HP Elitebook 840 G8 battery drains while it is plugged in

[MaxRandall1]

I have had numerous problems with this notebook since purchase - most related to the battery. I have learned to let it drain to less than 15% and drain the CMOS battery then uninstall the battery and adapter in the device manager and restart to TEMPORARILY restore normal charging behavior.  I have recently received some sort of update which disabled the USB C ports, and performed a similar reset the re-enable them.  That update was accompanied by something that turned my HP dock into a "dumb" USB passthrough. It no longer can turn the laptop on and off - the firmware appears to be borked.  My little workaround for the battery drain no longer is effective. 

Can someone advise me on just what the heck all of these updates are that keep being pushed to my machine, and why they keep breaking things?  Nothing has been quite right since the BIOS update on 11/19/2024. 

I would appreciate anyone who could shed some light on this source of constant irritation and anxiety. 

HP Elitebook 850 G8

SKU 613Q1UT# ABA

[Jupitero]

Hello.

Regarding the battery draining:

External devices can drain the battery. Try removing all external mice, keyboards etc to see if it helps. Even in shutdown state the charging USB port (with a lightning symbol on it) will feed power to any device connected to it.

Some devices are also fed power even in shutdown state because they can be used to wake the computer.

https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebooks-Knowledge-Base/What-to-do-if-laptop-battery-drains-when-turn...

Regarding the BIOS updates:

You can always roll back to an earlier BIOS if the current one is problematic. Sometimes newer versions break something while fixing something else.

The HP 850 G8 download page has all the earlier BIOS updates, and the release notes are there as well.

HP docks have also received their own firmware updates. I recommend looking into them as well if you now have a problem with it.

[MaxRandall]

I updated the BIOS, to the December version, and that seemed to help INITIALLY. The USB C ports are recognized again, but the battery issue persists.  It might be my imagination, but I think the battery charges and holds the charge when I do not have the dock attached, but returns to draining while on the charger when the dock is attached.  Unfortunately, working without the dock is not an option. so I am stumped.  I checked the HP Support site for drivers, and did not see anything battery-related. When I examine the battery and battery adapter in the device manager the system tells me that the drivers are up to date and the devices are functioning correctly.  It strikes me as particularly odd that the dock actually has its own power supply and is plugged in to a wall outlet, but it seems to be instigating this battery drain??? 

Any ideas ?

[Jupitero]

Hi,

The batteries in laptops speak the same simple language (protocol) so there have never been driver updates, never seen one. I believe the problem lies elsewhere.

Could you identify the HP dock model? Is it connected to USB A port or into Thunderbolt/USB-C ports? If this is the HP USB-C/A Universal Dock, connect it to USB-C port.

If the dock has its own power supply it should charge the laptop and keep the battery topped up whether the laptop is turned on or off. The charging light next to the charging port should light up when the powered dock is connected.

The dock should have a power light on when it is connected to AC power, even without a computer attached. Can't give more detailed information without knowing the dock model.

The laptop and the dock may have interchangeable power supplies, with identical power connector but with different power characteristics. The Elitebook 840 G8 was provided with a 45W or 65W AC adapter, which may work with the dock but cannot provide power to the host computer as well.

[MaxRandall]

Thank you for your continuing engagement.

This just keeps getting stranger.

My dock is the HP USB-C Dock G5, 5TW10AA#ABB, which I purchased in June of 2023.

This set-up worked well for more than a year. 

So, I tried rolling back to BIOS to the version from September of 2024.

This does not appear to have completed successfully. 

I downloaded the file and clicked through the dialogue boxes, but the process froze on the prompt after "do the update or put it on a flash drive."

When the laptop is on charger and the dock is not connected, it works fine. 

On dock and charger, the battery drains rapidly. 

On dock without charger, the battery drains rapidly.

The ODD development is that in Device Manager I now see MANY new entries  .

There seem to be a significantly larger number of serial bus controllers than physical ports on this machine. 

And this is the first I have seen of the Vendor Interface or HP USB-C Dock G5 here. 

Any ideas how to get things working again without this strange battery drain? 

ANY options would be gladly recieved.

Thanks! 

[Jupitero]

Hi,

Re: BIOS downgrade - since the BIOS update software doesn't function properly with your laptop for some reason, you can try creating a BIOS update USB drive on another computer with the same BIOS software package and select the Create Recovery USB flash drive option and then boot your laptop from the USB drive.

I do not have the same dock, so I cannot confirm whether those device manager entries are OK, but I cannot see anything wrong there either.

Try upgrading the dock firmware, available from its support page. Here's direct link to the latest 1.0.23.0 firmware.

Have you tried charging any other USB-C device or another laptop with the dock? Perhaps the dock is faulty?

It can be used to charge any phone/tablet/headset/flashlight, or other gadgets that are charged via USB-C.