TPM chip failure?

[jywang]

I had a weird problem this weekend where all of a sudden my TPM seems to have failed. It keeps saying that "The Client Security system keys need to be restored." Yet every time I do this, it succeeds and then asks again next time.

Does anyone know if the diagnostics checks the TPM? I don't have the diagnostics installed and would rather not if it doesn't check the TPM.

I've reset the TPM several ways and nothng works. For now, I'm going to disable the TPM.

Thanks for any help...

[jywang]

After many attempts at clearing the security chip using F1 and tpm.msc, I finally was able to use "Reset security settings" to take ownership of the TPM chip and everything is working again. Prior to clearing the TPM, each time I tried to reset, it would say "could not access" or something like that.

The TPM definitely seems flakey to me and not to be trusted at this point. I wonder if a static discharge caused the corruption of the TPM to begin with. It happened when I was opening up the X61 at the airport check-in counter to retrieve my frequent flyer number. I bet I built up a static charge why walking across the terminal and discharged it when grabbing the tablet out of the bag.

Anyway, it is working again... If anyone runs across this problem, please make a post and I'll try to help. But, since I went through so many combinations of trying to clear and take ownership of the TPM, I'm not exactly sure which one worked in the end.

1) from power off, clear security chip using BIOS (F1)
2) use "Run" and start tpm.msc. Follow the instructions to Initialize TPM.

[x61t7764ct]

I have a very similar configuration and have been experiencing errors such as the one "..cannot connect to TPM (security service).." for the last week.

None of my connections, wireless or wireless wan would connect.

The problem began when I noticed Norton's trial only had a week left and uninstalled through control panel. I didn't notice it but the uninstall did not actually work except to remove a few icons. The solution was to remove Norton via Norton Removal Tool (NRT) found on symantec.com site search. Norton's uninstaller is evidently broken, does not remove most of its software and leaves the machine in a state of disconnection and in my case was preventing access to TPM.

After running NRT and rebooting my connections worked again. I will not be reinstalling Norton.

I don't think this was the original poster's problem but am posting my response here as it may help other X61 owners searching for TPM error solutions.

Best of luck!


ThinkPad X61t 7764-CTO
C2D L7500 LV | 2GB PC2-5300 RAM | 12.1" XGA | 160GB 5400RPM HDD

[jywang]

Just to let everyone know but I had finally resolved my TPM issue by sending the laptop to Lenovo for TPM chip replacement. I think it was a faulty chip that would get corrupt periodically. For the last few months now, I haven't had any problems.

[jfisch]

I need to send my X61 in for repair – the ext. video no longer works. So I swapped the hard drive into a T61 I borrowed. Things work ok – except that that now I get a message:

"Client Security system keys need to be restored. Only the Client Security administrator can perform this operation. The following user must log into this computer to continue: LENOVO-82xxxx\joel"

But logging on as instructed does not work. I tried deactivating, re-activating, clearing the chip in BIOS. The problem is that in the present state, the password manager does not work properly. It does ask to save passwords, but will not submit, and I cannot open it – it asks for authentication, accept the fingerprint, then … nothing. Though I can R click on it and open preferences.

Any suggestions? I can see that others have had this kind of issue.