Unable to connect HP Spectre x360 13 to Omen Accelerator

[PlumedArcher]

I have been unable to connect my brand-new HP Spectre x360 Convertible 13-ae0xx (late 2017) to my Omen Accelerator (SN [Personal Information Removed]).

I have followed the instructions at

https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c05573720

but when I connect the Accelerator to the laptop there are no notifications of new Thunderbolt devices, nor can it be detected by the Omen Accelerator app.

Note that in the instructions step 3 does not seem to apply to my model of the x360 -- I could not find any Thunderbolt Firmware package to install, so I assume this is not necessary.

I can see "GA1-10-Accelerator" listed in Device Manager, so there is definitely some connection working -- but the Thunderbolt side of things does not seem to be alive whatsoever.

Please could you advise me on how to debug and resolve this? Otherwise I will sadly have to return both the laptop and Accelerator. Thanks!

[PlumedArcher]

A few more details / discoveries:

I have tried restoring my laptop to factory settings using HP Recovery Manager. This has not fixed this issue.

The Thunderbolt details was showing "Controller driver version: unknown", but after plugging in the Accelerator a few times it now shows a version:

which seems promising, but it still doesn't work. When I connect, I see this for a few seconds:

and then the Thunderbolt application dies. When I re-open it, no devices are listed.

When connected, the red lights in the Accelerator are on, but that's it. The Omen Accelerator app does not detect the connection -- it just shows the error screen.

I've also tried re-flashing the BIOS for the latest version and re-doing the entire setup steps from scratch to no avail.

[PlumedArcher · Accepted solution]

Just for posterity: I had a few calls with HP tech support today and they confirmed that the Omen Accelerator is currently not compatible with the HP Spectre x360 13-ae0xx, due to an issue with the Omen Accelerator firmware.

Furthermore, they didn’t say anything about timescales for a firmware fix, so I will be returning my Omen Accelerator.

[MKazi]

@PlumedArcher

Thanks for reaching out to us on HP Support Forums. I came across your post and would like to assist.

I understand that you have an HP Spectre x360 Convertible 13 series laptop. I read that the HP Accelerometer is not working on your HP laptop. I have read your post comprehensively and appreciate the steps you have performed and have certainly done a good job. You've done a remarkable job performing the steps. 

I suggest you to try installing the HP Accelerometer as it helped me fix on one of my cases. The following steps will help:

• Open Windows Control Panel, open Programs and Features, right click the entry for HP 3D DriveGuard and select Uninstall.

• When this has completed, restart the notebook.

• Download and run the HP Accelerometer from this link: ftp://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp82501-83000/sp82755.exe

I sincerely hope this fixes the issue. Keep me posted. Good luck! 

[PlumedArcher]

Thanks @MKazi, but my issue is to do with the *HP Omen Accelerator* external GPU case, not the *Accelerometer*, so the above steps are very unlikely to help (in case anyone desperate is looking for a solution!)

As mentioned, I was informed by HP that the Omen Accelerator and x360 13 a-series are not compatible, so it has been returned.

[MKazi]

@PlumedArcher

Thank you for correcting me and clarifying.

I now understand. Wish I could help you further with this. 

You take care and feel free to keep posting for any further assistance.

Take care! 🙂

[Waley]

Actually this issue is only occurred on this new HP Spectre x360 convertible 13-ae0xx connecting with OMEN accelerator EMEA sku products.

For OMEN accelerator other skus (like NA, APJ...), NO impact, it works fine.

This is because of design difference between OMEN accelerator EMEA skus and other skus, to meet Europe new energy policy of erp lot 6/26, so there is specific desgin for OMEN accelerator EMEA PCBA, so with the new spectre x360 13-qe0xx with the new thunderbolt 3 version, there is some incompatibility between them. probably some timing issue.

HP is working on that, probably will have some firmware solution to fix that soon for EMEA skus.

[BradSharp]

Do we have any timescales on the fix for this? or even a workaround?

I  called support yesterday about this and they haven't been super helpful on the information front, other than that they aren't "compatible" at the minute.

I happen to have the GA1-1010na with an ea0xx and they don't work together.

[Waley]

Probably will be few weeks, the softpaq will be released to upgrade OMEN accelerator EMEA SKU firmware. You can refer to HP OMEN accelerator support page at that time to get the new firmware package.

Thanks.

[Stormblade]

The question remains how we will be able to install this new firmware update if the device is not even properly detected by the spectre x360. The older firmware update for the accelerator doesn't even notice that the accelerator is connected and therefore can't check whether it needs an update or not.