Power Delivery (PD 3.0) from my USB-C HUB Not charging my Spectre X360 14-EF0000

[Zacchino]

Hello @HP Community,

I bought a HUB that has all the latest specs (USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 / Thunderbolt 4 / PD 3.0, etc.).

So, as usual I connect my HP Charger to the PD 3.0 Port of this HUB, then connect the HUB to the USB-C Charging Port on the top-left of my Spectre 14-ef0000 (2022).
But despite detecting my external HDMI Screen, my external Drive, and so on... It DOES NOT charge the Spectre.

I tried the same HUB with my other HP Spectre X360 13t-AW000 (2020), and it does charge it.

All my USB components Drivers are up to date, I even updated the Firmware of both the Spectre and the HUB. 
Hub Brand & Model : WavLink WL-UHP512S  (with the Realtek RTL9210 chip which is known for its efficiency and stability).

PS: It charges just fine with the USB-C Power Adapter directly connected to it (to the USB-C Charging port)

[banhien]

@Zacchino 

Did you check COMPATIBLE issue before buying a dock for your Spectre machine ?  Not all USB-C ports are the same.

Regards.

[Zacchino]

Hello Banhien and thanks for chiming in.

Of course I checked.
Everything's compatible with this Hub. It's basically the same specs as HP Universal USB-C Multiport Hub

- It gets up to 100W from any USB-C Power Adapter that's connected to its Power Delivery Port 3.0.
- And delivers up to 87W to the any Laptop with a USB-C Charging port.

And the Spectre X360 14-EF series only needs 65W... Even charging it with a 45W power adapter works fine! Hence why it doesn't makes sense.

[banhien]

---

@Zacchino wrote:

... Everything's compatible with this Hub. It's basically the same specs as HP Universal USB-C Multiport Hub

---

@Zacchino 

I don't believe they are the same. I did say: Not all USB-C ports are the same. Did you try HP USB-C dock ? I think it won't work too.

Regards.

[Zacchino]

Thanks again for your reply Banhien!

I don't own this specific HP Hub, I quoted it as a comparison (and by "everything" I meant my older Spectre x360, my USB-C Smartphone, and even a pair of Headset that has a USB-C charging port).

Hence why I can't say the Hub is at fault. 

That said I'm wondering if there's something to do with this new Spectre x360 14-0000x series being more power hungry than the 13t.

The Support agent I had on the phone told me something about the 13t being shipped with  a 45W charger compared to the new 14 coming with a 65W charger.

Besides that, I have no clue where that's coming from (my first guess was something about the USB-C Drivers needing a fix, or maybe even the Bios/Firmware needing an update on this issue, but the chances the R&D team taking into account my Case# is slim... I guess they need more users / more data to be able to repro the issue, so that it gets higher on their priority list, but who knows...)

[banhien · Accepted solution]

@Zacchino 

At this stage, I can't see official specs from HP docks which support HP Spectre machines in general. HP should publish a list of compatible docks/machines, only the following document

                  https://www8.hp.com/h20195/v2/getpdf.aspx/c04168358

I'm a volunteer, do not have hardware to test, HP used to loan us machine to test every year but the scheme stopped few years ago. As a retiree I can't borrow hardware from my old employer to test (not all machine but at least a few from different vendors) on weekends.

Hope the above document helps a bit.

Regards.

[Zacchino]

This is it!

OMG Banhien you have a real talent for problem solving. Thanks to the Tech Specs PDF you sent me, I realized something:

Most (if not all) of HP's Docks power through at least 100W. I first thought it was an overkill, as the Spectre 13t runs fine with 45W, and my current 14-0000x also runs fine with just 65W.

Then it all made sense: the Docks (whether HP or 3rd Party brands like the one I have) need way more than 65W to power both the USB-C / USB-A Ports AND the Power Delivery 3.0 to the Laptop.

Hence my Dock why it was working fine with my old Spectre 13t because it only needed 45W, but my 14-0000x needed way more than that.

So I went ahead and bought a USB-C Power Adapter that delivers 90W (i.e. the XITAIAN 90W USB-C which is quite affordable), and bingo: the HUB was charging my Laptop like a charm!

So again, thank you so much for directing me to the right solution. You're the best!

[Zacchino]

(✓ Problem marked as Solved / Hope this'll help other people with the same issue).