HP being very good with support?
One year and two months ago I became the proud owner of a HP NC6120 notebook. Soon I repartioned it to make space for a dual boot Windows XP and Debian GNU/Linux system. Everything was fine. I could do anything within Windows and most of the hardware worken in debian after I started using testing. But, last week while working in the console some strange messages started to show up:
kernel: hub 5-0:1.0: over-current change on port 2 kernel: hub 1-0:1.0: over-current change on port 2
At first I thought it was a problem in the USB driver in my kernel because I did just reboot into a new kernel. When I got to work next day and used Windows I got:
Power Surge on Hub Port
These very annoying 'help-balloons' started showing up as fast as I could close them. At that time it was extremely warm in the Netherlands so I blamed that. Later that day I was in Telecity (amsterdam) to connect a server. I needed some some development tools so I started using my laptop in there. Then it struck me that I still got those error messages even when I was in a very good airconditioned environment. The next day I called HP customer support. I explained the guy answering my call the problem I had. After doing some stuff with him he told me he had never seen this problem before. A quick google on 'NC6120 usb power surge' learned that there was a thread at the HP forums about this. After searching the forums some more I found multiple threads about this problem. I confronted the customer support guy with this, but he told me that my laptop was out of warranty by 2 months and that it would cost me 660,- euro's to fix this problem. I was a bit astonished with this outcome because while reading the forums it seemed to me like a production fault with this type of laptops. And if it's a production fault it doesn't matter if it's in or out of warranty. Or they could at least make an arrangement. The customer support guy told me to email customer relations. I emailed customer relations with my case number and the URL's to the threads attached. After 2 days of silence I got a reply saying that they denied my request to make an arrangement. As a producer of hardware they are not obligated to give any type of warranty. You should be happy that we give you one year of warranty. This got me totally pissed off. It just can't be true that a big manufacturer like HP makes equipment that failes after one year and they deny any support. If I was the only one I wouldn't mind. But it is a known problem and there are many people suffering from it. When you buy a laptop, even a business laptop you can reasonably expect it to work for more than one year... Well with HP it doesn't. I won't repair the laptop because the price to repair the darn thing is 66% of the price for a new one. Guess that I'll buy a new one... and guess what... it definitly won't be an HP...
August 8th, 2006 - 00:11
Hello,
I too am seeing this peculiar entry in my logs just before my machine(s) crash.
Jul 31 15:16:04 sfapp001 kernel: hub 4-0:1.0: over-current change on port 1
Jul 31 15:16:04 sfapp001 kernel: hub 4-0:1.0: over-current change on port 2
Jul 31 15:16:04 sfapp001 kernel: hub 5-0:1.0: over-current change on port 7
Jul 31 15:16:04 sfapp001 kernel: hub 5-0:1.0: over-current change on port 8
I am running several SuperMicro application servers with SuSe 9, 2.6.11 kernel. The issue has been present for some time now with no resolution (that I know of). I was wondering if you, or anyone reading this post, has had this issue and can tell me exactly what it means and how to resolve it. I have not been able to get help from any board or SuperMicro customer service. At first glance, it would appear that I could disable the USB module, or perhaps disable it at the BIOS level. However, I cam not convinced that this would work as the log entries and postings I have read, seem to be cryptic at describing what the actual issue is.
Any help is greatly appreciated.
-J
August 11th, 2006 - 21:07
Hi,
the over-current messages tell you that one or more USB ports are drawing more than 100mA of power. USB can deliver up to 500mA of power I believe but the connected device must ask for this.
There are AFAIK 2 reasons the kernel van generate these messages.
1. You have one or more devices connected to your USB ports that are drawing more than 500mA power.
2. You are suffering from a short circuit in you USB port(s) or on your mainbord (this is the problem that I’ve got with my laptop)
If you have devices connected to the USB ports of your server you should disconnect them one at a time and look if the messages go away. If so, then one of the devices is causing the problem.
If you do not have any USB devices connected to your server and you don’t need them you can just make sure the USB kernel modules aren’t loaded during boot or disable the USB ports in the BIOS. The over-current messages will go away.
Note: Do remember that something *IS* broken. The kernel is warning you about it and unloading the module will only stop the error messages. The over-current problem can still cause damage to your server.
Hope this helps a bit.
Regards,
Sander
June 18th, 2007 - 14:13
Hi,
I am now facing a similar problem with my HP laptop, nx6110. I am looking to contact HP too. But can u send me the links to those forums where u saw the thread on the Power Surge on USB Hub problem?
thanks and regards
Arun
July 6th, 2007 - 23:28
I’ve only recently came across this problem after 2 years of using my HP nc6120 quite extensively and with no problem at all. I thought there was the new (original HP) battery to blame, but it seems that there’s actually a hardware problem. I would be interested in the forums too…
July 7th, 2007 - 14:52
Hi,
I did not find the original threads which I did blog about. But I did find this one: http://forums1.itrc.hp.com/service/forums/bizsupport/questionanswer.do?threadId=1074718&admit=-682735245+1183812343615+28353475
It almost seems as if the original threads have been removed…
July 9th, 2007 - 21:26
Hi!
From Denmark with same problem. I managed to install a XP without any service pack. Very old cd :-). Apparently this bypasses the problem. My guess is, as long as USB support 2.0 is installed, the board dont mess up…
July 9th, 2007 - 21:32
I’m not running windows. So I don’t think it’s the same problem. If I only enable the USB 2.0 kernel module I still get the problem.
July 10th, 2007 - 10:36
I`m only running usb 1.0 or 1.1 as xp with no servicepacks supports 2.0.
Anyway, i`m not sure it`s gonna last
July 10th, 2007 - 12:13
We’ve had similar problems with at least 5 nc6120′s. Same messages and also it froze for some time and after pressing on the laptop it continued. All just after the warranty expired…
After confronting HP with this and the URL’s they said they couldn’t do anything for us, unbelievable.
We contacted our supplier (we were really pissed) and he contacted his HP account manager. A week later they sent someone to replace 5 system boards.
Yes, HP knows about this issue. Yes, service is really bad regarding this issue. They probably try to cover it up to avoid a callback I guess…
July 10th, 2007 - 12:18
Oh yeah, HP removed the link (b@st@rds) but you can still find it in Google’s cache :) http://64.233.183.104/search?q=cache:_B0hTWMCh-IJ:forums1.itrc.hp.com/service/forums/bizsupport/questionanswer.do%3FthreadId%3D1074718+%22power+surge+on+hub+port%22+nc6120&hl=nl&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=nl
July 10th, 2007 - 13:26
I have bought this machine second handed. I`ve just looked up serienumber, and guess, care support until juli 2008 :-) Lucky me.. Just to be sure, warranty is not cancelled when buying second handed ???
July 10th, 2007 - 13:54
AFAIK, you will still get warranty as long as you have the original receipt.
I had this problem once with Dell. They just want to have the original receipt to make sure your laptop isn’t stolen from somebody else.
July 10th, 2007 - 21:33
I`ll try to get it. Or else a handwritten will hopefully do… But the mashine is still runing with usb 1.0… I noticed, with a boot cd or blank harddrive, the mashine dont bsod.
July 15th, 2007 - 11:07
Anyway, is it dangerous for the laptop itself? Should I expect it to explode right in my face any minute, or is it just a warning? Except this message, it works fine, but if it’s likely to collapse, I should probably consider buing a new one… Any suggestions?
July 15th, 2007 - 16:31
I won’t expect it to blow right in your face. I’m not sure if the laptop will break down because of it. But, it can’t be good for the laptop.
July 17th, 2007 - 12:08
I’m really frustrated then… what can I do? How to disable the hub under linux? In windows I tried to disable it via their Device manager and it seems to work, making all the usb ports useless…
I’ve got two possible causes: either my external USB hard-drive (Samsung is the manufacturer and it has a alluminium case, which is supposedly dangerous due to static electricity), or my new original HP battery, which replaced the old worn-out one.
Both the hardware pieces were reclaimed due to their malfunctioning, and both “successfully” (which means there was an error in both of them). I don’t suppose I could sue Samsung for manufacturing too greedy disks, but HP would pixx me off if it turned out it was due to their ridiculously expensive original battery. It’s nice they’re giving me a new battery, but I can only imagine where to insert it when the computer is just a piece of garbage because of their previous crappy one :-/
August 2nd, 2007 - 09:22
Hi all,
I have just started experiencing the very same problem with my HP nx6120, the USB power surge problem. And its becoming annoying.
August 23rd, 2007 - 10:54
hello guys,
after searching on french-tongued forums with only one poor thread, I found this page… I’m encountering the same problem on an hp nc6120, two years old, and a friend of mine also.
Problems began for us with systems hangs during Windows operation, but without any system crash or fatal blue screen : system did as it halted, but keyboard cache memory continued to work : you type letters on kb, and when you press on the cover, letters appear one after one on the screen.
Windows task manager stops scrolling time, and when you press on the cover, it goes right away, as if nothing had happened.
Strange problems, that were afterwards accompanied with these usb surge errors as balloons.
I dismounted the PC to see if I could see some short-circuit between connectors or MB or anything and I obviously saw nothing.
May someone have a solution, different of changing motherboard…
Bye
Nicolas
September 10th, 2007 - 12:12
Experiencing same problem with my nx6110. Have disabled the ports under device manager. But apart from one PCMIA slot (or whatever its called) I only have the usb ports to connect other devices to the laptop. The PCMIA slot is currently always being used by my 3g internet card.
As my laptop only had a one year warranty, I took it apart. In fact if you want to have a look, best way is to remove the cover at the back of the keyboard. Trust me it does lift up. Then you can slide the keyboard out and see the fan, processor and a couple of heat sinks.
Taking the heatsinks out and the fan. Found that it was full of fluff. Possibly causing the processor to overheat. The processor has a heat sink which conducts the heat away to the other end of the sink, then the fan cools this part of the sink. This was the part full of fluff.
Laptop does seem to be running better, but:
On startup, it hangs unless you squeeze the case where the hard disk sits.
Power surge, but have turned the ports off for now.
Before turning the ports off it was hit or miss whether the usb device (mouse or ipod) would be seen by the laptop.
Dont, seem too helpful about getting this sorted, tbh. WIll probably have to buy another laptop and this time keep away from HP. Recommendations?
November 27th, 2009 - 19:24
I also have been experiencing “.. over-current change on port …” errors on an HP NX6110. My laptop battery is now >4 yrs. old. Hardware USB ports all work but … not battery APM. The “… over-current …” errors disappear when I remove the battery and then reinsert it, plug in the power cord and THEN turn on the laptop. Problems manifest when powering up from the battery alone and do not clear when hydro is applied while running. Regardless, Ubuntu 8.04 hardy heron eventually hangs running from the LiveCD.
June 1st, 2010 - 09:09
SOLUTION TO THE HARDWARE ISSUE
Hi guys,
I found a hardware solution, and it works fine with my HP6110.
You need to open your notebook and get to the motherboard (see service manual) and then put a rubber thing or some filling on the chipset “Intel” which is in the area under the touchpad.
The USB problem is due to a faulty contact of this chipset and it appears after 3-4 years of usage. Therefore a slightly pressure on the chip helps.
February 9th, 2011 - 18:02
Southbridge chip separates from motherboard. This happens because of shoddy HP workmanship. The NX6110 related models are not the only HP products where chips “pop off”. The BGA chips rely on solder to be used as “glue” to hold the chips in place. Other HP models (DV2′s) lose their video for the same reason. At least with the SouthBridge chips only USB functionality is lost. HP no longer represents the high calibre of engineering that was found in their electronic equipment from 1960 to the 1990′s. HP quality is no more.
February 6th, 2012 - 21:45
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhelCeMPI-w