Lenovo Yoga will not boot

[BO Terry]

I have a client's Lenovo Yoga 730-151kb that will not boot. When you press the power button, it lights briefly, as does the keyboard backlight. The fans also cycle. Nothing shows on the screen and no beep codes. I have tried:
Powering on with battery unplugged.
Powering on with the battery connected and no power cord.
All above with and without HDMI cable connected.
Pressing the Novo button for varying lengths of time (battery power & power cord).
I have looked for a CMOS battery to disconnect but can not find one.

It may be that it is has a bad mobo and, if that's the case, it's not worth the repair. Any other suggestions?

 

[johnrobert]

it sure looks that way, when I have this problem I remove all the memory and if it does not beep that's a bad sign

 

[thecomputerguy]

Yeah I'd more so call that a no POST not that it matters, we get the point, but a no POST like that sounds like a mobo, RAM is probably less than a 5% chance.

 

[Larry Sabo]

Have you tried recovering the BIOS?

 

[carmen617]

Those Lenovos have an odd proprietary power connector. Do you have another one around? Or you can order a cheap generic one from Amazon. It could be as simple as a bad power supply, I've had a few Lenovos in with the same symptoms and so keep a spare power supply around just to test. It's solved that problem for me a few times, and I looked like a real hero.

BTW, when that didn't solve the problem, it was a bad motherboard. I had a client who's college student's Yoga came with a 2 year warranty, and they were about 4 months out of it. I had them check how they bought the system, and turns out it was with an AMEX card that extended the warranty by an additional year. They filed a claim and got a $1600 refund from AMEX to purchase a new laptop. So, if it's dead, do a warranty check with Lenovo and have them look up how they originally purchased the system. Again, you can look like a hero, nothing wrong with that in our industry.

 

[BO Terry]

Have you tried recovering the BIOS?

@Larry Sabo I had not tried this. I'm going through the steps on the link you provided (thank you!). I get to step 6 and after pressing enter, I get "your machine does not match with this BIOS. Update process will be halted."

 

[BO Terry]

it sure looks that way, when I have this problem I remove all the memory and if it does not beep that's a bad sign

It only has onboard RAM so no luck there. Thanks

 

[Larry Sabo]

I get "your machine does not match with this BIOS. Update process will be halted."

What BIOS did you use? I can't find the BIOS for your model on Lenovo's site. Perhaps try entering the serial number of your patient and see if you can find it. I find the drivers and BIOS for the 730S-161WL model but I don't know if it is compatible or not.

EDIT: Here it is. Try this and let us know if it works.

 

[johnrobert]

Carmen had a good point about it being power you could check the voltage on battery should be around 12 V
see if it has any charge

 

[BO Terry]

What BIOS did you use? I can't find the BIOS for your model on Lenovo's site. Perhaps try entering the serial number of your patient and see if you can find it. I find the drivers and BIOS for the 730S-161WL model but I don't know if it is compatible or not.

EDIT: Here it is. Try this and let us know if it works.

That is the version I was using (7kcn31ww.exe). I searched using the serial number. Maybe I will try the process from a different computer and see if it makes a difference.

 

[BO Terry]

Carmen had a good point about it being power you could check the voltage on battery should be around 12 V
see if it has any charge

I don't have any way to check the voltage. Do you have a suggested tool for doing this? It would probably be good to have something on hand for future projects. In the meantime, I have a universal adapter with the proper connection. No luck with that so far but have it plugged in and lid closed and will check back on it in a bit.

 

[Markverhyden]

and turns out it was with an AMEX card that extended the warranty by an additional year.

That is an under utilized feature. Many major CC's have a benefit that handles that.

 

[Porthos]

That is an under utilized feature. Many major CC's have a benefit that handles that.

Until a client does it to you as an independent seller.