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X200s - Extremely Slow BIOS Start

Posted: Fri Nov 13, 2009 10:25 am
by lipoff
Hi everyone,

I've had an X200s for some time, and I have been very impressed.

Recently I upgraded the BIOS to v.3.10 and now experience extremely slow reboots. This does not seem to be a Windows problem --- from power-off the machine takes about 10-15 MINUTES to reach the BIOS screen (where you can press the ThinkVantage key to enter the BIOS). After that, it boots windows normally (i.e. in about 30 seconds).

A few days before I installed the BIOS upgrades, I dropped the X200s very hard while it was running. I didn't see any physical damage, and I use an SSD so I didn't worry about HDD damage. I didn't restart the machine until a few days later when it automatically restarted after installing the BIOS upgrade.

So I don't know whether this new behavior is due to the hard knock, or the BIOS upgrade.

I have done a few things:

1) I downgraded the BIOS to version 3.08 and then version 3.07. There has been no change in the boot time. I am not sure what version I was running before the upgrade.

2) I re-seated the SSD and I reseated both RAM chips. I thought that perhaps the boot time was due to a memory integrity check on an imporperly seated chip. There has been no change in the boot time.

I can continue to downgrade the BIOS to even earlier versions and see if it makes a difference, and I can open up the entire case to look for any unseated chips.

But has anyone experienced this problem?

Many thanks,

Re: X200s - Extremely Slow BIOS Start

Posted: Sun Nov 15, 2009 4:13 pm
by mesament
I have the same issue with a X301. Called Lenovo and they had me send machine back. Said it was a faulty BIOS update. I hope so!!

Steve

Re: X200s - Extremely Slow BIOS Start

Posted: Sat Nov 21, 2009 11:53 am
by obarriel
The same problem here after updating to 3.10 in a X200s. Takes about 10 min to show something in the screen, after that it boots normally.

There must be something wrong with this bios upgrade.

I am going to reflash bios, if this don't works I will call Lenovo.

Re: X200s - Extremely Slow BIOS Start

Posted: Sat Nov 21, 2009 1:12 pm
by obarriel
According to Lenovo forums this seems to be a quite common issue with this bios update.

I have already solved this problem by disconnecting the backup battery during a while. The instructions to reach this battery here:
http://download.lenovo.com/ibmdl/pub/pc ... 632_04.pdf