USB multi-function printer stops when external USB drive connected

[birdbrain1957]

I recently installed an external disk drive (Western Digital 250GB) as
a USB device. When it is connected my Epson multi-function printer
does not work. Thinking it might be the printer I pruchases a Canon
MFP and exactly the same symptoms - if disk drive is not connected all
is well, when connected get a balloon message - don't have the message
in front of me - but Windows does not recognize the device.

I came across an article in the Microsoft knowledge base (http://
support.microsoft.com/kb/814560) entitled "Composite USB devices whose
interfaces are not sequentially numbered do not work in Windows XP".
The article is dated Oct 2005 and I am certain my system is current
re: Windows Updates but could this be the issue?

I have contacted the manufacturers, scanned various forums, websites,
etc. Many of the solutions seem like they work for one specific set
of circumstances but not another.

I don't expect though a forum to get a step-by-step solution but
general suggestions would be appreciated.

(Wasn't WinXP supposed to fulfill the dream of "plug-and-play"?
sorry...had to get that in...)

Thank you

Joe

 

[Mark]

I find that not all external drive enclosures have been created
equally and I have a lot of them. In a serial bus topology like USB
even the tiniest leak of current can result in the USB host hub
getting frazzled and not knowing what to do next...

Why type of enclosure is it? different enclosures use different USB to
IDE chips and some are known to be unreliable....

and finally in the control panel/system /hardware / device manager/USB
controllers does it show up as USB mass storage device ?

and does the hard disk itself show up under control panel/system
/hardware / device manager/disk drives?

Does moving it to another computer or another USB hub still result in
the same problem? You will often find the front USB connectors on a PC
will be a separate root hub for example...

 

[Og]

Apparently you will need to plug your external drive and your multi-function
printer into separate USB hubs.
Some devices, such as my Canon SELPHY CP510 photo printer come with a manual
that states clearly it _will not_ function correctly if the hub to which
it is attached is shared with another device.
Steve

 

[birdbrain1957]

Thank you Mark and Og for your comments & suggestions.

FYI disk drive works perfectly fine and shows up just fine in device
manager.

I'll look into the other suggestions...enclosure and using different
hub.

Know anything about the MS article I mentioned in the original
post.,,?

~~
I came across an article in the Microsoft knowledge base (http://
support.microsoft.com/kb/814560) entitled "Composite USB devices
whose
interfaces are not sequentially numbered do not work in Windows XP".
The article is dated Oct 2005 and I am certain my system is current
re: Windows Updates but could this be the issue?
~~

Joe

 

[Mark]

Hey Joe,

I would say the chances of that article applying to you are pretty
narrow. In fact that particular hotfix was rebuilt and integrated into
SP2 with file creation dates over a year later for a computer running
XP SP2...

 

[smlunatick]

Apparently you will need to plug your external drive and your multi-function
printer into separate USB hubs.
Some devices, such as my Canon SELPHY CP510 photo printer come with a manual
that states clearly it _will not_ function correctly if the hub to which
it is attached is shared with another device.
Steve












- Show quoted text -

The Canon and the external hard drive seem to be drawing too much USB
power at the same time. Most USB hub can only provide 500 mA in
total.

 

[merckhpv]

The Canon and the external hard drive seem to be drawing too much USB
power at the same time. Most USB hub can only provide 500 mA in
total.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

(Displaying my ignorance of how USB works...)
Even if they both have their own power supplies?