EDIT 2018-07-29 02:04:51 UTC:
0. I added newlines for clarity.
1. I solved the USB boot problem simply by changing the BIOS boot setting from "UEFI only" to "both" (see "Third Attempt" of this thread's OP; I was using YUMI all along).
2. The remaining problems are that I still cannot boot he pre-installed Windows 10 on the HDD or use the 16GB SSD Optane PCIe-NVMe.
3. In case it helps, I was able to mount the Windows partition from the live Linux distro on my USB stick, and it looked fine. There was not much info on the 16GB SSD other than the generic "attached SCSI device"
4. The internal bell/system beep is really loud! Any way to make this quieter without completely disabling it? I'm not sure yet whether I like it or not
ORIGINAL POST:
Hello- this is my first post to the Lenovo community forums.
I just received a brand-new T580, custom ordered directly from Lenovo. If it matters, this was supposed to have a 500GB spinning disk and 16GB SSD (Intel Optane PCIe). Windows 10 was the only option for pre-installed OS (Professional, in this case).
This new machine will not boot and has yet to boot. I received it on a Friday afternoon. Once I unboxed and charged it and tried to boot, tech support conveniently closed for the whole weekend. I opened a ticket in Lenovo's MTSA (yet another account to open), with no response. Now I am turning to the forums.
I installed the battery and charged it, then attempted to boot. My first attempt resulted in INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE, then rebooted. The same thing happened again, then started "Automatic Repair"
Automatic Repair (a/k/a Startup Repair) did nothing, probably because there is no existing image to revert to or older version of Windows to fall back on. I get the following errors: "System Restore: To use System Restore, you must specify which Windows installation to restore. Restart this computer, select an operating system, and then select System Restore." (Of course, that does not happen-this is a brand-new laptop) Then "Re-image Your Computer: An internal error occurred. The following information might help you resolve the error: STATUS_WAIT_2 (0x80070002)" (Good luck!)
I ran all the Lenovo diagnostics, and they all pass with flying colors. I also like that my display has no dead pixels, so I would prefer not to return/ship this somewhere.
Lastly (and oddly), I cannot boot from USB. I have a live Linux USB stick that works great on a modern ThinkPad X1 (UEFI), but nothing happens when I select it at the boot menu, other than flicker and return to the boot menu. The same thing happens when I select the 16GB Optane. I tried this with all the default BIOS settings, and also with secure boot turned off.
Questions at this point:
What should I expect of tech support?
What else can I do on my own to get this to boot anything?
There was a BIOS option to change from AHCI to RST (for Optane), but it tells me that everything stored on the drives will be deleted. I have never dealt with Optane before, but if this is supposed to make things faster, shouldn't the OS be on the SSD rather than the spinning disk? Would any of this effect booting? Why can't I boot from USB, regardless?
I am open to suggestions to try anything else I haven't tried before in hopes of getting this machine up and running-I may need to have it working by next weekend.
Thanks in advance!