Frequent BSOD - new Lenovo T410 laptop

[davevoyageur]

System information:

- Lenovo T410
- Bought December 2010
- Windows 7 Professional 64-bit OEM
- Hitachi 500 GB hard drive
- NVIDIA NVS 3100m Optimus Graphics 512MB DDR3 with AMT
- 4 GB PC3-8500 DDR3 SDRAM 1067MHz SODIMM Memory (2 DIMM) + I installed another 4 GB

I have not reinstalled the OS. The laptop had BSOD's right out of the box. They are unpredictable and occur 1-4 times per day. I disabled the switchable graphics, which seemed to reduce the frequency of the BSODs a little. I've updated the system via Lenovo's System Update tool. I called Lenovo's technical service and they ran through their stock checks and it didn't help.

I've attached the dump and system file collection + system diagnostics.

Thanks for any insight,
Dave

 

[fimble]

Hi davevoyageur and Welcome.

For a stable set up your Ram should ideally be matched. Same Manufacturer. Type. Model. Size. Batch. Timings. Etc..
Have you tried uninstalling the one stick and seeing if the blue screens continue?

 

[Jonathan_King]

Hello,

I am thinking this is a hard drive problem, most likely. Despite your claims of frequent BSODs, I see evidence of only 3 in event logs. That is usually indicative of a hardware problem.

No minidumps were created by the BSODs, as you can see here:

Event[7367]:
  Log Name: System
  Source: Microsoft-Windows-WER-SystemErrorReporting
  Date: 2011-01-31T16:50:35.000
  Event ID: 1001
  Task: N/A
  Level: Error
  Opcode: N/A
  Keyword: Classic
  User: N/A
  User Name: N/A
  Computer: DAVE-LAPTOP2
  Description: 
The computer has rebooted from a bugcheck.  The bugcheck was: 0x000000f4 (0x0000000000000003, 0xfffffa800aa59b30, 0xfffffa800aa59e10, 0xfffff800031c45d0). A dump was saved in: C:\Windows\MEMORY.DMP. Report Id: .

Event[7368]:
  Log Name: System
  Source: Microsoft-Windows-WER-SystemErrorReporting
  Date: 2011-01-31T16:50:35.000
  Event ID: 1005
  Task: N/A
  Level: Error
  Opcode: N/A
  Keyword: Classic
  User: N/A
  User Name: N/A
  Computer: DAVE-LAPTOP2
  Description: 
Unable to produce a minidump file from the full dump file.

That F4 bugcheck, coupled with the below error, are enough to make me suspect a hard drive problem.

Event[7374]:
  Log Name: System
  Source: iaStor
  Date: 2011-01-31T16:34:01.823
  Event ID: 9
  Task: N/A
  Level: Error
  Opcode: N/A
  Keyword: Classic
  User: N/A
  User Name: N/A
  Computer: Dave-laptop2
  Description: 
The device, \Device\Ide\iaStor0, did not respond within the timeout period.

Why the hard drive hung, I do not know. I suggest you give the hard drive a thorough diagnostic, using the Short and Long DST tests in SeaTools.


It is notable to mention these errors:

Event[8827]:
  Log Name: System
  Source: Schannel
  Date: 2011-01-28T11:44:34.979
  Event ID: 36887
  Task: N/A
  Level: Error
  Opcode: Info
  Keyword: N/A
  User: S-1-5-18
  User Name: NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM
  Computer: Dave-laptop2
  Description: 
The following fatal alert was received: 40.

I researched that error, it seems some people linked it to a Microsoft Outlook problem. Do you use this program at all?

I have only two more suggestions. I see your Realtek Ethernet driver is fairly old, and if Outlook is indeed the cause, it may be because of a network problem. Install this updated driver: Realtek

Finally, it may be worth removing SPTD. Start by removing the owning program (Alcohol 120%), and then remove SPTD with this tool: http://www.duplexsecure.com/download/SPTDinst-v174-x64.exe

 

[davevoyageur]

Thanks,

Often (always?) with the BSoDs it says that the "Physical memory dump failed" and then the system will attempt to reboot but I then get an error that reads as follows:

Error 2100: HDDO (Hard disk drive) initialization error (3)
Press <ESC> to continue [to run assorted tests]

I get differing responses to pressing ESC, from no response to running a series of tests. Unfortunately it only ran the tests once and I didn't record the results and I don't know how to access them. Almost always I have to power down the computer and restart it manually.

I do use Outlook but I had BSoDs happen prior to installing any software. I will try your suggestions though and post a reply. If it is indeed a hardware issue, what are my options?

Thanks,
Dave

 

[Jonathan_King]

Since the computer is so new, you're best off to return it, as it should easily be within any waranty period.

It does sound as if the hard drive is the cause. If you can't return the computer, you can easily replace the hard drive.

 

[davevoyageur]

Hi davevoyageur and Welcome.

For a stable set up your Ram should ideally be matched. Same Manufacturer. Type. Model. Size. Batch. Timings. Etc..
Have you tried uninstalling the one stick and seeing if the blue screens continue?

I realized all of this upon installing the memory. I was getting BSoDs out of the box prior to installing anything. Installing the memory hasn't made anything worse.

Thanks,
Dave

 

[davevoyageur]

I also forgot to note that I still got a BSoD in Windows Safe Mode (with networking capabilities). Would this further support that I have a hardware issue?

Also, I changed the settings for how Windows saves dump files (according to this link: How to read the small memory dump files that Windows creates for debugging) and might have made some headway into getting better information from the event logs. I've attached the files from the latest BSoD.

Jonathan, do the Seagate tools do a better job of scanning hard drives than the Lenovo and Windows tools, both of which I have already used to test the hard drive?

Thanks again,
Dave

 

[Jonathan_King]

Windows doesn't have a hardware disk diagnostic; there is chkdsk, but that will only test the sectors which data is written on, I believe. I could be wrong about that however.

The Lenovo tool is probably as good as SeaTools, but give SeaTools a try anyway. I don't have any experience with the Lenovo tool; I am only familiar with a few hard drive diagnostic programs.

Don't worry about the dump settings; when set to Kernel dump, it will write both a minidump and a full dump; with Small Memory Dump, it only writes the minidumps.

A BSOD in Safe Mode with Networking does make hardware likely; unless the problem is with the network adapter drivers. Install the drivers I linked to earlier, see if that helps.

 

[davevoyageur]

Ok, so both of the Seatools tests passed.

As for your other suggestions, I'm unsure how to proceed. I don't have any Realtek drivers on my computer, as far as I know or can find, and the STPD program doesn't appear anywhere on my computer either.

I did download the driver files you suggested but there's no .exe file to run/install it. My network adapters, according to my device manager, are as follows:
- Intel 82577LM Gigabit Network Connection
- Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 AGN
- Microsoft Virtual WiFi Miniport Adapter

Do the Realtek drivers apply to these? Checking for updated drivers via Windows tells me the drivers are up-to-date.

Thanks again,
Dave

 

[Jonathan_King]

I suggest you return the computer to where you got it. You should not be having these problems on a computer this new, and you should be covered by the warranty.

As for the SPTD and Realtek drivers, forget about them; I was obviously seeing some other user's report when I wrote that, and gave advice not applicable to you. Apologies for the confusion.

 

[davevoyageur]

So I spoke with the Lenovo tech support and I will shipping my computer back for inspection/repair. The tech support guy suspects a hard drive and/or a motherboard problem. He wondered if maybe I should try reseating the hard drive in case the pins weren't in good contact. If the computer is operable most of the time, is this a reasonable possibility?

Anyway, fingers crossed that they fix it.

 

[Jonathan_King]

I wouldn't suspect that a poor SATA contact would be the cause of all this, but what do I know? You might as well do it, you never know, it might work.