USB Ports faulty

Mosh

As it happens, I've just started getting a similar problem. My desktop normally has the following plugged in:
externally-powered HDD
externally-powered DVD writer
keyboard
mouse

Plus a cord that runs to the TFT screen with another two ports in it.

I've recently also had a small (laptop size) hard drive on a USB lead attached to one of the monitor ports. This has worked fine for 4 months or no now. The other day, the laptop drive seemed to drop and re-attach. I noticed today that it had dropped. I've moved it around several ports and it just won't pick up again.

Swapped it to another PC and no problem. So I tested the ports with a USB key (which has a nice big orange light on it). The light flickers when the key's inserted but won't stay on or be detected. I daren't disconnect any of my working devices to check their ports, but it just seems that all of the empty ports are failing

Checked device manager and everything's ticketty-boo there. All I can assume is there's a lack of power going to the ports for some reason. No way could four ports on two separate boxes fail simultaneously for any other reason.

HoofeHearted

Try this.
Start-> Run-> devmgmt.msc
In Device Manager window, Expand "Universal Serial Bus controllers"
Double click "USB Root Hub", and click on the "Power Management" tab". Ensure that there is no 'tick' in the box next to "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power". Click OK.
Repeat for each "USB Root Hub" entry.

Mosh

Genius!

*clicky clicky clicky clicky*

Plugetty-in... orange light!

Only, no device detected. I could find it in device manager which said the device was working OK. So I removed the device driver, re-inserted... nothing. Plugged it into a different port, orange light... and it finally worked after messing about for 10 minutes or so.

Something *did* seem to happen to my machine the other morning. It took a ridiculous length of time to boot up and this problem seems to have occurred afterwards. Fingers crossed I can get the rest of the devices working now.

Thanks!

bookduck

fwor wrote: »

It's a strange one, but I don't think it can be a fault with the USB ports themselves, as at least they are being recognised as valid devices.

Unfortunately it can be, just because you pci/embeded side is detectable, does not mean to say that the usb side is working. Just because the usb side is working, does not mean to say it is not corrupting data when exchange takes place - had this on a new board.

firstly try the items in another PC, then download Puppy linux and boot of the cd, and press the mount button to mount the usb drives. however it still could be the hardware even after this test. Could be a driver issue - added any new devices or upgrades or bug fixes recently?

Mosh

In case it's relevant, I had an update for AVG which required an reboot before I had that *very* slow login I mentioned in my last post. Seems bizarre that this would affect USB devices, but this *is* Windows after all...

*goes back to messing with the Ubuntu machine next to him*