USB port losing power within a few seconds

[bjhaupt]

I bought recently an HP Spectre 13T convertable. The machine disconnects external 2.5" hard drives withing a few seconds regardless if they are old fashioned drives or SSDs. The drives work on other Win 7 and 10 machines. They work here as long as I am super fast. I have to connect them and then start copying/reading. I "lose" the drive when I wait for a few seconds.

Here is what I tried without success:

1. The BIOS and all drivers are up to date.

2. In Device Manager for USB Hubs (there's a bunch), I turned off for all "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power" under the Power Management Tab.

3. Disbled "USB selective suspend settings" in the "Change advanced power settings" of the "Power Options" / "Change plan settings". Nothings is allowed to go to sleep.

4. Unchecked the "Turn on fast startup" in the "Choose what the power buttons do" of the Power Options control panel.

5. NOTE: The machine did this already when I got it and it was in its original configuration.

I use HP machines and printers since the late 80th. This is the first machine I have problems with. How can I fix this?

[Riddle_Decipher]

@bjhaupt You seem to have gone through most of the important steps on your own, here's a few other basics that should help resolve the issue, and if you need anything we'll be here to help:

Perform the following steps, as applicable, to troubleshoot USB devices that are not working correctly:

1. Power: If the USB device operates on battery power, make sure the batteries are correctly seated and are functional. If the USB device operates on external power, make sure all the power connections are secure and the power cord is connected to a power source.

2. Test the USB connection: Sometimes, simply disconnecting and reconnecting the USB device to the computer can solve the problem:

   1. Disconnect all USB devices from the computer except a USB mouse and keyboard (if in use). This includes hubs, thumb drives, printers, and cameras.

   2. With all USB devices disconnected, do one of the following:

      • If you have a desktop computer, connect the device that is not working correctly to one of the USB ports on the back of the computer (the ports attached directly to the motherboard).

      • If you have a notebook computer, connect the device that is not working correctly to a USB port on the notebook. Do not use a USB port replicator (such as a docking station or USB hub).

   What happens when the device is connected?

   • The device works correctly: The problem is most likely related to power or poor overall system performance.

     NOTE: 

     To prevent the USB device from failing in the future: Do not connect too many devices to the computer; wait 5 seconds after connecting a device before using it; use powered hubs to connect other devices; and do not attach USB devices when the system is busy (running slower than normal).

   • The device does not work: Leave the device connected and continue to the next step.

FOR DETAILS & FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS, USE THIS LINK: CLICK HERE & SKIP TO STEP 3 UNDER TROUBLESHOOTING STEPS

(By the end of this article all the issues should be resolved)

P.S: Welcome to HP Community 😉

Let me know how that pans out,

If you feel I was helpful, simply click on Accept as Solution to help the community grow,

That said, I will have someone follow-up on this to ensure you've been helped,

Just in case you don't get back to us, 

have a good day, ahead.

[bjhaupt]

I followed your instructions. I ran the troubleshooter. It did exactly what I didn't want. It says about issues found:

Time before display goes to sleep is too long => fixed  <=> I wanted that to be long

Time before computer goes to sleep is too long => fixed <=> I set this to be longer

Screen saver is enable => fixed <=> This problem is not about my screensaver

USB Selective Suspend is disabled => Fixed <=> I already looked through HP's help pages. It was suggested to turn off all the energy saving options for the USB port.

Again: This is my problem. I have hard drives that are hardware encrypted, i.e., I enter a code so that I can access them. I read and/or write some files and shortly after the USB port loses power for a second. This means that the code is lost and I cannot write to the drive until I unplug it, plug it back and reenter the code. And then it starts all over.

Note: I used to work as a sysadmin and have maintained tons of machines. They all worked. The laptops are all Dells. however, I prefer HP as a personal machine. It should work the same here.

All I can say is. Thanks for offering help and thanks to Microsoft for messing up my settings.

[Riddle_Decipher]

@bjhaupt I must say, if none of those steps or the links suggested to help resolve issues with the USB connection loosing power, haven't helped, we may have a hardware malfunction, to confirm the same, I suggest running a hardware test on the device using the below steps:

Install the latest version of the HP Hardware diagnostics (UEFI) on your device using this link: Click here for details

• Hold the power button for at least five seconds to turn off the computer.
• Turn on the computer and immediately press Esc repeatedly, about once every second. When the menu appears, press the F2 key.
• On the HP PC Hardware Diagnostics (UEFI) main menu, click System Tests.
• Click Extensive Test.
• Click Run once, or Loop until error.
• While the test is running, the time remaining and test result for each component display on the screen.

If a component fails a test, write down the failure ID (24-digit code) for when you respond back to us.