HP Z2 G9 - Front USB not working

[Risto86]

Hello,

today, after booting up my PC, I found that neither my USB mouse nor USB keyboard worked. I then tried other USB ports (front and back) and also other USB devices without success.

Then I left the computer for a short time with the power cable unplugged and restarted it. After that, two USB ports on the back were in function and I got into the BIOS. Since I had already installed the latest BIOS, I could only check whether the USB ports were activated, which was the case.

On Windows, I searched for new drivers, which didn't bring any updates. Currently, all rear USB ports are running again, only the front ones are not working.

The whole thing seems very strange to me, I've had the computer for about two weeks now.

Does anyone have an idea? Thank you and greetings

[NonSequitur777]

@Risto86,

Welcome to our HP community forum!

Let's try this first:

Type in: cmd in your Windows search bar, and right-click on the Command Prompt app, and then left-click on: Run as administrator, then: Yes to acknowledge.

Type in and enter: sfc /scannow and allow to run, may take a while to complete.

Upon completion, please copy/paste/enter:

DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

This command will also take a while to complete, perhaps even longer than the previous command.

Once completed, please download this most useful freeware utility program: CCleaner from here.

Run CCleaner, including "Registry" under the Tools tab.

Restart your PC, and let's see how you're doing.

Kind Regards,

NonSequitur777

[Risto86]

Thanks for your quick reply. I tried all these steps, but without luck. Meanwhile I also resetted Windows 11 and found out, that also my card reader is not working. I think this is a defect on the mainboard.

[NonSequitur777]

@Risto86,

Yes, in my anecdotal experience, faulty USB ports is almost always caused by a defective motherboard.

Here are some additional troubleshooting steps you may want to try:

1. Check Device Manager (Windows)

• Right-click on the Start Menu and select Device Manager.
• Expand the Universal Serial Bus controllers section and check if there are any yellow exclamation marks, which indicate a problem with the driver.
• If there is, right-click on the problematic entry and choose Update driver.

2. Power Management Settings

• Sometimes, Windows disables USB ports to save power. You can check this by:
  • Right-clicking Start, then go to Device Manager.
  • Expand Universal Serial Bus controllers.
  • Right-click each USB Root Hub or Generic USB Hub and select Properties.
  • In the Power Management tab, uncheck Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power.

3. Reinstall USB Drivers

• In Device Manager, you can right-click on each USB controller and select Uninstall device. Afterward, reboot the computer, and Windows will automatically reinstall the drivers.

4. BIOS/UEFI Settings (I would try this one first)

• Enter your system’s BIOS/UEFI by restarting your computer and pressing the appropriate key (usually F2, F10, ESC, or DEL) during boot.
• Check if the front USB ports are enabled in the BIOS settings.

Kind Regards,

NonSequitur777