Lenovo IdeaCentre B540 AIO - no BIOS/UEFI display, but boots normally

[NJW]

The subject machine has a failed hard drive and will no longer boot from it, nor from a clone to another drive. It will boot from a (UEFI capable) boot CD/DVD, but not from anything MBR formatted. Originally delivered with Windows 8(.1?), is was upgraded to Windows 10 by the owner, probably a couple of years ago, and has been working fine until the hard drive problem. The processor is an i3, with no separate discrete graphics.

I'm presuming, therefore, that the BIOS is in Secure Mode and with a specific disk set as the boot drive. The Windows 10 installer refuses to install to a replacement drive, reporting that the BIOS wouldn't be able to boot from it. No problem, just change the boot sequence ... and there's the rub.

I can use F1 at startup to interrupt the normal boot, but I only get to a blank screen – backlight on, no display. In this state, I can use the front panel controls (e.g., brightness) and the OSD overlay shows as expected. The USB keyboard NumLock and CapsLock lights are not responsive (should they be?). (The OEM keyboard is USB, so I would expect this to be fine within the BIOS, just not sure about the lock status lights.)

From this blank screen, I can't find any combination of Esc, F10 and Enter that will get me out of it. AFAIK, it's a normal, text-mode BIOS utility, not a mouse-driven graphic thing.

I have:

• inspected the motherboard visually;
• attempted clearing the BIOS (battery out overnight; apparently no shorting link/pads to force clear, but the RTC is reset);
• visual inspection of the power supply - OK;
• checked power supply outputs (only outputs are 12 V and 5 Vsb) and they're within 0.1 V and no excessive ripple;
• reseated the CPU, just in case;
• swapped memory modules (removed, changed slot); no difference, even with no memory installed (no beeps or other complaints);
• Edit to add: removed Wi-Fi, optical drive, TV card - no change.

I have found a couple of similar cases on the Interwebs (e.g., Badcaps forum), but they ended in either scrapping or motherboard replacement.

I'd like to reflash the BIOS, but being a consumer Lenovo, there are no BIOS files to be had (unless someone know otherwise) - all updates are supplied by the Lenovo update utility, which requires a working Windows. I'm about to try that using a bootable Win XPE CD, but I'm not optimistic as I expect it to want to write to the UEFI partition.

Any ideas? (For fixing, not just resolving ... )

 

[HFultzjr]

I once remember I had a heck of a time getting to the BIOS on a Lenovo, due to there "One Key" recovery option. What a PITA.
I'm sorry, but I don't remember how I finally solved it, but maybe these will give you some ideas.
Good luck, sorry I can't be of more help. Maybe someone else will come along with a solution.

Recommended way to enter BIOS for Lenovo Desktops & All-In-Ones - Windows - Lenovo Support US

pcsupport.lenovo.com

Recommended way to enter BIOS - ideapad - Lenovo Support US

pcsupport.lenovo.com

Recommended way to enter BIOS for Lenovo Desktops & All-In-Ones - Windows - Lenovo Support US

support.lenovo.com

 

[HCHTech]

No beeps when attempting to boot without RAM sure makes me think failed motherboard...

Edit: That, plus Windows 8 means made between 10/12 and 7/15, so the youngest it could be is 5.5 yrs old...

 

[Markverhyden]

According to the service manual, page 5, if you don't see the Setup Utility, hitting F1 when powering on, it has a Admin/Power On password.

Note: If a Power-On Password or an Administrator Password has been set, the Setup Utility program menu is not displayed until you type your password. For more information, see “Using passwords.

But it also sounds like the logic board is toast.

 

[NviGate Systems]

What happens if you manually install Windows?

By manually, I mean partition the drive and use dism to apply image and update BCD and boot options.

Over the years I've had systems that required a manual approach. They could never install on OS themselves. I distinctly recall Lenovo being one of those.

 

[NJW]

Thanks for the suggestions.

Just to recap the salient points and update on progress:

• BIOS is in Secure Mode, so can only boot from the specified (in BIOS boot order) hard drive or the optical drive - no booting from USB, no booting from poorly configured "UEFI bootable" utility CDs, no booting from substitute hard drive.
• BIOS setup is not available - keyboard hotkey F1 ends in black screen with backlight; keyboard hotkeyF12 Boot order -> BIOS Setup ends the same way.
• Original HDD has many pending reallocations and reallocated sectors, currently not booting ('No operating system found').

The original disk doesn't need to be saved or recovered; all user data is backed up (I know, amazing!). Of course, that original drive has the right UUID for Secure Boot, which is its unique value (no pun intended) at the moment.

Anyway, having put it all back together again, I was able to get into the Lenovo recovery utility and restore the original factory image (Win 8). This is to the original drive, which is now bootable and I have an image of that. I presume that rewriting the restore image forced the pending reallocations and repaired the boot stuff.

With the original drive available again, I have upgraded to Windows 10, applied updates and taken an image. Today's schedule is shrinking to a smaller SSD and finding out how hard it is to clone the disk UUID ...

@HFultzjr : Yes, I can do that, and it appears to work, but the setup never appears on the screen.

@HCHTech : But it boots Windows (PE and subsequently original Windows 8) and works fine, it's just the BIOS access. No beeps may be more like there's no beeper on the board.

@Markverhyden : Yes, I saw that, but there's no password entry prompt or any feedback from typing. It may be the cause (client doesn't know of a Power-on/Admin password, quelle surprise ...) but it doesn't smell right. Anyway, there's no way to clear it without Lenovo's help, which is a long way further on than right now, probably never.

@NviGate Systems : Good suggestion, I hadn't thought of it. I suspect that the UUID will be a problem, but I'll give it a go.

Fingers crossed for a resolution today, between everything else.

 

[nlinecomputers]

Now that it's bootable can you get into the BIOS via windows?

 

[HCHTech]

@nlinecomputers, that's what I was thinking. @NJW, Wow - well, here's hoping you aren't just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic, as they say. I'm all for burning some time to learn, but this sounds like an extreme case of that. Only you can do the math on whether the time spent on this project was valuable.

 

[NJW]

Now that it's bootable can you get into the BIOS via windows?

No, there's no UEFI option in Troubleshooting -> Advanced. I wouldn't be surprised if it's some half-baked Lenovo thing, rather than a real UEFI, especially given its age (2013, by the way – I know, I know ...). The factory restore didn't pull the BIOS key, either. Fortunately, it previously had Win10 installed, so that has activated (as expected).

@HCHTech : Yes, the deckchairs are now all sorted by colour. Actually, there's nothing else pressing work-wise, so it was a bit of a diversion.

So, the epilogue.

I can't get any other disk, neither HDD nor SSD to boot, cloned by Clonezilla or Acronis; any drive other than the original hangs the boot (no POST) even if it's blank, so I'm at the end of the line. It is still booting with the original drive, but it's clearly in a bad way and should be taken out and shot. Along with most of us, I'm not a fan of Lenovo consumer stuff, doubly so with AIOs, but it serves/served the client well for what he needs. It's going back, with no warranty, and a recommendation for a business refurb, which I happen to have in stock. The experience has confirmed some prejudices.

Thanks for the contributions.