HP BIOS P70 firmware update rev 1.31->1.32, now Win 10 v1909 USB 3.x resource discovery issues

[BloomingAzaleas]

A) Am systems engineer, Windows power user, use HP Softpaq Mngr for HP-specific software as Support Asst does not catch everything and on occasion used DISM tools to fix Windows issues, familiar with HP boot-time firmware menus, but not a pro Win admin

B) In this issue context, the subject Zbook is a personal laptop (though it came loaded with HP enterprise remote mngmnt apps I keep updated but mostly disabled, in particular HP Client Security->Device Access is disabled for this diagnosis) effectively used as a fixed config desktop, meaning fixed external device connections (all USB types, network interfaces) across Win Shutdowns or Restarts, and particularly, across the firmware update. For reasons outside this context, my operational practice is a power-off shutdown (not sleep or hibernate) every day. USB-C devices include hubs and direct-port DisplayPort and HDMI external monitor connections.

B) Symptoms:

B1) Win10 Shutdown behavior changed to delayed restart. "Delayed" meaning visible power off state is maybe twice as long as Win10 standard "Restart" behavior.

B2) All pre-firmware-update USB-C connection (hub & external display DisplayPort and HDMI port) not recognized.

C) Shutdown behavior situation: after research and initial fiddles, disabling Win "Fast Start" via power button options menu drilldown seems to restore expected Win Shutdown behavior. BIOS "Fast Boot" option left enabled. But this in turn may be interacting with the USB-C issues.

D) USB-C issues situation: Attempted various fixes. Walked Device Mngr tree and disabled power management of all network and internal/external USB devices. No joy. Disabled/enabled internal Intel 3.0 eXtensible Host Controller and USB Root Hub & actual external devices. No joy. Uninstalled via Device Manager the entire USB sub-system device tree. From a cold start (not re-start) Win re-discovers the USB infrastructure but does NOT recognize attached hubs and monitors. No joy.

D1) Then discovered a behavior diff cold start to warm re-start: on warm re-start Win DOES discover all USB-C  3.x hubs/monitors. After warm re-start, Device Manager shows an approximately doubled list of USB infrastructure, in particular, the cold-start-discovered Intel USB 3.0 Host Controller hosting a dependent USB 3.0 Root Hub and a warm re-start-discovered Intel USB 3.1 Host Controller hosting its own dependent USB 3.0 Root Hub. Screen shots attached. Needless to say, this unexpected behavior diff explained most of my initial confusion as I was not particularly paying attention to cold start vs. re-start.

D2) Then discovered the D1 (above) behavior is likely firmware dependent and NOT Windows dependent. With the HP firmware boot wait period enabled, interrupt a COLD start boot early with the Esc key to get the firmware top-level menu. Choose F10 BIOS Setup. In one of the sub-menus, toggle any harmless option checkbox, say one of the "Wake On" options, just make the firmware think something has changed. Save and Exit. The firmware re-boots, which is apparently the equivalent of the above described Win warm re-start. Win discovers all USB-C resources as expected.

D3) Key BIOS settings:

Advanced->Port Options:

All ports ON except Smart Card.

Thunderbolt C-ports ON

Thunderbolt mode - no security (for this diag process)

E) Conclusions:

E1)The HP BIOS firmware rev 1.32 introduces changes in the discovery of both motherboard (Intel Host Controller and Root Hub) and external USB 3.x hardware resources. The new behavior is in effect a regression from the rev 1.31 behavior which had no trouble discovering all USB 3.x resources.  The release notes in the rev 1.32 Softpaq make no mention of changes to USB 3.x discovery. The BIOS security features menu items, particularly Thunderbolt, do not appear to have changed with 1.32.

E2) The work-around for a COLD-START is to warm RE-START either from the BIOS level or from Windows to get discovery of all USB 3.x resources. Hardly a recommendation for the premium $$$$ HP Zbook family.

Any suggestions on how to restore full USB 3.x resource discovery at BIOS boot time desired.

Minor update: After some experimentation, you don't have to fake a BIOS setting change to get the BIOS to re-boot.  A mere "Save and Exit" from the F10 BIOS Setup main menu will warm re-boot the BIOS to get full USB-C infrastructure discovery.

Additional info: HP SoftPaq for this firmware update is 101329.  Firmware update via network directly from firmware menu failed repeatedly with incompatible or corrupt download. SoftPaq version of update via Win10 succeeded as shown in the firmware version reported in the firmware menus, however, in Win10 Device Manager the device "Firmware" still shows "HP P70 System Firmware 01.31" which is the prior version. No way to know if this "device" dynamically attempts to read the firmware version and fails or if the "device" is a configuration plug that failed to update with SP101329.

[zorro82]

I have exactly the same problem on the HP ZBook 17 G4  (BIOS version 1.32) with USB-C ports. Downgrade to version 1.31 solved the problem.

[BloomingAzaleas]

Yes, reverting to P70 1.31 does resolve the USB-C devices discovery issue but at the cost of the updates applied by P70 1.32.  So, the reversion is a temporary workaround to avoid manual intervention at firmware boot time, not a solution.