Can I Fix These Broken Lenovo Mini PCs?

This probably wasn't smart.
#minipc #pcrepair #techrepair

I FORGOT TO MENTION that the ch341a programmer I used has a flwa in that it doesn't work correctly when not using the 1.8v adapter. When it's supposed to have 3.3v on the data pins, it actually has 5v which could cause issues when working with 3.3v chips. There is a mod, or you can buy version 1.6 which is built properly.

This @Adamant_IT video explains it much better than I could.

ch341a I'm using (has issues when using 3.3V but can be modded; works fine on 1.8v)

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Music (in order):
"If You Want To" - Me
"VULF JAMS" - GARRISON
"The Butterfly Nose" - GARRISON
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Gear I Use: (affiliate links)
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Timestamps:
0:00 Intro
0:24 What's Going On???
1:12 Testing System 1
3:00 Testing System 2
3:51 Testing System 3
4:30 Disassembling System 3
7:40 Testing RAM
9:24 Interesting
13:38 Diagnosing System 3
15:45 Disassembling System 2
16:40 Trying RAM
18:51 Disassembling System 1
19:20 Trying RAM
20:35 Status of all RAM
21:34 Swapping CPU 1 into Sys 3
28:50 CPU 3 into Sys 1
32:00 Recap after some work off camera
33:44 What could it be?
34:27 NOT THE END
34:50 "I did some messing around"
36:40 Flashing System 1 as well
37:14 The Results

[HardwareHaven]

UPDATE/FAQ/RESPONDING TO A LOT OF COMMENTS:

I've had a lot of comments recently and have been a bit busy, so I'm sort of responding to a lot of them here. First of all, thanks for all the incredible feedback and advice! I've learned a lot just from this video and appreciate all of you sharing your years of experience and knowledge. There are a few things I'd like to either answer, provide some more clarity, and/or update you guys on so here it goes:

- I learned after the fact that flashing the BIOS directly from one mobo to another can be sketchy since OEMs put serials and other info on the UEFI. I guess it's common to edit this in UEFITool or something similar before flashing. Fortunately, I was able to boot into windows on these and use Lenovo's flash tool to not only update the BIOS but also insert the correct serial number. I'm not sure if there are any other issues, but so far I haven't come across anything. One is running debian and the other two are running windows just fine.

- I'm aware that the BIOS chip could be faulty or susceptible to failing again on these. I plan to keep two currently and will only sell the one that had an issue with the RAM module. If I have issues with the UEFI corrupting again with either of the others, I'll look into replacing the IC.

- I tested the faulty DDR4 module after substantial cleaning to no avail. I might try it in a different system but have no reason to belive it isn't faulty.

- It was silly to jump to the CPU as fast as I did, but looking back, its clear to me that I was nervous about losing too much money on the deal and I was hoping to at least confirm that I had 3 CPUs and some RAM I could sell haha. It would've been much smarter to clear CMOS/remove and replace the CMOS battery before doing that. Speaking of which, I wasn't super clear in the video but I replaced all the CMOS batteries of camera giving both non working machines a good amount of time before putting the new one in.

- Some people pointed out that I should only change one variable between boots, and this is a good idea when trying to pin down the exact problem. I partly didn't always do that for the same reason as mentioned above; I was hoping to just get a POST to hopefully feel better about buying three dead PCs. Also, if I can get a POST, I can always go back and start adding those same variables to see what was causing the issue, granted that can sometimes not work out and you'll get a POST after resetting something only for it to fail again down the road. So, thats fair criticism, but things are also different when filming a video haha.

- Also, I guess I touch my face too much..? 🤔

At this point I'm really just typing my thoughts so feel free to stop reading, but having to explain all of the above is sort of the reason that I get a lot of the somments I do, which don't get me wrong, I love reading the comments and learning from them. However, just realize that for the sake of a video, it's impossible to address every single little thing. Even in a longer format like this. I don't say that to discourage comments. But I do hope that maybe this encourages you to be a bit more positive and open minded when dropping comments on your favorite creators' videos. Just because they or I like waffles doesn't mean that we hate pancakes (or ventoy). Okay I'm done. Thanks for watching this video and reading this mess.

Stay curious 👍

[clifffiftytwo]

Retired electrical engineer / computers just a long time hobby. My experience is to suspect mechanical failures before worrying about failed silicon. Surplus computers get slung around a lot and the memory board mountings aren't made to handle violent accelerations. So your instinct to open it up and unplug and plug things is a good one.
That said the next thing I worry about is power supply failures - some regulator component allowing 3.3v or 1.8v to go way too high which damages everything it's attached to. For this reason very early in troubleshooting I'd check the power supply rails with a multimeter. That keeps you from plugging damaged components into a good system board or plugging a good RAM, for instance, into a system with a 3.3v rail running at 8 or 10 or 19 volts!
A fascinating video which I enjoyed very much - happy hunting!

[fakeaccount]

As bit warning, these systems have now exact same serial number, UUID and OA3 Windows 10 key. But that can be fixed by moving serial-regions for broken BIOS image to working one with UEFITool.
Also another warning for future repair videos: when testing CPUs from other systems: newer Lenovo business PCs, like Lenovo M75q Tiny Gen2, can vendor/PSB lock your AMD CPU.

[dbressler]

On that "bad" DIMM. One of the things I have found in experiece is that sometimes, the pins get a layer of oxidation. To fix this, you can use a touch of rubbing alcohol and a cleaning wipe to renew the contacts, or some electronics cleaner, or use a good pencil erasers on those contacts. The color change should be apparent.

[kylesparrow]

I'm only to the first fix so far, but I'd warn that when troubleshooting, you should always try to make only one change at once. For instance, if you're removing the wi-fi card, immediately try booting again. When you change the RAM, put a different stick in the SAME slot.

Love the video, and great effort. Keep at it!

[Vash]

Future tip, if you are just testing for post you don't absolutely need to put thermal paste and cooler back on.

[justin]

Didn't expect to see a full size AM4 CPU honestly haha, great video man!

[supralapsarian]

Wow! Experienced technician, here… NICE WORK! I’m super proud of you for sticking with it and getting this done. How cool a feeling is that?

[andrewdoherty]

Just finished watching, amazing video as always! Love that you kept us along for the whole troubleshooting process, didn't expect that final outcome!

Love the channel, used your videos for my own home media server and samba share : ) Keep up the good work!

[erichkohl]

I like your style. You're upfront about what you can do and what you can't do. I'm in the same boat myself; I'm trying to learn more about electronics because my job is starting to require it, however my formal training is in software/programming.

[chadmasta]

I'm not sure if you intend on doing more repairs like this in the future but I think thermal pads would be a good investment at least for troubleshooting. No mess or clean up and the pads are reusable.

[XenHat]

12:20 yes these are the standard business-oriented, non-overclocking BIOSes typically seen in these kind of machines. I have one of these ThinkCentre mini PCs from several generations back and the outside, inside and BIOS look exactly the same. My Lenovo Legion laptop also has a similarly spartan advanced mode BIOS. I've been using my own ThinkCentre as a DNS server and docker host because they're so low-power I don't feel bad leaving it on 24/7.

[BestJerome]

Finding an entry-level diagnostic technician who can guide me through logical diagnostic steps is beneficial. Thanks!

[youzernejm]

For those of you who don't speak AMD, GE means 35W. Now I'm wondering if these machines can get something like Ryzen 4600ge using a custom bios. And how good of a Batocera media PC these little machines can be. Great find, nice fix.

[DrDipsht]

From now on I'm using coffee filters for paste stuff... As soon as you mentioned them, the light bulb went off and I knew immediately your reasoning. Brilliant

[Jeroen_a]

@12:12 because you loaded default values. The default is Enabled. Secure boot works with certificates and checksums before the operation system it does it's wizardly things and either loads the OS when the check is complete or refuses to boot an OS. Resetting to Set-up mode clears all checksums and certs that were remembered. You should also enter in to this option so it shows load default keys (or something along the lines of that). You are then set to go. The error you got on booting to the OS was related to the secure boot settings.

[CRSolarice]

Since they are all working you could always update the BIOS to the latest version then you can be certain that there are no faults associated with the BIOS program as well... Great work, you are officially no longer a LARPer. Btw the humility seems to be a big help when dealing with these things. The lower your expectations the less frustration will be involved because frustration leads to failure and overlooking possible points of failure, not to mention causing failures...

[WolfgangsChannel]

Nice video as always :)

And yes, you can absolutely yank an AM4 CPU out of the socket when you pull on the heatsink.

[liambenyamin]

The indirect lighting is better. It actually has a cinematic mood. Nice!

[frozendude]

These large OEM machines often have a reset feature for the system management chip (it can crash and freeze sometimes), usually just holding the power button down for 60 seconds when connected to power will get it going if the firmware will not get to the screen init stage.