Disabling USB-C power when notebook is powered off not possible

[a_cat]

When the EliteBook 845 G9 is shut down completely (not sleep or hibernation or anything like that, off) it's still powering devices connected via USB-C. It doesn't matter if it's currently plugged in for charging or not. The devices that are still powered are e.g. a simple USB-C hub. It's directly connected to the EliteBook via USB-C.

In the BIOS it was possible to disable legacy USB charging to disable this behavior for the USB-A ports. But the USB-C ports were not affected by that. Same thing for the battery threshold setting, it also only affects the USB-A ports.

How do I resolve this? I always have to disconnect my USB-C devices when the laptop is powered off since they will drain the laptop battery. Is this some bug that needs to be resolved in the BIOS firmware?

[Treeko]

Hi @a_cat 

Welcome to HP Support Community. 

Thank you for posting your query, I will be glad to help you. 

I see that you wish to disable USB ports.

Kindly refer to the steps on this link and let me know if that fixes the issue.

Please click “Accepted Solution” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution. Click the “Kudos/Thumbs Up" on the bottom right to say “Thanks” for helping!

I hope this helps.

Take care and have a good day.

Treeko

HP Support

[a_cat]

Hi @Treeko,

I don't want to disable the USB-C ports. I want to use them when I'm using my EliteBook.

But I want to disable them being powered (and attached devices being charged/powered) while the EliteBook is powered off.

Best regards

[Treeko]

Hi @a_cat 

it is recommended to disable and detach the USB port when not in use manually.

I hope this helps.
Take care and have a good day.

Treeko
HP Support

[a_cat]

What kind of recommendation is this? Yes of course this would solve this issue but it's not a viable solution. I don't want to de- and reattach all the cables every time I power off my EliteBook. No other laptop I had in the past had this issue.

And there's even a BIOS option to disable power to the USB ports when the laptop is powered off but it just doesn't work for the USB-C ports, only for USB-A. So it seems like it's acknowledged that this is a thing users want and HP wants to offer with it's BIOS firmware but the option just doesn't apply to the USB-C ports because it's e.g. a bug.

[Treeko]

Hi 

I've sent you a private message with the instructions. In order to access your private messages, click the private message icon on the upper right corner of your HP Support Community profile, next to your profile Name or simply click on this link

I hope this helps.
Take care and have a good day.

Treeko
HP Support

[a_cat]

Unfortunately I don't have a private message icon there. Only the notification bell. Either I can't access this feature or I didn't get any private messages yet.

[a_cat]

I've received the message in the end. The proposed next step was to contact support about this issue.

I did that today. The proposed solution: When powering off, power on again and launch the BIOS settings, disable the affected USB-C ports and power off. When powering on launch the BIOS settings first, enable the ports again and then boot the OS.

I mean... yes, I guess that's a workaround but I definitely prefer unplugging the USB-C devices when powering off then instead of wasting my time in the BIOS settings after every shutdown and before every boot.

So basically there's no solution to this: I have to live with it. I still consider it a bug or a very bad design decision though: Either the legacy USB port charging should also disable the USB-C power in powered off state or there should be an additional setting for the USB-C ports. My workflow of having USB-C devices connected in powered off state is very common. So I still think this should be fixed by HP.

[HiLLUSiONiST]

I second this A_cat.  This design makes no sense.  Having to unplug the USB-C (for dual monitors) everyday so the battery does not constantly drain (eventually killing the battery) is a bad design and will only wear down the physical USB-C port.  

How do we get this in a que for a potential update?  When you scour the internet many people would like this functionality.  

Thanks

[a_cat]

From all the forum posts about different issues I also have with this laptop and that would need to be fixed in firmware, I've never seen any official responses that indicate forwarding of such feedback/suggestions/report internally leading to things getting fixed. I guess a large number of such posts might be taken into account at some point but single consumers posting to a community forum are probably not a priority. Some business that bought thousands of these machines and has an issue with the firmware is probably given a much higher priority.

Support was also not helpful: They suggested the ridiculous workaround mentioned above but there was no indication that this is forwarded internally to be fixed in the future.

So I guess for this and all other issues it's the same thing: We just have to wait. It might or might not get fixed.

Until then I've now connected as many things as possible via USB-A so I don't have to unplug them every time. It's sad having to do this with a new laptop with fancy Thunderbolt ports (and many things obviously only work via Thunderbolt oder USB-C DisplayPort channels) but it's the only viable solution right now.