Laptops Forum·2,709 discussions

Bricked BIOS?

I dabble in computer building and fixing every couple years. This usually means my existing knowledge is obsolete when I get to it each time. Like my most recent endeavor.

I was given an older Lenovo Ideapad 710s i7 which I made into a Dual-boot, Win10/LinuxMint machine. It worked great, especially Mint. (The camera would not run in Win10 after an update. Common according to the inter-webs) When the most recent Win10 update popped up, I told it to go ahead hoping it might fix the camera. I also told it to update some optional drivers, and….what I think may have been a BIOS update. I should have know better. After a flash of something like “Lenovo needs to update” or “Lenovo is updating”, the machine seems to have died. Bricked. Power button does nothing. No lights, etc. Is a bricked BIOS salvageable in in 2021? Thoughts?

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Power button does nothing does not sound like a BIOS issue.

In reply to Bricked BIOS?

This laptop appears to have shipped in 2016 so in my opinion it could have expired or died.

There is a procedure we perform but in your laptop the battery is hard to unplug so try this:
1. Remove power and all USB and such devices.
2. Press and hold the power button for over 60 seconds.
3. Release power button.
4. Apply power.
5. Test.

Again, from your description it is not a BIOS issue.

Power button does nothing does not sound like a BIOS issue.

In reply to Power button does nothing does not sound like a BIOS issue.

Thanks for the info. I unplugged the machine and left the battery to drain over a few days. I followed your instructions. When I plugged in it started up and booted to Linux Mint. All was fine working with the computer until I updated Mint and it required a restart. On the restart it did not get to the Linux boot options usually in the Left upper corner. Instead it had the message:

“Capsule Failed please redo the Process!!!!!!!
BIOS Capsule update failed!!!!!
Please reboot the system and reflash the BIOS!!!!!”

The center of the screen has the Lenovo Logo, and beneath it,

“Please wait while we install a system upgrade.”

Weird the number of exclamation marks in the left hand message. Is that some sort of BIOS error code? Also, it Appears to be updating now for over 5 minutes. Stuck in a loop, or could a BIOS update this take long?

If this continues to happen, is there a way to remove the update I keeps trying to do? Or how do I reflash the BIOS. Can it be done from a USB or external drive.

Thanks

Updates can take a long time.

In reply to Power button does nothing does not sound like a BIOS issue.

And many times longer on PCs that have old technology such as hard drives.

But as I read https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/Lenovo-Yoga-Series-Notebooks/capsule-failed-please-redo-the-process-BIOS-Capsule-update-failed-please-reboot-the-system-and/m-p/4592493?page=1#5037853 this one is not one I know anything about. Read the discussion and sadly they had to do a factory reset. The person found out the BIOS was not in need of update.

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