USB devices not working..

[dakotauk]

Hopefully someone can help out here, or at least understand the problem im experiencing here.

I have a external hard drive and it works on other pcs and laptops except one machine. As soon as i plug it in the the non-working machine it clicks and doesnt even say its failed or anything. Mp3 players, Scanners, mobile phones don't work via usb anymore either (tested various items).

All these devices worked on other machines. The trouble is these used to work on mine. I dont have anymore usb devices on the pc plugged in except the keyboard and the mouse is ps2. Win XP SP3.

All resources on the net say its the drive but I have cleary proven that this is not the case. I strongly believe this is a usb power issue of somekind but am unsure how to find the solution that works, done reinstalling drivers, reboots, rollbacks etc

Has anyone had anything similar happen to their usb ports??

Thanks in advance if you can help..

Gaz

 

[vacunita]

It could simply be that the on board USB controller just died, had a short and failed.

If you can, buy a PCI or PCIe USB addon card to try it out.

If the devices work on the add on card then you can be pretty sure the on board USB controller failed.


----------------------------------
Phil AKA Vacunita
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Ignorance is not necessarily Bliss, case in point:
Unknown has caused an Unknown Error on Unknown and must be shutdown to prevent damage to Unknown.

 

[linney]

Have you tried setting the Bios to Safe defaults, saving those settings, rebooting, and then re checking the USB settings are correct in the Bios, and saving those?

Use Device Manager and delete the USB root hubs that show on your machine now. Reboot and let XP rediscover the ports.

Won't detect Hard Drive
thread779-1316877

USB power usage: USB powered devices etc.

http://pinouts.ru/Slots/USB_pinout.shtml

Are there numerous mapped drives on this machine causing a problem with drive letter mapping?

 

[BadBigBen]

or simply, the drive is not getting ENOUGH power over the USB port... you could try it with a Y-Cable, or a powered USB HUB (which delivers more oomph)...

I would also suggest that you try the drive on the back USB ports of the PC, as some of the cases out there have underpar cabling, that can cause strange things with power hungry devices...



Ben
"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."
How to ask a question, when posting them to a professional forum.
Only ask questions with yes/no answers if you want "yes" or "no"

 

[dakotauk]

Thanks all for you help just come back from holiday..

Used a usb powered hub and it worked.

But along the way I found on a post on the web, that suggested the motherboard remains charged even after shut down, this stored charge needs to be drained by pulling the kettle cable from the machine and leaving it for 30mins.. to my surprise this worked, well it did for a while then resumed to become irresponsive little pain in the backside lol which is what prompted me to buy a hub.

thanks for assistance..

Gaz

 

[goombawaho]

Looking at all the replies, I'd say BadBigBen may have had the best idea - not enough power. If it happens again, investigate powering the drive with a Y cable.

I read the instructions on my external hard drive (which I built from a laptop hard drive and an aftermarket enclosure) and the rated power (milliamps) was slighly higher than that provided by the USB port, so I use both the usb to usb connection on the external case and the little usb to power plug.

 

[manhunter2826]

^^I do the same with my Fujistu external drive; otherwise my laptop (XP) often refuses to recognize it.