Lenovo ThinkPad X131e bad BIOS?

[azc]

Have a Lenovo X131e laptop that 95% of the time does not work. Pressing the power button lights the LED but shows no other signs of life. However, 5% of the time, it works perfectly fine, and it passes the POST and it loads the OS. It remains working until you restart the computer, at which time it then fails in the same manner as usual.

 

Have had a few other X131e's that had the same problem, and they went back to Lenovo under warranty. They came back fixed and the repair ticket said that the BIOS was updated.

 

Unfortunately this laptop is no longer under warranty, so I've been trying to get the BIOS updated during the rare times it actually boots.

 

Firstly I tried using the BIOS updater for Windows, which complained that it couldn't read the current BIOS files. That suggested to me that something in the BIOS is corrupt.

 

So next I've tried using the bootable ISO from a CD. This has given variable results from being unable to read the current BIOS to being unable to even start the flash process because "memory cannot be allocated, and the process did not complete".

 

Seeing the mention of memory caused me to run a full pass of Memtest86+, which indicated no errors.

 

I've tried removing the CMOS battery, I've tried discharging the system by holding down the power button with all sources of power disconnected, I've tried running it without the battery, I've tried without any RAM (it beeps, which is a good sign), and I've tried it with only one RAM module. I can find no rhyme or reason why it boots fine sometimes but usually just sits there being grumpy.

 

Anyone have any similar experiences? Any advice gratefully received.

 

Many thanks.

[mac_shinobi]

I would say replace RAM Module with a decent memory module ( crucial / Kingston etc so not Hynix )

 

Replace the cmos battery with a new one

 

Try and power up and flash the bios via cd I would say

 

Only other thing is the power supply you are using , is it definitely the correct power supply that outputs enough wattage to charge and run that model of laptop

 

Only reason I ask is that we had a model of T410 that had similar powering on issues and it turns out it needed a higher wattage power supply and NOT the standard 65w 20v jobby

 

What do you think @ICTDirect_Dave or @Arthur

Edited April 24, 2014 by mac_shinobi

[azc]

So I've done some more searching and it turns out there's other people with the same problem, and that it's not limited to Lenovo laptops.

 

https://www.google.co.uk/#q=failed+to+read+bios+from+rom+%22status+1604%22

 

So perhaps it's a failure of a certain manufacturer of UEFI BIOS software. I will be doing more research on this today to see if anyone in those search results has figured it out.

 

mac_shinobi, I've tried flashing via the CD and it gives the same errors. I believe the RAM to be good given that it passes tests with Memtest86+ and also that when it does boot everything works perfectly. Bad RAM would cause great instability whilst running Windows. CMOS battery seems good. It retains all the settings and behaves as expected when disconnected and reconnected. Power supply is definitely the correct Lenovo supply. We have over 200 of these X131e laptops.

 

I'll post back here if I make any progress.

[ICTDirect_Dave]

Have a Lenovo X131e laptop that 95% of the time does not work. Pressing the power button lights the LED but shows no other signs of life. However, 5% of the time, it works perfectly fine, and it passes the POST and it loads the OS. It remains working until you restart the computer, at which time it then fails in the same manner as usual.

 

Have had a few other X131e's that had the same problem, and they went back to Lenovo under warranty. They came back fixed and the repair ticket said that the BIOS was updated.

 

Unfortunately this laptop is no longer under warranty, so I've been trying to get the BIOS updated during the rare times it actually boots.

 

Firstly I tried using the BIOS updater for Windows, which complained that it couldn't read the current BIOS files. That suggested to me that something in the BIOS is corrupt.

 

So next I've tried using the bootable ISO from a CD. This has given variable results from being unable to read the current BIOS to being unable to even start the flash process because "memory cannot be allocated, and the process did not complete".

 

Seeing the mention of memory caused me to run a full pass of Memtest86+, which indicated no errors.

 

I've tried removing the CMOS battery, I've tried discharging the system by holding down the power button with all sources of power disconnected, I've tried running it without the battery, I've tried without any RAM (it beeps, which is a good sign), and I've tried it with only one RAM module. I can find no rhyme or reason why it boots fine sometimes but usually just sits there being grumpy.

 

Anyone have any similar experiences? Any advice gratefully received.

 

Many thanks.

 

Sounds like you've covered most of the key bases there, I'd say that if the bootable iso for flashing the bios isn't working that you've got issues in the bios or on the MB at least. If you can't reset or flash the bios, and you know the RAM is good (have you tried the RAM in a different laptop?) then I reckon you'll be looking for a new MB.

 

I would say replace RAM Module with a decent memory module ( crucial / Kingston etc so not Hynix )

 

Hynix is brilliant and Kingston regularly rebrand Hynix chips on their memory so don't worry about that

 

Only reason I ask is that we had a model of T410 that had similar powering on issues and it turns out it needed a higher wattage power supply and NOT the standard 65w 20v jobby

 

What do you think @ICTDirect_Dave or @Arthur

 

Usually a Lenovo with inadequate psu will tell you so during boot. T410s in particular should work just fine on the 65W PSU providing you're not rocking an i7 CPU. If you're having problems due to a psu but not seeing the error then it's likely a faulty psu or system board problem on the laptop side of things.

[difinity]

What about removing the BIOS chip and flashing with an external programmer ?

[azc]

That's beyond my abilities, I'm afraid, but thanks for the suggestion.