Lenovo IdeaPad 320-17IKB Troubleshooting

When powering on the screen, the device will not power on completely due to lower-level software crashing or faulty hardware.

Fixing the Blue screen start up loop can be caused by a number of problems within the software or the hard drive, the first step would be to track down the root problem to get your PC up and running again. BIOS can help identify any hard drive issues in the PC

1. Turn off the PC by holding the power button, and restart the PC.
2. When the first screen appears enter BIOS by tapping the Fn key and F2 (Fn+F2).
3. This brings you to the BIOS Setup Utility screen, select Boot and then press Enter. This will run a diagnostic test to identify your hard drive.

When the hard drive is found, Go to the HDD Diagnostic Program and then press Enter. This will perform a quick hard drive test to check for issues.

If the hard drive is not identified or there aren’t any you may need to reset the hard drive or buy one, see this manual on how to replace a hard drive for a Lenovo Ideapad 320 series.

The operating system fails to start and continually tries again and displays the Lenovo logo.

1. Restart the laptop.
2. Press the windows button and R key (Windows icon + R key).

Note: This will force your laptop to boot in safe mode every time you restart the laptop, there will be an option to boot normally.

1. Restart the laptop.
2. At the Lenovo loading screen press the Fn key and F2 (Fn+F2) to load into BIOS
3. While in BIOS press F9 to reset to factory BIOS load up settings, this will restore the system to factory loading settings that may have been changed. This will not wipe the system.

The charger is plugged into the laptop but is not charging.

Make sure there is no problem with the outlet. Try plugging in another electronic to the same outlet that you are trying to charge your laptop out of and see if it works. If it does not work for the other electronic either, then you can conclude the issue is with the outlet not the laptop. If the other electronic works then keep trouble shooting for another cause.

Look at your charging cable to check for any cuts or tears that may be preventing the cord from working properly. You will have to purchase a new charger if you find any cuts or tears that have damaged the charging cable.

After constantly recharging your laptop over the years the AC adapter in the charging cable can get burnt out. Use a voltmeter to check the power output of the adapter. If the meter does not produce at least 1V then it is time to purchase a new AC adapter.

Debris can find its way into the charging port and obstruct the connection between the laptop and charging cable. Look into the charging port and try to clear any debris that may be in the way.

A power reset can allow the computer to update and adjust any problems it may be having within itself. Follow these steps.

1. Power down the Lenova IdeaPad 320
2. Unplug the charging cable
3. Remove the battery
4. Press the power button for 20 seconds
5. Insert the battery and plug in the charger
6. Press the power button

No matter how well a laptop is treated, the battery will eventually die out. This link(Lenovo Ideapad 320-15ABR Battery Replacement) takes you to a guide on how to replace the battery.

When using audio ports with headphones or over the laptops speaker system, the audio is distorted.

Test the sound card by plugging in headphones. If the sound works clearly through the headphones but not the speakers, it is most likely a physical issue with the speaker. The speaker may need to be replaced

The volume can have an affect on the quality of sound that is being produced. Click on the sound icon in the windows task bar to adjust the volume.

Some Lenovo users noticed an echo sound being produced. To fix this follow these steps.

1. Go to the sound category in the windows control panel
2. Select the speaker category and then press “properties”
3. Click and check in the box that says disable all sound effects and then click “ok”

When moving through different applications and when starting the Operating System the computer can become ‘frozen’ and unresponsive.

1. Turn the machine off.
2. Unplug laptop.
3. Remove the battery (if it can be done safely) for 2 minutes.
4. Put the battery back in and plug in the laptop.
5. Turn the computer back on by holding the power button down for 30 seconds.

• Lenovo’s website recommends that users charge their laptops every 48 hours for optimal performance.
• Make sure to remove any case or other devices (for example, USB cables) from the computer to ensure maximum speed during charging.
• Verify the type of charger used for the laptop - make sure to use only approved wall chargers are being used.
• After a software update you should start to see operating battery life improve after 3 days.

Follow the attached link for more assistance; Lenovo Diagnostic Solutions.

1. Under the section ‘Download’ select the relevant hyperlink depending on whether your computer is running Windows 10, 32 bit or 64 bit (will also support Linux booster versions).
2. When prompted, select save, then go into your drive >  directory in which you saved the downloaded files.
   Navigate to the folder where you saved the installation file which is titled lscsetup_x86_26001.exe.
3. Double-click the installation file icon to start the installation.
4. Follow the onscreen instructions via the installation wizard that will install Lenovo Solution Centre on your system.
5. Once installed you will have a ‘Lenovo Solution Centre’ icon on your desktop please click to open this.
6. Once solution center is open please select ‘Checkup’ then ‘Hardware Scan’ and ‘Full Scan’
7. This process will take up to 20 minutes and will help you see if there are any errors.

The last option is to attempt an external factory reset.

WARNINGS:

• NOTE 1: make sure to back up all necessary files BEFORE resetting your computer. All files not backed up will be lost.
• NOTE 2: Reset will require a minimum battery level of 25%. If you are unable to perform a reset, please charge for 20-30 minutes and try reset again.
  1. Turn the machine off and press the recovery button which is located usually next to the power button. On a desktop machine you will need to power the machine back on and keep tapping the F2 key.
  2. Use the arrow keys and press enter on system recovery. ( Desktop users can skip this).
  3. Select “restore from the initial backup” and then “Next”.
  4. Click “start” and accept the warning messages.
  5. Length of time can vary depending on the speed of the machine.
  6. a. Allow several seconds for the factory data reset process to complete.
  7. b.  Select reboot system now.
  8. c. Allow several minutes for the reboot process to complete.

Due to poor connectivity, the laptop will run slowly

This issue deals with how the laptop deals with Internet directly. Sometimes TCP/IP Stack Issue is not run properly, which directly affects Wi-Fi connection issue in the laptop. Here are the following steps that allows the user to reset the TCP/IP Stack

1. Run “Command Prompt” as administrator
2. Type in the following commands step-by-step and press Enter
   • NETSH INT IP RESET C:\RESTLOG.TXT
   • NETSH INT TCP SET HEURISTICS DISABLED
   • NETSH INT TCP SET GLOBAL AUTOTUNINGLEVEL=DISABLED
   • NETSH INT TCP SET GLOBAL RSS=ENABLED

Sometimes an outdated adapter driver is the cause of sporadic network losses and weak wireless connection. Below is the steps that allows the user to replace the outdated driver with an updated one.

Go to Device Manager on your laptop, and check Network Adapters. Right-click the Network Adapter icon and click uninstall. Then, right-click again and select “Scan for hardware changes.” The laptop will select the most suitable hardware by itself.

The default mode that optimizes Wi-Fi performance is the Balanced power mode. Sometimes, what happens is when the laptop is running in Power Saver mode, the laptop turned off the software that affects Wi-Fi directly.

1. Go to Control Panel
2. Navigate to “Network and Sharing Center”
3. Choose Wifi Network and check Wifi Status.
4. Click “Properties”
5. After you are in “Wireless Network Connection Properties” window, click the “Configure” button.
6. Go to “Power Management” tab and make sure “Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power” is unchecked.

Remote Differential Compression compresses and minimizes the data sent across the Network. In some cases, RDC is the cause of the weak connection. Here are the required steps to remove Remote Differential Compression

1. Go to “Control Panel”
2. Click “Programs”
3. Under “Programs and Features”, click “Turn Windows features on or off”
4. Find “Remote Differential Compression” and make sure it is unchecked.