Last BIOS update bricked my new T16

[roger1234]

Thank you for all the detailed posts and updates on this RAM issue. Much appreciated.

I have just ordered a T14 21AH with 16GB soldered RAM. The laptop is on its way.

I also ordered a separate Crucial 32GB SODIMM, and am now wondering if I need to return it and look for other options.

Guess I'll only know once I receive the Thinkpad, hopefully it comes with an older BIOS that allows the Crucial RAM to work. However that also means I'd be running the Thinkpad on a much older BIOS with known bugs and issues.

The last option would be to return the Thinkpad itself. Hopefully I don't have to do that.

[MikalE]

There has been no further reports I'm aware of that any of these BIOS releases have bricked a machine. However, they are still having BIOS problems with upgraded memory. There are reports of some memory sticks working on newer BIOSs and some that will not boot on additional memory.

If you visit the Lenovo website, you can read individual posts on what is working and what is not. There has been a newer BIOS release within the last week or so that some claim to be working with Crucial memory.

If you don't want to read through the entire thread, skip to page 7 or 8, this has the latest information on their crappy BIOS.

https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/ThinkPad-T ... -p/5165713

[kony]

BIOS update stories always give me goosebumps, although I've never has a single issue on any of my computers so far.

[MikalE]

BIOS update 1.14 seems to have finally solved this issue. This was back in late April or early May I believe. I read two reports at Lenovo that machines were booting on additional ram sticks without problem. I was holding out for a few more positive reports, but you know how it is, you only hear about the complaints and not the good.

I loaded the new BIOS 1.14 with the Crucial memory stick in-place and it memory trained for about five minutes, and booted. It performed a backup self-healing BIOS, re-booted, and all so far has been good. I rebooted the machine three additional times with no memory training and it booted very fast.

The machine is running well.

I think the only reason they fixed this BIOS issue is that they had none of the specified Lenovo memory for these machines in stock, and enough customers read them the Riot Act that they finally got off their arses and decided to appease the masses. Their reputation took a beating on the Lenovo web site and I was a part of that. The squeaky wheel gets the grease and all that.