Thinkpad S1 Yoga - Won't boot, only blinks light three times.

[ushinawa]

 So I just purchased a refurbished Thinkpad Yoga, and all was great for a little while. Then I decided to shut it down and set it aside for a few minutes. After coming back, it now refuses to even POST. I tried every power cycle I could think of, in various combinations, and browsed several forums. In the end I found no functional solution.

Current Status:

System responds in no way other than the 'i' light (in the Thinkpad logo) blinking three times when the charger is connected, or the same when the reset button is pressed while the charger is still connected. Nothing else illicits any sort of beep, light, or otherwise.

Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks and regards.

[thinkpadfreak · Accepted solution]

I have a feeling you had opened up the back cover to fiddle around with the components (be it a change of SSD or the 3g/4g modem).

the symptoms you described sounds exactly like a disconnect MB cable. you can try to open up the back cover, and around the left side, you will see a cable labelled "MB". secure it properly, and the computer should be responsive now.

[ushinawa]

This was exactly the problem. I'd thought everything was perfectly fine when I looked it over but the cable happens to have a sticker covering its connection. When I peeled back the sticker I could see that the cable was very slightly displaced, just enough to cause problems. This also seems to be quite easy to cause because of the placement of the cable right up against, and running through, the harddrive mount. Thanks a ton for your help, and I apologize for my extremely late reply.

[thinkpadfreak]

glad to know it worked for you! understandably, I suffered the exact same problem so I knew how frustrating it felt (especially when the laptop worked fine before that). By some dumb luck I saw the loose cable after few hours of diagnosing the other components.

[Joewiz]

I have tried this solution over and over again , mine wouldn't start . 

The power light blinks 3 times when I press the power button or connect the AC adapter . this is real frustration . 

Any further advise ? 

[budrix]

Didn't work for me either. Lenovo Yoga 500. Checked all cables, all seam to be firmly in place. Amber light blinks three times when I try to power on. (I tried disconnecting tbe battery and pressing power button 30sec. Tried removing round battery while doing that too, only change is the ventilation powers on shortly when I connect the big battery again like It's gonna turn on the laptop, but nothing happens. Wont charge. Wont turn on.) 

[Beets]

I have 9 Thinkpad Yoga X1's (20FR and 20FQ series) that have same problem,  won't power on and when pressing power button only blinks led 3 times and then nothing. Surely somebody out there knows what the diagnostic code means...

anybody ???

Cheers

Beets

[budrix]

Leave it on your charger for like 12hr, it will eventually be able to power on. I had the same problem on my Yoga 500. I'm currently waiting for a new battery, and if that wont solve my problem, it means my motherboard is damaged /faulty. (I voided my warranty by opening the cover, dont do that) My laptop works on a charger now but battery is stuck on 0%.

[Beets]

Hi Budrix, yep tried the charge thing, had one on for 48hrs , no luck Lenovo are having a roadshow here soon, maybe I should take the machines along and see how the sales people react with all their prospective customers around !