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Almost all lenovo thinkpads have USB C problems

spartaman64
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ThinkPad laptops from 2017 to 2019 reportedly contain defective USB-C ports. First reported by Notebookcheck, the problems are widespread enough for Lenovo to post a support page titled "Critical Intel Thunderbolt Software and Firmware Updates."

Based on that document, the USB-C ports in more than a dozen ThinkPad laptops are experiencing serious issues. Lenovo posted a list of symptoms customers could encounter if they own a defective device: 

Quote

Lenovo ThinkPad USB-C problems
USB-C port not working
Intel Thunderbolt controller not visible in the OS/Device Manager
USB-C or Thunderbolt docking stations not visible or having connectivity problems
HDMI output not available
System battery not charging with a USB-C power adapter connected to the USB-C port
Intel Thunderbolt pop-up error message
Intel Thunderbolt safe mode error message
BIOS Thunderbolt communication error or hang during POST

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Lenovo posted a full list of affected laptops, and it's not pretty: 

Spoiler

P43s (Type 20RH, 20RJ)
P52 (Type 20M9, 20MA)
P52s (Type 20LB, 20LC)
P53s (Type 20N6, 20N7)
P71 (type 20HK, 20HL)
T470 (Type 20HD, 20HE)
T470 (Type 20JM, 20JN)
T470s (type 20HF, 20HG)
T470s (type 20JS, 20JT)
T480 (Type 20L5, 20L6)
T480s (type 20L7, 20L8)
T490 (Type 20N2, 20N3)
T490 (Type 20RY, 20RX)
T490 (Type 20Q9, 20QH)
T490s (Type 20NX, 20NY)
T570 (Type 20H9,20HA)
T570 (Type 20JW, 20JX)
T580 (Type 20L9, 20LA)
T590 (Type 20N4, 20N5)
X1 Carbon 5th Gen - (Type 20HR, 20HQ)
X1 Carbon 6th Gen - (Type 20KH, 20KG)
X1 Carbon 7th Gen - (Type 20QD, 20QE)
X1 Carbon 7th Gen - (Type 20R1, 20R2)
X1 Yoga 2nd Gen (Type 20JD, 20JE, 20JF, 20JG)
X1 Yoga 3rd Gen (Type 20LD, 20LE, 20LF, 20LG)
X1 Yoga 4th Gen (Type 20QF, 20QG)
X1 Yoga 4th Gen (Type 20SA, 20SB)
X1 Tablet 3rd Gen (Type 20KJ, 20KK)
X280 (Type 20KF, 20KE)
Yoga 370 (Type 20JJ, 20JH)
X380 Yoga (Type 20NN, 20QN)
X390 (Type 20Q0, 20Q1)
X390 Yoga (Type 20LH, 20LJ)
P51 (Type 20MM, 20MN)
P51 (Type 20HH, 20HJ)
P51s (Type 20HB, 20HC)
P51s (Type 20JY, 20K0)
P72 (Type 20MB, 20MC)

 

Quote

If you own a ThinkPad laptop, go to Lenovo's support page, scroll to the bottom and download the appropriate drivers. 

These driver and firmware packages are designed to fix any USB-C problems. If they don't, Lenovo urges you to reach out to Lenovo Technical Support. Lenovo is adding more drivers for more laptops, if yours isn't currently listed. 

 

source: https://www.tomsguide.com/news/nearly-all-thinkpads-have-defective-usb-c-ports-what-to-do-now

Seems like a big oversight for lenovo to not have the proper driver support for their usb C ports especially on their professional grade products which are supposidly better built and have more quality control. If you own one of these laptops and are wondering why your usb c ports are not functioning well now you know.

 

edit:

louis rossmann made a video on it

some details from the video:

-the firmware was made by intel

-its a firmware problem as other people said but it makes the physical chip degrade and if the chip become too degraded then it need a chip replacement

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What's going on with Windows laptop quality as of late?  I know glitches in laptops are far from unheard of, but lately there's been a rash of reports about problems with Dell, Lenovo and others... and it's not the $400 Best Buy specials that have always been crappy, but the premium XPS and ThinkPad models where you'd expect at least some consideration for build quality.

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Yeah, buying a few thousand dollar laptop and a few hundred dollar dock for them not to work is a pretty massive oversight. 

 

But I think this just goes to show every manufacturer can have issues with particular models. So for as much as people like to hate on certain companies, no one is perfect

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2 minutes ago, DeScruff said:

Dang. So its a Thunderbolt related issue, meaning my T495 is unaffected.

I'm in the same boat. Only USB-C port on my E595 is for charging.

 

Still kind of sad to hear about.

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Good thing I returned my ThinkPad P1 Gen 2 a few months ago. It's a piece of garbage in every way.

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T430 gang is unaffected

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33 minutes ago, DeScruff said:

So its a Thunderbolt related issue

It appears to be a firmware issue or an issue with the specific controllers that Lenovo uses. Otherwise more laptops would be affected. 

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Lenovo is such shoddy garbage. Had one laptop and it was pretty much disintegrating in front of my eyes. I've literally never had so many absurd problems with any device in 20+ years. Not touching anything Lenovo ever again.

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1 hour ago, RejZoR said:

Lenovo is such shoddy garbage. Had one laptop and it was pretty much disintegrating in front of my eyes. I've literally never had so many absurd problems with any device in 20+ years. Not touching anything Lenovo ever again.

Their Thinkpads aren't any worse than any other laptops. Can't vouch for others as I haven't used em.

Quote me to see my reply!

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Isn't it unusual for a software problem to last that long?   A hardware bug I could understand, no one wants to recall hardware, but software can be fixed with an update.

 

Grammar and spelling is not indicative of intelligence/knowledge.  Not having the same opinion does not always mean lack of understanding.  

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3 minutes ago, VenomZ_ said:

Older thinkpads are solid owned a t420 and now own a t450s 

Both my X260 and X1C4 are great. Haven't used anything seriously older than that, although the T61 I played with a bit was pretty solid.

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Yeah use Lenovo laptops here at work.. wish they never moved away from the full on docking stations.. never had any issues with those, moment they moved to USB-C there have been no end of issues especially with the terrible port replicators.. 

 

at least they have now recognized there is a problem.. 

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9 hours ago, DeScruff said:

Dang. So its a Thunderbolt related issue, meaning my T495 is unaffected.

I speculate, but on Dell, there is a separate Thunderbolt Driver and Thunderbolt firmware. Dell laptops between 2016 and 2019 came with anything up to version is 40. It looks like Lenovo includes this in the BIOS firmware.

 

I have a Lenovo Legion, which isn't on the list, because it doesn't have Thunderbolt 3.

 

Note what's on the Lenovo page:

Quote

Lenovo recommends users immediately update the applicable systems with these Intel Driver and Firmware packages. 

Then it lists NVM versions , these correlate pretty much with what I've seen on Dell's. Even if you don't have a Lenovo laptop, if you have a laptop that you know has TB3, check your manufacturer for thunderbolt firmware updates.

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Why am I not surprised...

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12 hours ago, RejZoR said:

Lenovo is such shoddy garbage. Had one laptop and it was pretty much disintegrating in front of my eyes. I've literally never had so many absurd problems with any device in 20+ years. Not touching anything Lenovo ever again.

I'm yet to see a Lenovo phone/tablet/PC that has no issues with its USB charging port 

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18 hours ago, Commodus said:

What's going on with Windows laptop quality as of late?  I know glitches in laptops are far from unheard of, but lately there's been a rash of reports about problems with Dell, Lenovo and others... and it's not the $400 Best Buy specials that have always been crappy, but the premium XPS and ThinkPad models where you'd expect at least some consideration for build quality.

Our Latitude 7400 2-in-1's at work are by far the nicest laptops we've ever had for sure, but they have also had the most issues.

Things like:
Headphone jacks not working
Trackpads squeaking (? lol)
a few WiFi card failures too

also up until the latest BIOS, they physically got very hot on the left side (too hot, many complaints from our users)

 

Fortunately, Dell ProSupport is AMAZING. You call/chat them and next thing you know they are asking what address to send a tech or the part to NEXT DAY.

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26 minutes ago, bcredeur97 said:

Our Latitude 7400 2-in-1's at work are by far the nicest laptops we've ever had for sure, but they have also had the most issues.

Things like:
Headphone jacks not working
Trackpads squeaking (? lol)
a few WiFi card failures too

also up until the latest BIOS, they physically got very hot on the left side (too hot, many complaints from our users)

 

Fortunately, Dell ProSupport is AMAZING. You call/chat them and next thing you know they are asking what address to send a tech or the part to NEXT DAY.

That support is great -- just wish you didn't have to rely on it!  The ideal is quality support you never have to use.

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19 hours ago, spartaman64 said:

 

source: https://www.tomsguide.com/news/nearly-all-thinkpads-have-defective-usb-c-ports-what-to-do-now

Seems like a big oversight for lenovo to not have the proper driver support for their usb C ports especially on their professional grade products which are supposidly better built and have more quality control. If you own one of these laptops and are wondering why your usb c ports are not functioning well now you know.

OOOOH. This might make some sense. I was trying to get a 3-4 TB disk "erased/copy/data moved" through IIRC a Lenovo USB in Windows 10 at the time. Win 10 just failed at like 5kbs, while in Linux it was fine at  (USB 2.0 limits on the HDD caddy IIRC) 300mbps. But so far, not had that "bug" again, but not tried it in MS Win 10 so far.

 

PS, this was also a Ideapad and USB 3.0 type A... so might be those models got quicker updates?

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15 hours ago, RejZoR said:

Lenovo is such shoddy garbage. Had one laptop and it was pretty much disintegrating in front of my eyes. I've literally never had so many absurd problems with any device in 20+ years. Not touching anything Lenovo ever again.

Strange. The two I have experience with (one possible before/just after the acquisition, and one that;s not that old) have lasted well. Yeah, dropping/knocking has cracked the sides of the case, but unless alli/metal, I do that to all the laptops. :P

 

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Well, My P52 is on the list, but really haven't had any issues with it.  Tho it could be because I only use it to swap between headphones on my Pixel and my laptop when working.
 

This DOES remind me of the HP wireless problem from 2007-9 where it "could" be a driver issue, or a card issue, or require replacing the entire motherboard under warranty. So many laptops to take apart.  Usually we just replaced the Motherboard to make it quicker - All because of a wireless issue.

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21 hours ago, Crunchy Dragon said:

I'm in the same boat. Only USB-C port on my E595 is for charging.

 

Still kind of sad to hear about.

I've got good news for you, you can use these no issue https://www.startech.com/ca/Cards-Adapters/Laptop-docking-stations/usb-c-mini-docking-station~DKT30CHPD

 

 

Its what I assign everyone here with E495 or E595's.

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1 minute ago, exetras said:

I've got good news for you, you can use these no issue https://www.startech.com/ca/Cards-Adapters/Laptop-docking-stations/usb-c-mini-docking-station~DKT30CHPD

 

 

Its what I assign everyone here with E495 or E595's.

That might be pushing it a bit, Lenovo assigned me a 65W power brick. But I'll definitely keep that one in mind.

Quote or tag me( @Crunchy Dragon) if you want me to see your reply

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11 hours ago, doertedev said:

Any recommendation for a strong computational workstation outside of Dell and Thinkpads? They both really don't seem like solid investments for my team. Every single linux user switched to mac :(

What the use case? Laptop or Desktop?

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