Hello!
So I am having the BAD_CTX 8mb brick problem with an SSD in a Lenovo T420 laptop. The kicker is, I'm experiencing it on the most up to date firmware - 4PC1LE04. Short and sweet, here is what is going on.
Specs:
- Lenovo T420 with 160GB SSD. SSD model is: SSDSA2BW160G3L.
- The type is: 4177-CTO.
Problem:
- The laptop will not boot from the SSD no matter what I try, which has been a lot.
- When checking the SSD with the Intel firmware update utility, the serial number reads: BAD_CTX 000001.
- According to the Intel firmware update utility, the firmware on the machine is CURRENT. It reads as version 4PC1LE04.
- I read that the Intel firmware update utility can have issues with detecting and accurately reporting on Lenovo drives, so I downloaded the latest firmware update utility straight from Lenovo. It also reports the firmware as 4PC1LE04 on the drive and will not let me update it, because it is "current".
- I tried to boot the machine using BartPE to investigate the partition a bit, but this results in BSOD.
- I booted the machine using GParted and it boots fine and detects the SSD. Sadly, it reports the partition as being 8 megabytes in size!
- This is exactly similar to the firmware bug that existed previously for these drives. The difference is that I think my firmware is already up to date... That can't be good...
- The T420 was shipped directly from Lenovo a couple months ago and was shipped with the latest firmware already installed. So, the firmware has never been changed or upgraded on these machines.
Larger Problem:
I have about 16 of these circulating in my company, many of which belong to key employees. If the 4PC1LE04 firmware is truly buggy, then all these users are at risk. There is no firmware upgrade path available, either. So how do I get this bug into the hands of Intel/Lenovo for a potential fix?
I am happy to verify every troubleshooting step I've taken and I'm open to suggestions for further diagnosing this problem. Any advice or help would be greatly appreciated! To my knowledge I am running the most up to date firmware, straight from the Lenovo factory, 4PC1LE04. Obviously I've already lost data for one user... I do not want to lose data for 15 more. Thanks for your help.
Other Notes:
The user who handed this machine off to me said that sometimes he does shutdown improperly by holding the power button, and that the laptop does die by running down the battery on occasion. I am making note of this because in the older firmware it was hinted that the bug might be triggered by unexpected power loss. Perhaps that is also the case on the "current" firmware?
