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The Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11S is a 2015 2-in-1 convertible laptop with an 11.6” multi-touch display.

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Lenovo Ideapad Yoga 11S - fixed it so much it won't start...

I have one of those situations where you fix one thing and break something else in the process.

I have an old Ideapad Yoga 11s which would only work when plugged in, i.e. the battery didn't hold charge. So I bought a new battery. At the same time I bought a RAM upgrade from 4GB to 8GB. Installed them both fine. Unfortunately in the process of disassembly I damaged a couple of the ribbon cables (FFC). The laptop would boot but the screen wasn't working. Connecting it to an external display I could see it was otherwise working, the new RAM was recognised and the new battery was holding charge.

Getting hold of replacement FFCs is tricky but I realised that rather than searching for a specific part number which is hard to get, you can just get generics. FFCs are just defined by the number of pins, the pitch or distance between the pins and the length of the cable. Might be obvious to you guys but took me a while to figure out! So I got some of the right spec to replace the ones I'd broken, and put them in the laptop.

However now it won't start at all any more - no POST or BIOS never mind booting the OS, nothing on screen or an external monitor. I'm not sure what could have happened since the last time I looked at it as I was just waiting for the FFCs. Initially the power light was flashing orange, so I plugged the laptop in and after a while the light changed to white but still flashing, which apparently means it's in sleep mode. I've tried all the suggestions I could find to get out of sleep mode: remove charging cable, remove battery, remove RAM, hold power button for 1 min, replace what you removed then try again. Nothing. Also, initially the fan was on all the time and at some point in my troubleshooting it switched off and now it's off all the time.

Bit of a mess... any ideas?

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Hi @papanoob

Which cables did you replace as knowing which ones might help to isolate the problem a bit more.

Here's the hardware maintenance manual which will help to disassemble the laptop, if necessary.

Here's an image below showing the cables in the laptop with their Lenovo part numbers. If it turns out that a replacement FFC cable was the problem, search online for the part number appropriate to the cable to find suppliers that suit you best.

If the motherboard model number is NM-A121 then here are the schematics in case it comes down to a board problem

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(click on image)

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Thanks @jayeff. It was VIUU4_POWER_PCBA_FFC / 90202814 and VIUU4_TP_FFC / 90202815.

For the former (power board cable) the part was advertised with the exact Lenovo part number, when it came it seems to be a generic but it fits fine and the laptop is actually getting power so I have to assume it's OK.

For the latter (track pad cable) I couldn't get a named part anywhere but I eventually realised it's just 6 pin with a 1mm pitch and that was easy enough to get. Given that the laptop isn't even booting at this point, I don't see how the track pad cable could be a cause since the track pad would only be seen on boot.

I'm sure there's all kinds of other things I could have done wrong!

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@papanoob

I assuming that you had the main battery disconnected from the motherboard when you removed/replaced components?

There's a rechargeable coin cell RTC battery soldered onto the motherboard.

You could try disconnecting the power from the laptop, disconnecting the main battery, unsoldering the coin cell battery (remember the battery polarity for when you have to solder it back on) and then press and hold the power button operated for 30 seconds.

This should set the BIOS back to default hopefully eliminating any software glitch in BIOS from preventing it from starting.

Reconnect everything in the reverse order from above and check what happens

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Hand on heart, it's possible the battery wasn't disconnected though the power cable would have been. You mean I could have fried something?

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@papanoob

Highly likely, so knowing the exact model number of the motherboard would help. This is printed on the board itself.

It seems there may be two (if not more) NM-A121 and NM-A191

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papanoob will be eternally grateful.
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