Uh oh! T43 can't boot up! [Partially Resolved]

[anthony]

I installed Rescue and Restore 4.21. The installer asked me to restart the system. At restart it hung up. I got the IBM Thinkpad flash screen, then a flashing white cursor in the upper left hand of a black screen. Nothing else. Now windows screen. Nothing. I've turned the computer off and on a number of times and the same pattern persists.

If I press the Access IBM button I can get the BIOS options, so that means DOS is loaded, right? But, pressing F8 does not send me into safe mode, so I suspect that Windows isn't even loading.

Is there a downloadable recovery disk or boot disk available? Any other options other than taking it down to Best Buy to the Geek Squad? TIA for your H E L P!

[sjthinkpader]

If you have another working computer, attach your drive to the 2nd computer with a USB-IDE adapter and get your files off.

After that rerun the R&R update. There should be a way to make a rescue disk also. Review the info on the R&R utility on www.lenovo.com.

[anthony]

Sorry. I don't understand. Since I can't get Windows to start, am I able to run the update again? Thanks again IA.

p.s. I set the BIOS to run a start in diagnostic mode. Hardware was recognized.

[sjthinkpader]

Take a look at the partitions on this HDD on another machine, is there an Active Primary partition and a smaller partition about 5GB?

Try to get your user files off first.

[anthony]

OK. I'll go to the big box and get a USB-IDE adapter and try that as soon as I get off work. Fortunately, I do a weekly backup to an external drive.

Thanks for your patience.

[anthony]

oops! Best Buy didn't have the adapter so I ordered it from Amazon. Will arrive Thursday. More then...

[anthony]

Hello. I'm back again, hopeful that someone can help.

I got the usb-to-ide adapter. Removed the HD from the notebook, connected the adapter, plugged the usb into my desktop computer, and turned the computer on. After it booted and the system showed me it had found and installed the new hardware, right-clicked on "my computer" and selected "manage." From the Computer Management dialog, selected "disk management." The screen shows two new items:
1. IBM PRELOAD NFTS Healthy (Active) &
2. IBM Service FAT32 Healthy (EISA Configuration)

The FAT32 is the smaller partition @ 3.95GB.
Both have the blue band across the top on the lower part of the dialog.
The red IDE light is lighted on the adapter
It shows up in the Device Manager
But, the drives do not show up in "my computer."

Rebooted and tried all of the above steps again.
Is there another way to access the files?
What have I missed?
What do I do now?

BTW, I also downloaded the bootable version of PC Doctor from Lenovo, ran the extended test and it passed all of the systems.

TIA

[sjthinkpader]

Read thru these threads and see if some of it can help you.

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... en#p523360
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... t=findpart

[anthony]

Thanks for the reference threads. Very helpful, but I must be exceptionally dense. Or I'm missing a step completely.

Downloaded findpart.zip
Extracted the files to a findpart folder in "my documents"
Double clicked on findpart.exe
Clicked "Run" when prompted
[OK so far?]

A black & white [DOS?] screen flashed for 1/2 a second.
That's all

The adapter equipped Thinkpad disk still doesn't show up in Windows Explorer
[But it does show up as a disk drive in Device Manager]
I even tried switching USB ports without luck

I'm really sorry disappointed that I don't seem to be grasping this. It should be so simple. I found lots of posts of people getting these great reports and fixes from findpart. Is there some special folder that it should be downloaded to?

Still seeking guidance.
TIA

[anthony]

In order to view your files on another computer, Is it necessary to use and enclosure when connecting the USB-to-IDE adapter to use the Thinkpad's Hitachi HDD as an external drive?

Still reaching....

[sjthinkpader]

If you press F11 at boot time, does it give you the R&R utility screen?

[anthony]

Looks like neither of us is sleeping....

Nope. Found that F11 suggestion on the Lenovo website and tried that too. Tried it with both quick boot and diagnostic boot. No luck.

Thanks for continuing to brainstorm.

[sjthinkpader]

Either run Findpart in DOS or open the DOS window first, then run Findpart. After you get the log on screen, copy and save it in a file. Send it to Svend and wait for his reply. Deposit something in this Paypal may help to get a quicked reply.

I saw somewhere that there is shrinkwrap product that does the same thing.

[sojourner]

From the Computer Management dialog, selected "disk management." The screen shows two new items:
1. IBM PRELOAD NFTS Healthy (Active) &
2. IBM Service FAT32 Healthy (EISA Configuration)

The FAT32 is the smaller partition @ 3.95GB.
Both have the blue band across the top on the lower part of the dialog.
The red IDE light is lighted on the adapter
It shows up in the Device Manager
But, the drives do not show up in "my computer."

Rebooted and tried all of the above steps again.
Is there another way to access the files?
What have I missed?
What do I do now?
TIA

In Device Manager on the row where your TP drive appears, what device name is given (eg, DISK 1, or DISK 2 etc.)? In the block for this disk does it say 'online'? Does it say OFFline or anything in RED?

If no errors exist try this:
right click on the block which says IBM PRELOAD NFTS Healthy (Active) [this is your TP drive 'C'], click Change Drive Letter ..., ADD, Assign the following ..., then add a drive letter to it.

Your volume should now show up in My Computer or Explorer and you should be able to copy (backup) your files!
---
Adressing the blinking cursor issue:
This is actually a common problem with a drive with a messed up MBR (master boot record) and/or Boot Sector. I suspect the R&R install did some damage here. IBM has software available to restore boot functionality for a drive with this problem (provided nothing else is wrong). Here is a link for the software you need for the R&R software which was installed ...
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... 54483.html

All the best

[anthony]

Yes.... Only partially resolved...

Ran this program http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk while the USB was attached to my desktop. That made the disk readable in Windows Explorer. YAY!

Then I rebooted. Chkdsk ran automatically and deleted a whole bunch of files and sectors. It seemed to delete the entire IBM service partition. At least it no longer shows up in Disk Manager.

Still not deterred, reinstalled the drive on the T43 and booted. Booted OK, but most of the programs will not run. Getting tons of error messages on start-up alone. As a test, I reinstalled firefox, and it runs fine, finds my bookmarks, prefbar settings, etc. But, newly reinstalled Thunderbird and it can't find my profile.

The good news is that I was able to copy off my user files, downloads, and profiles. A normal person would just get a new drive and do a clean install. But I bought this unit in July 2005, have moved twice since then, and have no idea where the original software disks are anymore. So it's fix it or else.... Oh well... The journey continues. Will update when I get there....

[RealBlackStuff]

Put a WTB (want to buy) ad in our Market forum for a set of XP-Pro recovery disks for your T43 (mention your 2687-D3U).
Copies would work fine fine.
Or buy direct from Lenovo for ca. $50.-