Scary CSS Error

[Tim M]

So, I was waking up my T42 from standby and was prompted for the security chip passphrase. Entering the phrase, I was told that I had typed incorrectly. I retyped, same error. I retyped a third time, being very carefully, and then was told I did not have a passphrase configured. Password recovery didn't work as I was told no recovery questions had been set.

Freaking out, I hard booted the computer and all seems fine. I recently put in a new motherboard, so am hoping this isn't some sort of hardware failure, but rather some CSS software weirdness. I am using a slightly older version (7.00.0022.00).

[USSS]

You might want to upgrade to CSS 8.10.0006.00. Instead of using System Update 3, which is as flaky as ever, it seems, I'd manually download and install CSS from the Drivers/Downloads matrix for your T42.

[Tim M]

The reason I've balked is that I have to upgrade Rescue and Recovery in tandem with CSS and would lose PrivateDisk. Does the new CSS have any replacement file encryption included? The IBM/Lenovo website is incredibly vague on this.

Further, I'd like to know if others have had my initial problem and can confirm if it is a hardware or software issue.

[USSS]

No, Lenovo did not include any kind of replacement for PrivateDisk. But there are plenty of other third party applications available for that.

I've never experienced the error you described. You may want to open up your T42 and make sure all connectors are firmly seated and that the motherboard is not loose.

[Tim M]

^^ Well, I ran PC Doctor and did not find any problems with the mobo. I decided to take the plunge and upgrade to CSS 8 and R&R 4.2, first installing TrueCrypt as a replacement for PrivateDisk.

This was not a smart idea.

After uninstalling CSS, wireless and wired network connectivity was gone. For example, searching for "available networks" with AC found nothing even though there are over a dozen networks available at my location. This is the same symptom I experienced when installing XP SP3 and PC Doctor 5. I noted that the various DOS boxes that popped up during the CSS uninstallation and R&R installation had text regarding a change to the network drivers.

It seems that AC doesn't like anything interfering with it, as it then fails and prevents any internet connection for me. Interestingly, NetworkStumbler still finds the dozen networks, so it seems the wireless drivers are OK but AC implodes.

Until this issue is resolved (hopefully with a new version of AC, though Lenovo's software quality control seems severely lacking), it seems I'm stuck with CSS 7 and R&R 3 (which I don't use).

Incidentally, am I able to uninstall the old R&R and still have CSS work? Further, am I able to uninstall the PrivateDisk component of CSS only?

Thanks,

Tim

[USSS]

There have been numerous documented reports of SP3 wreaking havoc with wired and wireless connections. That, coupled with the fact that Access Connections has a mind of its own, complicates your situation.

I've found that when uninstalling and reinstalling applications such as CSS and R&R -- especially when one version of those programs will work only with a specific version of the other -- it's imperative to really scrub your system clean of remnant registry entries and temporary files.

You may want to consider rolling back to SP2 until the network-related bugs are resolved.

I'm not aware that there is anything in SP3 that is absolutely critical for most users. Some have posted that their systems seem a bit more responsive, but that depends entirely on the individual system configuration and installed software.

AFAIK, you can run CSS without R&R. As for uninstalling only the PrivateDisk component of CSS 7.0, I doubt that is possible. However, there may be an option in CSS to disable PrivateDisk. Or you may be able to simply choose not to create the PrivateDisk folder when installing CSS. Either that, or just delete the folder if it is created.

If you can roll back to SP2, you may find that many of your ThinkVantage application-related issues disappear.

I have run every version of CSS with R&R under SP2 with few issues. The only real exception occurred with conflicts between Comodo Firewall Pro and Windows logon via the fingerprint reader, which have since been resolved.

[Tim M]

^^ I'm afraid I was unclear. I'm running SP2 when trying all of the above, having restored from a backup after an "interesting" experience with SP3 some weeks ago. However, the CSS/R&R tandem update process has still broken my network connectivity as previously described. I suspect some wonkiness of AC 4.52, as NetworkStumbler still seems to find nearby wireless access points normally.

I'm starting to think that AC is just really really flaky. Thanks, Lenovo.

I think I will uninstall my older version of R&R (I use DriveImageXML instead) and shift to TrueCrypt for volume encryption in the event that I do manage to get CSS 8 properly installed.

Thanks,

Tim

[USSS]

OK, I see.

I think AC is probably causing some, if not all, of your problems. I don't use it, as I let Windows handle my network connections (shocking, but true...Windows is good for something).

You know, I forgot that there is a special tool available for migrating to CSS 8.0/R&R 4.2. Did you see it anywhere on the downloads matrix page for your T42 or under the downloads for CSS?

I ran that tool months ago as soon as CSS 8.0 was released, and it seemed to make the entire installation go very smoothly.

If you can't find it, let me know, and I will try to track it down for you. It might be worth one last attempt to get the latest version of CSS working on your system.

[Tim M]

Well, uninstalling R&R 3.1 also broke my network connectivity, so I'm fairly certain AC is the culprit here. I ran a "repair" on the Intel PROSet wireless drivers and have restored wireless networking with AC, but wired networking is still nonfunctional.

I'm going to try to uninstall and reinstall AC to see if that works. If not, I'll probably ditch AC altogether.

Once I have that sorted, I'll try installing CSS 8 (the migration tool is indeed available on the IBM/Lenovo site) and perhaps try again to install XP SP3 and PC Doctor 5 if I'm feeling ambitious.

-Tim

[Tim M]

I uninstalled AC without upsetting my "repaired" wireless connection. Instead of reinstalling AC, I uninstalled the Ethernet drivers and software, rebooted, and let windows "find new hardware." I then reinstalled the proper Intel drivers and all seems well with Windows managing my Ethernet and wireless connections.

With AC gone, I'm now downloading CSS 8 (after applying the migration assistant for saving v. 7 data). I can then test my theory that AC is the problem depending on whether or not CSS 8 installs without trouble.

[Tim M]

Installation of CSS 8 not going well. Hang during install, tried to repair, now get error message that can't connect to TPM device. All was working under CSS 7.

At this point I don't want to screw around with what is obviously bad s/w from Lenovo; does anyone have access to CSS 7.x that I can reinstall?

This is a total nightmare.

EDIT: Got it working. Had to fully uninstall and reinstall the CSS 8 application. Evidently something got buggered up when my first install hung that couldn't be fixed by the "repair" utility.

So, now I have CSS 8, no R&R backup software (but still the hidden recovery partition), and AC gone with wired and wireless connectivity restored.

I'm backing up my partially de-Lenovoed system now and might give XP SP3 another crack.

[USSS]

Sounds like you're making decent progress, though it's been a PITA up to this point.

Once CSS 8.0 "settles down", you may eventually be able to reinstall AC. But I think Windows does a pretty decent job managing network configurations without all the bells and whistles that accompany AC.

Previous editions of CSS are available if you enter the version number into the search box.

Wait a few days before reinstalling SP3...just a suggestion.

I will eventually install it, but I am waiting for the reports of problems with SP3 to wane. Here are some links you might be interested in:

Microsoft SP3 Help & Support:
http://support.microsoft.com/oas/defaul ... 1273&gprid

Conflicts of Third-party Programs with SP3:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/947309/

Help with Windows Newsletter Overview of SP3 (Arie Slob):
http://www.windowsnewsletter.com/html-a ... y2008.html

[Tim M]

Well, I have held off on SP3 to allow some "shakedown" time. I did, however, try installing PC Doctor 5 again and it works without trouble, so it seems AC was the culprit. So far, everything seems fine using Windows to manage my connections, though I do occasionally notice the connection being dropped and reconnected automatically. Is there some sort of inactivity timeout I need to adjust?

The only other thing was that I needed to disable the Password Manager Add-On to Firefox...allowing it to run would crash Firefox whenever a (legitimate) Java window was spawned by a webpage.

-Tim

[USSS]

Is it a wireless or wired connection that's dropping out?

If you're on cable/DSL, try power cycling the modem (and the router, if you are behind one). You can also try the "Repair" option by right-clicking on the modem icon in System Tray. If you are using a dynamic IP, it should not be renewing its lease for a new IP address more than once every 24 hours or so.

I've also heard of "flushing" the DNS cache, but I don't know if that would be related to any timeouts on your connection(s).

[Tim M]

It's the wireless connection that appeared to be having drops. I checked and was running a slightly outdated version of the driver and ProSet software, so I updated.

Code: Select all

Version 11.05.0 API - 7KWC50WW

    * (New) Support for ThinkPad X300 (added).
    * (Fix) (3945BG/3945ABG only) The following error occurs when connecting to the Access Point with the WEP 64-bit encryption security via the Device Manager on Windows 2000. "mmc.exe has generated errors and will be closed by windows. ..."
    * (Fix) (3945BG/3945ABG only) Scan list does not show all Access Points.
    * (Fix) EAP-FAST authentication fails when PAC is updated.

Version 11.01.0 API - 7KWC27WW

    * (New) Support for IEEE 802.11n Draft 2.0
    * (Fix) Connection may drop when PSK (Pre Shared Key) mode is used.

Version 11.01.0 API - 7KWC26WW
Note: If you are using 11.01.0 API 7KWC25WW, you have no need to apply this version.

    * (New) Support for ThinkPad R61e/R61i/T61p (added).
    * (Fix) Extracting files twice will cause exraction failure with the error message;
      C:\DRIVERS\WIN\WLANINT2\XP\Apps\x32\Thumb.db
      Access denied

Version 11.01.0 API - 7KWC25WW

    * (New) Support for Intel Wireless WiFi Link 4965AG/4965AGN.
    * (New) Support for ThinkPad R61, T61, X61, X61s, X61 Tablet.
    * (New) Support for ThinkVantage Access Connections 4.40.

I was running v. 11.01.0, but there appear to be three of them that were made available (aren't version numbers supposed to be unique?) and I don't know which one was installed. You'll note that the 7KWC27WW variant has a fix for a dropped connection when using PSK mode, which I do in fact use. We'll see if 11.05.0 fixes this.

Wired connection has only been checked briefly (plugging into router to verify connectivity) without problems. PD Doctor diagnostics find no problems with the networking or the motherboard, so I think my original problem was purely software.

Time will tell.

Thanks,

Tim