Question Keyboard doesn't work unless restarted on Windows 11

[DudeWithGTX2025]

My ThinkPad X1 Carbon 6th keyboard doesn't work unless restarted, and this only happens in Windows 11 and not in 10. While my computer was powered off, I began turning it on and waited a few seconds to load. The keyboard didn't work, so I restarted it, and it began to work. This has been a month.

Any idea?

Hardware:

OS Name Microsoft Windows 11 Pro
Version 10.0.26100 Build 26100
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
System Type x64-based PC
System SKU LENOVO_MT_20KH_BU_Think_FM_ThinkPad X1 Carbon 6th
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-8250U CPU @ 1.60GHz, 1800 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 8 Logical Processor(s)
BIOS Version/Date LENOVO N23ET91P (1.66 ), 3/17/2025
BIOS Mode UEFI
BaseBoard Manufacturer LENOVO
BaseBoard Product 20KH002SUS
BaseBoard Version SDK0J40697 WIN
Platform Role Mobile
Secure Boot State Off
Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 8.00 GB
Disk Model PM9A1 NVMe Samsung 256GB

 

[Lutfij]

this only happens in Windows 11 and not in 10
So you're working with a dual boot setup? If so, try with one OS on a spare blank drive and see if the issue persists.

 

[johnbl]

go to your motherboard vendor website and look for a
Synaptics UltraNav Driver update for your keyboard.
sounds like it is having issues with sleep states.

you might also, take the time to update various firmware and other drivers while you are at it.

you might also start cmd.exe as an admin then run
powercfg.exe /energy
and look at the report if you want to see what windows thinks is wrong with your system. then after the driver updates run it again to see if the report shows as fixed

version on the motherboard website is pretty old
(2022)
https://pcsupport.lenovo.com/us/en/products/laptops-and-netbooks/thinkpad-x-series-laptops/thinkpad-x1-carbon-6th-gen-type-20kh-20kg/downloads/driver-list/component?name=Mouse, Touchpad, Keyboard and Pen&id=39D5D4E5-00B9-4FAA-9E83-DB725143192A

Keyboard UltraNav 6-row, spill-resistant, multimedia Fn keys, LED backlight TrackPoint pointing device and buttonless glass surface multi-touch touchpad

(look for updates for the trackpoint, and touchpad since they are part of the keyboard)

I am not sure what interface they use so I would also update the chipset and any usb or thunderbolt firmware and drivers)
very common for thunderbolt to have sleep bugs until you update the firmware/drivers. windows 11 rolled out new sleep states that expose bugs in old driver/firmware

 

[DudeWithGTX2025]

this only happens in Windows 11 and not in 10
So you're working with a dual boot setup? If so, try with one OS on a spare blank drive and see if the issue persists.

It's not dualbooting with anything

 

[DudeWithGTX2025]

go to your motherboard vendor website and look for a
Synaptics UltraNav Driver update for your keyboard.
sounds like it is having issues with sleep states.

you might also, take the time to update various firmware and other drivers while you are at it.

you might also start cmd.exe as an admin then run
powercfg.exe /energy
and look at the report if you want to see what windows thinks is wrong with your system. then after the driver updates run it again to see if the report shows as fixed

version on the motherboard website is pretty old
(2022)
https://pcsupport.lenovo.com/us/en/products/laptops-and-netbooks/thinkpad-x-series-laptops/thinkpad-x1-carbon-6th-gen-type-20kh-20kg/downloads/driver-list/component?name=Mouse, Touchpad, Keyboard and Pen&id=39D5D4E5-00B9-4FAA-9E83-DB725143192A

Keyboard UltraNav 6-row, spill-resistant, multimedia Fn keys, LED backlight TrackPoint pointing device and buttonless glass surface multi-touch touchpad

(look for updates for the trackpoint, and touchpad since they are part of the keyboard)

I am not sure what interface they use so I would also update the chipset and any usb or thunderbolt firmware and drivers)
very common for thunderbolt to have sleep bugs until you update the firmware/drivers. windows 11 rolled out new sleep states that expose bugs in old driver/firmware

I ran the cmd command before and after I installed the drivers in that link, It's the same issue: energy_report.html

 

[johnbl]

I ran the cmd command before and after I installed the drivers in that link, It's the same issue: energy_report.html

looks like power management is turned off because of a issue with your machine. This should mean that devices are not going to sleep.
your machine

[td]S1 Sleep Supported[/td][td]false[/td] [td]S2 Sleep Supported[/td][td]false[/td] [td]S3 Sleep Supported[/td][td]false[/td] [td]S4 Sleep Supported[/td][td]true[/td]

sleep state s4 is hibernate,
you might make a new hibernation image.

you might delete the current hibernate file and create a new one.
hiberfil.sys
something like start cmd.exe as an admin then
powercfg.exe /hibernate off
then delete the hidden hiberfil.sys (it may get deleted when you turn off hibernation, I do not remember)
then run
powercfg.exe /hibernate /type full
(it should make a new hiberfile.sys for you)
then try retest for failure.

/type full means that it will make a hibernation file size equal to your ram size. (you can use a smaller size but it should be at least 1/2 of your ram size)
here are some instructions:
https://winaero.com/windows-11-hibe...ge_Hibernation_File_Hiberfilsys_in_Windows_11

 

[DudeWithGTX2025]

looks like power management is turned off because of a issue with your machine. This should mean that devices are not going to sleep.
your machine

[td]S1 Sleep Supported[/td][td]false[/td] [td]S2 Sleep Supported[/td][td]false[/td] [td]S3 Sleep Supported[/td][td]false[/td] [td]S4 Sleep Supported[/td][td]true[/td]

sleep state s4 is hibernate,
you might make a new hibernation image.

you might delete the current hibernate file and create a new one.
hiberfil.sys
something like start cmd.exe as an admin then
powercfg.exe /hibernate off
then delete the hidden hiberfil.sys (it may get deleted when you turn off hibernation, I do not remember)
then run
powercfg.exe /hibernate /type full
(it should make a new hiberfile.sys for you)
then try retest for failure.

/type full means that it will make a hibernation file size equal to your ram size. (you can use a smaller size but it should be at least 1/2 of your ram size)
here are some instructions:
https://winaero.com/windows-11-hibe...ge_Hibernation_File_Hiberfilsys_in_Windows_11

May you explain how that Power Management related to the keyboard.


Thanks!

 

[johnbl]

May you explain how that Power Management related to the keyboard.


Thanks!

normally it would not be related unless it is using a usb interface.
you have a special laptop keyboard that has other built in functions.
I do not know what interface it is using but commonly special hardware will use the fastest usb interface, maybe usb thunderbolt interface. usb and thunderbolt have to have bios updates and firmware updates to work correctly with power management. you can get conditions where windows tells a interface to go into a sleep state then the support to wake from sleep was never implemented in the driver so the driver can not wake up.

In you machines case, someone determined the power management just did not work and it was just turned off.
I have see windows error reporting make the change on machines before. often windows will update files but it will not update the firmware or the bios on most machines. (surface gets the updates pushed out via windows updates, I have seen some dell laptops get updates pushed out via windows updates, but most require you to manually install the updates from the motherboard vendors website.

I had a old asus motherboard that would work great for the first week after a clean install, then a week or so later It would not sleep. turned out microsoft knew of a bug and would push out a update that disabled sleep on my machine.

windows 11 pushed out more sleep states to save more power on machines but it assumes that the firmware, bios, and device drivers work. These updates have exposed a lot of bugs related to power management (sleep states) Mostly in usb/ or thunderbolt ports, or drivers versions. seeing a lot of mediatek bluethooth drivers failing to respond correctly.
I think your system has thunderbolt, I would look for driver/firmware updates to install. then look for any keyboard related update (nipple mouse control, mouse pad control, keyboard light control, keyboard function key controls)

this assumes you want to get the machine working correctly with sleep, your system does not sleep, it goes from high power directly to hibernation. This is why I suggested you make a new hibernation file as a potential fix for the current problem.
note: it would be better to fix the sleep states if you actually run on battery power.

note: I assumed the problem was related to hibernation
since your system was running in high performance.

you can turn it off by running cmd.exe as an admin then
run
powercfg.exe /hibernate off

and see if you still have the problem.
if you do, then I would delete the pagefile.sys by turning off virtual memory and turning it back on to delete the file and create a new one.

you could also google how to make windows delete the pagefile.sys on system reboot, and make the registry changes and reboot. (generally good for ssd drive firmware problems or malware infections of pagefile.sys that have not been resolved)

 

[DudeWithGTX2025]

normally it would not be related unless it is using a usb interface.
you have a special laptop keyboard that has other built in functions.
I do not know what interface it is using but commonly special hardware will use the fastest usb interface, maybe usb thunderbolt interface. usb and thunderbolt have to have bios updates and firmware updates to work correctly with power management. you can get conditions where windows tells a interface to go into a sleep state then the support to wake from sleep was never implemented in the driver so the driver can not wake up.

In you machines case, someone determined the power management just did not work and it was just turned off.
I have see windows error reporting make the change on machines before. often windows will update files but it will not update the firmware or the bios on most machines. (surface gets the updates pushed out via windows updates, I have seen some dell laptops get updates pushed out via windows updates, but most require you to manually install the updates from the motherboard vendors website.

I had a old asus motherboard that would work great for the first week after a clean install, then a week or so later It would not sleep. turned out microsoft knew of a bug and would push out a update that disabled sleep on my machine.

windows 11 pushed out more sleep states to save more power on machines but it assumes that the firmware, bios, and device drivers work. These updates have exposed a lot of bugs related to power management (sleep states) Mostly in usb/ or thunderbolt ports, or drivers versions. seeing a lot of mediatek bluethooth drivers failing to respond correctly.
I think your system has thunderbolt, I would look for driver/firmware updates to install. then look for any keyboard related update (nipple mouse control, mouse pad control, keyboard light control, keyboard function key controls)

this assumes you want to get the machine working correctly with sleep, your system does not sleep, it goes from high power directly to hibernation. This is why I suggested you make a new hibernation file as a potential fix for the current problem.
note: it would be better to fix the sleep states if you actually run on battery power.

note: I assumed the problem was related to hibernation
since your system was running in high performance.

you can turn it off by running cmd.exe as an admin then
run
powercfg.exe /hibernate off

and see if you still have the problem.
if you do, then I would delete the pagefile.sys by turning off virtual memory and turning it back on to delete the file and create a new one.

you could also google how to make windows delete the pagefile.sys on system reboot, and make the registry changes and reboot. (generally good for ssd drive firmware problems or malware infections of pagefile.sys that have not been resolved)

Okay so if I buy a ThinkPad T480 or T14 does that happen on those machine too, right?

 

[johnbl]

Okay so if I buy a ThinkPad T480 or T14 does that happen on those machine too, right?

I could not say, these problems occur on all laptops that have custom hardware and do not provide the drivers to microsoft update. I have had a dell laptop and a microsoft surface that microsoft would push out firmware updates to. I am not sure I like it but they worked. I like to know and control when I put these updates on my machines.

newer machines that come with the new version of windows will more likely work. (at least until new features are rolled out and bios/firmware, and drivers need to be updated again)
custom laptops have more bugs in these drivers and require manual driver updates.

the thinkpad t480 came out in jan 2018
(it is pretty old and the drivers might not get updated anymore from the vendor) I would expect issues that might require power management to be disabled on windows 11.

8th generation cpu
14th generation intel cpu came out in 2023
next intel generation should release in second half 2025