Lenovo Thinkpad X60s won't boot

[madder]

Up until the other day this Thinkpad X60s laptop worked fine. It was bought privately a couple of weeks ago. It loads the Thinkpad screen and then just goes black, on but not booting.

I have taken out the HDD and connected it to a USB case and then to my PC. It seems to be fine. I even ran CHKDSK on it and did some diagnostic testing and all was fine.

I put it back into the X60s, ran the BIOS and tried to do a status check on the HDD from BIOS. It tries to check the HDD for about 3 minutes before returning with a read error 0000.

I think it must be a simple BIOS issue?

If I power on the laptop without the HDD it powers fine and then reports that there is no HDD present and no operating system present.

So far, I have only changed the BIOS in relation to making sure the HDD was first in the booting preferences but that didn't solve anything.

Any ideas? It's an 80GB SATA HDD.

 

[Igorian]

Did you use a manufacturer diagnostic on the hdd when you removed it? It does sound like it's on it's way out. You could also try a SMART diagnostic tool too.

 

[madder]

I tried a different HDD in the thinkpad too and had the same problem. Don't think it's a HDD problem? I suppose there could be 2 HDD on the way out but it is unlikely.

 

[Igorian]

How did you set up the 2nd HDD or was it blank? Have you tried to load an O/S on it while it is in the laptop?

 

[madder]

2nd disk drive is formatted but blank. I have tried to run setup on both and it tells me that no HDD is found.

 

[Igorian]

In the BIOS, check the SATA settings. There will be a setting which can be switched between IDE and AHCI. Try it in IDE mode.

 

[madder]

Ok so I checked in BIOS and other than AHCI there was an option for compatibility. That option was already selected. So I tried in AHCI, and it made no difference.

So what I have at the moment is as follows.

the HDD that was in it cannot boot. In BIOS is shows up but when I try to run a status diagnostic test on it in BIOS, it fails after 2 minutes with an error code 0000: read verification error. When I try to run windows freshly from start up, no HDD can be found.
I tried a formatted blank HDD that I have here as a 2nd option. Strangely, boot agent started this time(which doesn't happen with the other) but no HDD could be found. Again, this one shows up in BIOS, but when I do the same status test, it runs a little longer before showing the same results.

I suppose there is an outside chance that both HDD's are faulty, but it sounds like it could be something else? Both HDD's seem fine when plugged into my PC via USB.

 

[EFCLee1]

Try taking out the memory, 1 stick at a time

When you formatted the drives did you remove the partitions too?

I wouldn't rule out the HD being faulty but nothing you have said points to it either!

 

[madder]

Try taking out the memory, 1 stick at a time

When you formatted the drives did you remove the partitions too?

I wouldn't rule out the HD being faulty but nothing you have said points to it either!

There is only 1 memory stick in it. 1024MB, I think. Do you reckon that could prevent the HDD from booting up? I may have a spare that I could try? It's a long time ago since I formatted my spare drive so I can't remember if I deleted the partition or not. The other HDD came with the laptop.

 

[EFCLee1]

Even without a HD in your laptop you should still be able to boot to a windows setup disk, in the past when iv'e connected a faulty HD to my PC and not known until the setup tells me there are no HD's

And memory would stop your PC from booting, try a different stick in your laptop or try your stick in a different laptop to rule it out

 

[madder]

Even without a HD in your laptop you should still be able to boot to a windows setup disk, in the past when iv'e connected a faulty HD to my PC and not known until the setup tells me there are no HD's

And memory would stop your PC from booting, try a different stick in your laptop or try your stick in a different laptop to rule it out

I will do that then ok. But I need to clear up that I can boot with a windows CD, to a point. Until it's time to repair or install. At this point it fails to find the HDD.

 

[EFCLee1]

Change to boot order to boot to CD first while the HD is plugged in, maybe you will see the HD in setup and drop the partitions then re-apply them

This is just something you can try I still have no idea what it could be so just cover all the bases

 

[madder]

I will keep trying all of these things, but if anyone has any more suggestions, please lets hear it!

Could this be a BIOS problem? Perhaps it needs an update? Is this difficult to do?

 

[EFCLee1]

Why would a BIOS update fix this?

It could be a motherboard, CPU, PSU, Memoryor a HD problem, most of these you could rule out!

 

[madder]

There is a similar thread which suggests a BIOS update could fix this. Basically when I power up the laptop, it goes to the thinkpad screen and then just goes black. It stays on but gets nowhere.

EDIT: Just noticed, that after 20 minutes of being stuck black it is now giving me a message.

Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt

<Windows root>/system32/hal.dll

please reinstall a copy of the above file.

But why then, can't I simply repair from the setup CD, or do a fresh installation? That is weird?

Anyway, does anyone have any suggestion as to how I can reinstall this file?
Should I take out the HDD, usb it to my PC and copy the file over the corrupt one?