W510 Beep Codes

Hi

My Windows 7 installation froze today during regular surfing. The LCD picture stayed but I could not move my mouse neither did any button combination cause any response. So I pressed the power button to switch the computer off and then on again. Now I got a black screen and only the middle LED (bluetooth?) was on - I powered off again and switched it on. Now I heard 3 (not 100% sure) beeps and the LCD stayed black again. Same procedure again and I could boot normally into Windows 7 and Ubuntu again. I tried running memtestx86 but after ~20 minutes it froze. So far I can work "normally" and only heard those beep codes once. Anyone has a clue? To me it sounds like broken RAM but do I have to prove that to Lenovo and also if the test always crashed how can I tell Lenovo which RAM slot needs replacement?

I have ThinkPlus Protection warranty and onsite service but I can change RAM by myself. Only time is of the essence because I soon start working again and need my notebook without any faults.

Thanks in advance

 

that could be a ram problem. If you call Lenovo now, you should able to get them to ship out the new ram modules usually by next day express courier (maybe different in Austria). But you should call Lenovo warranty support and log a service support call.

 

Thanks for the heads up. Well my only fear (since I never have dealt with unsure hardware problems) is that what happens if Lenovo checks the RAM I return to them and it is not broken? That is why I am unsure - might be a HDD problem aswell. I can't ask them to replace all of that or can I? Just don't want to mess anything up.

 

Lenovo or IBM warranty support won't check the ram in that manner. If ram is not the problem, they won't charge you for the effort of delivering the ram to you. (They would run through the diagnostic with you don't worry).

If Ram change doesn't fix the issue, they would send out the technician to make further efforts in fixing and diagnosing the problem.

 

If you're capable of changing the RAM yourself, why not take one stick out and see if it crashes... if not, switch to the other one and try again.

 

Thanks for the answers so far. I have not been able to reproduce the blackscreen/beep code so far. I will try another memtest and hope it goes through this time - might have been an isolated incident.