Odd USB problem

[marvinhl]

A few weeks ago I installed a Bluetooth dongle on my computer to run a Bluetooth headset. It is powered from one of 6 USB2 ports. I am running XP Pro, Athlon 2k CPU, 512 megs RAM, 20g HD. Several months before that, I installed a SD Memory card reader for the card from my digicam. Both items worked fine until recently. Now when I boot from a cold start, the dongle remains unpowered until I open the Bluetooth program which asks me to plug in a Bluetooth device. I unplug the dongle, plug it in again and it lights up and runs my headset just fine. If I reboot, the dongle powers up and works OK. I have re-installed the dongle software several times to try to fix the bootup problem without success. The dongle is on a 6ft extension cable to get it away from furniture, hardware, etc. I have tried it in each of the 6 USB ports, without making any difference. I have also tried it without the cable in the 6 ports, no change. It shows up in the start up menu, but just doesn't start. Recently, the card reader won't work or show up on My Computer after a cold boot until I unplug it and plug it in again. Then it works just fine. My scanner, webcam and printer are all USB devices, plugged in all the time and start and work reliably without any problems. I am at my wits end and frustrated about these 2 nuisances, but I am at the limit of my ability to do anything about them. Help to fix them will be greatly appreciated. Marvin

 

[marvinhl]

Back again with no exciting news to report. On the cold boot

this time, the dongle blinked briefly but didn't power up.

It infrequently started and ran AOK only 2 or 3 times in the

past few weeks since I first installed the dongle software,

but almost every other time it does not power up until I do

the unplug, replug number. Tantalizing, but no home run yet.

Marvin

 

[marvinhl]

Hi again, When I sent the last post, it was about 2AM. It's

now around 7 AM. When I booted up this time, the dongle

powered up (steady green light) but did not show activity

(blinking green light) until I unplugged and replugged. I

don't know if this info is relevant or not, but it might point

to a possibility about what is going/not going on. BTW, the

dongle is still plugged into the new, powered USB hub. Marvin

 

[BadBigBen]

Hi there, again...

you may need an update to the BIOS (but this should only be done as a last resort)...

and have your son take care of this one...

other than that I am at a loss at the moment, as I haven't experienced that kind off problem before...

good hunting...

Ben

"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."

 

[marvinhl]

Hi all,

The Odd USB Problem is solved. This is the finale of the Saga.

I just finished upgrading a friend's older Micron computer from ME to XP Pro. I added memory, new programs, etc. It came out great. Just for curiosity, I

installed my Bluetooth program and my dongle on it; lo and behold, Bluetooth started every single time from a cold boot and worked perfectly....simply amazing!

I noticed however, that after shutting down the Micron, the power light on the dongle stayed on; strange, I thought. I previously believed that all ports went dead

after the computer shuts down. This was not the case with the Micron. I returned the dongle to my own own computer where it has been plugged into a 4 port

powered USB hub. The power to the hub comes from an outlet on a somewhat unusual surge protector power strip. The strip has several outlets on it; the

computer is plugged into a special outlet on the strip and other items like my powered loud speakers, scanner, printer, monitor etc. are plugged into other

outlets on it. What makes this strip unusual, is that only when I turn on my computer, do the other peripherals on the strip get power including the powered USB

hub. Turning the computer on or off turns everything on or off. I unplugged the hub from the strip and plugged it into a wall outlet so that it's powered all the

time as is the dongle.....BINGO!!! Bluetooth is alive and well whenever I turn on the computer; no more plugging and unplugging! Everything is AOK! Curiously,

however, the power light on the dongle goes dim but stays on when the computer is off....don't know why, but it does.

My sincere thanks to all of you who worked on this problem. It might have been as frustrating to you as it was to me that the answer eluded us all. I felt that it

was to everyone's mutual benefit to post the answer. Thanks again.... Marvin

 

[linney]

Thank you for reporting your successful outcome. It will help others who may stumble across this thread.