T43-to-T43 Hard Drive Compatibility Question, please

[blockmental]

Hello,

Could anyone tell me how to check the “compatibility” of a particular hard drive for use with a particular series of T43, please?

I have a T43 (Type 2687 – E8U) in which the original hard drive went south.

Not realizing that a hard drive from one T43 could not be indiscriminately swapped with the hard drive of another T43 I’ve caused myself some problems. (Although the “replacement” drive is an OEM T43 hard drive, I have no means of determining which series of T43 it came out of.)

My questions, please:

Q1: Is there some sort of physical identification on a T43 hard drive that I should be looking for?

Q2: Is there some means by which I can check the hard drive “type” via its software?

Q3: Is there some sort of patch that I can apply to the BIOS or firmware to get around this compatibility problem?

Note:

The replacement drive works fine for several hours at a time but it will randomly crash (BSOD) and then restart itself. I’m guessing (but that’s all it is) is that this is in fact a compatibility issue. (???)

Prior to being put in this particular T43, the drive was working just fine, but was pulled from a T43 "case" that we no longer have.

Many thanks in advance for any help with this!

[mpcook]

If you go to this thread, you will find a list of compatible drives.

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... 59&start=0

However, the symptoms you describe sound more like either a problem with the drive itself, or maybe an incompatibility between the two T43's regarding specific hardware configuration. I think the first is most likely. Download Lenovo System Toolbox and run the hard drive test. If the drive is a Fujitsu, you can download a Fujitsu drive test program from their website. In fact, you can check on the site to see if your particular drive is under warranty. I had one replaced by them.

Mike

[mpcook]

I forgot to mention, if your drive is incompatible, you will get a 2010 error at boot up. You can then bypass this message and you should be able to run your laptop with no problems., until you boot again, at which time the error will come up again, and you can bypass again.

Mike

[blockmental]

Hello Mike and a sincere thanks for the info.

I ran the Lenovo HDD test and everything passed.

After the system crashes it automatically restarts itself.

There's a dialog box that appears that says something to the effect of "Your system experienced a serious error".

When I check the details I see two messages:

C:\DOCUM~1\"My log in name"\LOCALS~1\Temp\WER3a67.dur00\Mini062109-02.dmp

and,

C:\DOCUM~1\"My log in name"\LOCALS~1\Temp\WER3a67.dur00\sysdata.xml

If there's an explanation available via Google I haven't been able to find it.

I've also confirmed that the "replacement drive" was working when it was pulled from it's original T43.

I'll follow-up on the possible warranty issue but I'm guessing that I'm outside the window as both the machine and the drive are over 3 years old.

Thanks!

[blockmental]

I've also run the firmware update application... thinking that it might solve the problem... but it did not.

Thanks!

[mpcook]

I'm probably not going to be much more help on this. Other than paying attention to what you (or the laptop) were doing at the time of the crash, that might be an indication. You could try reinstalling drivers for the wireless and/or ethernet (whichever you are using) as they could be different from one to another T43, and also you might have a different video system, so you can try uninstalling/reinstalling the video drivers. If you run Lenovo System Update, that also will check and download latest drivers for your specific machine.

If all else fails, since the drive is good, you can reinstall Windows using recovery disks. You can find these sometimes for sale on this board, or post a wanted message for your specific machine type.

Good luck! Good news in any case that your drive is good (and compatible).

Mike

[blockmental]

Thanks Mike,

I'll work my way through your list of recommendations and post back as to what I find.