I'm having trouble with my ThinkCentre M80q Gen 2. It won't post anymore, and I'm stuck staring at a black screen. The machine is receiving power since the fan spins up and the lights blink, but I never see the Lenovo splash screen, and there are no beeps at all.
I've tried several troubleshooting steps:
- Used different monitors and cables on both display and HDMI ports, just in case.
- Removed the hard drive (nvme) and all RAM chips, and tested them individually in different slots.
- Pulled out the CMOS battery overnight and moved the CMOS reset jumper from position 1 to position 2, powered it on for 15 seconds, and moved it back.
At this point, I'm at a loss and wondering if something has just failed. This is just a hobby machine, so I don't care about the data on the drive. I'm looking for any advice on what I could try next before making any decisions!
2 Answers
Have you tried removing all peripherals? Sometimes USB devices can interfere, as well as things like wireless cards or integrated drives on laptops. You might want to cut everything down to the essentials and see if it helps. Also, if you have a daughter board for USB, that might be worth disconnecting just to rule it out.
Resetting the CMOS can sometimes be tricky. The standard way is to power down, unplug the big connector from the motherboard, remove the CMOS battery, and then carefully move the reset jumper to the other position for about 10-15 seconds before moving it back. After that, plug everything back up and see if it works. Good to hear you checked different monitors and connections too. Does your system only have onboard graphics?
I saw the Lenovo documentation suggested a similar method, but it's been ages since I did a jumper reset. I guess it won't hurt to try it that way! Yes, this is a mini PC with integrated graphics, and the only removable part is the CPU, which I'm hesitant to mess with unless I have to. After trying again with the battery, I still had no luck.
I've actually disconnected everything, but I didn't think about that wireless M.2 card. I'm planning to remove it once I can access it, but the screw is stripped, and I might need an extractor for that. I'll give it a shot as soon as I can.