Lenovo L420 ThinkVantage/software problems

[Markusbech]

Hello guys.

I got my Lenovo L420 for about a mounth ago. The first day there were a bit problems, ex. freezing screen and keyboard just suddenly stopped working.

But I just updated everything, and installede all the Lenovo "apps"/software from System Update (Lenovo). And then the laptop just ran smoothly.

But now i got some problems again. The problems started after I manually upgraded my Lenovo ThinkVantage Toolbox.
First problems was that I could't open Power Manager from shortkey (Fn + F3) (Yes, I have edited the settings so it opens the Power Manager and dont just turn off the screen).

And then the problems just come rolling.

Now I got problems with most of the Fn + F keys (shortcuts). The ThinkVantage Toolbox is full of bugs. Sometimes the keyboard and trackpoint (red "mouse") just stop working. Screen freeze sometimes.....

Now I need to ask you what you think I should do.

I have looked at the Recovery tool. I think I acurly can use it to reinstall all the lenovo software?

Or should I reinstall everything (+ OS) ?

Or something else? plz. come up with some options if you got any ideas. or if you got same problems as me.

I use the laptop everyday at uni, so I dont want to be unable to use the laptop for long time.

Sry. for bad english.

//Markus Bech

Lenovo L420

[Serge1410]

hey Markusbech,

is your unit on bios v. 1.13? if not do update and see how it goes.

also , i recommend using the Hardware Maintenance Manual to do some cleaning of your unit.

http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/guides-and-manuals/detail.page?DocID=UM006634 .

If you could, try removing all ThinkVantage software and test your unit.

[Markusbech]

Thx. for fast answer. I will try use the hardware MM

[tomostler13]

I am also having this problem. I received shipment of my L420 around a wee ago and the mouse freezing problem is getting worse. How do I go about updating the BIOS?

[Markusbech]

I have updated the BIOS, and it dosent seem to work. Or maybe I just had the updated BIOS when I got the laptop, dno...
But I accurly found a solution (tempory): If I run the "Performance", in ThinkVantake PowerManager(Control), on "Turbo" or "Max. Turbo" I get many more problems than if I run on "Balanced".
Ofc. that aint a okay thing with a new laptop, mine is about 10 weeks old. But im trying to to reinstall windows, and see if that will solve the problem.

[jpasnik]

The company i work for has recently purchased 30x L420 and we have many reports of this lockup or Freezing issue. We are using standard Lenovo Image with Win7 pro 64bit. We have spoke with Lenovo support and they have informed us to reseat the Ram and HD, preform BIOS update to 1.13 and run Lenovo updates. All have been preformed but we still continue to have issue. The last conversation with Lenovo support they asked me to install Win7 pro 64bit from scratch which i am doing now (does this not defeat the whole pupose of ThinkVantage).... is this a common issue???

Thank You
Joe

[Markusbech]

I tryed install win7 pro 64 bit from scratch. dont work
Im gonna call Lenovo soon. Hope they can do something

[jpasnik]

I am getting positive results from BIOS version 1.14 and running the Lenovo updates again... not 100% but improvement is good... By the way Lenovo i am receiveing a lot of heat from my managment regarding this issue and would very much like to hear something official from Lenovo

[Markusbech]

Found the issue! or accurly i just forund the solution:

NEVER TURN THE LAPTOP INTO STANDBY-MODE! NEVER!

It's not the best solution, but it works.

[Ck_asdf]

Markusbech: When you say never use standby, do you mean sleep or hibernate; alternatively, suspend to RAM or suspend to HDD? I use sleep mode all the time, and can't imagine having to shut the computer down every time I finish, then boot it back up when I need it.