a few days however , so I will return here once I'm sure this fixed it for the benefit of all of you out there that may be in the midst of this very same problem.

Cheers....

i've just found this on lenovo site:

Wireless LAN adapter software (ThinkPad 802.11bg, 802.11abg) for Windows XP and 2000

(...)

5.3.0.85 (Windows XP)
5.3.0.85 (Windows 2000)
[Important] The computer may hang with NMI parity error on blue screen when power save mode in the adapter properties is set to maximum.

As far as i know it is most recent version of this driver for win 2k/xp.

ZaQ32 wrote:i've just found this on lenovo site:

Thank you so very much...

It's been a week now since I wiped the hard drive and started fresh. After about 60 hours of operating time, there has _not_ been a problem with the either the BSOD appearing, or the NMI memory parity error message appearing. So far, so good. This is a positive sign as it would happen once, twice or more during a weeks worth of use. Therefore I thought I would check in with a quick update just in case one or more of you are also dealing with this problem. Crossing my fingers, perhaps this has fixed it. I will check back in another 10 days or so, at which point if trouble free we will call it good.

Thanks again to those who put forth the effort to offer ideas and suggestions regarding this issue.

Cheers
archer6

Sounds like it's fixed. Boy, it really frosts my _ss that Microsoft put out such sloppy products and updates.

Where is competition when you need it???

sktn77a wrote:Where is competition when you need it???

Oh, the competition is already in archer6 signature! But probably he is still not converted. Eventually, everyone will turn to the dark side, or at least to the Mac side

@archer6: Si, it turned out to be software-related (at least for now). I hope wiping out the HD has completely solved your problem. These stupid windows BSODs can really drive someone nuts...

sktn77a wrote:Sounds like it's fixed. Boy, it really frosts my _ss that Microsoft put out such sloppy products and updates.

Where is competition when you need it???

Actually the presence of linux on desktops, and upcoming mass releases of netbooks coupled with horribly designed Microsoft OS's (in my opinion) have made Microsoft need to step up their game.

It'll only cause good things to come on both sides.

Greetings Fellow ThinkPad Users!

Upon seeing the dialog here I thought I would offer some thoughts and share my experience a bit more. First to state the obvious and that is I'm a hard core ThinkPad Advocate. I've been using them (T-Series) for a decade both personally and in the business I founded 18 years ago, where we currently deploy approx 240 ThinkPad T series laptops. As a corporation I rejected Vista and we are centered on XP. For now. As an active software engineer, designer, and addict I have dabbled in Linux off and on for the last 24 months on a very casual basis, using one of my many "spare ThinkPads" as a test bed. Having used Slackware, Red Hat, SuSE, and Debian, I have found Ubuntu 8.04 to suite my needs the best. Therefore I decided to get serious and take advantage of the ultrabays ability to accommodate a second hard drive. I was upgrading the mainbay drive anyway, so I purchased two new WD Scorpio drives, which I'm very happy with as they are fast, quiet, and cool running. Having come from Hitachi as my preferred brand, I'm truly impressed with WD. I have XP pro SP2 (rolled back from SP3 which appears to have caused the BSOD issues) on the mainbay drive and Ubuntu Linux ver 8.04.1 on the ultrabay drive. I'm truly enjoying Ubuntu, and find it does 80% of what I need and fully capable of 100% of what the mainstream users want to accomplish. It' only because I use some proprietary windows software that I have not converted 100% to Linux. However that said there is a huge incentive for me to do so, as it's just so much faster, more flexible, and stable, as I can modify the kernel to suit me and have customizations that I have created to further enhance the "look & feel" of the UI. At this juncture I have the best of both worlds, and a ThinkPad that is the best of any I've had to date. Considering I've had every single T-series model since they were first introduced, that says alot about the 60 series. The IPS Flexview 4x3 format display I have on this T60 is stellar, and the reason I have "stopped" upgrading each product cycle at least for now. I would like to give credit to GomJabbar for the timely help in giving me some tips regarding a fantastic way to create the particular configuration I have. Using his advice the Linux grub boot loader does not write to the MBR of windows. The result is I literally have two separate systems in one laptop. I can remove the ultrabay hdd, and install an optical drive for example, and the computer boots to windows as it would normally. I can then insert the ultrabay hdd with Ubuntu into my T60p and have that be my dual boot ThinkPad.

Cheers
Archer6

Great news Archer! I hope your NMI problems are over.

Can you share the details of your GRUB configuration? I have a T42p with a secondary Ultrabay disk that I'd like to use with Linux w/o having to mess with the MBR in the main disk which has XP installed.

edcard wrote:Great news Archer! I hope your NMI problems are over.
Can you share the details of your GRUB configuration? I have a T42p with a secondary Ultrabay disk that I'd like to use with Linux w/o having to mess with the MBR in the main disk which has XP installed.

Thanks! I too hope the NMI issue has been resolved. By all indications it seems to be [so far... ]

Here is how I setup my ThinkPad T60 with two hard drives. XP on the Main drive, and Ubuntu Linux on the Ultrabay drive.

Step 1) Remove the existing XP drive from the main hard drive bay and set aside.
Step 2) Install the second hard drive in the Ultrabay adapter and into the Ultrabay.
Step 3) Using an external USB optical drive, install Ubuntu to the hard drive in the Ultrabay.
Step 4) Reinstall the XP drive in the Mainbay, and you are finished.

By using this method, since the XP drive is removed from the computer when you install Linux, it’s impossible for grub to write to the MBR. So the installation of Linux is straightforward. No partitioning, or any other tweaks required. Now when you are ready to use your newly configured ThinkPad:
On boot up if you do nothing, XP will boot, just as it did before you added the second hard drive in the Ultrabay.
On boot up if you press F12, you get a BIOS boot menu that lets you choose which hard drive to boot from - the main hard drive or the Ultrabay hard drive.

In addition, this way I can remove the Ultrabay drive, with no errors or problems. I can then insert an optical drive and it operates as usual. I can also take my Linux Ultrabay drive and insert it into my T60p and have a dual boot setup without making any modifications to that laptop. A really great way to have two completely separate operating systems in one laptop. Independent of one another. If one drive goes down, it has no effect on the other and vice versa. The best of both worlds.

Finally, full credit goes to GomJabbar for giving me the instructions to this successful setup.

A simple solution. I like it, thanks!

I'll give it a try within the next few days, when I get a chance.