Thinkpads Forum

I purchased a brand new Thinkpad X220 (it has 1 year warranty), and after receiving it in the mail I have been fairly happy with it. I have previously owned an X301, and I currently use a T420s, but I have never had such a crippling low-level issue happen to my Thinkpad where I feel so helpless.


The X220 I received remains largely unmodified (same 4GB DDR3 DIMM stick, bluetooth, camera, i7 CPU, IPS LCD, etc.) with the exception of the HDD. When it came, I used it for 3 days with the included HDD, then I installed a 128GB SSD and re-installed my OS onto it and began using it like that. I experienced no problems (only the improvements to be expected using an SSD vs. an HDD) for a few days. Yesterday however, I was using the Thinkpad, closed the lid whilst on battery (my OS previously just locked the screen, no sleeping nor hibernating even!), and the problem started.


It was powered off, and when I try to power the X220 on, it blinks the keyboard LED (near the camera) and the green ring around the power button both flash for a short fraction of a second at the same time. It never gets anywhere close to performing POST (and showing the initial BIOS/Thinkpad logo screen). When the battery is in, and I plug in the power cord, nothing happens (not even the battery charging LED on the back/top lights up). When the battery is out, and I plug in the power cord, the sleep *and* battery LED both flash for a fraction of a second, and then I can try to boot it up and one time it will flash the keyboard light and front power button LED once like I mentioned before, but continue to be a brick after.


I can't imagine what I could do to fix this, as I have taken out the HDD/SDD and even the RAM in an attempt to see a difference in behaviour, but to no avail. Has anyone else had similar low-level power issues with their Thinkpad? Do you think the appropriate action to take is to ship this back to Lenovo for repair?

Try this old reset trick - Remove the battery and press the power button 10 times at 1 second intervals, then press and hold the power button for 30 seconds and then release it. Reinstall the battery then try to power up.

I tried this with both the power cord connected and disconnected. After I do this, I plug in the battery and when I try to power on, the keyboard LED, green circular power button LED, and the CAPS lock LED all flash simultaneously for a split second, then nothing.....


Do I have a brick?

Call Lenovo for service.

remove the SSD completely and try to power up the system with no drive.   if it boots past POST and shows an error that no storage device is found then you know it's your SSD.   i've seen failed SSDs lock up systems like that before.   the BIOS hangs pre-POST due to the unrecognizable controller and never proceeds any further.

the X220 will only show the battery light briefly if a charged battery is installed.   if no battery is installed, it will blink 3 times when first plugged in.   those actions are normal.

I had that exact same problem with X200. In the service they said that the contact between southbridge and motherboard was loose due to motherboard flaw, so one day the south bridge finally unsoldered because of the heat. They fixed it under the warranty.

erik wrote:remove the SSD completely and try to power up the system with no drive. if it boots past POST and shows an error that no storage device is found then you know it's your SSD. i've seen failed SSDs lock up systems like that before. the BIOS hangs pre-POST due to the unrecognizable controller and never proceeds any further.

the X220 will only show the battery light briefly if a charged battery is installed. if no battery is installed, it will blink 3 times when first plugged in. those actions are normal.

I already tried removing the SSD and even the RAM as well. The same behaviour happens. The only thing that slightly changes the behaviour is whether or not I have the battery installed. I have not been able to POST at all since this issue happened. At first, the battery light was blinking three times then turned off when I plugged the power cord in. Now it seems worse because it's not even doing that: when the battery is installed, nothing happens when I plug it in, and with the battery removed it no longer blinks green three times, but both the sleep 'moon' and the battery LED flash together and only once for a split second.

penartur wrote:I had that exact same problem with X200. In the service they said that the contact between southbridge and motherboard was loose due to motherboard flaw, so one day the south bridge finally unsoldered because of the heat. They fixed it under the warranty.

Interesting. This is probably what I will end up doing unless there are any last minute suggestions. This happened on a cold, cloudy day, so I would hope it wasn't an overheating issue, but I think something needs to be reconnected if the problem is so low-level and seemingly irreperable without opening it and examining the motherboard. I recently took the Thinkpad abroad to Europe though just after purchasing it in the USA, and I don't think it has international warranty. How can I check, and does this mean I need to ship it back to the USA for it to be repaired if I don't have it?


Thanks for the help.

april.ryan wrote:I recently took the Thinkpad abroad to Europe though just after purchasing it in the USA, and I don't think it has international warranty. How can I check, and does this mean I need to ship it back to the USA for it to be repaired if I don't have it?

more than likely it's covered under IWS.

enter your 4-digit machine type (ie: 4286) in the following site to check IWS eligibility:
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... d=LENV-IWS