Envy 15 freeze on USB 3.0 drive data transfer when copying numerous files

[ChipTay]

Thanks in advance.

My brand new Envy 15 (model LW897AV) (15t-3000 CTO) hangs every time I try and transfer a bunch of files from a USB drive via USB ports on the notebook.

It gets about 5 minutes in, then simply hangs. It'd done this 7 times now. I did get a message on a blue screen BSOD one time:

0xE0010002

After calling HP tech support and searching Google, they think it's a problem with the USB 3.0 controller or something to do with hibernation mode. I updated the USB 3.0 controller driver. No joy. Also I changed the power settings to never hibernate. Still no fix.

The USB ports on the left side seem to loose power. The port next to the USB drive is a wireless mouse, and it looses power too (green light goes off). Sometimes the keyboard and touchpad mouse still work. Other times, everything is frozen.

I can re-create the problem with two different USB drives. Of course, these USB drives have no problems with either of the drives.

Help!

Thanks. - ChipTay

[ChipTay]

<UPDATE - and changed the subject line>

This apprears to only be a problem with the USB 3.0 ports.

The USB 2.0 port is working fine. Just transfered 299 Gb via USB 2.0 port.

[PB-user]

Sounds unfortunately as if your PC has a hw-issue with the usb-controller since losing power to the devices.

I have a probook with somewhat similar issue. When copying large files it stalls several times during the copy process as if the windows 7 OS is having issues with buffer/cache writing to disk. Due to the constant stall/freeze the actual copy speed was same or even less than when using a usb 2.0 port.

My workaround was to install a third-party copy utility called TeraCopy (freeware) and since then I didn't experience any stalling or freezing during the file copy process on the usb 3.0 port. You might want to test that to rule out sw-related issues casing the bsod.

Have you had any issues with the usb 3.0 ports that the external harddisks are not being recognized as "super-speed" usb 3.0 devices? A message something like "This device can perform faster if connected to a super-speed port" pops up, even if the usb 3.0 device was connected to the usb 3.0 port! It appears that windows on random will recognize the device sometime as usb 2.0 and next time usb 3.0 capable. Happens on my probook which I believe has the same usb 3.0 controller (nec/renesas) as your envy. The probook only has one single usb 3.0 port on the left side.

[kstoltz]

Having the exact same problem with our new Envy 15 3033 CL. Just using the USB 3.0 ports have caused repeated BSODs. Tried moving about 22 GB from USB 3.0 external drive, and the laptop froze completely in the middle. Trying the Teracopy suggestion right now, but honestly I'm pretty discouraged that I've found several reports of this issue on NotebookReview and here, but no solutions. Since I'm within the warranty period, I'm really thinking about returning this and going with a different brand entirely since the USB 3.0 issues seems to be across multiple models.

And as I typed this, the Teracopy transfer is dead in the water at 2.18 GB out of 22 GB. Sadly that really leaves users of the Envy 15 with one truly usable USB port.

[ChipTay · Accepted solution]

Hi kstoltz. I have the solution for you.

Return it. I spent over 20 hours sending in dump files and bsod messages. US TECH SUPPORT WAS AWESOME.

FAR EAST TECH SUPPORT WAS SO PAINFUL I ALMOST THREW THE ENVY 15 INTO THE MARINA.

They said it was a hardware issue with the USB 3.0 ports and massive file transfers. There was no fix, so they have defective Intel chips out there on motherboards.

I got an exchange with an upgrade in RAM and processor for my troubles.

🙂

I love HP.

[benne236]

HP I HAVE AN ENVY 15 THAT HAS BEEN DOING THE SAME THING!!!!!!!! PLEASE REPLACE IT!  I have even gone to the extent of purchasing an ENVY 14 and now the screen is going out on that!

[AdventReality]

I have the same problem with my new CTO Envy 15t 3200. USB 3.0 hard drives connected to either of the USB 3.0 ports located on the left of the laptop will seemingly reset under load or after a certain duration of usage. What looks like is happening is the drive or USB port went to sleep even though there were activity still going on. I've had virtual machines located on external USB hard drive just crash after running as little as 10 min just idling. While the same drive plugged into USB 3.0 located on the right side of the laptop work just fine under any load no matter how long the file transfer took, and also running my virtual machines many hours without any issues.

Weird thing is that if I plug a USB 2.0 drive into either of the left two ports they would work just fine under any load and prolonged virtual machine usage.

I've tried the following solutions without any luck

• Latest BIOS
• Factory default install with Microsoft updates
• Updated drivers detected by HP Support Assistant
• Fresh install of Windows 7 from Microsoft disc with all Microsoft updates
• Disable the OS from turning off any hard drives
• Disable selective suspending of USB
• Disable sleep

I opted to exchange the unit in the hopes that it is a defective controller chip on the left side of the laptop. From reading the posts here I highly doubt that it will do any good and that HP will not figure out the solution to this problem anytime soon. Given the response that I got from the tech support representative seem like they still think it's an issue with individual units rather than a problem with the 2012 line of Envys.

[JCarroll3]

I'm having this exact same problem.  I sent it in and just got it back TODAY and it STILL has the same problem with it.  I am getting really tired of dealing with HP support.  How do I get in contact with US tech support?

[AxshunJaxun]

Hey JCarroll3, 

I'm sorry that you're running into this issue. 

To get in touch with HP Concierge Support - U.S. support specifically for Envy 14, 15 and 17 users call

1-866-408-5408    say Notebook and Envy

Make sure to let them know you've already sent it in for repair and it is still doing the same thing. Also let them know if you've already reinstalled Windows (aka a Recovery). I hope this information helps! Please let me know if you have any questions.

[RogerBlankPE]

This is a Disk Management issue. To stop a USB harddrive from freezing while copying data, you have to disable the default "Quick removal" and check the "Better performance" property in the Disk Management. This enables the "write cashing", and in order to remove the drive without losing data, you must use the "Safely Remove Hardware" notificaion icon to disconnect the device safely.

Allz hell that ends well.