P72 access BIOS?

[thumperer]

Hello all,
I cant figure out how to reach the BIOS on my new P72... there is no Thinkvantage button as I am used to. Tried F1, tried F2, tried F12, tried ESC but nothing works.

Help PLS,
Matt

[dr_st]

It's been F1 on every Thinkpad. Can't see why it would be different on P72. Try Fn+F1 in case the Fn key lock is working in strange ways.

If it doesn't work then answer these please: Which OS do you have installed? Are you trying to enter the BIOS after shutdown or after restart? Do you see the Lenovo splash screen logo?

[thumperer]

Fn+F1 doesnt work.
I have been trying it on booting from full shutdown. Win10 64

[dr_st]

I have been trying it on booting from full shutdown. Win10 64

That's your problem. Win10 (unless you disable Fast startup) does not fully shutdown the PC when full shutdown is used and for whatever reason, BIOS cannot be normally accessed at least on some systems, Thinkpads included when you boot after this (I think it's the same from Win8 really).

Try it from restart and you'll be able to access the BIOS.

You can disable Fast startup if this issue bothers you. The trick I found which works for me, because I have a hard drive password set is this:
1. Turn PC on - cannot access BIOS but HD password prompt comes up
2. Turn PC off with button at this point
3. Turn PC on again - now it treats it as a full cold boot and you can access the BIOS (still need to input the HD password, though)

I like it because it allows me to benefit from fast startup, yet still be able to access the BIOS from shutdown on the rare occasions that I need it (the HD password is mandatory for me anyways).

[farmall]

WARNING!
Check the Lenovo forums and ensure you have the latest flash as there were MANY bricked P72s due to firmware problems.

Begin by googling " p72 bricked bios site:forums.lenovo.com " .

I found out about this while researching the P72 I just ordered. I learned long ago to check in advance so I did. When it arrives I'll verify the version before making any changes because a notebook could have been in storage since they first came out.

[w0qj]

Hate to say it, the same (small?) chance of bricked UEFI-BIOS may also apply to the current generation of workstations same as yours:
~X1 Extreme Gen 1 (X1E1), bricking may happen by updating UEFI-BIOS, or another user changing UEFI-BIOS setting as recently as Feb'2019.
~ThinkPad Thunderbolt 3 Workstation Dock (P/N 40AN0230UK), the one with 230W AC adapter. Updating its firmware may brick the dock in Mar'2019.
~P52/P52s also bricking may happen by updating UEFI-BIOS.

***I personally suspect this bricking may be related to compatibility problems with the newer Intel-proprietary Thunderbolt 3 'standard'.
***One clue is X1E1 user changing UEFI-BIOS setting for Thunderbolt 3 would brick the X1E1 as recently as Feb'2019, and this was bricked without even updating the UEFI-BIOS of X1E1.

(Anyways, at least for X1 Extreme Gen 1, there's been little or no users complaining about bricked UEFI-BIOS for the past 3 months, so perhaps maybe it's OK to update now).

WARNING!
Check the Lenovo forums and ensure you have the latest flash as there were MANY bricked P72s due to firmware problems.

Begin by googling " p72 bricked bios site:forums.lenovo.com " .

I found out about this while researching the P72 I just ordered. I learned long ago to check in advance so I did. When it arrives I'll verify the version before making any changes because a notebook could have been in storage since they first came out.

[farmall]

I switched to a P52 (got a better deal) which can be affected but mine has the latest flash and no issues.