Windows XP SP2 and ThinkPads (General)

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#1 Post by **jdhurst** » Sun Sep 19, 2004 5:31 pm

I have a T41 (2373-1HU with 768Mb of RAM and 60Gb 7200-rpm Hard Drive). I have been running SP2 since it came out in August, as well as running SP2 on my IBM NetVista A30 Desktop. I had been running SP2 betas and release candidates before that, so I am fairly well acquainted with SP2.

There continue to be issues, although none a show-stopper on a production machine. I have opened a couple of cases with IBM and had another discussion with them today.

IBM has been saying that their ThinkPads are not SP2-ready, and not to use it if you have major difficulties.

Friday, a number of ThinkPad updates came out. There are updates for:
* ThinkPad Configuration Utility (1.36)
* Battery Maximizer Utilitiy (1.37)
* Presentation Director (2.31)
* Active Hard Drive Protection (1.23)
* Audio Features for the T41 (5.12.01.5160) (Out a few days ago)
* Software Installer (2.30.0481) (Out a week ago or so)
* BIOS for the T41 (spsd1rd4 - 3.008a) (Out a couple of weeks ago)

Earlier I installed:
* Access Connections (3.30)
* IBM Wireless 11a/b/g driver (3.1.102.23)
* Audio Features for the T41 (5.12.01.5160)
* Hotkey driver (1.05.0481)
* Keyboard Customizer (1.2.92.0)
* Update Connector (6.10)

I have installed them all, are here are some observations:

1. On my ThinkPad, but _*not*_ on my Desktop, the Paging File (My Computer -> Properties -> Advanced) can only be set at zero or at maximum. It cannot be set for a custom range. This behaviour is new with SP2 on my ThinkPad (two independent installations) and the newest updates do not fix this behaviour.

2. Software Installer (2.30.0481) hangs while scanning at the IBM 11a/b/g wireless driver .TPI file. IBM acknowledged this difficiency today with this version and with SP2 and said an update will be coming. The prior version of Sofware Installer (2.21.0451) works fine in the sense that it does not hang, but it does not properly report the proper version of installed software (it reports the prior version).

3. BIOS 3.08a prevents my Wireless NIC from operating. The Wireless NIC has the very newest drivers and works fine with BIOS version 3.06f.

Everything else appears fine. I have installed 13 different updates since SP2 including the two above that I have rolled back.

So, as unhappy as it is at this point in September, IBM is still working on making their ThinkPads SP2-compliant. Given the number of updates and the still-outstanding issues, I have to believe them, although I keep SP2 running.

Also, the people in here who have said "If it isn't broken, don't update" may be in for a surprise at some point if they run SP2. All of us are for a mess of updates over the next month.

... JDHurst

Humpa · #2 Post by **Humpa** » Sun Sep 19, 2004 9:44 pm

I installed SP2 on my T42, and I have all the latest drivers/bios/etc.
I can use a custom paging file (My Computer -> Properties -> Advanced ->Performance Settings -> Advanced -> Virtual memory Change), and I can change the values. The new values are still present after a reboot.

... wasnt sure if you were looking for input from other users, but there's mine.

Leeper · #3 Post by **Leeper** » Sun Sep 19, 2004 9:59 pm

Can you change your page file under a differnent profile?

T41mbi · #4 Post by **T41mbi** » Sun Sep 19, 2004 10:00 pm

Yea i had that problem with software installer aswell its a pain in the [censored].....

SOMETHING ELSE

Another thing you should add to your list is how much SP2 slows down the boot process. Before I installed SP2 on my T41 it took about 7-14 seconds to get to windows, now in takes 40-60 seconds.

ibmuser · #5 Post by **ibmuser** » Sun Sep 19, 2004 11:52 pm

jdhurst,

about the paging file issue, is this the case with the paging file on the same partition? i seem to be okay customizing the size with it set on a differnt partition for some reason (using x31).

thanks for the info.

#6 Post by **jdhurst** » Mon Sep 20, 2004 6:08 am

Humpa wrote:I installed SP2 on my T42, and I have all the latest drivers/bios/etc.
I can use a custom paging file (My Computer -> Properties -> Advanced ->Performance Settings -> Advanced -> Virtual memory Change), and I can change the values. The new values are still present after a reboot.

... wasnt sure if you were looking for input from other users, but there's mine.

It may be a BIOS issue, then. I have a second 60Gb hard drive that I am building in my spare time for Offce 2003. I had exactly the same paging file issue with that drive (and I imaged it twice for some other testing). So it is quite independent of the particular build, and is related to SP2.
... JDHurst

cakos · #7 Post by **cakos** » Mon Sep 20, 2004 4:04 pm

I installed the SP2 with all my default IBM drivers...no problem at all

#8 Post by **jdhurst** » Mon Sep 20, 2004 8:37 pm

The two people saying no problem (I'm referring to the paging file) are running T42's. I have a T41 and can 100 percent repeat the problem on demand. I do not have a paging file problem on my NetVista, so I assume it is also machine dependent. ... JDHurst

#9 Post by **jdhurst** » Mon Sep 20, 2004 9:21 pm

There is a new Video driver, and as I noted, new BMM and Power Management software. So I went back and tried BIOS Version 3.08a, and it is now working fine - wireless and all. So that part is working.

But I still cannot manage the paging file to a custom size. It is either zero or max. I tried again with the new BIOS, but no luck. So this one seems to be machine dependent with SP2. I have a machine that does not exhibit this behaviour, and some of you have machines that do not exhibit this behaviour, but my T41 surely does.
... JDHurst

Windows XP SP2 and ThinkPads (General)

Windows XP SP2 and ThinkPads (General)

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