Windows 8 RTM x64 boot/start problem on X220 with SSD

[tvatavuk]

Windows 8 Enterprise x64 RTM, randomly will not start on X220 (4290R47) with SSD Intel X25-M 160 GB (SSDSA2M160G2LE) and 8GB RAM.

After power on, and after bios finish its boot magic I see Windows 8 logo on screen. Below are dots circle animation that should start rotate, but after 2-3 dots it just stops and stay there forever. If I press and hold power button to reset laptop the same happen again, and again (btw: same problem sometimes happens in early stage while, for first time, trying to run installation of Windows 8 x64 Enterprise RTM from USB stick).

In very, very rare cases Windows 8 will eventually start. When this happen is see that LCD display dim and cca 10 sec later Windows 8 login screen is displayed. So when this luck happens the whole Windows 8 start is much faster than on vanilla Windows 7 SP1. It looks that is working normal. I can install drivers, other software, surf on net, etc. until next restart when agony begins again.

I did several installations of Windows 8 x64 Enterprise or Pro RTM from MSDN, all with USB stick. During installation on SSD, I will delete all partitions on SSD and install it on blank, so that Windows 8 itself create partitions it needs and formats it. All is great until restart...

I updated BIOS from v1.28 to v1.29a for Win 8 beta and then I could start windows 8 until 3-4 restarts.

Then I updated BIOS to v1.33 (UEFI: 1.33 / ECP: 1.21) and I could start Windows 8 again until next restart.

Feeling is that problem is something in combination of this SSD + Win 8 x64 core drivers.

My hopes are with Lenovo support and eventual new bio/firmware for X220 and/or SSD.

[heldchen · Accepted solution]

had the same problem on a t420s with SSD: http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/Windows-8/T420s-amp-Windows-8-startup-problems-in-legacy-bios-mode-and/t...

solution: switch to UEFI boot. on an already installed system, this involves manually changing from MBR to GPT with some linux tools... *urx*

[tvatavuk]

heldchen, thx!

Also, I have some results with following.

I disabled USB UEFI BIOS Support in BIOS/Config/USB.

In BIOS/Startup is this:
- UEFI/Legacy Boot: [BOTH]
- UEFI/Legacy Boot Priority: [Legacy First]

Than I installed Win 8 Ent x64 from DVD that is in docking (so no usb).
I had 30 restarts since than and it is almost looking good.
2 times it stoped, but after power off it was OK again.

Hoping this will be OK, or I should go with your UEFI option.

[heldchen]

not sure, if it works for you, keep it like that.

in my case i could only boot 1 time out of 10 with BOTH/Legacy First option. in this configuration, when upgrading from windows 7 without repartitioning windows 8 kept the MBR configuration which didn't work out for me.

there's even a lenovo windows 8 setup help website saying that one should use UEFI. and presto, once i managed to convert the MBR to UEFI without destroying all my data, the boot problems disappeared completely.