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27470
May 4th, 2015 19:00
Latitude E5440 - Truecrypt Boot Loader Problems
I've been using Truecrypt for many years on Latitude D and E Series laptops and never had a problem until we upgraded to E5440's. Now I continually get Truecrypt boot loader errors.
I've tried versions 7.1 and 7.1a and FDE as well as just encrypting the System Partition. What happens is that when the computer is started up, I get a black screen with a white blinking cursor.
The temporary fix is easy. I boot off the Truecrypt Rescue disk and Repair the Truecrypt Boot Loader. This works for several days and then it happens again.
I am lost as to a solution, but I believe it might involve one of the following:
1. Hybrid Hard Drives. These E5440's have a Samsung 500GB hybrid drive in them. I am wondering if some file or component of Truecrypt is being put on the Flash drive component of the HD and it becomes unavailable at boot up.
2. Closing the lid of the laptop instead of shutting it down for transport.
If you've had similar problems or have any insight into this issue, I would love to get your feedback.
Thanks, Greg
Also, these laptops run W7 Pro.
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Amcelligott
2 Posts
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June 9th, 2015 09:00
Did you ever find a solution to this. I have similar problem with 5000 series lattitude with hybrid drive. Looks like only option is to not use Truecrypt Encryption by uninstalling or replace the hybrid maybe.
what did you do in the end?
As far as I am aware Dell stopped shipping or pushing at least Hybrid drives
WhiskeyToast
6 Posts
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June 9th, 2015 16:00
It is nice to know that I'm not the only one with the problem. I've not done anything at the moment as I haven't had the time to deal with it.
Of the 20 5000 series laptops, only 5 so far have the problem. I have them sitting on a shelf for now and hope to get time later in the week to start working on the problem. Up to now, once I "Repair the TC boot loader" the laptop will usually work fine for several weeks or more. This makes it difficult to diagnose the issue. The most recent problem laptop, does it all the time and I should have it back in the office by Thursday to start testing it.
I'll keep you posted on what I find out. Thanks for replying to my post. Greg
Amcelligott
2 Posts
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June 10th, 2015 02:00
Once i removed truecrypt the laptops haven't failed on bootload since but I am stuck looking for a viable (Recoverable) encryption alternative. I only have a few of the hybrid laptops luckily.
WhiskeyToast
6 Posts
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June 12th, 2015 20:00
I've had an opportunity to work with one of the laptops that always exhibits this behavior. It seems to be related to hibernation mode. It only happens if the laptop goes into hibernation mode. Turning it off, seems to fix the problem.
One problem with this theory is that I have a bunch of HP Mini Desktop computers with the exact same HD, Samsung ST500LM000 - 1EJ16. I duplicate the behavior with one of these computers.
I am exploring one other avenue and that is whether this only happens if the full disk is encrypted vs just encrypting the System Partition.
The HP desktop I tested I encrypted just the system partition. The E5440 has FDE.