The patch is for several models that use a particular 60GB Hitachi hard disk. IBM is calling the patch a "mandatory" upgrade to fix "early reliability issues in some drives." The patch was posted to its Web site on March 4.
Neither Big Blue nor Hitachi were immediately available for comment, but according to the Web page containing the upgrade, the problem affects ThinkPad models R50, R50p, T41, T41p that have the Hitachi 60GB 7200 rpm hard disk drive, model HTS726060M9AT00 with ASM part number 92P6550 and FRU part number 92P6551.
As the Web page notes, owners of those ThinkPad models can check whether their system needs the upgrade by doing the following:
• Click Start, select Settings, select Control Panel, then double-click the System icon.
• Click the Hardware tab, then click Device Manager.
• Open the Device Manager
• Expand the Disk Drives section to view all hard disk drives in the system, and look for a drive model number that reads HTS726060M9AT00.
Matt Loney of ZDNet UK reported from London.
- Hard drive failures
- I know of at least 5 T41p's whose hard drives have gone completely dead. Mine went after 3 weeks. Since I had one of these hard drives in my previous T23 with no problems, I'm betting that the problem is a bad interaction between the hard drive and IBM's new Hard Drive Active Protection System, which stops the drive and praks the heads when the machine moves suddenly. In fact, since I got my new replacement drive I turned off the protection system and haven't had a problem.<br /><br />The other day I upgraded the firmware per the IBM advisory, and I downloaded the latest version of Active Protection System, and turned it on. I also backed up my drive! Hopefully any issues are resolved.
- Like this Reply to this comment
- IT has become a cauldron of trash.
- It has become common place to buy IT solutions that simply don't work. All of the "wonderful improvements" and "amazing advances" upon which the consumer spends his resources, with great expectation, end up having to be "fixed" or "patched" or "service packed" to make them usable. While every industry has its mistakes, it has become an acceptable practice so the vendor can get something to market to vie for available investments from the IT consumer. It used to be that products were finished before they were sold. Now it doesn't matter. If the vendor needs cash, he packages up his product even when he knows that it is not ready for market. The consumer ends up paying at the time of purchase, and then pays more for what the shoddy product costs in wasted time and money and inefficiency. I think some IT consumers have started to notice that IT vendors' wallets are getting fuller and theirs are shrinking and theirs a trail from their wallet to the IT vendors'. All the while trying to cope with a product that just keeps draining their resources. It's economically impossible for the business world to keep involvement in something that results in a negative returns. A business will close its doors and cut its losses before it will continue with negative returns. Or it will discontinue with the activity and rechannel those resources. Even if it means "retooling" your whole production facility. IT has slashed its own throat.
- Like this Reply to this comment
