Are these up-to-date USB drivers?

[Guest]

I've hitherto been a Win2K user and have recently switched to using WinXP -
that's WinXP SP2. However, I'm having difficulty in finding out whether the
current USB 1.1 and 2.0 driver files that I have for the USB controllers and
hubs in WinXP are actually up-to-date. I've not yet finished installing all
of my peripherals and frankly there won't be much point in doing so unless
and until the proper USB driver files are present.

So, can someone whose USB 2.0 devices have been working successfully under
WinXP have a look at the properties of their USB driver files in Device
Manager and let me know whether mine, below, are up-to-date or not? It's
those file nos. and dates that are the key.

Rumour has it that, although Service Pack 2 for WinXP is supposed to
guarantee the correct USB files (or at least make them available to the user
for selection), it fails to do so.

My PC has six embedded USB 2.0 ports. I recently added a Belkin PCI card
with five USB 2.0 ports. All of these worked fine under Win2K. However, it
looks as though the actual driver files for USB 2.0 are different in WinXP to
those in Win2K. I obviously searched on the CD that came with the Belkin card
but the files I transferred from the card still look pretty old to me.

Here are the three basic sorts of controllers/hubs I have in WinXP, together
with their file versions and dates. Basically, I'd like to compare these with
someone else's who's successfully using their USB peripherals:

NEC Open Host Controller, v5.1.2600.2180, dated 1/7/2001. (1st July, or 7th
Jan?).
Standard Enhanced Host Controller, v5.1.2600.0, dated 1/6/2002.
USB Root hub, v5.1.2600.2180, dated 1/7/2001.

Given the amount of problems that WinXP users have had with USB 2.0 and the
seemingly constant tweaking by Microsoft of these drivers, I'm left not
knowing whether mine are the correct ones or not.

 

[Caustic]

Here are the three basic sorts of controllers/hubs I have in WinXP,
together
with their file versions and dates. Basically, I'd like to compare these
with
someone else's who's successfully using their USB peripherals:

NEC Open Host Controller, v5.1.2600.2180, dated 1/7/2001. (1st July, or
7th
Jan?).
Standard Enhanced Host Controller, v5.1.2600.0, dated 1/6/2002.
USB Root hub, v5.1.2600.2180, dated 1/7/2001.

Given the amount of problems that WinXP users have had with USB 2.0 and
the
seemingly constant tweaking by Microsoft of these drivers, I'm left not
knowing whether mine are the correct ones or not.

All my USB drivers are dated 1st July 2001, and all USB devices are working
fine in Windows XP Home with SP2.

 

[Gerry Cornell]

General USB troubleshooting in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310575/en-us

This freeware programme is excellent for getting information
about your computer hardware:
Everest Home Edition (freeware)
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download4181.html

Tip: To copy select Report, Quick Report, Plain Text, highlight
required text, right click and select copy. However, whilst this is
fine for posting small amounts of information into newsgroup
messages longer reports will irritate other newsgroup subscribers.



--

Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England

Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Guest]

Gerry, none of these links will actually identify the CORRECT USB driver
versions. And really that's the point I'm making - Microsoft didn't provide
good USB 2.0 drivers in a seamless manner, when they first came out and,
according to what I've read, some early versions didn't work at all well.
Clearly, I've got SOME Enhanced USB drivers in my set but the point is 'Are
the particular versions I've got the most up-to-date?'. The only way of
confirming that is to compare the version nos. and dates with those of other
users who are successfully using theirs.

Microsoft seem to have gone out of their way to avoid publishing the version
nos. and dates of the most reliable USB drivers and I can't really understand
that. There wouldn't be all these problems with USB 2.0 if they just
published details of the reliable ones and from where you could download them.

 

[Guest]

Hmm, that's interesting, Caustic, but are you actually using USB 2.0 devices
on your machine and getting the 2.0 throughput, rather than the much lower
throughput of USB 1.1?

If your USB controllers are all listed as 'open host controller' or 'host
controller', then all you've got are 1.1 drivers. If you see also 'enhanced
host controller', then you've also got 2.0 drivers in the set.

But it's not just sufficient to see any old 2.0 driver listed, it's whether
it's an updated 2.0 driver that's important. Amended, updated 2.0 drivers
were supplied with SP2. They were also made available via Windows Updates.
However, I gather that, for versions of WinXP with integrated SP2, these
updates fail to install (WU still thinks the updates have been installed).

Correct me if I'm wrong but I think WinXP was first launched in Jan 2001.
Some USB 2.0 drivers were then issued with SP1, which came along some months
later. I'm inclined to think, therefore, that the July 2001 drivers are, in
fact, those first ones.

Since Microsoft have never published the very latest USB 2.0 drivers on the
Web, the only way of checking whether I, you or anybody else have got the
correct ones at present is to compare ours with someone's who's extensively
tested theirs with USB 2.0 devices over a long period.

Why on earth Microsoft can't simply publish the correct ones on the Web and
allow us to download them is a complete mystery to me.

 

[Gerry Cornell]

Identify the hardware on your machine using Everest and then
go to manufacturers web sites for later software and drivers.
Start with your motherboard and BIOS.

--

Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England

Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~