[LEFT]Hi. I have a major problem with my laptop after attempting the V11 installation. I’ve scanned the forum in detail, but I can’t see anything that matches my problem, which is why I’ve posted separately. I wonder if anyone can offer me any suggestions on what to try next, please.
Background.
New Lenovo 3000 N200 laptop with Windows XP.
I downloaded the DVD ISO and created the DVD.
Installation proceeded well (seemingly). I chose all the suggested settings, including the disc partitioning - didn’t try to modify anything myself.
However, I didn’t change the boot sequence to “CD/DVD first”, so it was left at the default setting.
I installed V11, adding the Web services and MySQL before doing the final installation.
The installation completed and autobooted, with the DVD still in the drive.
All seemed to work - I logged in and played with the system for a few minutes. Gnome ran, it recognised the wireless chip, obviously the screen, keyboard and mouse were working, so I was fairly confident at that point.
Then I decided that I ought to re-boot the system, make sure that Windows still worked, and make sure I had a dual boot option, so I removed the DVD and shut the machine down.
Problem.
The first time I turned it on, the system came up as far as the “Lenovo Care” splash screen, then hung.
I powered down, and restarted. This time the screen stayed black, and there was no response at all from the machine - not even an option to enter setup mode.
I put the DVD back in, and powered up again. Black screen and no response.
I put the Lenovo Recovery Disc in. Black screen and no response.
I put the Ultimate Boot CD in and rebooted. Black screen and no response.
So it’s well and truly dead at the moment. At that point I decided to turn it off, and do some research and planning before doing any more.
This reads like hardware to me. My view (no laugher please :rolleyes: ) is this is a co-incidence that it happened after your openSUSE-11.0 install.
You could go into your BIOS (assuming that is possible) and check if anything untoward happened/changed by itself. Other than that, I think you are looking at a service call on your laptop’s hardware.
When you say “not even an option to enter setup mode”, are you referring to the bios setup program? If so, that likely indicates a hardware problem. The bios loads from a CMOS chip on the motherboard; it is firmware. Nothing that an operating system does affects this - you would see the bios even if there were no disk drive, let alone OS. In a desktop system, you could open the case and re-set CMOS, or if you lost the firmware (e.g., due to an electrostatic charge) you could flash the bios to reload the firmware. But on a laptop, that’s a job for a shop.
It’s conceivable that the problem is the display, i.e., the system is operating but you can’t see it - do you see an LED flickering (which indicates disk access)? It is possible to burn an LED display with an improperly set graphics refresh rate, but that is a very difficult mistake to make. I haven’t heard of that happening in years.
AFAIK, the “Lenovo Care” screen appears when the system has detected a hardware problem, or it has been invoked by the user. It is simply a utility program that is stored on the first partition. When you put in the recovery CD; is there an LED that flickers indicating the drive is being accessed?
Of course, check the simplest suspects, too. If there is a power brick, is it getting power? Crimps anywhere in the power cord? Docking station not properly secured to laptop? That kind of thing . . .
Try removing the battery for a minute and put it back, then try again.
If not, reset the bios by removing the bios battery. That should be hidden under a cover on the bottom of the laptop or below the keyboard with some models (you will have to dismantle the thing for that).
@SideshowMark, if it turns out that if just have to reset CMOS, might be worth some further investigation since the machine is new and I assume under warranty. Typically a machine has to be zapped (like by an electrostatic charge) for this to happen. If the battery became dislodged or failed, that’s a bad. Or perhaps there is a glitch in the bios firmware itself; that happens - it’s probable that Lenovo has a utility to flash (update) the bios.
I too have a Lenovo 3000 n200 … i use OpenSuse 10.3 from the 1st day i bought it and installed 11.0 today. had problems with the sound card now everthing else is fine…
Therefor i blv there is no problem with 11.0 and this model of lenovo laptop.
IF u have any prob: jst buzz…
by the way i still didnt try the fingerprint reader … it worked with 10.3 though
