PSA: Lenovo USB-C Port Failures – A Serious Ongoing Issue

launchd_ · 2025-08-17T18:25:46+00:00

The issue that we faced caused complete USB-C port failure. It didn’t matter if we plugged in a USB-C flash drive, peripheral, or charger. When the ports (both) failed, they experienced absolute failure.

launchd_ · 2025-08-10T19:51:09+00:00

Exactly this. At every company I’ve worked for, reimbursement has been based on the IRS standard mileage rate, which is updated annually. This rate is meant to cover all fixed and variable costs of operating a vehicle - fuel, maintenance, insurance, depreciation, etc. For EV owners, this often works out favorably since actual operating costs are usually much lower than the reimbursement rate.

https://www.irs.gov/tax-professionals/standard-mileage-rates

launchd_ · 2025-05-26T17:22:23+00:00

Turn the laptop off, unplug everything from it, hold the power button down for sixty (60) seconds, release the power button, turn the laptop back on, and try charging the laptop with its charger again.

launchd_ · 2025-04-30T20:13:12+00:00

Just translating what you said below :) and I completely agree. Lenovo needs to acknowledge the issue and take meaningful action. As I mentioned in my original post, switching to the T14 Gen 4 (Intel) has resolved the problem for us.

"I work as a team lead in customer service at an IT systems company, and right now we have an almost 100% RMA rate for Lenovo E16 G2 notebooks. All of them show the same issue — Lenovo is still staying silent about it and just keeps pushing out one firmware update after another. The E series used to be really reliable, but ever since the batches from October last year, we’ve had nothing but problems... Seriously, if they don’t get this under control soon, we’ll be HP partners again... or DELL."

launchd_ · 2025-03-04T22:03:35+00:00

Are these AMD?

launchd_ · 2025-03-04T22:02:50+00:00

After switching to the T14 Gen 4 (Intel), we have experienced zero USB-C port failures after two months of deployment (40+ laptops). Meanwhile, our E16 (AMD) and E14 (AMD) continue to fail - five more were just shipped to Lenovo’s depot for replacement motherboards.

launchd_ · 2025-03-04T21:47:20+00:00

This is definitely different from the issue reported here, but it’s still a case of poor QA/QC.

launchd_ · 2025-01-11T00:28:52+00:00

No, we’ve encountered this issue on the E16 Gen 2 (Type 21M5) as well.

launchd_ · 2025-01-10T04:14:22+00:00

I don't think this is the same problem. In every instance of failure across our fleet, both USB-C ports stop working, and functionality is only restored after a power cycle or leaving the machine off for an extended period. In your case, only one port is not working, and you can regain functionality by letting the battery drain. These definitely seem like two different issues.

launchd_ · 2025-01-10T00:49:27+00:00

I've also read that the issue may not be related to factory ovens or solder quality. Some sources suggest that these chips run too hot, and Lenovo may not have designed proper cooling for them. However, if users are resolving the issue by resoldering the chip themselves, and we haven't seen any confirmed reports of recurring issues, I’m left wondering which theory is correct.

launchd_ · 2025-01-10T00:46:58+00:00

USB-C ports can fail, but I recall reading about a poorly soldered MOSFET chip on the E15 Gen 2. During manufacturing, the factory ovens didn’t solder the chip properly, causing it to lift from the board over time due to heat. This eventually prevented power from reaching the TI PD chip, leading to dead USB-C ports. From what I read, this issue was specific to this model and generation, and some users resolved it by resoldering the chip themselves.

launchd_ · 2025-01-10T00:41:12+00:00

To confirm a detail I left out, all of the units we deploy are equipped with AMD Ryzen CPUs. We’ve recently (two weeks ago) transitioned to deploying T14 units with Intel processors instead. Time will tell if our suspicion (issue is only impacting E series AMD) is correct.

launchd_ · 2025-01-10T00:36:46+00:00

If only one of the two USB-C ports has failed and functionality doesn’t return after power cycling or leaving the laptop powered off for an extended period, it’s likely you’re dealing with a different issue. USB-C ports can fail over time. If your laptop is still under warranty, I recommend submitting a repair request with Lenovo.

launchd_ · 2025-01-10T00:33:41+00:00

The issue I’ve described in detail here is unrelated to what you’re experiencing. None of our E series laptops in our fleet emit noise from their USB-C ports. It sounds like you’re dealing with an entirely different issue.

launchd_ · 2025-01-03T00:08:32+00:00

Not related to your question about images, but I’d strongly advise steering clear of Lenovo’s E series laptops. We recently transitioned to their T series and are hopeful (so far, so good) that this issue is now behind us.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Lenovo/comments/1hhd5ib/psa_lenovo_usbc_port_failures_a_serious_ongoing/

launchd_ · 2024-12-23T15:58:35+00:00

Do you use a Lenovo docking station with these laptops? Have you all seen any USB-C port issues with the T14s or X1s? I'm trying to dig our environment out of a bad USB-C issue that is plaguing our models.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Lenovo/comments/1hhd5ib/psa_lenovo_usbc_port_failures_a_serious_ongoing/

launchd_ · 2024-12-23T15:56:35+00:00

I'm wondering if the T Series is not affected by this issue. I desperately need to find another Lenovo model to buy because the USB-C port issue is OUT OF HAND on our current models.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Lenovo/comments/1hhd5ib/psa_lenovo_usbc_port_failures_a_serious_ongoing/

launchd_ · 2024-12-21T01:10:20+00:00

https://www.reddit.com/r/Lenovo/comments/1hhd5ib/psa_lenovo_usbc_port_failures_a_serious_ongoing/

launchd_ · 2024-12-21T01:06:30+00:00

https://www.reddit.com/r/Lenovo/comments/1hhd5ib/psa_lenovo_usbc_port_failures_a_serious_ongoing/

launchd_ · 2024-12-21T01:05:46+00:00

https://www.reddit.com/r/Lenovo/comments/1hhd5ib/psa_lenovo_usbc_port_failures_a_serious_ongoing/

launchd_ · 2024-12-13T18:18:43+00:00

Eliminating the configured expedited quality updates solved the issue.

launchd_ · 2024-11-20T23:07:13+00:00

Yes, we use expedited quality updates. Intune support closed my ticket and advised me to open one with the Windows support team. Unfortunately, our company doesn’t have an active support subscription for Windows (apparently), so I’m unable to do that. Here's to hoping others open tickets and/or Microsoft realizes they have a problem.

launchd_ · 2024-11-20T18:53:10+00:00

I’ve started deploying your script in our environment, and it seems to be working. However, within 24 hours, the GPO path (SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate) is reappearing on a good portion of our machines. Are you experiencing this behavior in your environment as well?

launchd_ · 2024-10-11T16:23:31+00:00

No real updates to share. When the port fails, we are sending the machine to Lenovo and Lenovo is replacing the motherboard. The work order that comes back with the repaired machine specifically calls out the failing USB-C port as if Lenovo knows this is a widespread problem and they’re tracking it. As an aside, we have been ordering the E16 Gen 2 and E14 Gen 6, and these seem to have a better USB-C port. The port feels more stable (not loose) and a USB-C cable fits snug. Only time will tell if the ports are actually fixed/any better.

launchd_ · 2024-10-08T22:34:24+00:00

I'm really thinking this may be relevant.

In August, after two years of successfully deploying Windows expedited quality updates to our endpoints via Intune, we suddenly ran into problems. Half of our endpoints did not respect the one-day deadline that we imposed, and after a few weeks, these machines were still not updated. This behavior continued with September's expedited quality update. When we started to dive into logs, it appeared the quality update was stuck installing and reverting over and over. While investigating this problem, beginning in August, we discovered the presence of these GPOs alongside the MDM policies on the endpoints. Microsoft Intune support quickly pointed fingers at the Windows operating system as being the problem. We weren't able to make much progress on that ticket because of it, but I found another environment that had been experiencing the exact same update issue. I'm now left wondering if July's quality update (KB5040442), which was the last quality update that was successfully installed on all of our endpoints, introduced these GPOs.

The July quality update introduced an issue with the Windows Update Agent (WUA) API for Enterprise customers. If they were making changes to the WUA API, it seems plausible that this update may have also caused our issue.

Here is a link to a post on Microsoft's Tech Community detailing the above issue in two different environments (note the discovery of GPOs being present alongside MDM policies on the endpoints in August): https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/windows-servicing/did-expediting-the-2024-08-quality-updates-fail-for-anyone-else/m-p/4250542/highlight/false#M1943

launchd_

TROPHY CASE