Lenovo Ideapad 110-15ACL cannot enter the BIOS setup, it always reboots. Advice?

[HeyItsChris]

Lenovo Ideapad 110-15ACL cannot enter the BIOS setup, it always reboots.  Advice?

 

I guess my ultimate question is does anyone have experience with Lenovo laptops, getting into the BIOS?

 

Also how to reset CMOS battery, because I didn't see it on the back side of the motherboard where the APU and ram sits.

 

Thanks

 

laptops and netbooks :: 100 series :: 110 15acl :: 80tj :: 80tj00lrus :: pf0trvyacontentdetail - Lenovo Support US

PCSUPPORT.LENOVO.COM

 

Edited February 16, 2023 by HeyItsChris

[The Pook]

Recommended way to enter BIOS - ideapad - Lenovo Support US

PCSUPPORT.LENOVO.COM

 

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[UltraMega]

Is there a beep code? 

[HeyItsChris]

7 minutes ago, The Pook said:

Recommended way to enter BIOS - ideapad - Lenovo Support US

PCSUPPORT.LENOVO.COM

 

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Thanks ill try it out now.

1 minute ago, UltraMega said:

Is there a beep code? 

No beep code.  Thanks for the comment.

[UltraMega]

1 minute ago, HeyItsChris said:

Thanks ill try it out now.

No beep code.  Thanks for the comment.

Flashing lights?

If you turn it on and basically nothing happens, there's probably not a lot you can do. 

You can try resetting the motherboard by removing the mobo battery if there is one, maybe try one stick of ram at a time but it sounds like the motherboard is probably the issue so short of replacing it, you might have a paperweight on your hands. 

[HeyItsChris]

I think I accidentally locked myself out because the Novo button doesn't work, well it does and I press ENTER on BIOS Setup & it reboots and doesn't do anything same with Fn F2 or F2 alone.

 

How do I reset the CMOS?

Thanks

 

I think the easiest way is through the Pheonix SCT Flash tool & reset the CMOS.  I need to learn the commands from command prompt.  Any ideas?

 

Edited February 17, 2023 by HeyItsChris

[UltraMega]

Take it apart and look for a battery on the motherboard. Take the battery out for one minute and then put it back in. Make sure the main battery is disconnected first. Just like you would do on a desktop, this will reset the CMOS/BIOS/UEFI whatever. 

 

Newer laptops don't usually have this battery, but your probably does if it's DDR3. 

Edited February 17, 2023 by UltraMega

[The Pook]

are you able to boot into Windows? 

 

Settings -> Update & Security -> Recovery -> "Restart Now" under Advanced Startup

 

when it reboots: Troubleshoot -> Advanced Options -> UEFI Firmware 

[J7SC_Orion]

...this may / may not be related, but Lenovo likes to lock down certain AMD chips which theoretically could be triggered by a combo of prior bios changes, a dead / disconnected battery and other changes. I realize this doesn't fit your issue dead on, but worth thinking about.

 

 

[HeyItsChris]

So I'm sitting here for 10-15min for the cmos to reset as I tried it 3 times now and when I press f2 alone it boot loops so maybe I need to wait longer?

[HeyItsChris]

So I put it back together after now charging led is blinking orange idk why it appears to be charging in windows.

 

Anyway yeah I cant get into the bios, fn f2 doesn't work and f2 just keeps rebooting every time i press f2 on boot up it restarts over and over and over again never going into the bios.

[UltraMega]

8 minutes ago, HeyItsChris said:

So I put it back together after now charging led is blinking orange idk why it appears to be charging in windows.

 

Anyway yeah I cant get into the bios, fn f2 doesn't work and f2 just keeps rebooting every time i press f2 on boot up it restarts over and over and over again never going into the bios.

Does it boot up and work normally otherwise? Does it only crash when you try to get into the bios menu? 

 

What do you need to get into the bios for? 

 

Have you checked the manufacture's website for a bios update? 

Edited February 17, 2023 by UltraMega

[HeyItsChris]

5 minutes ago, UltraMega said:

Does it boot up and work normally otherwise? Does it only crash when you try to get into the bios menu? 

 

What do you need to get into the bios for? 

 

Have you checked the manufacture's website for a bios update? 

Yes it boots and runs fine. 

 

Yes only boot loops when trying to enter bios.  According to my every button press does it reboot. 

 

I want to attempt to gain access to the advanced debug bios menu and just generally just wanna get into the bios menu. 

 

Thank you 

 

 

[UltraMega]

5 minutes ago, HeyItsChris said:

Yes it boots and runs fine. 

 

Yes only boot loops when trying to enter bios.  According to my every button press does it reboot. 

 

I want to attempt to gain access to the advanced debug bios menu and just generally just wanna get into the bios menu. 

 

Thank you 

 

 

If you tried the bios update from the manufacturers website already, then there probably isn't anything else you can do. If you are getting a checksum error, try the automatic update option from the manufacturers website. 

On an older laptop like that I can't think of much you would need to do in the bios. Whatever you are trying to do, there are probably other ways to do it. 

What do you need to debug?

[HeyItsChris]

Overclocking the Radeon R4 graphics beyond 800Mhz would be sick and possibly the CPU as well.  At full tilt because of TDP limitations, the APU limits the CPU portion to 1.4Ghz under load while the GPU maintains 800Mhz.  If I could at least adjust the TDP, I'd be in business.

 

It's the AMD A6-7310 APU boosts up to 2.4Ghz on all 4 cores only if TDP is turned up, by stock the 15W TDP limit limits the performance tremendously.

 

I modified the fan profile on the laptop so its load temperature is 40°C.  So I have a ton of overhead.

 

Well I updated the firmware via Windows Update & it reports an error in device manager and won't apply the system update which is reported in the BIOS.

 

 

Edited February 18, 2023 by HeyItsChris

[ENTERPRISE]

5 hours ago, HeyItsChris said:

Overclocking the Radeon R4 graphics beyond 800Mhz would be sick and possibly the CPU as well.  At full tilt because of TDP limitations, the APU limits the CPU portion to 1.4Ghz under load while the GPU maintains 800Mhz.  If I could at least adjust the TDP, I'd be in business.

 

It's the AMD A6-7310 APU boosts up to 2.4Ghz on all 4 cores only if TDP is turned up, by stock the 15W TDP limit limits the performance tremendously.

 

I modified the fan profile on the laptop so its load temperature is 40°C.  So I have a ton of overhead.

 

Well I updated the firmware via Windows Update & it reports an error in device manager and won't apply the system update which is reported in the BIOS.

 

 

It is HIGHLY unlikely you will have any Overclocking or tweaking options in the BIOS anyway. Custom laptops/ enthusiast laptops usually do but a run of the mill Lenovo,Dell,HP etc, they lock all of that out. 

 

I would suggest at this point there is something wrong with the BIOS. It is functioning enough to allow you to POST and get into the OS. But it seems it has been messed with and locked out. 

 

I think your only other option is to use a flash tool outside of the Windows environment and use a flag in the command that forces the flash regardless if it is the same version. 

 

[Tutorial] How to create a bootable USB Drive to flash a Lenovo device's BIOS - Jack Stromberg

JACKSTROMBERG.COM

---

This tutorial will review how to create a bootable USB drive to flash the fimrware/bios on your...

This would get you started and may work without any further intervention.

 

 

 

[HeyItsChris]

On 18/02/2023 at 01:43, ENTERPRISE said:

It is HIGHLY unlikely you will have any Overclocking or tweaking options in the BIOS anyway. Custom laptops/ enthusiast laptops usually do but a run of the mill Lenovo,Dell,HP etc, they lock all of that out. 

 

I would suggest at this point there is something wrong with the BIOS. It is functioning enough to allow you to POST and get into the OS. But it seems it has been messed with and locked out. 

 

I think your only other option is to use a flash tool outside of the Windows environment and use a flag in the command that forces the flash regardless if it is the same version. 

 

[Tutorial] How to create a bootable USB Drive to flash a Lenovo device's BIOS - Jack Stromberg

JACKSTROMBERG.COM

---

This tutorial will review how to create a bootable USB drive to flash the fimrware/bios on your...

This would get you started and may work without any further intervention.

 

 

 

Thanks so I am working on it now and it says Rollback flash is disabled in the BIOS so I am hoping I can bypass it.  I'm reading this content here but the commands aren't working.  May you advise how and which command to use to skip the bios version?

 

D:\Drivers\Lenovo Ideapad 110-15ACL\BIOS\ExtactTemp>winflash32 -help

Phoenix SCT Flash for Windows V2.4.0.0, Build 140502
Copyright (c) 2011-2014 Phoenix Technologies Ltd.

Usage: Flash [COMMAND]

bak      [filename]       Backup BIOS ROM before flash.
bbl                       Flash boot block.
bcp      [EVSA binary]    Overwrite BCP data.
bcplogo  [BCP name] [file name] [Image ID] Replace logo image stored in BCP.
cac                       Check AC power is on.
cbp      threshold        Check battery power in percentage.
cvar                      Clear variables.
dat      string           Specify the asset tag DMI string.
dmc      string           Specify the chassis manufacturer DMI string.
dmm      string           Specify the motherboard manufacturer DMI string.
dks      string           Specify the SKU number DMI string.
dms      string           Specify the system manufacturer DMI string.
dos      [string;string2;...]|[index1 string1 ...] Specify the OEM DMI strings.
dpc      string           Specify the chassis asset tag number DMI string.
dpm      string           Specify the motherboard product ID DMI string.
dps      string           Specify the system product ID DMI string.
dsc      string           Specify the chassis serial number DMI string.
dsm      string           Specify the motherboard serial number DMI string.
dss      string           Specify the system serial number DMI string.
dus      [uuid]           Specify the UUID DMI string.
dvc      string           Specify the chassis version DMI string.
dvm      string           Specify the motherboard version DMI string.
dvs      string           Specify the system version DMI string.
endkey                    Required key press after flashing.
ese                       Enable security examiner.
exit                      Exit program after flash completed.
file     filename         Indicate BIOS image file for flash.
help                      Show command list.
ipf      [region name]|all Flash specific region
logo     filename [ImageId] [filename] [ImageId] ... Replace logo.
ls       [ImageId] ...    Reserve logo in BIOS ROM.
mod      filename         Replace a FFS module.
nodelay                   No delay after flash.
noerror                   Do not display error messages.
nowarn                    Do not display warning messages.
oc       string           Specify the OEM command line.
p                         Production mode. Disable simple text output.
prog     start size       Flash specific area. Both parameters in hexadecimal.
patch                     Patch mode. To patch particular data to current BIOS.
raw      GUID filename [Index] Replace raw section of FFS module.
rsbr     GUID1 GUID2 ...  Reserve sub-regions with specified GUIDs.
sd                        Skip BIOS build date time checking.
silent                    Silent operation (no beeps).
slp      filename         Replace SLP marker or MSDM key.
spu      filename 20|21   Replace SLP public key.
ss                        Skip all SLP sub-regions.
sn                        Skip part number checking.
shutdown                  Shutdown after flash completed instead of reboot.
v                         Enable flash verification.
vbl                       Enable Microsoft Bit-locker check.
vcpu     [filename]       Update variable size CPU microcode.
wb                        Flash without skipping same content blocks.
write    filename start [fdla] Write a binary file to specific physical address or FDLA.
wsbr     GUID filename    Write a binary file to specific sub-region.

 

[ENTERPRISE]

Just now, HeyItsChris said:

Thanks so I am working on it now and it says Rollback flash is disabled in the BIOS so I am hoping I can bypass it.  I'm reading this content here but the commands aren't working.  May you advise how and which command to use to skip the bios version?

 

D:\Drivers\Lenovo Ideapad 110-15ACL\BIOS\ExtactTemp>winflash32 -help

Phoenix SCT Flash for Windows V2.4.0.0, Build 140502
Copyright (c) 2011-2014 Phoenix Technologies Ltd.

Usage: Flash [COMMAND]

bak      [filename]       Backup BIOS ROM before flash.
bbl                       Flash boot block.
bcp      [EVSA binary]    Overwrite BCP data.
bcplogo  [BCP name] [file name] [Image ID] Replace logo image stored in BCP.
cac                       Check AC power is on.
cbp      threshold        Check battery power in percentage.
cvar                      Clear variables.
dat      string           Specify the asset tag DMI string.
dmc      string           Specify the chassis manufacturer DMI string.
dmm      string           Specify the motherboard manufacturer DMI string.
dks      string           Specify the SKU number DMI string.
dms      string           Specify the system manufacturer DMI string.
dos      [string;string2;...]|[index1 string1 ...] Specify the OEM DMI strings.
dpc      string           Specify the chassis asset tag number DMI string.
dpm      string           Specify the motherboard product ID DMI string.
dps      string           Specify the system product ID DMI string.
dsc      string           Specify the chassis serial number DMI string.
dsm      string           Specify the motherboard serial number DMI string.
dss      string           Specify the system serial number DMI string.
dus      [uuid]           Specify the UUID DMI string.
dvc      string           Specify the chassis version DMI string.
dvm      string           Specify the motherboard version DMI string.
dvs      string           Specify the system version DMI string.
endkey                    Required key press after flashing.
ese                       Enable security examiner.
exit                      Exit program after flash completed.
file     filename         Indicate BIOS image file for flash.
help                      Show command list.
ipf      [region name]|all Flash specific region
logo     filename [ImageId] [filename] [ImageId] ... Replace logo.
ls       [ImageId] ...    Reserve logo in BIOS ROM.
mod      filename         Replace a FFS module.
nodelay                   No delay after flash.
noerror                   Do not display error messages.
nowarn                    Do not display warning messages.
oc       string           Specify the OEM command line.
p                         Production mode. Disable simple text output.
prog     start size       Flash specific area. Both parameters in hexadecimal.
patch                     Patch mode. To patch particular data to current BIOS.
raw      GUID filename [Index] Replace raw section of FFS module.
rsbr     GUID1 GUID2 ...  Reserve sub-regions with specified GUIDs.
sd                        Skip BIOS build date time checking.
silent                    Silent operation (no beeps).
slp      filename         Replace SLP marker or MSDM key.
spu      filename 20|21   Replace SLP public key.
ss                        Skip all SLP sub-regions.
sn                        Skip part number checking.
shutdown                  Shutdown after flash completed instead of reboot.
v                         Enable flash verification.
vbl                       Enable Microsoft Bit-locker check.
vcpu     [filename]       Update variable size CPU microcode.
wb                        Flash without skipping same content blocks.
write    filename start [fdla] Write a binary file to specific physical address or FDLA.
wsbr     GUID filename    Write a binary file to specific sub-region.

 

 

From the flag list, I would try using the following 

 

Quote

sd                        Skip BIOS build date time checking.

 

[HeyItsChris]

Thanks

 

I tried this command : winflash32 sd and it gives an error and I tried winflash32 -sd and nothing idk how to type the command.

[The Pook]

winflash /nodate

[HeyItsChris]

If I could learn how to use the commands, I may be able to reset the BIOS to defaults unless flashing is required?  Using the CVAR command but I just don't know how to use it yet...

 

Edited February 19, 2023 by HeyItsChris

[ENTERPRISE]

It is saying the usage is:

 

winflash32 sd 

 

Don't use a / or - prior to the command, just a space.

[ivebeenmemed]

This is a corrupted firmware update pushed by Lenovo to Windows Update and Linux fwupd. Unfortunately I also don't have backflash on so the Phoenix flash utility is no use to me, i havent tried winflash yet though.

[HeyItsChris]

11 minutes ago, ENTERPRISE said:

It is saying the usage is:

 

winflash32 sd 

 

Don't use a / or - prior to the command, just a space.

still receiving the error message.  I am looking all over for how to enter the command.

5 minutes ago, ivebeenmemed said:

This is a corrupted firmware update pushed by Lenovo to Windows Update and Linux fwupd. Unfortunately I also don't have backflash on so the Phoenix flash utility is no use to me, i havent tried winflash yet though.

Hopefully we can help you out.  I know I never updated my BIOS and I was able to get in there at one time and now I can't.

 

Thanks

[HeyItsChris]

So I was poking around & I found this thread which is pointing me the right direction, not to mention I opened this file which gives me some juicy information as well.  

Locked myself out of Windows (By accident, oops!)

COMMUNITY.ACER.COM

---

So I wanted to set up a dual-boot between Windows 8.1 (With update 1) and Ubuntu for Android development on my Acer Aspire V5-571P-6429, rather than using a Vitual Machine and having to share resources.

Lenovo Ideapad 110-15ACL BIOS

WWW.MEDIAFIRE.COM

 

I am closer to getting it.  I ran this command and it almost worked but errored out instead.

 

Just copy the BIOS.cap & WinFlash32.exe to C:\ and try some commands out... lol I'll let u know what works.

 

C:/WinFlash32.exe /bcp /sd /ver /cvar /v /endkey /silent /bbl /cac /cbp 30 /file C:/BIOS.cap

 

Edited February 19, 2023 by HeyItsChris