Part 1:
The Scoop:
I received a W530 in excellent condition (without RAM/HDD/WWAN/Fingerprint/Smartcard/Ultrabay/Battery/Charger) from eBay, however it doesn't POST. Or rather, it posts only if the atmospheric pressure, humidity, air saturation, average kinetic energy generated by the random movement of all particles in the vicinity are just right.
The Specs:
- Model: 2447-2B0
- Motherboard: 04X1527
- Intel Core i7-3740QM (Quad Core)
- NVidia Quadro K2000M
- 1600x900 HD+
- 4 SO-DIMM Slots
On AC power, if the power button is pressed, it lights up for a second or two before turning off. None of the hardware spins up and not POST is achieved.
The Caveat:
Sometimes it boots into BIOS, and I can move around and change settings, before it shutting down randomly.
The Ritual:
I can very rarely get a BIOS prompt if I perform the ritual of:
- Remove AC cord
- Remove RAM chips
- Remove CMOS battery
- Unplug and replug AC-to-mobo
- Jam RAM chips into their sockets at 30 degree angles
- Replug CMOS battery
- 10-30x, 1-second power button presses followed by 10-30-second long-press
- Replug AC cord
- Spam powerbutton
- Rinse and repeat
- Optional: Leave it over-night for a guaranteed single POST before crash
- I've gotten 6 sticks of different DDR3 RAM of different PC3, size, rank, and voltage. They're confirmed to work on other machines.
- I got my hands on a genuine Lenovo 170W charger and I've tried it with another working Lenovo charger (90W), both are able to power the machine.
- I've disassembled and reassembled the entire thing and made sure all of the connectors are correct. WLAN is 2-prong, black on aux, grey on main.
- I've cleaned out the AC female and male connectors, the RAM sockets, and the CMOS prongs.
- I've tried every conceivable configuration of RAM, without any noticeable difference. Except, sometimes I get the regular 1-3-3-1 beep error when there's no RAM -- that's the only time I get beep errors.
- With or without HDD makes no difference if it goes into POST or not.
- I've repasted the heatsinks, and reseated the CPU and the heatsink multiple times
- I've tried a different working, socket-compatible CPU
- I've tried three different CMOS batteries and can confirm all are charged
- Resetting the BIOS through CMOS drains
- Testing all sorts of different hardware configurations (e.g nothing connected, everything connected, only certain things connected, etc.)
- Replacing the BIOS chips
I'm finished. After replacing the BIOS chips with a reflow station, the same problem persisted and I've given up on fixing it. I'm ordering a new motherboard once I return all of the accessories I used for testing.
For those in the near future reading this: Do it right the first time. This has been an incredible waste of time, money, and mental health. If your motherboard starts showing problems, replace it. The cost to fix it is usually more than the motherboard itself (in my case a new one is $200, but I could've made $200 instead of fiddling for days) and the stress isn't worth it. If it's a hobby project, then do whatever you want, but I made the mistake of trying to DIY repair something I needed, instead of replacing it and moving on with my business.
For those in the not-so-near future: Screw laptop motherboards. Screw laptop motherboard manufacturers. There are diagnostic pins on the motherboard, but Lenovo provides the bare minimum for user operation in the manuals they supply. If I had the pin logic schematics, this would've been a different type of ride.
GG NO RE
I'm a sucker for pain.