Lenovo U430 boot issue

[Dannar26]

I have a lenovo laptop with a curious boot issue. I think either the HDD is dead, or worse, the computer just isn't seeing it. It's had this error since my friend got it back from getting it "repaired." It has sat around since, and is past the warranty. I am seeing what can be done with it.

Interestingly enough it booted into Windows a few times completely without my prompting. And now it's back to the below pics:

Once I pick one of those options, it goes back to the first pic. And then...

I am building another computer, and just for kicks, put a brand new empty SSD in this thing just to test. Same result. I made sure everything was firmly connected physically.

Should the system have done something different with the SSD, if it were empty? Furthermore, would I be able to try putting the HDD into another system to see if it boots...even though the hardware would be different?

Would it be worth paying Lenovo for repairs? I suppose that's all I'd have left if it's not a problem with the HDD.

 

[inachu]

Remove any USB thumb drives. Sometimes that stupid human trick makes it boot every time.

Also the drive could be going bad.


Try different BIOS boot options LEGACY,IDE,AHCI Could be maybe CMOS battery was a lemon and the bios lost its settings and went with a different drive option.

 

[Dannar26]

Yeah, this thing is naked...nothing plugged into it.

I haven't ruled out the drive; I can't prove it one way or the other.

I'll have to try that. The CMOS battery could be bad for all I know.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Are the pictures in the thread upside-down for anyone else?

I'm using Linux Mint 17.1, newest Firefox for Mint, and the pictures are upside-down.

I don't think it's a virus - this is Linux after all.

Edit: If I right-click the pic, and select "View Pic", it's NOT upside-down. Bug in Firefox for Mint?

 

[Ketchup]

Dannar26, rotating the pics will make it easier for those trying to help you. Take out the hard drive and see if another computer can read it. That will tell you if the problem is with the drive, or somewhere else in the computer.

On the surface, the laptop looks ok, and is giving you the correct messages one would see for a broken or absent hard drive.

 

[Dannar26]

That's odd. I see they're upside-down too.

I simply took a picture of with my S4, and uploaded to tinypic. Glad to know I'm troubleshooting another issue as well!

 

[Dannar26]

Perhaps I could get a few questions answered.

1) When I hooked up an empty SSD to this laptop, and got the same results...does that mean anything? Shouldn't I have gotten a different response due to there being a blank drive as opposed to a faulty drive?

2) The HDD. I can just throw it into another computer and boot, and it will work (if the drive is ok)?

3) What do I do if all the drives involved are ok, but the rest of the laptop isn't registering it?

 

[Ketchup]

If the BIOS is not recognizing another drive, that points to a problem with the board.

Putting the drive in another computer would be a good test of its functionality.

The drive responding in another computer would point to an issue with the laptop's motherboard.