T520 4242Y11 bricked at BIOS-level

[terry_mccann]

Hi guys,

thanks for helping on the following problem:

- noticed after 4 years of use, that suddenly my NumLock key was turned off when in docking station, which was different before.
- went into BIOS to correct the setting for NumLock
- did so, saved BIOS settings, rebooted and since then the device is bricked.
- on every boot this happens:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4I40moHMsE
- no chance of getting into the BIOS or booting from any device.

What did I try?

- hardreset by removing battery and pressing Power On 10 times.
- dismantling of all frus I could get to
- tried booting from CD, Stick etc

But no chance, it always only boots to the message in the video and restarts in an endless loop.

Any ideas on that?
Cheers from Germany,
Arthur

[RealBlackStuff]

You need to replace the small round yellow CMOS battery.

[terry_mccann]

My bad, sorry, forgot to mention, tested with another battery from a working Thinkpad, but same result....

[imahustla]

I have no experience with lenovos but with other laptops full bricking means it wont even turn on, sometimes even charger light doesnt show up. Then you need external eeprogrammer and desolder bios chip and reflash it with clean dump / or file from manufactor site or forums.

what happens when you press thinkvantage button on first screen ?

Maybe try roll back old bios version with removing battery, take off ac power. Press Fn+R and same same time power button, keep pressing fn+r for 10secs. It could roll back previous bios version or recovery (atleast other laptops this sometimes works) If someting happens in 30sec, beeps etc just let it fully recovery.. dont shuttdown or press anything.

Try it atleast few times, remove also 2nd ram stick when doing this.

If that is not working you need to make bootable crisis USB with right bios file and use same FN+R to boot from it straight to crisis mode, dont interrupt anything while doing this it could brick it finally. If you hear beep sounds or activity on usb (takes 20-30secs sometimes) let it run until bios is recovered.

Someone with more knowledge on lenovos can answer better but if its bios then this helps.

[RealBlackStuff]

The T520 has an <unmentionable word> UEFI-BIOS, which makes life unnecessarily complicated.

Have a look here: https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/Lenovo-U-a ... d-p/332989
WARNING: the above link is for PHOENIX BIOS only, but it may give you some ideas!

[imahustla]

Actually dont try to remove bios chip before trying EVERYTHING else. Did you get to Crisis mode with FN + R, i think it could be also FN+B try that too?

You should get black screen without nothing and beeps etc.. if rollback wont work atleast you know how to get into bios recovery mode before making USB

RealBlackStuff: Could this be someting else than bios corruption? i have no experience with lenovo but i had very odd symptoms with failing northbridge / Gpu in hp and acer laptops

[terry_mccann]

Hi guys,

thanks for the replies, will check that today.

No removing of chips with me, cant do that. If all fails I am thinking of getting new board via german forum. I might be able to replace this myself, but removing, soldering and flashing chips is beyond me.

Will report back later on those FN-R-hints.

€dit
Back already, no results:

Turning off, pressing FN - R or FN - B and holding and then turning on changes nothing, no recory mode entered, it seems.

Burnt a boot CD with BIOS Update, but the system doesn't boot from any device. Removing SSD and only DVD-Drive present starts accessing the burnt CD, but before it starts booting that dreaded "Configuration Changed"-loop starts over, as in that youtube video in my first post.

Any more ideas?
Cheers.

€dit 2
There is some kind of effect when I remove battery, powersupply, then press FN - B - Power button and then plug in the power supply. But it again only revs up the boot cd, but after that same bootloop. No recovery of any kind starting.

[Puppy]

Looks like failed EEPROM. Lenovo used batch of cheap ones in X220 era https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/ThinkPad-X ... 223#M47835

Lenovo has identified an issue which affects a portion of Think and Idea systems that were manufactured between September and December 2011. The issue manifests as early life failures of the EEPROM chip and results in the system failing to power on or boot up. Not all of the systems manufactured during this period of time are affected. This is an industry component issue and is not limited to Lenovo.

[terry_mccann]

OK, it seemed to have been built in Oct 11....this would fit. Any idea an how to repair? New board needed or is there an easier way?