USB ports not working 1

[volleyman]

All,

I have an HP Compaq 8510p notebook. working well except my usb ports stopped working today when I booted it up. Its in a docking station, the usb ports on the docking station aren't working either.

In device manager, I can see several of the "usb root hub" entries. Per the HP site, I deleted them, then let Vista reinstall them using default drivers. that process worked with no issues. Still no joy from any of my usb devices (headphones, wireless keyboard/mouse)or any of the ports either on the notebook or the docking station.

any ideas?



Zane D.
Systems Admin

 

[kjv1611]

Hmm, if device manager is checking out okay, then my next guess is that something is just fried, or else something is shorting out. Do you remember any changes - software or hardware - before this occurred? For one example, did you install any new security software, such as a software firewall? It's possible that a security program could block all access to USB devices. Along that line, is this a personal computer, or a work computer. If it's a work computer on a Windows Domain, for instance, it is possible for your employer to disable the USB ports. So, if you have a special need in your situation, then you would need to contact them directly before just "fixing" it on your own.

If you don't know of any changes, and it's a personal computer, then my biggest guess is some sort of electrical issue.

A good way to test and see whether it's the hardware, or a software issue, would be to download a "live cd" version of a Linux Distro, such as Ubuntu, burn it to CD, then boot from it, and run the live version, seeing if you can see any USB devices from Linux. If you don't see any, or can't use them then, it's most likely hardware. If you can use them, it's most likely software.

--

"If to err is human, then I must be some kind of human!" -Me

 

[BadBigBen]

Also take a look in the BIOS, to see if they did not get turned off by accident...


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"

 

[kjv1611]

BadBigBen, if the USB ports were turned off in the BIOS, wouldn't they be invisible to Windows?

--

"If to err is human, then I must be some kind of human!" -Me

 

[webrabbit]

I have a HP Compac desktop and was having a lot of problems with all the USB ports. I found one bad cable and replaced it. All the USB ports began working properly.

 

[volleyman]

all,

I still don't know for sure what the issue is.

I checked the bios, usb is enabled.

I called HP, they didn't do much troubleshooting at all, just opened a repair case and asked me to send it in.

I'll follow up with any sort of resolution if they provide details.

thanks for your ideas!

Zane D.
Systems Admin

 

[BadBigBen]

kjv1611 - 99% of the time, that would be the case... I had one mainboard that even with the USB turned off in the BIOS was still showing them as connected... end effect was that the mainboard was just bad....


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"

 

[kjv1611]

That's good to know that it IS possible, but apparently only with a bad mainboard. I'll keep that in mind. Thanks for that bit of info, BBB.

--

"If to err is human, then I must be some kind of human!" -Me

 

[manhunter2826]

It's probably a bit late now, given all that's been done to subsequent hardware changes, but would a System Restore would be worth a try to when the usb ports were working??