T60 2623D6U w/ 2x 512MB locking up... Bad RAM?

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hoya · #1 Post by **hoya** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 2:39 pm

I've had several complete lockups on my D6U and wondered if I'm the only one having this problem (aside from those with 2GB in this thread http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=26326)

Each time, I was doing something in Firefox when suddenly the entire system would lock up. the cursor will have an hour glass, but no response at all: mouse won't move, ctrl-alt-delete does nothing, etc.

I looked in the Event Log but saw nothing noteworthy. I also switched from AHCI to compatibility mode but that didn't seem to help.

I'm using Lenovo brand memory for the second 512mb stick and already ran memtest, etc. I'm using display driver 8.204 w/ BIOS 1.04. I also uninstalled Catalyst Control Center in case that matters.

any other ideas? Is anyone else seeing this issue on a machine with 1 Gig of RAM?

own6volvos · #2 Post by **own6volvos** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 2:42 pm

When I ordered a 2nd stick for my t60 from IBM/Lenovo, not even the brand match, let alone the ram modules on the stick. Running in dual channel something might be varied slightly like the CL timing, and making it crash. See if you can exchange it for another stick.

hoya · #3 Post by **hoya** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 3:14 pm

Well, I opened up this T60 and found one Samsung module and one Infineon module with "VJ16S" on the label. I saw that most users with this lock-up issue on the other thread who were using 2x1GB were told by Lenovo that "VJ16U" was defective, so perhaps the 512mb part is as well? we'll see.

I swapped the RAM so this machine is now running 1 x Hynix 512mb and 1 x Samsung 512mb.

if the system locks up again, should I try updating the video driver, even though the newer version supposedly requires BIOS 1.06?

hoya · #4 Post by **hoya** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 5:17 pm

just froze again. I guess I'll try running these RAM modules one at a time.

could this be a bad video driver? or could FireFox be the culprit? I'm getting desperate here and losing quite a bit of work in the process. thanks for any help.

own6volvos · #5 Post by **own6volvos** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 6:09 pm

I highly suggest running memtest on that, instead of messing with games to see if it crashes. Memtest can be much more sensative to these things. Do maybe 2-3 passes per stick, then the same for the dual combo.

guYom · #6 Post by **guYom** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 6:33 pm

I have a 2623 D6U as well, I added 1 G of Transcend (from newegg) bringing my ram to 1.5G. No lock-up so far.

-- I removed the Google amd Norton / Symantec stuff.

-- I added only the two critical updates from Lenovo ThinkVantage (did not touch the BIOS so still under 1.05, did your system come sure with 1.04 or you first updated to 1.06 and then had to downgrade and install 1.04? I did not add any of the other recommanded and optional updates.

-- I added all Win XP updates available

-- I installed Office XP

What have you added or removed to your lappy since it is out of the box?

hoya · #7 Post by **hoya** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 8:41 pm

I have all the XP updates and removed all the Norton / Google stuff.

I ran memtest for a few hours and no errors. I also ran Microsoft's memory diagnostic and again no errors.

I'll try applying the new 1.07 BIOS and the latest video driver. if that fails, I'll get some new RAM from Lenovo.

thanks for all the help. - john

guYom · #8 Post by **guYom** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 9:17 pm

hoya, did you upgrade your HDD ? I don't think the 7200 comes stock with our D6U, right?

If so where did you get it? I was looking at three of them on newegg -- all have 100GB, 7200 RPM ranging in price from 155 to 175 USD, there are two Hitachis and one Seagate.

Any recommandations there?

Thanks.

hoya · #9 Post by **hoya** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 9:40 pm

goYum - yes, I upgraded to the Seagate 7200.1. I considered the Hitachi 7k100, but after reading this review (which specifically compares the SATA versions) I was sold:

http://techreport.com/reviews/2006q1/mo ... dex.x?pg=1

I got mine at provantage for $180 shipped. I used Acronis True Image which worked perfectly (placed new drive in ultra slim bay adapter).

bri · #10 Post by **bri** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 11:48 pm

I have the same specs as in your sig, and I have 1x Samsung 512mb and 1x Hynix 512mb stick. Has been running stable with up to 10 internet explorer windows and using Opera. Is it only crashing with Firefox? I don't have that installed yet & don't have too many other applications to play with yet.

There is a 1.07 bios? Do you have to go to the support site for that, it doesn't show in System Update or Software Installer ...

hoya · #11 Post by **hoya** » Wed Jun 28, 2006 5:09 am

you can get the 1.07 BIOS here:
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-63024

If the machine keeps crashing I'll try uninstalling FireFox and trying Opera or going back to IE. thanks for the info.

own6volvos · #12 Post by **own6volvos** » Fri Jun 30, 2006 2:57 pm

I wouldn't really judge a systems stability entirely on firefox making a system crash. I have had so many little problems with firefox, that you just take it in stride. Copy/paste stop working, close FF, and it dies in the background and needs a force quit. Stress the computer work pcmark or 3dmark a few times and see fi you notice any problems. Also sell your current ram and just buy 2 sticks of matched memory if you run in dual channel.

hoya · #13 Post by **hoya** » Wed Jul 12, 2006 9:15 am

Well, after removing FireFox and installing IE 7 Beta 3, the problem is officially gone. I've been using IE7 daily for the past several weeks and no problems.. yet.

I am surprised that an app can freeze the entire system like that, but it would appear that's the case.

NokiaNokia · #14 Post by **NokiaNokia** » Wed Jul 12, 2006 11:17 am

hoya wrote:goYum - yes, I upgraded to the Seagate 7200.1. I considered the Hitachi 7k100, but after reading this review (which specifically compares the SATA versions) I was sold:

http://techreport.com/reviews/2006q1/mo ... dex.x?pg=1

I got mine at provantage for $180 shipped. I used Acronis True Image which worked perfectly (placed new drive in ultra slim bay adapter).

What version of Acronis did you use?

hoya · #15 Post by **hoya** » Wed Jul 12, 2006 11:20 am

NokiaNokia wrote: What version of Acronis did you use?

the latest version on their site. I've been using their software for about a year and never had a problem.

NokiaNokia · #16 Post by **NokiaNokia** » Wed Jul 12, 2006 11:27 am

hoya wrote:
NokiaNokia wrote: What version of Acronis did you use?
the latest version on their site. I've been using their software for about a year and never had a problem.

Thanks.

{ISV-K}SVX · #17 Post by **{ISV-K}SVX** » Thu Aug 10, 2006 12:11 pm

New Member, First time poster.

I too am having this EXACT same problem on my Z61p. The lock-ups are hard and only seem to occur using Firefox. They seem to occur when I am openning another tab and always sit at the hour glass. The only way to recover is to power off using the power button and power back on. Windows XP SP2 System Event log does not show any errors at the exact time of the crash (nor do any of the other logs for that matter). I had a suspicion that it was Firefox, but was not so sure as it is not typical for an application to lock a system up hard without some sort of error being logged in the OS.

I am using Firefox 1.5.0.4 and will probably go to the newest version here shortly to test. Until this issue is resolved, I suppose I will just use IE7B3.

hoya · #18 Post by **hoya** » Thu Aug 10, 2006 3:34 pm

[quote="{ISV-K}SVX"]
I too am having this EXACT same problem on my Z61p. The lock-ups are hard and only seem to occur using Firefox...quote]

I am RELIEVED to know there is at least one other person out there having this problem. thanks for adding your post.

I thought I would miss FireFox but IE7 beta 3 is turning out to be even more stable and less of a resource hog with multiple pages open, so no loss as far as I'm concerned, but certainly a mystery as to how a simple app can bring XP to its knees.

keep us posted on any progress you might have with later versions of FireFox.

{ISV-K}SVX · #19 Post by **{ISV-K}SVX** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 12:23 pm

Opera 9 did the same today. Appears it could be a network access issue?

claudeo · #20 Post by **claudeo** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 1:15 pm

It probably is not FireFox or Opera, but something that is exercised by functions called from those applications in a particular way, where a single memory error does cause an observable problem. The same error might be happening with other applications but you're not aware of it because the effect is not immediately visible.

Definitely run the advanced memory test before jumping to conclusions. Tturn machine off, turn machine on, press ThinkVantage, in the "rough" UI that comes up choose diagnostics, run the quick memory test first, then the full memory test for all slots. It takes a *long* time to run those testa, and they appear to freeze for long periods at a time. That is normal. Just be patient (I wasn't at first -- it took me a few false restarts to realize that the system had not died in the test when nothing happened for 3 minutes).

{ISV-K}SVX · #21 Post by **{ISV-K}SVX** » Tue Sep 19, 2006 6:32 pm

Hmm, no diagnostics on my "rough" UI.

T60 2623D6U w/ 2x 512MB locking up... Bad RAM?

T60 2623D6U w/ 2x 512MB locking up... Bad RAM?

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