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    x220 won't boot

    Discussion in 'Lenovo' started by MuF, Jan 8, 2012.

  1. MuF

    MuF Notebook Consultant

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    Hello,
    I can't boot my 2 weeks old x220, here's what happened/what I've tried:

    -running on battery, windows slept (not hibernated) the notebook
    -notebook couldn't be turned on even after several attempts, so the only way to reset it was to take the battery out
    -tried booting - nothing - black screen, no post, no beeps
    -tried the "press power button 10 times then hold it for 30s" alchemy
    -tried taking the hdd out, ram sticks (one at a time) out (still no beeps!)

    till now notebook was able to turn on (fan running, bluetooth icon on, green ring power button on)

    -tried unplugging the cmos battery

    from now on - notebook won't even turn on - the thinklight blinks for short period of time and then it shuts itself off

    -tried running from PSU without battery - this time only the "green ring" around the power button flashes once without thinklight flash.
    -tried different 90W psu
    -tried connecting external lcd if just the "lid closed" sensor isnt broken
    -tried booting while docked
    -now while prepared for rma it is equiped with original hdd, original ram, original psu, still nothing

    Any ideas what to do? I will RMA it as soon as I can but the finals are few days away and I CAN'T be without notebook and I didn't think lenovo would let me down like this :eek:
     
  2. Arrrrbol

    Arrrrbol Notebook Deity

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    Could be the BIOS.
     
  3. MuF

    MuF Notebook Consultant

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    Okay but how to fix it?
     
  4. brian5

    brian5 Notebook Evangelist

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    MuF,

    Odd problem but did you set a BIOS password? If so, you may want to look at this
     
  5. MuF

    MuF Notebook Consultant

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    No I did not, I'm not the overly paranoid type to secure my everything.

    I sent the notebook for RMA, will post how they've resolved this issue :)

    Thanks anyway.
     
  6. Tpol

    Tpol Newbie

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    MuF,

    Can you post your resolution? These symptoms sound precisely like mine.

    Thanks.
     
  7. MuF

    MuF Notebook Consultant

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    RMA'd and they've changed the motherboard - FYI it would be 80% of the price of new notebook if it wouldn't have been covered under warranty.

    however I still have issues with x220 that sometimes it can't boot - starts booting, no image on screen, HDD spinning up, then shutting down, waiting 3 seconds and then again trying to boot. this will last till
    a) long press of power on button (to turn the endless boot-loop off) in specific moment when it can be turned off
    or
    b) take out battery
     
  8. Aikimox

    Aikimox Weihenstephaner!

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    Does your Crucial M4 have the latest firmware? (3039 I think)
     
  9. MuF

    MuF Notebook Consultant

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    It has the latest firmware already flashed there, but those problems were there even with older firmware. My M4 has 1.5months of uptime so the 5000 hour bug shouldn't be it anyway.
     
  10. Tpol

    Tpol Newbie

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    I was able to get around the non-booting/no image issue yesterday by removing the notebook from the dock, removing the battery, plugging the power cord directly to the notebook, and booting like that.

    However, this morning I'm getting the same no-boot/no-image issue, and the battery trick does not seem to be working this time. :(
     
  11. Aikimox

    Aikimox Weihenstephaner!

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    Wow, this looks like a mobo power circuitry problem in combination with some other device (screen maybe?).
     
  12. Tpol

    Tpol Newbie

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    I think you're right. This is a company-supplied machine that I got only a few weeks ago, so I'm going to contact support for a replacement.

    Thanks everyone for their comments.
     
  13. MuF

    MuF Notebook Consultant

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    try resetting cmos by unplugging the battery...