[ltp] Haswell thinkpads bios problem

[Ivo Ugrina]

On 02/18/2014 11:56 AM, Peter Frühberger wrote:

> I bricked my Samsung 840 Pro after just one Suspend to RAM. I had luck
> and entering BIOS was still possible. I since then disabled the "Intel
> Rapid Start Option" and I am in deed using UEFI only - with the legacy
> option completely disabled on Ubuntu 13.10 with mainline kernel.
> 
> I am running that T440s since then without any issues. I believe the
> "rapid start" option made the difference for me.
> 
> Now I am a bit confused, cause I should have bricked it by now at
> least multiple times me UEFI running. I am using Kernel 3.13 and have
> run the 3.13-rcs before.
> 
> Best regards
> Peter


I'm running Debian testing on t440p with UEFI and stock hdd (resized
Windows_C partition to make place for debian).

If I understood correctly (from lenovo support forum [1]) the BIOS/post
problem comes from not having a special partition used with Intel Rapid
Start Option.

[1] :
http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/W-Series-ThinkPad-Laptops/HOWTO-Brick-a-W540-in-easy-steps/td-p/1400393/page/3

"We found the BIOS bug that causes this problem.  The bug is in BIOS
code that implements Intel Rapid Startup Technology.  The bug causes
BIOS to read the wrong portion of SSD and treat it as a memory size.
Because the SSD data being read in is actually random data, and not a
memory size, by bad luck the data may cause a memory allocation that is
too big and leads to POST hang.  The other part of the bug, is that the
too-big memory size is stored in BIOS NVRAM so power cycle (and even
disconnect/reconnect CMOS battery) doesn't clear it.  Unfortunately the
only solution is to replace planar, but if you try to reuse the same SSD
with same partitions and same data, the problem will happen again.

[Short-term work-around]

After replacing the system board, but before reinstalling the SSD, go
into BIOS setup and disable Intel Rapid Start Technology.  This setting
is in the Config -> Power menu of BIOS Setup.

[Long-term solution]

After replacing the system board, but before reinstalling the SSD,
update BIOS.  We are working on BIOS update that should be made
available by mid-Feb (this is a tentative date subject to change).
"