Question lenovo ideapad 320 possible bios fault

[Orthasthemighty]

Hey all

My ideapad 320 won't power on most of the time. maybe 1 in 20 or so tries. It seems to always power on after I disconnect the CMOS battery for a few minutes and will run like a champ when it's going but getting it started in the first place is the real problem. Have tried different memory configurations and tests (all passed) and when trying to install the latest bios I get a failed to read bios ROM error. this leads me to believe it could be bios related but seeing as I can't update it and don't want to replace the bios chip I am unsure of what to try next.
Any suggestions that don't require a motherboard replacement would be greatly received.
Thanks
Orthas

 

[jay32267]

Have you replaced the battery with a new one?

 

[Orthasthemighty]

It's encased in a black plastic with a small connector on it, kind of like this one.

I can try and see what I can do to get a replacement

 

[jay32267]

Here's s start.
As long as the replacement is a CR2032 battery and has the right plug it will work.

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=cmos+bat...efix=cmos+battery,aps,148&ref=nb_sb_ss_i_4_12

 

[Orthasthemighty]

I replaced the battery with another (not new) one and managed to update the bios. it restarted successfully, something that hasn't happened for a while but then wouldn't start again. Maybe that battery is flat/bad too but what are the chances of that. Getting stuck for ideas. this wasn't a cheap laptop and would be a shame to throw it away

 

[jay32267]

You could use a voltmeter to check the battery.

A new battery has a voltage of about 3 volts.

Once they get below 2.8 or so.....I think it's a crapshoot.