External USB drive on USB-C Dock with Elite x2 issue

[Christopher_R]

I have the following problem with my Elite x2 and USB C-dock and I'm wondering if anyone is able to reproduce the issue.  I've attempted to open a case with HP, but as soon as it turned out to be an intermittent problem the help desk refused to open a case.

The issue is that sometimes when copying files to an external USB drive connected to the C-Dock that the drive goes into a "not ready" state.  This happens with a specific .ISO I downloaded from HP, but also when I attempt to use Casper to take a clone image of my C: drive.  When the external drive is connected to the x2's internal USB port there is no problem.  i've duplicated this issue on 2 different x2s with 2 different C-docks -- including swapping the docks between the to x2.  The issue is also unrelated to the specific external drive; that is, I've duplicated it with 2 different external drives too.

Here are instructions that can be used to trigger the failure:

1. Download the ISO image from this advisory onto your desktop (the advisory page has me download the following file: ftp://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp75501-76000/825065-b21_a1_100.iso😞

Routine Driver Alert - Apr 05 2016

HP Elite x2 1012 G1 Driver Recovery and System Restore Image (ver 1.00 Rev.A)

Products: HP Elite x2 1012 G1

OS: Windows

Description: This package contains the drivers and software required to restore or replace the system functionality on the supported models running a supported operating system.

1. Connect a portable USB drive to the USB C-Dock (i.e., a drive that’s powered by the dock).
2. Using File Explorer, copy the file to the external drive.
3. On my system, it always stops copying after 42% of the file is copied.  Eventually (after a very long wait) the system will report a drive not ready error.  After the copy hangs, further attempts to access the drive will put the system into a mode where a hard power-down is needed (holding the power button) to shutdown the system.

Here’s how the failure at 42% starts to manifest.  If you wait long enough another drive not ready error eventually displays.

I can also create the failure through the following Perl script:

#!/bin/perl -W
###
# findBad.pl - Script to find bytes crashing my dock.
#
# Read a file byte-by-byte and write each byte to <stdout>
# while printing the byte count to <stderr>.
###
use strict;
 
my($i) = 0;                  # Count progress through file.
 
# Set STDIN to binary mode.
binmode(STDIN);
 
print STDERR "Starting...\n";
 
while(read(STDIN, my($byte), 1)) {
  print $byte;
  print STDERR $i++."\r";
}
 
print STDERR "\nFinished.\n";

This script hangs after reading and writing 1,364,664,318 bytes.  Here’s a command line log:

rathc@Elite1012-RathC /cygdrive/c/Personal
$ ./findBad.pl <825065-b21_a1_100a.iso >/cygdrive/g/tailcp.iso
Starting...
1364664318

[Axelx2]

I have the same Problem, that the usb-C-Dock  sometimes goes into a "not ready" state.  Result: Mouse and keyboard do not work.  Then I disconnect the usb-c-plug and insert it again. Then it works again.

[Christopher_R]

Have you applied the following advisory?  When I first received the x2 and C-Dock it was almost non-functional because it stopped working so often.  The following advisory fixed most of those issues.  I'm left with the remaining external USB issue, plus an infrequent recurrence of the dock not working issue (about once a week).  The external disk issue is the first time I've been able to reliably cuase the dock to fail (as opposed to it randomly failing).

Critical Customer Advisory - Apr 01 2016

Advisory: HP Elite x2 1012 G1 - USB Type-C Devices Stop Working Intermittently (c05068665)

Products: HP Elite x2 1012 G1

Description: Intermittently, the USB-C port stops working. When this occurs, there is no output from the USB-C port and devices plugged in to the port will not be recognized but the port will still work for charging the computer.

[Axelx2]

Thank you! I'll try that.

[Christopher_R]

How did you make out with the dock?  Has it improved?  Are you able to duplicate the issue I posted?

Thanks,

Christopher

[Bob_Headrick]

I am downloading the ISO to try to reproduce the issue you are seeing (will be another six hours with my slow DSL connection).  

There are three USB 2.0 ports, a USB 3.0 and a USB-C port on the dock. Which one are you having issues with, or have you tried different ports with similar results?  

What kind of external drive are you copying the file to?

How intermittent is the issue when using the ISO file - is it reproducible at 42%?

[Christopher_R]

Hi Bob,

The isssue occurs with the USB2 ports.  In my testing, I typiaclly plugged into the USB2 port that is on the right side when viewing the dock from the back (and the one on the left is the USB3 port).

The problme is completely reproducible at 42%.  It occurs at the same point each time, no matter which of my two x2s or docks I use.  I've also tested with 2 different external drives.

At the same time I had posted these instuctions here, I had used HP's web interface to enter a problem ticket.  It has been a long an tedious journey getting this issue through the 1st level team, but  I had an email last night from HP that 2nd level has been able to duplicate the problem. 

Hopefully I'll have somethime useful to report here soon.

From: Mendonca, Nikhil (APJ-SPAC-EMT / TPM Support)
Sent: 12 July, 2016 17:49
Cc: Alfred, Simon (APJ-EMT /TPM Support); Mehdi, Syed Zahoor
Subject: RE: 4654416441

Hi Christopher,

               Greetings for the day,

The level 2 product specialist team have been able to replicate the issue at their lab.
They have logged a case with RnD and are working with them to fix the same.

Regards,
Nikhil Mendonca
South Pacific EMT, HP Inc. 

[Bob_Headrick]

Hi Christopher -

I am glad support is able to reproduce the issue, they will likely have much better resources than I do to address the issue.  

My download failed and I needed to restart it, will be a while yet.  I will post the results here.  I will give the USB 3.0 port a try as well.  I am using a similar but different computer model, I have a Spectre  x2 a012nr.  I am using the same driver set as supplied for the Elite X2 and applied the update for the USB-C Dock's firmware.  

[Bob_Headrick]

Well, I had considerable difficulty getting the file downloaded but once downloaded it did not have any problem copying to a USB drive in the USB-C doc.  I used three different USB flash drives and tried both the USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 ports and could not duplicate your results.

I will look forward to hearing what support comes up with.  The main difference between our setups - I have the Spectre x2-a012nr, not the Elite X2 model you have.  We have the same USB-C docking station.  I installed the Elite X2 USB-C Docking station drivers from the HP site.

[esKay67]

Our company uses a few HP Elite x2 1012 computers with the USB-C Thunderbolt docks.  These work well most of the time, however, I am having some of these issues with one machine.  HP is sending a tech to replace the USB-C port to try and fix the issue.  I have not tried the advisory noted above as a fix, but I am having our IT company attempt this.

If have another identical machine and dock that work perfectly.  Undock, redock, remote functionality, all working as expected.  We have swapped the docks out to test the issue and it does not appear to be the dock that causes the problem.

Here are the symptoms.

I have not tried anything in the USB-C port except the Thunderbolt dock.

The dock seems to work for a while, then stops responding.  Occasionally, it will start responding again.

When the dock does not respond, the power portion of the dock still charges the computer.

Computer was reset to the factory windows 10 install twice to try and duplicate the issue.

I tried driver updates from microsoft (win10) and from HP's site to resolve the problem without success.