W500 Black Screen

[lwalkiew]

Hi,

I had a problem with switching to ATI FireGL V5700 after using Intel, so I read some info on the forum and did accordingly to  suggestions in the previous posts I just went into the BIOS and selected Discrete graphics and disabled Switchable Graphics detection by OS.

After reboot I have a black screen and nothing more... what is going on? Can I somehow go back to Intel in order to copy data before I will send this black box to service.

I would really appreciate any advice on my problem. Help!

Thnx,

Lw

[peri]

Hello Iwalkiew,

Same problem, switched my 2.0 bios to descrete graphics, it turned on but when I tried to right click the CCC I have the same old message that says CCC cannot run because the active  GPU is not supported. I downloaded a couple of updates through ThinkVantage. Downloaded and installed it over night. My media players started working again. But the CCC still wont run. I have no idea how can I turn the ATI on. Just got this system a month ago, and I'm using it mainly on Adobe Photoshop and Premier Pro.

[lukaszsw]

Are you able to access bios again or is it black all the way? If its black I could only recommend trying to navigate bios blindly and switch back to switchable. You only need to turn Os detection 'on' and intel card will be detected.

I reckon you were using Intel card before using bios switch, right? That would mean the computer is trying to use graphics adapter that is disabled.  The switch changes the device ID and the drivers in use are gone instantly (at least for the system).

[lwalkiew]

Hi, Thanks for tip lukaszw

This is what I did after submitting my post. I just tried blindly to bring BIOS defaults. 

Power button, then Think Vantage button, then F1 button, F9 button and Enter, F10 button and Enter and finally I had display working again.

I was not using Internal in BIOS before this accident.

I guess there is something wrong with GPU and it will need repair. I found that some W500 users had the same issue:

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=48&t=71510

Doesn't look good for Lenovo...My old T60p is up and running for 2 years and brand new laptop has already a hardware failure after few months....

Thanks

[lwalkiew]

I have one more question about BIOS Default Primary Video Device in W500.

What does this switch do? If I will select Internal or PCI?

Maybe someone  knows why my screen went black after selecting Discrete graphics in BIOS and disabling OS Detection?

Cheers,

LW