Lenovo n580 boot issues

Hey everyone,

I have a Lenovo n580 running Windows 8.1. I am usually decent when it comes to computer issues, but this has me pretty perplexed.

While starting up, there is a faint, steady beeping noise. BIOS cannot be accessed. After, a brief error message appears:

"Intel UNDI, PXE-2.0 (build 083)
Copyright (c) 1997-2000 Intel Corporation

For Atheros PCIE Ethernet Controller v2.1.0.9(08/12/11)

Check cable connection!
PXE-MQF: Exiting Intel PXE ROM"

After the error message, a blank screen (although still lit) remains.

After some research, I removed the HDD and dusted out the components. The problem still remains.

Here is a link to a short youtube video of the sound and screenshots
http://youtu.be/1Gcj80K03G8

Any help would be appreciated. My wife will kill me if some of the photos/videos are lost! I purchased lenovo due to having countless HP/Compaq laptops that burn out after 2-3 years. I have barely had this lenovo for two years. Maybe it's me after all!

 

It could be the CMOS battery on the motherboard. It's usually a 3 volt CR2032. It costs about $1.

 

Was there something that led you to that idea? Is this pretty common? Thanks for such a quick response!

 

Quote:
"...there is a faint, steady beeping noise. BIOS cannot be accessed."

Keep in mind, I said: "It could be..."

I'm not going to say it's common, but it does happen. And there are unscrupulous 'technicians' who will tell you the motherboard needs to be replaced.

 

Ok at least it's a solid start! Now I just have to research how to access the CMOS battery. Lenovo's website leaves much to be desired...

 

Update: I connected the HDD to another computer via an external SATA/usb connection. I have isolated the beeping to the actual HDD itself.

So, I'm thinking the HDD is shot :-( any thoughts? Any way to salvage the info? Or is the beeping noise equivalent to a flat heartline?

 

You need to go into the BIOS, and change the settings for the LAN/PXE-ROM. You need to turn off network boot, disable it in the boot order, or change the boot order so it is dead last to be recognized.

What the PC is doing is looking for a network boot via an ethernet connection which does not exist.

 

BIOS isn't accessible anymore. That would have been an great though.

 

Why is the BIOS no longer accessible?

 

Not quite sure. I wish It was! Normally f2 takes you to BIOS but it doesn't give you the option anymore. (See the youtube video)

 

The PIA is that you're running Win8. If you can't get into the BIOS from the splash screen, then you would have to boot to the W8 login screen and Restart while holding the Shift key because of the EFI. You could also try holding the letter "B" at startup to see if you will get a boot options menu. Also, have you tried pressing F1?

If you flip the laptop over and remove the cover for the RAM, do you see a CMOS/CR2032 battery?

If so, have you tried removing it for at least ten minutes, and then attempted to boot?

 

If it has 8.1, the likeliness of a bad cmos battery is...well unlikely. I'd pray that is not it, all the laptops I've serviced had them soldered to the board.

Did the computer have a jolt? The beep sounds like a hardware failure code, which my knee jerk reaction would be to first reseat the ram. The ram issue would prevent EFI/BIOS access.

This is for Thinkpad, but may still apply as well:

http://support.lenovo.com/en/documents/ht035729

The other possibility (and also why you cant get into EFI settings) is your keyboard cable came loose or the keyboard has failed. Easy check for that is to try an external one.