USB ports not working correctly

em501 · 02 Jul 2020

I am having issues with the USB ports on my HP Envy laptop running Windows 10 1809

My USB 3.0 external HDDs (various) either randomly disconnect, go into sleep mode after about 10 minutes or display a USB device not recognised notification when plugged in
My USB 2.0 TV capture device randomly disconnects within 10 minutes of being plugged in, sometimes the USB disconnect notification sound plays 3 or 4 times within 10 seconds resulting in a BSOD citing the device driver

The only device that works fine is my USB laser mouse

Things I have tried:

Reinstalled all device drivers

Tested all USB devices on another HP Envy laptop running Windows 10 - working fine

Reinstalled the USB drivers under Device Manager, rebooted and let Windows reinstall the drivers

Disabled "Selective suspend" settings for both battery and plugged in under Power Options

Unchecked "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power" on the Power Management tab for USB Root Hub (USB 3.0) in Device Manager

Run the Intel Driver and Support Assistant

I've provided as much info as I can think of

Any help appreciated

Caledon Ken · 02 Jul 2020

Hi em501. Welcome to TenForums @em501

Have you referenced HP's site to determine how current your BIOS is? Usually they don't tell you what BIOS updates are for which is a real pain. They might list a solution. Updating BIOS presents a risk so I'm not saying to update just see if you are behind and how far.

While this is some work to identify have you tried just plugging in one HDD, running for a period, unplugging, plugging in another. Where I am heading, is one of the drives (more likely the enclosure) impacting the the ports.

Are these external's powered or are they drawing from power from ports? Maybe it is total load. Just a thought.

Ken

em501 · 02 Jul 2020

Hi,

My laptop is 6 years old and according to msinfo32, my BIOS version/date is Insyde F.34, 19/12/2014 which is as expected. Should I risk updating it?

I have 4 different external HDDs, two WD My Books (powered), one Seagate Expansion (powered) and one Seagate 2.5" (USB) - all disconnect and go to sleep yet work fine on my other laptop.

One thing I noticed is when looking at the USB list in Device Manager, there are far more listed drivers on my other working laptop. I'm wondering if I'm missing drivers?

Caledon Ken · 02 Jul 2020

What is model number (complete) of laptop.

Doubt very much that drivers are missing. There would be an error in device manager. Maybe that is a good question, are there any errors in device manager.

If you open Advance power options the top one should be hard disk, what is sleep value set at?

If you plug one powered unit in does it disconnect? Just one HDD.

Are you using a extension hub

em501 · 03 Jul 2020

Not sure of the exact model number as my other laptop is at another location now but it's a HP Envy 15 Notebook

There are no errors in Device Manager

In Power Options, I use a custom plan and hard disk is set to Never for both battery/plugged in

Powered USB devices disconnect more randomly than self powered devices

No extension hub. All devices are plugged directly into the laptop

How come my USB mouse is unaffected? As the warranty is out I'm thinking about taking it to a local computer store

Caledon Ken · 03 Jul 2020

If you plug in one powered HDD, just one, does it disconnect?

OldNavyGuy · 03 Jul 2020

In Device Manager, locate the Universal Serial Bus controllers and expand.

Right-click on the following entries and click on the Power Management tab.

USB Composite Device
USB Mass Storage Device
USB Root Hub
USB Root Hub (USB 3.0)

These are separate from Power Plans on the system.