Forcing Windows XP to Recognize New Device

[Uncle Joe]

Hi. Windows XP (Home) on three-year old ASUS P4B266C
mobo with three onboard USB1 ports (2 external, 1 internal);
1 GB RAM, P4; GeForce3 TI-200 64 MB AGP card; one
four-port USB1 PCI card; one external 4-port USB1 hub; seven
actual USB1 devices.

Two days ago, I bought my first USB2 device, an inkjet printer.
Printer worked fine on USB1 cable but I wanted to see if
speed would improve on USB2.

Purchased a Belkin 5-port USB2 PCI adapter card. It would
"hang" during detection, no matter what. It would lock my
mouse cursor arrow in the center of the screen. Took it back
today and exchanged it for a 5-port Compaq USB2 adapter
PCI card.

This card installed flawlessly, but no detection whatsoever was
performed. It doesn't appear in my system devices. I attached
the new printer's USB2 cable to one of the USB2 ports on the
Compaq PCI card, printed a web page, and the system reported
that the printer wasn't ready. In other words, it's just a hunk of
junk taking up space in a PCI slot.

Is there a way to force Windows to detect/recognize PCI
cards?

TIA.

 

[ANONYMOUS]

For Belkin 5 port PCI card there is anew driver that fixes many problems
with the drivers that come on the CD. Look at his link:

http://web.belkin.com/support/download/downloaddetails.asp?download=677&lang=1

I am not sure whether it fixes the sort of problems you were having. As
for Compaq, I can't comment as I haven't used it.

hth

 

[Richard Urban]

Do you have any devices shown in device manager that have an ! mark? Check
under the USB devices.

It is likely the USB 2 adapter. If so, update the driver for the device.
Allow the system to search automatically. If you have SP2 installed on your
computer the correct drivers will be found and installed. It will now be
seen as a "Standard Enhanced USB Host Controller" and you should have full
use of the ports.

--


Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User

Quote from George Ankner:
If you knew as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!

 

[Uncle Joe]

Do you have any devices shown in device manager that have an ! mark? Check under the USB devices.

No, I do not.

It is likely the USB 2 adapter. If so, update the driver for the device. Allow the system to search
automatically. If you have SP2 installed on your computer the correct drivers will be found and installed.
It will now be seen as a "Standard Enhanced USB Host Controller" and you should have full use of the ports.

The package came without a CD. Documentation said it would automatically
be recognized by Win XP. I do have Home SP2 installed.

The only thing I have that comes close to your description of the USB2
device is "Standard Enhanced PCI to USB Host Controller". I now have one.
Whether it's left over from the first try at installing the Belkin adapter, or
today's try to install the Compaq adapter, I don't know.

I selected the "Standard Enhanced PCI to USB Host Controller" and
instructed Win XP to update the driver. After searching for a few seconds,
it reported back that it couldn't continue...that the installed driver was
the appropriate one. The fact remains that USB devices attached to
this adapter won't work.

 

[Richard Urban]

At this point I would remove and reinsert the card. It may not be seated
properly. Try a different PCI slot also if a simple reseat doesn't work.

Still no joy? New things can be bad. That's why I have a cabinet full of
tested cards that I "know" are fully functional. They are without value when
trouble shooting a clients computer. I buy a card, install and test the
card, then remove the card. The card is labeled as "tested" along with the
date of test. I may not use it again for months, or I may use it the very
next day.

--


Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User

Quote from George Ankner:
If you knew as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!

 

[Uncle Joe]

Anonymous,

Thanks for the input. The Belkin 5-port PCI card package did
include a CD but in reading the owner's manual, it said the files
on the CD were for OS systems prior to XP...that XP would
automatically detect and install the 5-port USB2 adapter card.

The Belkin documentation stated that Windows XP would detect
three USB2 devices once the Belkin 5-port PCI adapter card was
installed properly. The first detection went smoothly and quickly.
The second detection hung the system.

The Belkin card was returned to the store today.

Am now dealing with the Compaq 5-port PCI card now. Unlike
the Belkin card, the Compaq breezes past detection. I can see
a momentary flicker (very fast!) outline of a window panel but
then it moves on.

 

[Rock]

Hi. Windows XP (Home) on three-year old ASUS P4B266C
mobo with three onboard USB1 ports (2 external, 1 internal);
1 GB RAM, P4; GeForce3 TI-200 64 MB AGP card; one
four-port USB1 PCI card; one external 4-port USB1 hub; seven
actual USB1 devices.

Two days ago, I bought my first USB2 device, an inkjet printer.
Printer worked fine on USB1 cable but I wanted to see if
speed would improve on USB2.

Purchased a Belkin 5-port USB2 PCI adapter card. It would
"hang" during detection, no matter what. It would lock my
mouse cursor arrow in the center of the screen. Took it back
today and exchanged it for a 5-port Compaq USB2 adapter
PCI card.

This card installed flawlessly, but no detection whatsoever was
performed. It doesn't appear in my system devices. I attached
the new printer's USB2 cable to one of the USB2 ports on the
Compaq PCI card, printed a web page, and the system reported
that the printer wasn't ready. In other words, it's just a hunk of
junk taking up space in a PCI slot.

Is there a way to force Windows to detect/recognize PCI
cards?

TIA.

Remove all USB cards. Go into device manager, uninstall the USB
controllers. Then reboot. Check Device manager. Make sure there are
no ! entries. On the menu line click View, show hidden devices to see
for sure. If no USB devices marked with a ! turn the system off,
install the adapter, then reboot. See if it detects it ok.

 

[Uncle Joe]

Thanks, Rock. I'll try your suggestions. Appreciate your
input!

Also have a new nVIDA GeForce FX5500 256 MB AGP
card to replace my tired old nVIDA GeForce TI-200 card.
This should be fun, too.

 

[Uncle Joe]

Rock,

Thanks for the tips. They worked! I removed both the
four-port USB PCI card and the five-port USB2 PCI
cards; deleted all USB devices from device manager;
reinstalled only the 5-port USB2 card, and rebooted.
Windows found a ton of new USB devices. (I also
have a four-port USB1 external hub) and all ran fine
from there.

Thanks again!

Uncle Joe

 

[Rock]

Rock,

Thanks for the tips. They worked! I removed both the
four-port USB PCI card and the five-port USB2 PCI
cards; deleted all USB devices from device manager;
reinstalled only the 5-port USB2 card, and rebooted.
Windows found a ton of new USB devices. (I also
have a four-port USB1 external hub) and all ran fine
from there.

Thanks again!

Great! glad it's working for you now and thanks for posting back.