surak

Anything like this happen to anyone else? I bought some rechargeable lights off Amazon that my co-worker recommended because he uses the same kind on his helmet. Plugged them in via micro-USB to my Lenovo Thinkpad and about fifteen minutes later, I saw the charge lights off and thought they'd been fully charged. Nope, turns out my laptop died and won't turn on anymore, despite the power adapter still working and me trying various things like unplugging overnight, disconnecting the battery, etc. I've heard of bad USB-C cables killing electronics, but never USB-B or whatever the old ones are called. Been using my laptop to charge all kinds of electronics without ever having an issue, so although it could be unrelated, it totally makes me suspect that it was one of the new lights' fault.

My Polaroid action cam once disabled most of the USB ports on my work desktop (also Lenovo), but they came back once I hard rebooted, so I do think USB devices have the capability of messing up hardware. Didn't think they could permanently fry a machine though.

Juan Foote

Get a new power brick and/or PSU for laptop. Probably required more amps than it could provide.

I use modular power bricks for all that manner of charging requirements.

prathmann

Shouldn't be able to damage properly designed ports or the equipment driving them. The USB device you plug in may certainly be looking for a higher current input than can be provided by a given USB port and therefore not be properly charged, but the port design should protect against damage.

Shred11

Steve B.

Marcus_Ti

So what kind of bike light was this? The USB on device should have prevented exactly this.

surak

Won't link to the light since it's going back to Amazon and I wouldn't recommend anyone chancing their equipment by buying one, but they were the Akale rechargeable bike light set. My ThinkPad is completely dead, its indicator LED doesn't light up at all when plugged in to the charger. Maybe Lenovo cheaps out on the electronics for the USB subsystem, but a brand new device probably shouldn't be drawing more power than expected and precipitating a total malfunction.

unterhausen

you can kill just about every computer through the usb port. It isn't hard to find instructions on how to make a usb killer. I'm surprised that a light would do it though

TimothyH

Have you brought the Lenovo to an authorized repair shop to see what they say?

That is the first step.


-Tim-

surak

Nah, it's over 3.5 years old, cost of repairing not worth it, especially since I mainly used it to browse BF and bike deals. In the end, by being unplugged at home I'll probably end up saving money.

fietsbob

You can buy wall plug USB converters a search found this

TimothyH

I would bring it in just to see what they say.

Often the tech will give some good advice or some kind of workaround just chatting about the issue.

They could run the serial number and see if this is a known issue, perhaps point you to others who have experienced the same thing.

If there is a Lenovo shop nearby it might be worth stopping in. Might be a waste of time but it really can't hurt.


-Tim-

01 CAt Man Do

My take on this is that it just might have been a flaw in the Micro USB cable/plug or port. I've seen these plugs malfunction before. Sometimes it's the receiving port and the plug not matching up right. This might be because the plug is old/ bent or some other reason. If it were to short out because of a flaw in the plug or wire I would think it possible it could cause a failure in the circuit that is doing the charging. This is why it's probably a good reason to use a wall USB charger if you have a lot of devices that charge via USB. I'm of the belief that this why you now see the advent of the newer USB-C plugs and ports. With USB-C it doesn't matter which way the plug is turned as it works any way you have it turned. Hopefully USB-C will become the new standard.