The Lenovo N21 is a rugged third generation Chromebook that was released in early 2015, designed for educational use with reinforced ports and hinges, a retractable handle, anti-peel keys, a sealed touchpad, and 9.5 hours of battery life.
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Your screen is unresponsive and is either lighting up but blank or not lighting up at all
Make sure that the laptop is fully charged by plugging it into a working outlet.
This can be caused by a number of things, including hard drive failure, physical damage, or viruses. Press and hold the power button and refresh key until system shuts down. This is known as a hard reboot or hard reset.
Wiring for the screen may have been disconnected from the motherboard. When opening up the Chromebook, check the display cable going from the motherboard to the screen by following this guide.
The CPU may be dead or simply overheated. Turn off laptop and let it sit for 10-15 minutes to let the CPU cool down. If the CPU is in fact dead, you will need to replace the entire motherboard by following this guide.
The RAM or hard drive may be dead. Because the RAM and hard drive is integrated into the motherboard, you will need to replace the entire motherboard to fix this issue by following this guide.
The computer is unresponsive when the laptop is opened or powered on
Make sure laptop is charged by plugging it into a working outlet. Check to see if the charger light on the Chromebook is on. If the light does not turn on, the charging cable or charging port may be faulty, and you may need to try a new charging cable or replace the charging port of the Chromebook.
If the cable is damaged or faulty, try another cable. The Lenovo N21 Chromebook uses an AC 20V 3.00x1.00mm charging cable. If you have a spare or can find one, try using a different charger. Another charging cable may be incompatible if the voltage or current output is different than what is required by the Chromebook.
The battery may have been damaged or unplugged. Open the laptop and make sure that the battery is connected. If the battery is connected properly but the laptop is still not responding when powered solely by battery power, the battery may require a replacement with this guide.
No matter what you do you can’t get your laptop to connect to Bluetooth and/or WiFi
Ensure the device is charged. Make sure that Bluetooth/WiFi is turned on by going into the Chromebook settings found in the bottom right corner of the screen.
Make sure the correct Bluetooth pin code or passkey was entered while trying to connect.
Perform a hard reboot of the Chromebook by pressing the refresh and power keys at the same time. After the reboot, turn Bluetooth off and on again and try to connect. Make sure to keep the device and Chromebook as close together as possible when trying to connect.
You may need to replace the Bluetooth/WiFi adapter. You can do that by following this guide.
“The Bluetooth connection between two devices keeps dropping”
Move the device closer to the Chromebook, then try to reconnect.
Move the Bluetooth device away from other wireless devices, then try to reconnect.
Replace the WiFi adapter by following this guide.
Check that wireless network is active by testing the connection with a separate device. Make sure that you are testing the same network.
Your wireless network may only be able to support a limited number of devices at once. Make sure that your network is able to support everyone that is using it.
Check if the Chromebook is able to connect to a different router. If it is able to connect, then you may have an issue with your router.
Check if your wireless card is working properly. Try using an Ethernet connection to connect to the internet. If you are able to connect through Ethernet, then your wireless card may need to be replaced. You can do that by following this guide.
The touchpad is unresponsive when touched or tapped
Make sure the touchpad is clean, tap the “esc” key several times, and try again.
Check if the touchpad is disabled in Touchpad Settings. You can access this by going to Settings>Device Settings>Touchpad Settings.
Sometimes a computer is unable to recognize a device. Perform a hard reboot by pressing the refresh and power keys at the same time. After the system turns on again, try to use the touchpad.
Check if the touchpad wiring is disconnected in the inside of the device, and if it still is not functioning, you may need to replace the touchpad. In order to replace the touchpad, the whole panel including the keyboard and touchpad must be replaced. You can do this by following this guide.
Restart your laptop. You may also perform a hard reboot by pressing the refresh and power keys at the same time.
Your battery may be old, and is no longer able to hold charge well. You may need to replace the battery by following this guide.
Make sure you are plugged into an outlet that outputs power.
Make sure the charger and adapter cables are completely plugged in, both to the Chromebook and to the wall.
Use a multimeter to test if there is any voltage output with the AC adapter. The reading on the voltmeter should be very close to 20V. If you get a reading that is close to zero, the AC adapter is either not working or you aren’t using the voltmeter correctly.
If you have already checked the charger cables and power outlet, and the Chromebook still is not charging, reset the Chromebook hardware. Perform a hard reset by pressing the refresh and the power buttons at the same time. If this does not work, you may also reset the hardware by turning off the Chromebook, removing the charger cable, disconnecting the battery with this guide, then reconnecting the battery and charger cable. If the Chromebook still does not charge, you may have a bad battery pack or charging port failure.
Troubleshoot whether the battery or the charging port is the source of the cause. Unplug the laptop from its charger. Unplug the battery by following this guide. Plug the laptop back into it’s charger and see if it boots up without the battery as the source of electricity.
If the computer successfully turns on, then the issue is most likely with the battery, and you will need to buy a new battery and replace the faulty one with this guide.
If the laptop does not power on, the issue is most likely with the charging port, and you will need to buy a new charging port and replace it.
No matter what is displayed on screen, there are white lights in spots.
If the monitor contains small pixels that are not changing color properly, it is known as a dead pixel. The only solution is to replace the display. You can do this by following this guide.
The screen is not displaying the proper colors and appears “torn” or “cracked” on the inside.
The Lenovo N21 has integrated graphics. In order to fix a faulty graphics card for the Chromebook, you will need a motherboard replacement. You can do this by following this guide.
