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Last week, my laptop got unresponsive as it ran out of memory (RAM). After waiting several minutes I did a forced shutdown by holding the power button for a few seconds. When I tried to boot again, I was unable to boot or even get into bios. Was stuck in the manufacturers screen (black background, lenovo logo in white), which is always the first thing I see when I boot. Then did a power drain, which let me get into bios. However SSHD was now undetected. I then, driven by desperation, replugged the SSHD and did power drain many times. then got out a bootable Ubuntu 16.04 stick and did 'check disc for defects' and rebooted when it was done. Now, miraculously, the SSHD was detected. I don't understand why, since the disc that's checked for defects was the bootable stick, not my SSHD. I booted happily into Ubuntu and everything seemed normal. Had no problems, before I ran out of memory again and laptop got unresponsive and I did a forced shutdown again. Exact same problem. I've tried repeating what resolved it last week (desperately replugging SSHD, power drains, live usb disc checks), but no luck this time. Went by a computer repair shop today, they said there was nothing to be done but had no suggestion about why it recovered after the same problem last week.

so my questions are:

  • what could it be that restored my laptop last week?
  • what can I do to restore it now?

Edit: drive is a 1000GB seagate SSHD 8gb NAND Flash drive. Laptop model Lenovo G510. Ubuntu is the only os installed on the drive, with full disc encryption.

Edit 2: takes longer to get into bios when the SSHD is plugged in than when it's not. Drive gets warm.

Edit 3: works again!!!11! But not sure why and still wondering what the problem was, why it suddenly worked, and how I can prevent it in the future.

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    Have you tried reseating the RAM? Possibly removing one (If you have more than one chip)
    – Cheesus Crust
    Commented Dec 12, 2017 at 13:31
  • I have two chips. I tried that last week but havent tried it now. I'll try, thanks
    – user852373
    Commented Dec 12, 2017 at 13:32
  • No luck. Tried removing both sticks, booting with only chip A and only chip B
    – user852373
    Commented Dec 12, 2017 at 13:42
  • When you boot with the SSHD unplugged, does it pass post? Are you able to get into the BIOS?
    – Cheesus Crust
    Commented Dec 12, 2017 at 13:49
  • Yes I get to bios with hd unplugged
    – user852373
    Commented Dec 12, 2017 at 13:58

1 Answer 1

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Here's my always unpopular answer: you need a new computer.

It sounds like there's a problem with the motherboard, potentially with the hard drive controllers, maybe with blown capacitors (not likely on a laptop, but not impossible), or it could be half a dozen of anything else.

Generally, laptops only last 3-4 years. I looked up a review on the Lenovo G510, and it was dated 2014. Laptops take abuse, no matter how careful you think you are with them. Motherboards tweak in laptops under many conditions, even just opening the lid. Since your's is an "entry level" laptop, it doesn't have all the fancy strain relief that hardened cases have.

The strain put on a mobo goes directly to the chips soldered on it, since the board bends, but the chip and solder doesn't. Holding onto an edge or corner of a laptop is a very bad thing, and puts massive stress on the mobo. Eventually all this stress breaks the solder joints and your chip(s) is(are) no longer fully attached.

Heat has a tendency to make this strain even more of a pain, since a chip might maintain contact while everything is cold, but as things heat up, things can come slightly apart as they heat up differently (thermal expansion is different for different materials). So, while you think everything is fine at initial boot up, things take a dive after maybe only a few minutes.

I'm thinking that all your work reseating components is simply giving the mobo time to cool down again, so that it works again, only to die when it heats up again.

The fact that you are having issues running out of memory (which an OS should never do) means that there's more going on than just the hard drive. The drive might be fine, if installed in another computer or as an external drive.

Sure, you can replace the mobo, but that's probably going to run you at least half a new laptop, unless you can do it yourself. However, that may only last a year. Replacement laptop mobos, in my experience, never last as long as the original.

Well, that's my take on it. Without doing hardware diagnostics on it, you won't know exactly what's going on. The fact that the hardware shop you took it to didn't have a good answer may simply mean they didn't want to have to explain all this to you. Heck, they may not even understand all this, either.

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  • Your answer made me learn something new, thank you. I've been wanting to upgrade for a while, but unfortunately I don't have the money. I'll look for a durable laptop next time I buy, thank you.
    – user852373
    Commented Dec 12, 2017 at 15:17
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    There is no reason to suspect the computer based on the OPs description - indeed everything points towards an issue on the SSHD. Your answer is little more then handwaving and supposition which is unsupported by the facts, and even conflagerates hardware and software issues (running out of ram is not a hardware fault).
    – davidgo
    Commented Dec 12, 2017 at 19:14
  • I have seen memory controllers go bad, causing what looks like an "Out Of Memory" error to the OS. Bad sticks of RAM can do this, too. Granted, it's pretty rare, but with 2 seemingly unrelated issues happening at once, that usually points to a mobo. Especially with a laptop.
    – computercarguy
    Commented Dec 12, 2017 at 19:20
  • Also, in my 15 years as a computer tech, I never saw a failing HD cause an "Out of Memory" exception. It's usually an error about not being able to access a system file that crashes the OS before it tries using virtual memory.
    – computercarguy
    Commented Dec 12, 2017 at 19:23
  • Since you need to click 'more comments' before seeing it, and its relevant to your discussion, ill put it here too: it works again. See comments under the question for details. Still wondering what caused it though, and what I can do to prevent it in the future
    – user852373
    Commented Dec 12, 2017 at 20:25

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