Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon 4th Gen Troubleshooting

The device will not charge after being plugged in.

Make sure the LED next to the power port turns on when you plug the device in. If it doesn’t, you may need a new power adapter.

To check if the battery is the issue, try holding the power button down for at least four seconds to see if the battery LED turns on. If the LED fails to turn on, you may need to reset the system.

Flip the laptop upside down and unplug any exterior power sources. Locate the small hole located directly in the middle of the back cover. Once it is found, stick a straightened paperclip into the emergency reset hole to reboot the system. Afterwards, plug the power adapter back in.

If the laptop still does not hold charge, the internal batteries are the cause. The Coin-Cell battery and the (main) battery need to be tested or replaced. A full guide to replacing the main battery can be found here, and a guide to replacing the Coin-Cell battery can be found here.

The audio doesn’t play out of the speaker or is distorted.

If the ThinkPad’s audio is not working, right click on the sound task bar at the bottom-right of the screen and select Open Volume Mixer. Be sure that none of the settings are disabled.

If the audio still doesn’t work, update the sound driver. A full guide to updating your computer’s sound driver can be found here.

If the audio is distorted, plug headphones into the audio jack. If the sound is distorted when listening through headphones, the audio jack may be loose or the headphones might be faulty. To fix a loose audio jack, make sure the headphones are completely inserted into the computer.

The device overheats or makes a grinding sound.

The fan responsible for cooling your device is likely blocked with dust, which interferes with the device’s ability to stay cool. Use a compressed air duster to carefully blow the dust out of the fan.

If the fan itself is no longer functioning, it needs to be replaced. A guide to replace the fan can be found here.

Device will not connect to the Internet.

One solution to WiFi issues is updating your wireless network adapter. To do this, click on the search bar in the bottom left corner of your screen. Type “Device Manager” and hit “Enter.” Then, locate a tab named “Network Adapter.” Click on the “>” icon and right click on your WiFi network. You should be prompted with a list of options: choose “Update driver.” After updating your driver, restart your computer and check the connection.

If the software update does not fix the internet connection issue, the wired antenna connections to the LAN card or the LAN card itself may be causing the problem. A full guide to replacing the wireless LAN card can be accessed here.

Fingerprint scanner won’t unlock the device.

If the fingerprint scanner does not unlock the device after you update the Windows 10 update, Lenovo has an updated driver which will fix the scanner. Download the updated driver from the Lenovo website, which can be accessed here.

If the software updates are not correcting the fingerprint scanner, the fingerprint may be too damaged to operate. A guide to replacing the fingerprint scanner can be found here.