topic Re: T61 hangs: ME System is going through the un-configuration in Intel® Business Client Software Development

T61 hangs: ME System is going through the un-configuration process

nielz — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 09:45:47 GMT

Lenovo Thinkpad T61 Type 6460-66U Bios 2.26
Intel Management Engine BIOS Extension v2.5.18.0000

The following unsuccesful procedure was tried with default BIOS settings, with
and without Supervisor Password. Boot from CD, HD or LAN has no influence;
probably because it never reaches the stage of booting.

--Power cycle
Thinkpad logo
--2 seconds
Screen displays 3 lines:
  Firmware Version Matched ...
  ME System is going through the un-configuration process
  System will go through a power cycle reset upon completion
--60 seconds
Blank screen with blinking underscore

--Ctrl-Alt-Del
Reboot Thinkpad logo
--F1
BIOS Setup
Config
Intel  AMT
Enabled -> Disabled
Save and Exit

--Reboot
Thinkpad logo
--2 seconds
Firmware Version Matched ...
ME System is going through the un-configuration process
System will go through a power cycle reset upon completion
--60 seconds
Blank screen with blinking underscore
--Forever
--Reboot
Same problem

Re: T61 hangs: ME System is going through the un-configuration

Gael_H_Intel — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 00:18:16 GMT

Quoting - nielz

Lenovo Thinkpad T61 Type 6460-66U Bios 2.26
Intel Management Engine BIOS Extension v2.5.18.0000

The following unsuccesful procedure was tried with default BIOS settings, with
and without Supervisor Password. Boot from CD, HD or LAN has no influence;
probably because it never reaches the stage of booting.

--Power cycle
Thinkpad logo
--2 seconds
Screen displays 3 lines:
  Firmware Version Matched ...
  ME System is going through the un-configuration process
  System will go through a power cycle reset upon completion
--60 seconds
Blank screen with blinking underscore

--Ctrl-Alt-Del
Reboot Thinkpad logo
--F1
BIOS Setup
Config
Intel  AMT
Enabled -> Disabled
Save and Exit

--Reboot
Thinkpad logo
--2 seconds
Firmware Version Matched ...
ME System is going through the un-configuration process
System will go through a power cycle reset upon completion
--60 seconds
Blank screen with blinking underscore
--Forever
--Reboot
Same problem

Have you gone into the CTRL-P and de-selected AMT as an option prior to disabling it in the bios? Because if your disabling it worked, I would think you shouldn't have gotten the message that the firmware version was matched.
You might try deselecting AMT as a management option in the ME, reboot and THEN disabling it in the bios, boot it again, and then re-enable it. Doing this actually clears the CMOS - I had a similar problem on one of my Lenovo systems. Clearing the CMOS is what helped in my situation. Are there a series of beeps? You can also clear the CMOS by disconnecting the battery but you have to remove some screws on the back to do that I have a blog on how to do this for the T400 but I don't know if the back is the same on a T61.

Re: T61 hangs: ME System is going through the un-configuration

nielz — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 17:46:35 GMT

Hello Gael, thank you for your suggestion. I managed to remove the CMOS battery and it cleared the CMOS. Unfortunately it did not help. There are no beeps. Pressing Ctrl-P all the way or at several stages did not open the ME dialog. Only the Bios config can be accessed. I do get normal fault beeps after removing both RAM modules.

Re: T61 hangs: ME System is going through the un-configuration

Andrew_S_Intel2 — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 22:15:49 GMT

Quoting - nielz

You mentioned being able to get into the BIOS and change the option to disabled. Now that you have pulled the CMOS battery, do you see the same behavior with both the AMT option in the BIOS set to Enabled and Disabled?

Re: T61 hangs: ME System is going through the un-configuration

nielz — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 05:36:49 GMT

Hi Andrew,

AMT disable or enabled in the BIOS shows two seconds the Lenovo logo followed by:

AMT disabled: The blank screen with blinking underscore in the upper left corner

AMT enabled: 'ME System is going through the un-configuration process'

Re: T61 hangs: ME System is going through the un-configuration

Andrew_S_Intel2 — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 20:07:44 GMT

Quoting - nielz

Hi Andrew,

AMT disable or enabled in the BIOS shows two seconds the Lenovo logo followed by:

AMT disabled: The blank screen with blinking underscore in the upper left corner

AMT enabled: 'ME System is going through the un-configuration process'

Hmm, interesting. I can see about escalating this internally to see if it's a known issue. I'm not sure if you've escalated to Lenovo, but that would likely make sense as well. I know there is a more recent BIOS and ME firmware available for the T61 at this point, and that might resolve the issue for you. Since the system isn't booting the normal upgrade path might not work, that's be something to follow-up with Lenovo about.

In one case I know of, pulling the memory and booting resolved an issue by causing some sort of internal ME reset to occur (not sure on the details of this). My confidence in this working is fairly low,but it's the only other thing I can think of. Your best bet at this point is probably to escalate this to Lenovo.

Andy

Re: T61 hangs: ME System is going through the un-configuration

nielz — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 07:27:14 GMT

OK, thank you. I will contact Lenovo.