USB-C ports increasingly failing, especially for external HDMI display and sometimes charging

[Ian-from-Oz]

My machine is a bare 6 months old and the following symptoms occur, all related to the USB-C ports.  All of these symptoms are intermittent and unpredictable, but annoying and disappointing in an expensive new laptop.

> Failure to charge when the charger is plugged in (occasional).

> Brief failure of audio when USB-C is connected to an external monitor via HDMI cable (frequent)

> Brief failure of audio and video, followed by resumption of both, when USB-C is connected to an external monitor via HDMI cable

> Ongoing failure of audio and video when USB-C is connected to an external monitor via HDMI cable

> Failure of audio and video, followed by resumption of video but not of audio, when USB-C is connected to an external monitor via HDMI cable

> The need for repeated unplugging and replugging of the USB-C connection to achieve a successful connection.

> Complete inability to receive audio on the external monitor on one of the two USB-C ports, accompanied with blackouts of the laptop display while unplugging and replugging the USB connection to attempt to achieve a viable connection (which used to work but now it seems not to at all on that particular port).

I have eliminated the external monitor, the HDMI cable and individual HDMI ports on the monitor as being the source of these failures by switching out various alternatives.  This failure only occurs when used with my HP laptop and not with any other audio-video source.  The intermittent failure to charge also points to the fault being within the laptop or its software.

I have persevered for some months with this issue in order to isolate and define the problem.  At the same time, these issues now occur much more frequently than at first, and take much more frequent unplugging and replugging of the USB-C ports to restore the performance, and in the case of the one of the two ports, nothing I can do will niow achieve an audio feed at all.

I hope that HP service advisers are able to point me to a fully adequate solution to these issues.

[EddyK]

Hi lan-from-Oz,

I've personally owned an HP Spectre x360 where one of the Thunderbolt 3 ports completely died within one month of usage - definitely not normal.

In terms of your issue, they don't sound OS/software related. If they were, it might be due to outdated chipset or BIOS updates, but it is unlikely.

Besides the charging issue, I want to ask whether you have checked if Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power is unchecked for both the Intel USB 3.0 eXtensible Host Controller and USB Root Hub. This can be found in Device Manager > Universal Serial Bus Controllers > right-click > Properties > Power Management.

Also please try disabling Fast Startup for your computer. This will be in the power options of Control Panel. 

If you want to know if this is related to an imminent hardware failure, you can use the HP UEFI Diagnostics:

1. Repeatedly press Esc upon startup
2. Select F2
3. Component Tests
4. Try System Board
5. Try USB Port

Hope this helps,

kem579

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[Ian-from-Oz]

Thank you so much, kem579, for your detailed reply and assistance!

Since my post, I did locate some software updates on the HP site and applied an update to the bios and also the graphics drivers, which said that it also affected the HDMI audio components.  Following the updates, my system is  a little more stable for USB-C HDMI connectivity, but still fails on and off.  (In particular, the port which had deteriorated to allow no audio at all now allows audio again;  and the dropouts seem less extensive and usually not for long, but not really good either).

I unchecked the power saving options you mentioned, and also disabled Fast Startup.  Once again, the issue still occurs despite those amendments.

I then did the component tests you suggested, and I recorded Fails for both USB-C ports (but Pass for the USB-A port and the system board).  However, I did note that before I did the tests on the USB-C ports, this message was presented in red text:  "Thunderbolt devices using the Type-C USB port configuration are not currently supported".

I have posted photos of some of the test results here https://imgur.com/gallery/G0HAV I omitted screens which were duplicated.

Is this a setting I can change somewhere to enable the support of Thunderbolt devices and thereby enable them to 'pass' the component test?  Or is this not relevant to my issue anyway?  (Please excuse my limited understanding of my issues, but your directions were amazingly helpful).

Failing a setting change being available, I'm guessing that my next step will be to contact HP Support directly, and since the machine is still under warranty I'm imagining they will have me submit it for repair work?

[EddyK · Accepted solution]

Hi lan-from-Oz,

"Thunderbolt devices using the Type-C USB port configuration are not currently supported." probably just means that the HP UEFI Diagnostics tool does not support Thunderbolt devices. With the introduction of the USB-C standard, Thunderbolt 3 was integrated as an ultimate charging/data transfer/video output all-in-one upgrade.

Normally, Thunderbolt had their own proprietary connection but now it is integrated into USB type C. Keep in mind that not all USB-C ports/cables are Thunderbolt 3 capable. Thunderbolt 3 = the future. More info on Thunderbolt 3 here.

Failure ID M4H2SW-8P1924-MFPURG-8D7403 translates to Failure Code 434 or USB Failure (unspecified). If there was an unspecified error for the port in device manager, this usually is a sign of a lack of proper drivers but since this was indicated in a hardware diagnostics tool and you are under warranty, I would advise contacting HP. They would probably repair the device. You just need to provide them with the Failure ID posted above.

Contact HP Worldwide here: http://www8.hp.com/us/en/contact-hp/ww-contact-us.html

Check warranty status here: https://support.hp.com/us-en/checkwarranty

Hope this helps,

kem579

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[Ian-from-Oz]

This is now becoming serious and frustrating.

HP has today replaced the whole motherboard because the USB-C drives are on board the motherboard.

The problem of failing HDMI feed still recurred.  However, the service tech had told me this may happen until software was fully updated.

I have since updated the BIOS and Graphics Drivers from the HP site, also.  (HP Support Assistant claimed no updates were required, so I went ahead and manually updated those two anyway).

The problem still continues.  Furthermore, a system test claims that the USB-C drives are still in Fail condition.

Not sure what more they can try.  I am very disappointed, especially since playing media to TV via HDMI is one of the major functions we wish to use this device for.

I am ready to seek a refund to be honest, if the device cannot be made to work according to it's intended function.