G2 thunderbolt dock stops working after upgrading ZBOOK G4 BIOS

[gmihailo]

We recently upgraded BIOS on laptops across our fleet using HP SSM. On the whole, it worked fine.

We are however getting incidents reports by dozens of users across our organisation from users that have a HP Zbook 15 G4 laptop.

They are advising that their G2 thunderbolt docks have stopped working after the upgrade bios ran.

This is the BIOS version they are all running:

HP Notebook System BIOS Update (P70) - Version: 01.34 A (SP103803.CVA)

Some troubleshooting already performed:

If we check the secure connect app we can see the user's dock and port is not attached (even though the device has been previously approved).

Thinking that maybe there is another component out of date we proceeded to add further categories to hp ssm which deployed the following:

Intel Thunderbolt 3 FW for HP ZBook 15 G4 - Version: 41.2.5.5.1 A (SP98129.CVA)

Realtek USB Audio Driver for HP Thunderbolt Dock G2 - Version: 6.3.9600.250 A (SP102365.CVA)

Intel Thunderbolt 3 Secure Connect for 2018 - Version: 17.4.78.500 B

none of these additional driver upgrades appear to help.

We really need a solution that we can push out across the fleet. So rolling back bios in my view is not an easy option. We have a bios password enabled.

I should also mention that we have secure connect set up in bios. we have changed to user authorisation and it hasnt really made a  difference.

there have been a few minor instances where the docks did come back after performing some of the above steps, however the next day the docks just stopped working again.

it is very likely that dock firmware may not be up to date on our entire fleet. We did however obtain a dock we could firmware upgrade to the latest version. Using this on a pc also did not help.

[User4321]

Hi, We have the same problem here. Luckily only 50 HP zbook 15 g4 computers was updated with this 01.34 version bios before problems came out.

Here are few workarounds I discovered for users (these will allow docking station to work for one power on period):

1. Hardreset when powering on (press power button for 30 seconds)

2. Disconnect docking station before powering on and plug it in after Windows has loaded

3. Open bios and exit on boot, no need to change or save anything (doesn't work if/when bios password is in use)

Restart won't break the docking station's functionality, its only after power cycle that docking station goes mute.

Downgrading bios back to 01.31 was the thing we had to do =( We have currently ticket open for this on HP. So far tested with our own Win10 image and HP's Win10 image and the problem is the same (after Fast Startup is disabled from HP installation). Also tested with 1803 and 1909 Windows versions.

[gmihailo]

Thanks for providing your workaround steps. It sounds like we have the same problem and your workaround steps explain why sometimes it has worked for our users and sometimes it hasn't.

It really annoys me that HP are not working faster to fix this issue! 1.34 has been out for some time. They have not issued an advisory or a fix. 

We shouldn't have to revert BIOS. Considering we pay them millions of dollars each year this is not good enough. 

I do however thank you for giving me the workaround steps. If forced to revert bios i will do so as a last resort.

[gmihailo]

Is HP working on a fix? 

We have logged numerous calls and so far we are getting nowhere.

[gmihailo]

Another day and yet another visit by a HP technician at one of our sites around the country.

how many more technicians and money will you spend on sending out technicians and not actually provide a new bios fix?

its getting comical now. one technician mentions we shouldn't revert to older bios versions because there are other issues with them, meanwhile another has proclaimed its the motherboard while another has blamed the thunderbolt port itself.

the only thing that works is plugging in the dock AFTER windows has loaded. and that's only good for one power cycle.