topic Re: What does the "Ellensburg" option do in Lenovo Yoga Tab BIOS ? (Intel Atom Tablet) in Mobile and Desktop Processors

What does the "Ellensburg" option do in Lenovo Yoga Tab BIOS ? (Intel Atom Tablet)

The_Blue_Banana — Thu, 10 Apr 2025 14:01:41 GMT

Hey,

I enabled an option called "Ellensburg" in the BIOS of my Lenovo Yoga Tab 3 Pro, and it completely bricked the device. No boot, no recovery access, nothing. I've searched everywhere online (Lenovo forums, XDA, Reddit, multiple Discord servers, etc.), and I’ve found absolutely no information on what this option actually does.

At this point, I don’t even care about fixing it. I just want to know what this option does and why it instantly bricks the device.

Has anyone seen or tested this option on another Lenovo device ? Or does anyone know where it comes from ?

Thanks in advance !

Re: What does the "Ellensburg" option do in Lenovo Yoga Tab BIOS ? (Intel Atom Tablet)

AlHill — Thu, 10 Apr 2025 14:34:16 GMT

Contact lenovo regarding their bios.

Doc (not an Intel employee or contractor)
[W10 is this generation's XP]

Re: What does the "Ellensburg" option do in Lenovo Yoga Tab BIOS ? (Intel Atom Tablet)

pressed_for_time — Thu, 10 Apr 2025 16:31:01 GMT

Is there a CMOS battery present, the CR2025 type or similar. Sometimes these fit into a socket, other times they have a connecting lead. Disconnecting this battery for say 10 minutes or longer if necessary may reset the BIOS to its defaults.

Re: What does the "Ellensburg" option do in Lenovo Yoga Tab BIOS ? (Intel Atom Tablet)

The_Blue_Banana — Fri, 11 Apr 2025 15:34:37 GMT

Hello,
I've already contacted Lenovo, but they only provided generic instructions — like suggesting I run the Windows check-up app, even though this concerns an Android tablet that doesn’t even boot (it's bricked). They eventually referred me to a repair center, but I'm not looking to get it repaired — I just want to understand what the Ellensburg option does.
Since I couldn’t find anything helpful on Lenovo’s side, I'm turning to Intel, as this might be linked to a code name or function specific to the Intel Atom platform.

Re: What does the "Ellensburg" option do in Lenovo Yoga Tab BIOS ? (Intel Atom Tablet)

The_Blue_Banana — Fri, 11 Apr 2025 15:41:27 GMT

Hello,
There’s no CMOS battery in this device — or at least not one that's accessible like a standard CR2025. However, I left the tablet with all its batteries disconnected for about two months, so any volatile settings should have been cleared by now.
Since then, the charging LED just keeps blinking in a loop. I suspect the tablet can’t charge properly unless the CPU is in secure mode — specifically, the 32-bit secure execution mode required to boot the OS.
Now the issue seems to be that the tablet needs to boot into that mode to enable charging, but it doesn’t have enough battery left to actually boot — so it’s stuck in a loop where it can’t boot because it can’t charge, and it can’t charge because it can’t boot.
That said, I'm no longer trying to repair the device — I just want to understand what the Ellensburg option does.