USB C Thunderbolt port not working

[Chaco81]

 I was trying to transfer a file into an SD card via my USB C adapter and noticed that it wouldnt work. It just didnt do anything. Unable to determine what caused it if anything.

So long story short, my "front" UCB C thunderbolt port, doesnt do anything. I can plug a USB reader, my adapter, charging cable, etc, and it doesnt do anything. 

PC hasnt been dropped. No physical dust, or stuff in the port. Nothing has hit it. This machine is mint. 

Now, i dont think is fully dead. SOMETIMES,  on device manager, i can see USB 3.1 eXtensible Host Controller 1.10 (Microsoft) show up after a small noise, but nothing ever happens after the fact.  Disabling and enabling that doesnt make a difference.

Is there any way i can really test to find out if the port is really dead?

Do each port has their own thunderbolt controller? Are each independent, or will both fail together?

My other USB C ( "rear" one)  works just fine with every USB C accessory i have. HP UEFI Hardware diagnostics cant tell me if its faulty. It says it doesnt support USB C ports... 

I restored my machine to a previous point, just to see if anything new was the problem, with no change.

I wanted to really try troubleshoot it before taking it to microcenter for warranty service. I really want to avoid it as long as possible before i HAVE TOO, specially if its something i can fix myself. 

Thank you all ahead of time. 

[EddyK]

.

[Chaco81]

Spoiler

Thanks for the feedback... I did try the HP Diagnostics in UEFI but it tests only the USB A port, not the USB Cs.... so that didnt helped much.

Microcenter will fix as needed since i got their 2 yr warranty, but they are backlogged, so it will leave me like 2 weeks without my device. Which i use for my business. Other than this port, the rest of the PC works great.

I was just trying to really determine its a faulty port before i did go for their work. 

[CVermin54]

The following worked for me to reset the Embedded Controller and it worked flawlessly afterward. 

1. Power the computer off.
2. Press and hold the power button down for 5 seconds or more to reset the Embedded Controller.

HP KB Link: https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c05942533
Credit to Agramonte for posting on Forum: 
https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-Hardware-and-Upgrade-Questions/One-of-the-USB-C-ports-stopped...

[JHBo]

Thank you very much! This worked for me too.

My laptop suddenly decided not to detect my external monitor via USB-C/DP alt.
Now it works.

It amazes me that in 2019 such manual actions are still required to get something to work...

[GTRider]

Wow!  I just got my Spectre back from HP Support where they replaced the motherboard because the USB-C ports weren't working.  Before that, I spent hours on the web chat with them trying to resolve the problem, and no one suggested this reset procedure.  But it gets more interesting.  When I first got my machine back with the new motherboard, the USB-C ports were working.  But then one stopped.  And soon thereafter, the other one stopped.  I was just getting ready to call support back when a Google search brought me to this thread.  And the procedure described by CVermin54 worked!  Both ports are working again!

It makes me wonder not only why the HP Support agent who helped first me the first time didn't know about or was able to find the KB Link, but whether the motherboard replacement was really necessary. 

[Pomtowh]

This solution worked like a charm.  Thanks

[booboo-dragon]

thank you very much! can confirm it's working for an x360 spectre 13-ae052nr 

one of the thunderbolts wasn't working and this fixed it