Thinkpads Forum

Hello to all,

I upgraded my internal hard drive to a seagate momentus, with a 3gbps sata2 interface.
everything worked perfectly but one day I started having BSOD on windows. When I do have them, it BSOD during the boot or on the windows, for many hours (I try to reboot and still crashes), then it stops crashing and starts working, sometimes, for weeks. Now the problem is more and more frequent.

I also try to boot ubuntu, and sometimes get, yes, sata errors on it. See for example those:

kpoman@kpoman-ThinkPad-T60p:~$ dmesg |grep -i error
[ 13.091454] [drm:radeon_atombios_get_lvds_info] *ERROR* Bad LCD record 0
[ 13.553170] ata3.00: irq_stat 0x08000000, interface fatal error
[ 13.553174] ata3: SError: { UnrecovData 10B8B BadCRC }
[ 13.553185] res 40/00:00:c8:77:dc/00:00:23:00:00/40 Emask 0x10 (ATA bus error)
[ 21.988350] EXT4-fs (sda3): re-mounted. Opts: errors=remount-ro
[ 38.022044] EXT4-fs (sda3): re-mounted. Opts: errors=remount-ro,commit=0
[ 41.942365] ata3.00: irq_stat 0x08000000, interface fatal error
[ 41.942369] ata3: SError: { UnrecovData 10B8B BadCRC }
[ 41.942381] res 40/00:00:98:65:12/00:00:24:00:00/40 Emask 0x10 (ATA bus error)
[ 48.645680] ata3.00: irq_stat 0x08000000, interface fatal error
[ 48.645684] ata3: SError: { UnrecovData 10B8B BadCRC }
[ 48.645696] res 40/00:00:a0:94:15/00:00:24:00:00/40 Emask 0x10 (ATA bus error)
[ 277.706514] ata3: SError: { HostInt 10B8B }

By the way in Ubuntu it doesnt crash at all. It only sometimes give those error messages.

If I look for those errors on the internet they suggest there are issues with SATA cables.

http://lime-technology.com/wiki/index.p ... ive_Issues

As this happened when I changed my hdd from the original 7200rpm to this new Seagate one, I suspect there is a problem yes on SATA but maybe due to the disk operating at 3gbps. So I wonder if someone can help me troubleshoot this. Please I really need some tips. For example, is there a way to put windows in 1.5gbps instead of 3gbps to see if this is the problem ? Is there a way to check or repair the sata part ? (i opened the machine and it seems the sata cable is built on the motherboard) ? Is there something I can do, like a bios update or whatever ?
I am desperate right now, as my XP crashs too much.

The T60 or T60p can only operate at SATA I speed.
Some drives have a jumper in the back to limit speed from SATA II (300mbps) to SATA I (150mbps).
If yours doesn't, try another brand HD.

first, make sure that you have a backup of all your data.

Then, run a hard drive test (HDtune/PcDoctor...) and see if it says there are any smart errors - the HDD may have bad sectors. The fact that your old hdd worked fine suggests that it is the hard drive itself, rather than the computer. The hdd should be able to run at sata 1 without any issues, so that is the only solution I could come up with.

my t60p runs perfectly with it's hitachi sata ii drive. no jumpers. bios set to ahci mode.

@op...
check your bios sata setting. maybe your drive requires this to be set in compatibiltiy mode vs ahci. or ahci mode if already in compatibility mode.

Hello,
Thanks for your tips.
I have read that this is a common issue (incompatibility) between those Seagate Momentus disks and Thinkpads.
For my problem, as weird and fool as it may sound, I have put the disk on my freezer for about 20m and put it back to the computer and haven't had any issues for some days now. I really think there is something wrong on the disk.

I hope I find other persons with my same problem.
for info:
http://forums.seagate.com/t5/Momentus-X ... td-p/58711

also it seems the device is operating on SATA transfer mode: generation 1.

First, the T60 can only run at sata 1 speeds, so that is to be expected.

The freezer trick is an old one for retrieving data off a dying hard drive, so IMHO, that drive is dying and you should look at getting it replaced under warranty. (you may not want to mention that you put it in the freezer if you send it for warranty )

I also upgraded my 250GB 5400rpm Momentus to a 500GB 7200.4 Momentus and I also have the same poblem, all I have done is put a miniature jumper at the back of the HDD and mount it back on my T60p and everything is OK an no more disk error and crashes.

I have a Win 7 Ultimate 64-bit on the first partition 160Gb and Data files on the second partition ... it s been running for 4 months now and no problem at all.

What did the jumper do, and do you have a link to the pins involved on the drive?

Page 26, chapter 3.2 in this PDF: http://www.seagate.com/staticfiles/supp ... 34376a.pdf

To the left of the SATA connectors is a jumper block of 4 pins, let's call them 1-2-3-4, <----SATA connectors---->
Jumpering pins 1-2 limits the HD to SATA-I speed.

Thanks RBS. I don't own one but folks will be looking for this information.

Ok, I used the fine old trick when I got blue screens and disk errors. You wont believe me, but I am scientific and tech person, and I can tell you this solves the issue somehow.
Everytime my disk starts to bother me with those errors, BSODs and other (even if it can boot in ubuntu/linux still giving errors but non-fatal ones), I put the HDD on the * F * R * E * E * Z * E * R * !!!!!!! for about 20 minutes (on the freezer !!! yes !!!!) and put it back on the notebook. The trick worked last 3 times I got that sh*t !!!! Incredible. Give it a try Amen.

Whenever the hard drive is clearly failing, I'd rather get it replaced while it still somewhat works and I can get the data off it, than do weird voodoo tricks hoping to prolong its agony and have it eventually die a horrible and final death with all my data on it.

My T60 runs just fine with a WD 250 gig Black series Sata 3.0, no jumpers.

BootSectorVirus wrote:My T60 runs just fine with a WD 250 gig Black series Sata 3.0, no jumpers.

It's one of my favorite drives ...

Harryc wrote: It's one of my favorite drives ...

Yes really like the black series, its all I use for spinning drives in my notebooks.