Lenovo Y50-70 Hitching

Josh Field

Estimable
Sep 11, 2015
5
0
4,510
Hey all. I'm trying to help Lenovo diagnose a potential design flaw with their 2014-2015 Y50-70 systems. I have an insignificant amount of knowledge regarding this, which makes it all the more pathetic that I'm doing more than they are. The most common issue is that software will hang for up to four seconds while the SSHD, a WD10S21X-24R1BT0, is at 100% read/write capacity. This freeze will occur at intervals as little as three minutes apart, depending of software activity. However, another issue is that the system can act as though the "E" key is being held down, requiring a hard-reboot to reset. Do you think its the SSHD, the motherboard, or something else? I thought it was the SSHD until this other symptom began to pop up. Now I'm thinking it may be the mobo or a problem with the SSHD plus the keyboard reacting to heat (The "E" key is pretty mch right above the CPU). Thanks for any help.
 

metalicgeek

Estimable
You can easily rule out the SSHD being an issue by trying it on a desktop and running high-intensity benchmarks. If the SSHD works fine, then neither Windows nor the SSHD is responsible for the hanging. IF the symptoms remain, then either the SSHD OR the installed OS is the culprit.
 

Josh Field

Estimable
Sep 11, 2015
5
0
4,510


Yeah I would have done that already but unfortunately there isn't a working desktop around right now. I actually have this system because my CPU fail after two years in my desktop last winter.
 

metalicgeek

Estimable


Have you attempted a fresh installation of Windows?
 

Josh Field

Estimable
Sep 11, 2015
5
0
4,510


Oh definitely. There's no doubt it's a hardware or firmware issue. Several dozen users have reported the same symptoms. I've had the SSHD replaced three times and the motherboard replaced once. Same issues on Windows 8.1, and 10, fresh installs. WD disk testers show no issues, so I'm even more certain it's a design flaw, incompatibility, or firmware issue rather than a defect or damage.
 

metalicgeek

Estimable


We can immediately rule out software issues, especially with fresh installations of Windows that do not have any additional Lenovo software. One may consider that the SATA controller is causing problems if there is an apparent link to hard drive performance. Have you tried installing a standard HDD or SSD in the drive caddy?
 

ffg7

Splendid
Moderator
metalicgeek, motherboard changed once so unless all those same motherboards have a design flaw in the sata controller or bios then not a motherboard issue.

Josh, has the ram been replaced? on both the old board & new board, were the bios the same rev version or different? have you tried using a regular sata hard drive in the laptop not externally to see if still get that problem? what is the cpu temp running at when the laptop hangs?
 

Josh Field

Estimable
Sep 11, 2015
5
0
4,510


AFAIK, the RAM is the same it came with. BIOS has been updated once or twice I think. I don't have any SATA drives that will fit, but from what I've read from at least a dozen other users is that replacing the SSHD with a SSD fixes the hangs. Forgot to mention that. CPU temp is not linked, as it happens both at the idle temp and when under full load. It more depends on the software running. Anything that periodically reads or writes a decent chunk of data triggers it. This includes games, engines, and modeling software like Maya.
 

Josh Field

Estimable
Sep 11, 2015
5
0
4,510
So just to wrap this up, the firmware of the SSHD had an extremely aggressive APM, causing the drive to constantly change states of activity. Lenovo still has yet to officially make a statement on the system, but this is the general consensus among third parties who did their own testing. I returned the whole system for a refund and bought a Dell instead. I have no issues with the SSHD on my new Dell system.