Post #872593
2026-03-30 12:37 UTC
Any #Thinkpad experts here?
I have an older L420 on which I installed LInux. After it gets to the bios and before it opens the bootloader it beeps a seemingly random number of times. I have counted anywhere from 5 to 13 beeps. After it's done with this, it boots normally.
I've already flashed the latest bios and loaded the default values. No change.
Any idea what this could be? I've looked at several websites which explain thinkpad beepcodes, but none mention this behavior.
I checked the RAM and ran it with only one of the two installed modules, tested both and tested every slot, no change.
(the last, higher, beep is me turning the computer back off)
[Edit:] It seems to have been the keyboard, after cleaning and reseating the flat flex cable of the keyboard the issue is gone.
Replies (3)
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@82mhz@mastodon.bsd.cafe 2026-03-30 13:02
Disabling quick boot so I can see what's going on results in continuous beeping with the message "thinkvantage active protection sensor diagnostics start". Could this be a defective mainboard, or some kind of defective sensor on the board?
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@zhenech@chaos.social 2026-03-30 12:45
@82mhz I was about to suggest https://support.lenovo.com/ng/en/solutions/ht503578-information-on-new-thinkpad-smartbeep-technology-thinkpad but L420 is too old for that. Also, interestingly, it beeps *after* the initial GRUB messages? Did you try booting something else, like a live USB or so? Could be your GRUB doing something weird.
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@howtophil@oldbytes.space 2026-03-30 13:16
@82mhz Not a ThinkPad-specific suggestion, but that sounds like a stuck key on the keyboard