Thinkpads Forum

Hello,

Previously, I had overheating issues with my W520. The people that checked my laptop here in Bangladesh didn't have a replacement fan. The laptop was giving fan error. They connected the fan directly as they told me.

A week ago, my laptop started showing the fan error again. I took it apart and manually made the fan spin and then it started. However, since then, every time I connected the charger, the laptop would make a static sound and show greenish check marks on display and shutdown. Then it would restart but there would be nothing in the display. Totally blank. It worked fine without the AC adapter.

I saw this youtube video and wiggled a screw thing in the laptop to help with the Far Error thing. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdU5j7OxnGg). MAy be it's in part 2 where he does that opening and closing thing. I did that. Then, my laptop stopped booting altogether with or without AC adapter!! I took it to a service center here in Bangladesh. They kept it for a week and now are returning it to me saying that they don't know what's wrong. When I gave it to them, it wasn't booting up. I remember seeing the power button blink every time I would press it and the laptop not booting up.

Any help? I LOVE my PC and spent an awful lot buying it. I need it up and running. IF I can't get it fixed either by myself or technicians here, I will send the laptop to the UK as a final attempt.

P.S. Link to image of the thing I was talking about openign and closing inside the laptop with a flat headed screw driver: http://s9.postimg.org/l673yyg27/unnamed.jpg

From looking at the picture you linked to, it appears that is the CPU lock/unlock cam (screw). It is what keeps the CPU locked into the socket and more importantly, allows the pins of the CPU to be gripped by the socket. If the cam is left in any position other than LOCKED (the arrow/triangle pointing to the symbol of a lock or the cam fully rotated CLOCKWISE - hard to tell from the photo), then the CPU is not connected and the laptop will not boot.

It has NOTHING to do whatsoever with the fan. If the YouTube video said that, it is a mistake. If it happens that you turned the cam while the system was powered up, you may have damaged the CPU to the point where you will need a new one.

rkawakami wrote:From looking at the picture you linked to, it appears that is the CPU lock/unlock cam (screw). It is what keeps the CPU locked into the socket and more importantly, allows the pins of the CPU to be gripped by the socket. If the cam is left in any position other than LOCKED (the arrow/triangle pointing to the symbol of a lock or the cam fully rotated CLOCKWISE - hard to tell from the photo), then the CPU is not connected and the laptop will not boot.

I will go collect the laptop from them and see if the CPU lock/unlock screw is left in the unlocked position. IF IT IS SO, then I'd know that the technicians don't have a clue about what they are doing.

rkawakami wrote: It has NOTHING to do whatsoever with the fan. If the YouTube video said that, it is a mistake. If it happens that you turned the cam while the system was powered up, you may have damaged the CPU to the point where you will need a new one.

The video didn't say that the screw was for the fan or anything. It just showed that sometimes you can wiggle it and then the Fan Error goes away for some reason.

Anytime I tried to unscrew that thing, I had the AC power removed and the batteries taken off. Hopefully I didn't ruin my CPU.

P.S. From memory, it felt like I had to put in a lot of force to put it back to the locked position. Is that to be expected?

I've not personally tried doing this on a PGA989 socket (what your photo appears to show), but on a similar socket the cam usually has to be turned/rotated just past the point where it comes up against a "stop". There should be a noticeable 'click' when it's in the locked position. If I had to guess, I'd say it's about 2 lbs force (just less than 1kgfcm, if I did my conversion correctly).

Have some good news. Don't know if there is any bad news. I just came home with the laptop. It is now booting up and this is what it is showing me (Please note that the HDD isn't inside):

In sequence:

1. http://s13.postimg.org/6ajlo9f6f/IMG_0068.jpg

2. http://s13.postimg.org/rmr3lxz4n/IMG_0069.jpg

3. http://s13.postimg.org/f4ai5d253/IMG_0075.jpg

4. http://s13.postimg.org/fjlrydo2f/IMG_0072.jpg

Given that it is booting up, I think they connected the processor properly. Now I will have to take some time and figure out what the laptop is trying to tell me. By the way, they didn't put in the new fan. They can't for some reason. ANY help will be much appreciated. Thank you very much for helping me out.

Looks like they disconnected the yellow round CMOS battery.
Check if it is connected again, if not, do so.
Then You need to go into BIOS to set Date/Time.
If you read the HMM, you could replace the fan yourself.
https://download.lenovo.com/ibmdl/pub/p ... 078_08.pdf
You'll also need to replace the thermal paste between CPU and new fan.
See here for instructions: http://www.arcticsilver.com/pdf/appmeth ... d_v1.1.pdf

RealBlackStuff wrote:Looks like they disconnected the yellow round CMOS battery.
Check if it is connected again, if not, do so.
Then You need to go into BIOS to set Date/Time.
If you read the HMM, you could replace the fan yourself.
https://download.lenovo.com/ibmdl/pub/p ... 078_08.pdf
You'll also need to replace the thermal paste between CPU and new fan.
See here for instructions: http://www.arcticsilver.com/pdf/appmeth ... d_v1.1.pdf

OMG! Thanks for all that info and resources.

I will perform the operations and get back with the result.

I am a bit worried about dealing with thermal paste though. I'll try to buy some from here in Bangladesh. For now, let me try to connect the CMOS battery and see how the system responds after that. I'm guessing that the Fan Error should still be there.

Would the HMM contain info on where to look for the webcam and mic connections? The last guy who opened my laptop up kept them disconnected.

So....

I opened the thing up and can't seem to find the CMOS battery. Let me link some images so that you guys can tell me if you can spot where it is. My machine type is 4276-CTO.

Image 1: http://s11.postimg.org/jqgbi45cj/Full_Size_Render.jpg

I discovered these red and blue wires that I don't recall seeing before. They are hanging out in the area where the HMM said I should find my CMOS battery. Does anywhere know what these open ended and insulated wires are for:

http://s11.postimg.org/3xfyfe7tf/IMG_0077.jpg

http://s11.postimg.org/3urhetes3/IMG_0078.jpg

The screw/cam for the processor is now set to locked position. The following images show that:

http://s11.postimg.org/6atasnwur/IMG_0079.jpg

http://s11.postimg.org/tetrl905v/IMG_0080.jpg

Now my problem for now is to find the CMOS battery!! Can't spot it!

MOD Warning: pictures are way too big! Tags removed. Read the Forum Rules, especially Section 5.

Read the HMM.
CMOS battery is also known as Backup battery.

I just figured that the CMOS battery is missing along with a part I can't identify!! Look at my laptop's internal and this one:

http://s10.postimg.org/oqbde2vft/show.png


I don't have the CMOS battery there and an entire component is missing! Perhaps that explains the red and blue strange wires?


@Mod sorry about the giant pictures!

Only your CMOS battery is missing.
The card you see in the other picture is an (optional) WWAN card, which your machine did not have (that's why your red/blue wires still have rubber protectors).

RealBlackStuff wrote:Only your CMOS battery is missing.
The card you see in the other picture is an (optional) WWAN card, which your machine did not have (that's why your red/blue wires still have rubber protectors).

Then why do I vividly remember seeing this type of black protecting paper thing over that region where the WWAN card was supposed to be? I swear that I remember seeing that type of black protection cover in that area.

If my laptop doesn't rely on that for wifi/internet connectivity, then I guess it is possible that they just had the protection there without having the card inside.

I hope you are right and there won't be much drama over that when I visit them to get back my CMOS battery.

That black thing is only a piece of carton to make it look better.
Absolutely no need for it.
Those "technicians" probably kept it AND the CMOS-battery, because they appear to be a bunch of amateurs.

Alright! Took my laptop to them again and told them about the missing CMOS battery. They took my laptop inside and after a while brought it back to me and said that they put the battery. Came home and tested the system and the identical errors were being displayed. As expected, FAN ERROR was there. On top of that, the Bad CRC error was there too along with the date time error (as I've shown in the previous images I posted).

So I took it apart again and checked. I discovered that the battery wasn't yellow with FRU printed like in other images online. It was a blue one. Here is the image of the battery:

http://s17.postimg.org/9b2lvcc3j/IMG_0090.jpg

Is this the battery that was supposed to be inside?

I then tried to disconnect the battery and reconnect as shown below:

http://s17.postimg.org/6waqawvun/IMG_0092.jpg

None of that seems to have made any difference. I am still getting the same error.

Therefore, I tried to go into BIOS options. Pressing the ThinkVantage blue button didn't do anything besides taking me to that final error screen like before. If you look at one of the first pictures I posted ( http://s13.postimg.org/f4ai5d253/IMG_0075.jpg ), you will notice that it gives me the option to enter some Intel Boot Agent. I entered that and this is what I get:

http://s17.postimg.org/6i9ebbbr3/IMG_0093.jpg

Where do I go from this?

The battery is a proper replacement and should work OK.
You need to go into BIOS by pressing F1 a few times immediately at boot up, then set Date and Time, press F10 to save.
You should now be able to boot from a HD/CD.

RealBlackStuff wrote:The battery is a proper replacement and should work OK.
You need to go into BIOS by pressing F1 a few times immediately at boot up, then set Date and Time, press F10 to save.
You should now be able to boot from a HD/CD.

I tried the pressing F1 thing and it said Entering Setup and that was followed by the same 3 errors!

On top of that, I had the laptop charging since I posted. I picked it up after reading your response and the place directly underneath where the CMOS battery is, that is to say that the part underneath where the internal WWAN card should have been got really hot! That scares me. Also, I noticed that the green indicator light wasn't staying on indefinitely. It was blinking some every 10-15 seconds while charging.

After you get those errors press Esc to continue booting into BIOS to set date/time.
It seems that your motherboard has more than just BIOS errors...

RealBlackStuff wrote:After you get those errors press Esc to continue booting into BIOS to set date/time.
It seems that your motherboard has more than just BIOS errors...

Does't work

No matter how many times I press the ESC key, the laptop shuts itself down.

Edit: I kinda feel like the Fan Error is making the laptop shut itself down to protect the processors from overheating. Just my guess. IF that is the case, shouldn't plugging in the brand new fan I have in place of the faulty one help? That should make it such that a Fan Error won't happen and I will get to keep the laptop running and enter bios. Just guessing here!

The fan error should cause the system to automatically shut down so you will not be able to access BIOS until this error is fixed. Yes, if the "new" fan is fully functional, it should allow the system to boot.

You can connect any fan from a compatible laptop during power on, try to find a fan from laptops like T520/T530/W530, and probably many more will be compatible.

Do not leave the laptop running for long time this way, because the real fan connected to the heatsink will be disconnected, couple of minutes maximum.

hhhd1 wrote:You can connect any fan from a compatible laptop during power on, try to find a fan from laptops like T520/T530/W530, and probably many more will be compatible.

Do not leave the laptop running for long time this way, because the real fan connected to the heatsink will be disconnected, couple of minutes maximum.

I already have a new fan. I ordered online and got it from IBM. Therefore, the technicians should now be able to put that one in. I hope they will be familiar with thermal paste and all that.

Updates:

- Got the fan put in place. It seems to be working fine. However, this new technician at a new place pointed out that there is a design/manufacture problem with the heating assembly IBM sent me. One of the screws of one of the contact plates can't be used because that is so close to the other contact plate's screw that they rub against each other and won't let the screw pass through. I'll post a pic sometime.

So I put my hard drive back in.

- The Fan Error is gone. The only error left was the date and time. As suggested on here, I went to bios and set the date and time. That got rid of the error. Then there was a blank screen followed by the message that "ME is in recovery mode". Link to picture:
http://s16.postimg.org/i48ywxxlg/IMG_0127.jpg

This screen changed to a blank one. It stayed that way for some 5-8 mins and I shut it down by holding the power button for some time.

- Then I tried booting it up again and pressed the blue ThinkVantage button. It showed me the "ME is in recovery mode" thing again. However, it then proceeded to this screen of windows repairing itself:

http://s16.postimg.org/5e4qjupn9/IMG_0128.jpg

Followed by: http://s16.postimg.org/g28hiozmd/IMG_0129.jpg

I tried the Startup Repair option. That was followed by an automatic reboot, showing the "ME is in recovery mode" again followed by the "Starting Windows" screen. It has been stuck there for a good 30 mins now.

Any suggestions?


MORE UPDATES:

The auto repair thing is saying that it can't repair. This is what it showed me:

http://s24.postimg.org/baam7b5sl/IMG_0130.jpg

I clicked on the details and this is what they show:

http://s24.postimg.org/am1rod72t/IMG_0131.jpg

http://s24.postimg.org/emdiecmxh/IMG_0132.jpg

http://s24.postimg.org/mdu8cwr2t/IMG_0133.jpg

http://s16.postimg.org/camid9wlx/IMG_0134.jpg

http://s16.postimg.org/u1y4rqc0l/IMG_0135.jpg

What I can get from that is that the computer can't find the OS files. I guess it's not looking hard enough as I'm more than sure that it's all in there in the HDD. Lazy ba*tard!


Now I have the options to go with Startup Repair again or one of the following:
- System Restore (update: tried it and it says that I have no restore points saved. I doubt if that is actually true)
- System Image recovery (update: similar issues as above)
- Windows Memory Diagnostic
- Command Prompt
- Lenovo Product Recovery

Scratching my head and wondering why me!? I read somewhere that the ME error thing indicates an issue with BIOS and can be resolved by updating the BIOS. If that is true, I have to figure out how to do it using a USB stick as I can't log on to windows. Why is that Command Prompt option there at all?

MSKFAHIM wrote:I read somewhere that the ME error thing indicates an issue with BIOS and can be resolved by updating the BIOS. If that is true, I have to figure out how to do it using a USB stick as I can't log on to windows.

You may not need to do that as Lenovo provides a bootable CD image for BIOS updates:

http://support.lenovo.com/us/en/downloads/ds018887

You will need a computer that has a CD writer and a program that can properly handle an .ISO image file. CDBurnerXP comes to mind as it's freely available for downloading from here:

http://www.cdburnerxp.se/

rkawakami wrote:

MSKFAHIM wrote:I read somewhere that the ME error thing indicates an issue with BIOS and can be resolved by updating the BIOS. If that is true, I have to figure out how to do it using a USB stick as I can't log on to windows.

You may not need to do that as Lenovo provides a bootable CD image for BIOS updates:

http://support.lenovo.com/us/en/downloads/ds018887

You will need a computer that has a CD writer and a program that can properly handle an .ISO image file. CDBurnerXP comes to mind as it's freely available for downloading from here:

http://www.cdburnerxp.se/

Thanks. All of that is doable. I'll try to do that by today and will post the results. I read that the ME error thing makes it difficult for the computer to access the hard drive. That might explain why no OS files were being found. I hope to God that the bios update solves this mystery!

rkawakami wrote:

MSKFAHIM wrote:I read somewhere that the ME error thing indicates an issue with BIOS and can be resolved by updating the BIOS. If that is true, I have to figure out how to do it using a USB stick as I can't log on to windows.

You may not need to do that as Lenovo provides a bootable CD image for BIOS updates:

http://support.lenovo.com/us/en/downloads/ds018887

You will need a computer that has a CD writer and a program that can properly handle an .ISO image file. CDBurnerXP comes to mind as it's freely available for downloading from here:

http://www.cdburnerxp.se/

I used that software to burn the ISO and it gave me this error:

http://s4.postimg.org/60vpnk38t/disk_fail.png

The funny thing is, when I tried to burn again using the same disc, it said that the disc has 0 space left. So I checked it's properties and it the file size (used space) is identical to the ISO file size. Not sure if I should use this to boot up my laptop or would that be highly risky!

MSKFAHIM wrote:The funny thing is, when I tried to burn again using the same disc, it said that the disc has 0 space left. So I checked it's properties and it the file size (used space) is identical to the ISO file size. Not sure if I should use this to boot up my laptop or would that be highly risky!

Don't use it because it's a failed burn. OTOH it probably won't boot anyway. I usually buy 2 extra blank discs to cover burn failures. With discs to spare, I can try another burning program or even plug in a different CD/DVD-RW drive as needed.

For all my ISO files I always use ImgBurn, using the slowest speed.

Update:

- Managed to burn the ISO file onto a disc.
- Followed the Lenovo instructions for BIOS update and this is what I got:

http://s24.postimg.org/j6h84vfhx/IMG_0201.jpg

http://s24.postimg.org/omzvz98vp/IMG_0202.jpg

http://s24.postimg.org/skn5onvp1/IMG_0203.jpg

http://s24.postimg.org/dm4qu8gmt/IMG_0199.jpg

http://s24.postimg.org/ldlgssks5/IMG_0204.jpg

http://s24.postimg.org/g0wmenwvp/IMG_0206.jpg

http://s24.postimg.org/e3zwa367p/IMG_0207.jpg

http://s24.postimg.org/ya3e8z1v9/IMG_0208.jpg


So the flashing happened. That was followed by a reboot. Which took me to that same [censored] "ME is in recovery mode" screen again. That was followed by a blank screen for a while and how I see the Starting Windows screen (seeing it for 15 mins now).

Sounds to me like the Intel Management firmware. There should be an option in BIOS to reset or disable the Intel Management stuff; I'd try that next. The Intel Management firmware is independent (but linked to) the BIOS, so a BIOS reset/flash wouldn't necessarily clear the IME state.

theterminator93 wrote:Sounds to me like the Intel Management firmware. There should be an option in BIOS to reset or disable the Intel Management stuff; I'd try that next. The Intel Management firmware is independent (but linked to) the BIOS, so a BIOS reset/flash wouldn't necessarily clear the IME state.

I actually know very little about that. However, I am more than willing to give that a go. I don't know which version of what to update.

Will this one do for my PC? : http://support.lenovo.com/bd/bn/product ... s/DS014884

Hope it gives me something bootable.

Edit: Looks to me like something which can only be done once windows is already up and running.